Rat Rod Nation - A place for motorheads
Rat Rod Nation builds => Rat Rod Builds => Topic started by: Blackwater on August 27, 2015, 08:17:54 PM
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There are some pics on my introduction thread of this little coupe. It's a cross between a '28 Model A and a '24/'25 Dodge. I'm using a 153 Chevy 4cyl and a 700R4 transmission and hooking it to a 9" Ford differential with 300:1 gears. It's sitting on a muchly modified Nissan pickup chassis and a 'split wishbone '48 Ford front end.
These are some pics.
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That is really kewl.
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Pretty cool. Where did you get that brake master cylinder assembly at?
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Bought it at the Goodguys show here in Nashville back in the summer.. It's for a sprint car. They still make 'em but they're a little more "billet/high tech" looking now.
I'll get the brand for ya' if you want. It's actually two cylinders with a common pedal and a mechanical bias adjustment.
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Here's a photo of that master cylinder out on the bench. I shortened the rods and flipped the pedal. It was originally an under dash hanging unit.
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Pretty cool idea! A buddy of mine is building a 23 Chevy coupe and he's been looking for master cylinder alternatives. Thanks for the info.
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Wow that is very kewl.
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BACK IN THE SHOP !! FINALLY!!!
Got the exhaust part of the header/intake manifold done. It'll need a little spiffing up when I finish the intake side, but it's looking GOOD!!
One of my buds came over and salvaged an alternator and brackets and pulleys off of my donor Astro. He also filled the differential and cleaned up a couple of other details. All in all, a good day!!
I'm thinking about cutting the body at the bottom of that green masking tape strip... How about some opinions??? I got one vote to cut and two that say no!! I was really leaning toward doing it but over the last few weeks, I've waffled on it!!
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I vote no cut but it's your build do it your way!
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So physical therapy only lasted an hour and I had time to get back into the shop. I added the plenum for the intake and finished welding all of the joints and panels on the air box section. The rust in my welding abilities is gradually going away. I cut down the plenum box and got it ready for the carb mounting plate. Before I weld it on I've got to find out if it's better to mount the four barrel sideways so that the two primaries are set over each of the intake runners or if it even matters. I have a friend who does flow bench and head porting and I'm certain that he'll have solid information for me.
Next I've gotta' come up with some nice brackets to mount the throttle cable and transmission cable. The 390 Holley looks cool setting there, either way you turn it. I thought about putting a Predator carb on it, but the Holley was there and the Predator was another $200.00!!
Can't work on it tomorrow. Gotta' run a bunch of errands and it'll take almost all damn day!! I will get to go by the guy's place with the flow bench, so he'll see the same pics I'm posting here and give me the advice I need.
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That thing is wicked looking. I vote leave the material on the bottom; makes it look lower.
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Looks awesome.
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Well!! It's six to one!! I ain't cutting the bottom of the body!
The carb will be mounted sideways. It works better for balance on the intake flow that way. Jeg's had a bracket for the throttle and TV cables that is cheap enough that I can't justify spending the time to make one. I hate cutting out those damned little square holes for cable retention. I can better spend that time finishing the doors and the cooling and fuel systems and doing the wiring!! Most of the switches are already stubbed out with the factory plugs.
I wish I had the money and time to have it so I could bring it to the Rumble, but I still have a life besides the shop.
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Totally agree on having a life. You can always just go check out the rides at the rumble.
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I'm diggin it ... very much .... and the headlights .... what lense is that your using.
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Those "headlights" are actually guide lights from an inter coastal waterway barge. They usually have flood light bulbs installed, but I bought a set of H4 headlight and reflector kits and the LED lights surrounding. The LEDs are split so I'm using them for marker lights and the outside one on each side will double as turn signals. The globes screw into the housings and hold a reflector or a sealed beam in place.
If I take the grill shell off the front of the car looks like a cartoon crab!! 8)
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So! I got the driveshaft shortened up and ready to put back in. Gonna' try to finish the drivetrain and brakes this weekend. I finally located a sending unit for the gas tank. Turns out it's a replacement tank for a Jeep Commando. I now have all of the stuff to finish the fuel system bought and collected except for the sending unit and it'll be here next Wednesday.
I have some help coming Sat. and Sun. I haven't heard the thing run since I brought it home, and I'm thinking I may try to fire it off sometime Monday.
MAN O MAN!! There are so many cool rides going together right now, I can't help but get excited and inspired!!
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That's awesome, gonna be awesome hearing it run.
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Wicked ;D
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My lawyer buddy came over and spent the last two days helping me with Lockjaw. We got the fuel lines completed and hooked up from front to back and the throttle and TV cable for the transmission all routed and lined up. I want to put a big inline filter in the system, but I'm holding out for one that has 3/8" flared fittings. The little plastic clip on the end of the TV cable broke. That's one more stop on my trip to town Tuesday.
We got the brakes all plumbed, bled, and adjusted. One of the wheel cylinders for the front brakes was assembled wrong from the factory and I had to tear it down and fix it, but no parts were damaged so it went right back together without problems. I'll have to adjust the front to rear bias when I get the car on the road.
The 9" Ford rear end we used had the bigger companion flange, so I had to go to town this morning for another crossover U-joint. Somewhere in their infinite wisdom, Ford decided that a 1310 U-joint should have trunion bearings 1/16" bigger in diameter for THEIR cars. ONLY on the ones that bolt to the rear end!! The ones pressed into the driveshaft are the normal 1 1/16" that everyone else uses.
GO FIGURE!!!
Not much in the way of pics this time, but maybe I'll have more to show when I get it on the ground tomorrow.
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Awesome. You guys kicked ass.
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i won't get to fire it off this weekend. I had to stop and clean up the shop before it turned around and swallowed my ass!! Between that and the fact that there was nobody there to give me a hand, I figured it was safer to wait 'til tomorrow night.
I DID get the transmission cooler figured out, so tomorrow I'll pick up a couple of fittings and it'll be all steel line to and from the transmission. I'm gonna mount it in the grill behind a piece of expanded steel and some black screen wire. If it needs a fan I've got several I can use.
The brakes set over night and they were high and firm today!! No leaks and it was dry everywhere I looked.
I finally got to put it on the ground to see just how much the lowering blocks and smaller tires dropped it. TOO MUCH!! I'm gonna' add more spring to the front anyways, so that'll raise the front about an inch and a half. I'll swap the 2" lowering blocks for some 1" units and that'll put it where I want it. The steering is really light and smooth!! I'm tickled with how it turned out. It rolls easy and the tires don't squeak on the painted floor, so I reckon the alignment is close.
I need a flat poly groove crankshaft pulley, (six groove) to make my alternator setup work. The only thing I can find is a *&%$^## billet one!! >:( Any suggestions?? I could use one of those Gilmer drive kits and be really weird, I guess.
Anyhow!! Here's some pictures of it sitting on the floor for the first time in months!! 48" to the top of the roof!! 4" at the lowest point on the car.
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I had a follow up with the shoulder doc this morning to check on the recent shoulder overhaul. It was scheduled for late in the morning, so I figured I'd run around and pick up some little items that will finish five or six different parts of the car. I bet you I drove 100 miles all over Nashville looking for things like ADEL clamps and spirol pins and flare adapters!! STILL haven't found the adel clamps I really wanted, but what I found can be made to work. It IS a Rat after all. Right??
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Yup it's a rat and a dang good looking one.
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I got the fuel tank sorted out and the new sending unit installed. I hole sawed a hole in the quarter panel for the filler neck and got it all lined up and I extended the pickup in the tank. A new filler neck hose and a fuel filter in line is all I lack there.
Mounted the trans. cooler to the frame and finished the plumbing. No rubber lines at all and NO compression fittings!! It's all in steel 5/16" tubing and double flared with steel fittings.
Gonna' pick up the last of the parts to finish the suspension tomorrow after physical therapy and a few odds and ends to complete several other systems that lack a clamp or a hose or something.
I also knocked off all of the scale and heavy rust from the grill shell and laid a couple of coats of rust inhibitor/primer on to get it ready for some paint and a screen in the grill hole. I should have it mounted tomorrow and I'll make a pair of rods to run from the firewall to the grill shell.
New pics this weekend and maybe some from Redneck Rumble too!!
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Looks good! I drove through Lebanon to get the truck I'm building now. To bad Redneck Rumble is the same time as The Rod Run this year.
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That thing is seriously radical! Heck of a blind spot out the right rear quarter; be careful changing lanes!
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That thing is seriously radical! Heck of a blind spot out the right rear quarter; be careful changing lanes!
I kinda noticed that myself. I am going to make the back window a little larger and I like big mirrors. It had a pair of little motorcycle mirrors on it and I don't want to put truck mirrors hanging off of the doors, but I'll find something a little more usable and probably one of those "objects are closer" mirrors on the right side.
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Got the filler neck and hose for the gas tank all worked out and installed this morning and sealed and tightened the sending unit. If I can find an AC Delco GF 439 filter that somebody doesn't want $75.00 for, I can finish the fuel system. Otherwise, I'll hafta' put one of those Speedway inline filters that you wash out when it get dirty on it. I'm going to have two short pieces of 3/8" rubber hose on the entire fuel system, each about 2" long. One at the tank pickup and one on the delivery line that connects to the carb.
I re-did my front spring. It was weak and the car sat too low.I added some new leaves and replaced the tie bolt and the U-bolts that hold it to the spring perch. I gained a total of 2 1/4" at the front and it's a good bit stiffer. Gonna raise the back end an inch tomorrow and start on brackets for the rear shocks.
While I had the front spring off, I decided to finish up the grill shell and get it mounted. It's much easier if that spring is out of the way. I added a piece of expanded steel to stiffen up the shell and put some regular screen wire in front of that for looks. Painted the screen and expanded steel black and hit the shell with some cast blast. It kinda' matches the headlight buckets which are raw aluminum.
Anyhow, here's some pics of the days endeavors.
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Looking good 8)
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Daing' you be doing well, looks good, sure hope the welds are good on the wishbone spring mount.
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Daing' you be doing well, looks good, sure hope the welds are good on the wishbone spring mount.
Yeah, the spring perch is on there really good. That weld isn't really as ugly as it appears in the picture. It was done while my shoulder was torn up and my hand wasn't real steady, but the penetration is good and the bottom side is solid too.
I actually wreckered it about 150 miles on the front wheels with the old front end under it. This front end will be much easier on everything.
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I finally got the ride hight and rake like I wanted them. I was gonna' pull the lowering blocks out and replace them with one inch blocks, but something told me to put it on the floor before I went to all of that trouble. Glad I'm done with that thrash!!!
I pulled the seats and made and installed seatbelt brackets for five point harnesses. I don't know why I'm doing it, but the prices ain't bad for new ones and I think it'll look cool.
Tell me what you think of the stance.
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That stance looks awesome. Great job.
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Not much in pics to show, but I got all of the brake, transmission, and fuel lines secured to the frame and the radiator installed. I even made brackets to hold the rubber brake lines to the rear of the frame and to the axle. I put a drive shaft loop in the front floorboard and it will double as a mount for the shifter. I dropped the pan on the transmission and changed filter and fluid. The pan was free of metal and only needed a good rinsing out before I re-installed it. It's supposed to be a good one bout I didn't see it run or drive it. It WAS free!!
I had a band gig last night and didn't work on it today. I may try to finish the new spring clamps I'm making tomorrow. There's a jam session down in Nashville tomorrow afternoon and I've been invited to sit in and sing, so it may be Tuesday before I get back to work.
The shoulder rehab is coming along well, but it takes two mornings a week and it takes a lot out of me.
If you take the word "therapist" and break it up it becomes "the rapist"!! Them cute little gals that handle my rehab will make you cry, "MOMMY" sometimes!! :o :P
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Lol about the therapist, hilarious. Glad you are still moving forward on your build.
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I wanted to replace the leaf spring clamps on the rear end with something I can mount a shock bracket on and that is stout enough to not twist or flex. I found some nice ones 3/8" thick and reasonably priced at $29.99 which I didn't think was too bad considering I am still recovering from the shoulder surgery and I wouldn't have to do all the drilling and welding. Well!! They wanted $20.00+ to ship 'em to me' didn't offer a less expensive choice like Flat Rate USPS, and it would take four or five days to get them. NO SALE!!
My Metals supplier sold me two plates 3/8" thick, cut to the size I need and had 'em ready in 45 minutes. UNDER $10.00 and I went ahead and drilled 'em and I'll weld up the shock brackets later this morning when I get back to the shop. It ain't that I'm cheap, I just don't see paying two thirds of the cost of something like this to get it shipped to me. USPS Flat Rate would have bee $7.95 and it would have arrived in two days!!
RANT MODE OFF!!
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That shipping price is horrible. Probably making a few bucks off the shipping, not just the part.
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That was what I kinda' figured too.
I got the lower shock mounts and the spring clamps welded together and painted and installed. I started on the upper shock mounts and the welder decided to mess up. I got a little frustrated and stepped off for the evening.
Has anyone besides me run into Japanese steel that didn't weld good?? There are parts of this NISSAN truck frame that no matter how well I clean and prep them the welds are uglier than I like and the arc seems hard to strike. I'm not the greatest welder around but it seems that when I get to certain import frames and suspension pieces that it doesn't look as good as I am accustomed to.
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Sadly some frames are just garbage metal. Bout all you can do is try to use a torch and heat up the metal, burning out some of the garbage.
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Well! I finally got those upper shock brackets welded in. I hit 'em with a torch for a second or two and then a hotter setting and more wire speed. They STILL ain't pretty, but they work great.
I had a good weekend last weekend at the shooting match and made a few extra RAT ROD BUCKS. So now with the rear suspension all worked out,I'm taking the car to the muffler shop tomorrow to get the tubing bent for the cooling system. With the radiator in the rear I'm not wanting to run hoses from front to rear. I also got a new water pump and a trick thermostat housing that I can fill the system through.
It has a radiator cap flange, three fittings for temp senders and heater hose nipples, and it's reversible. You can have the main return outlet aimed any of four directions as needed buy turning or flipping the main body and it has a recovery tube on the cap flange.
I also got a manually operated line lock to use for a parking brake. Next week I'll get the new seat belts and the transmission and driveshaft tunnels in and put the seats and shifter in and re-do the rear brake line for the new parking brake set-up.
Now, in the morning I've gotta get it onto the tow dolly and get it into town, pick up two sections of seamless tubing and get to the muffler shop. Hopefully it will all go as planned.
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Well................................it didn't go as planned!! The driver for the O'Rielly truck didn't drop off the pipe sections last night and they were half way back to Springfield, Mo. by the time we tracked them down. My parts guy was really pissed about it and I heard him giving the delivery guys HELL on the phone. I was able to find what I needed on the other side of Nashville, so an hour and a half and half a tank of gas and I had the car back on the dolly and headed home by noon. I'll put up pics tomorrow or Sunday when I get it back on my rack.
My new T-stat parts and parking brake pieces got here today, a day early, and so now I can finish both the cooling system and the brake system completely this coming week.
I stopped by the alignment shop that I've used for thirty years on the way home and my specialist said it looked good and that toe in and centering the axle and the steering wheel might be all it needs. I DID bend the left side wishbone mount when I got into a bad spot and the dolly ramp caught the bracket and tweaked it inward under the car. I'll gusset both of them after I get it bent back out.
Tomorrow I hafta' get my wife a new tail light assembly for her Sportster and we're going to a wedding tomorrow afternoon. Don't look like I'll be working on the project tomorrow.
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I got the bent wishbone bracket repaired, but the lift is occupied so I'll hafta' wait 'til they get the clutch back in the pickup that resides there to get the gussets welded on. When I get it back on the rack I'll take some pics of the new cooling pipes too!
I got the new water pump painted and installed and I'm going to pick up a new lower radiator hose and clamps tomorrow to finish that. The T-stat housing is installed with a gutted thermostat and new bolts. It has outlets for two temp switches and a heater hose in the front side that I'll use to control my cooling fans. I found switches that turn on at 175 and 200 degrees that will screw right in and work perfectly! I'm planning to drop the new cooling pipes out and lay a couple coats of paint on 'em so they won't be as likely to rust or corrode and then finish the installation and be done with the cooling system.
I finally took pictures of the radiator mounting and location. I'll need to louver the trunk lid when I get it built. I may find me an old A/C unit and pirate the louvered panels to make a deck lid.
Anyhow, here's some pics of stuff I got done the last few days.
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That looks good.
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Switches are ordered to control fans. I stripped the right side of the engine and cleaned and painted it. The header gasket should be here in a day or two and I'll pull the header and manifold and freeze plugs and paint that side, install new freeze plugs, paint that side of the engine, and do a final paint and install on the header/manifold.
I like this "Cast Blast" engine paint. I painted the water pump yesterday and you couldn't tell it from raw cast iron. With the valve cover stripped and polished or bead blasted and the distributor housing back to natural aluminum it ought to make a clean attractive look.
The new hoses and clamps finish the water pump install and I've looped the heater hose for now and I'll run the heater hoses when I get one of those nostalgia heaters in a month or two.
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Looking good!
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[attach=1]I got several pieces ordered today including seat belts. I'm putting full tilt racing harnesses in it, mostly because they are better than the usual crap you'd get in a regular cage,and 'cause they'll look cool! 8)
The metal shop completed my tunnel parts and I picked them up today. Made me a temporary break/roll shaper out of a piece of 6" well casing, a pair of C clamps, and the edge of the work table. The local metal shop doesn't roll anything and it's a half a day round trip and money I don't have to spare to get it done otherwise, so I got creative. I do have paint and undercoating and a tube of good caulking so I can finish off the floorboard inside and out tomorrow!! Pics below........
Several other parts should be here tomorrow and I've got the stuff here already to finish the parking brake and do an oil change, (I'm going to find out if the big dump truck oil filter will clear the frame. If it will I can run and extra qt. of oil.) on the engine. Also expecting the header gasket and some odds and ends to finish up the left side of the engine. I WANT to find a serpentine crank pulley that fits flat up against the harmonic balancer. If I can find that I can run a serpentine belt for the water pump and alternator. There are other options but I think it would look neat. Anybody that can tell me where to find one without buying some stinkin' billet piece will be greatly appreciated!!!
I also found a neat looking heater for the car. It's made in the states and it looks retro enough to fit right in. I'll hafta' wait 'til I get paid again to afford it, but I know what to look for now! It's a Maradyne model 4000. 13,200 btus and a two speed fan with three directional vents.
Okay!! Now some photos!!
That first pic is the well casing I used to roll the tunnel stuff. Worked GREAT!!!
The last two pics show part of the cooling system. Those 1 1/2" pipes ain't exhaust!! Those are the lines for coolant to and from the radiator that's mounted in the trunk.
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Wow, very nice.
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I HATE waiting for UPS and FED-EX!!! They're always six or seven O'clock getting to me with deliveries!! >:( >:( >:(
So!! Two hours later the oops man finally shows up!! Got the header reinstalled and started into installing the new seat belts. NO DAMN BOLTS!!! I've never bought a set of racing harnesses that didn't come with the bolts. Those guys are so conscious of litigation that they generally put their own bolts in so's somebody doesn't grab common bolts and have them break in a wreck. Not this time!! So in the morning I'll pick up a set of grade eight bolts and nuts etc.....
Gotta' go pick up a 250 six cylinder and three speed tranny I bough tonight for a $100.00 bill. Came out of a running truck and it has all the pulleys and an alternator bracket along with the harmonic balancer. Those are the pieces I need to button up the engine.
It DOES have room for the big oil filter!!!
I got the shifter mounted and hooked up too. Pics tomorrow when I get the seats and belts and all in!
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Once again, the best laid plans................
Got out early this morning to make the trip for the 250 six cylinder. Turned out to be stripped. No pulleys, the balancer was damaged, and no brackets either. HELL!! Even the side linkage on the transmission had been taken off!! I did get over to see a buddy's '52 Studebaker pickup project, so the 150 miles wasn't totally wasted. Worse still, I got caught in a wreck and had to sit in traffic making a whole eight miles in a little over an hour.
While I was sitting in traffic I went ahead and ordered the balancer and picked it up on my circuitous route home. After a while, you just quit putting off spending money and just bite the bullet.
By the time I finally made it home, my knee was hurting so bad that I just laid down and propped it up!!
I'll get the seats and the balancer installed tomorrow and maybe get the car up on the rack again.
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I hate making a wasted trip.
Just had knee surgery myself, just a clean out type job, should be a lot better than it was.
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I'm putting off replacement on my doctor's advice. Steady but mostly slow degeneration of the joint due to a lot of old damage and arthritic attack. Right now I'm able to get by with a steroid shot about every four months. I was doing it every three months but I'm not a big fan of steroids and I can handle the last couple of weeks of discomfort between treatments.
I'll be okay in a couple of days and I can use my knee brace 'till Tuesday when the next shot is scheduled.
Us old farts hafta' go through rehab more often when we refuse to act like old fogies. I'm finishing up successful shoulder repair and rehab now. I've found that if you do what you're told in rehab, you recover much quicker!
obama!! Do what they tell you! Get better quicker!!
I'll be back in the shop in the morning after rehab!! I got several pieces that I want to get put on and the rack is open so's I can get more finished. It's gonna' look good with the seats installed and the engine buttoned up tomorrow night.
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It's been good day! I got out of therapy feeling pretty good. Stopped at the parts house for some nuts and washers and a couple of studs to finish the header install.
They were supposed to have a couple cans of trunk paint for me but it wasn't on the morning truck. Stopped by Tractor Supply for some small implement clips and some cotter keys. I managed to get to the shop before 10:30 and fell right in on installing the seat belts and seats. That took the rest of the morning, but it sure does look better to me with the seats and stuff all in. Got the shifter all adjusted and the header all tightened and ready for a fire up.
Pulled the T-stat housing back off and tapped out the 1/4" pipe holes to 3/8" pipe and installed the fan switches and reinstalled the housing. With that the cooling system is ready for coolant. I'm thinking about the new waterless cooling fluid, but I want to check it out a little more before I commit to the extra cost and the labor involved. Any of you fellers had any experience with it??
After the knee doctor visit in the morning, I'll install the new harmonic balancer and the pulleys and maybe get the alternator mounted.
Y'all don't get skeered when you see that old fart in the seat pictures. I don't know who the hell he is!! Looks a little like my dad did years ago.
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What old fart? looking good, do like the T-housing.
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Looking good. Seats look good too. :P
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I got the balancer on with a new front seal. I used to have a balancer installer tool 'til someone stole a bunch of my tools out of the race trailer. I never bothered to replace it because I wasn't racing anymore. So today I went to three shops before I found one. I get to the shop, pull the old hub, (Those old 4 bangers didn't have a real balancer, but one from a six cylinder works and improves performance.) and proceed to install the balancer and there's no threads in the end of the crank, just a center mark drilled into the end. There's not enough room to drill and tap, so I install the balancer the old fashioned way. I tap it on part way with a deadblow hammer and drive it on the rest of the way with my air chisel and a piece of half inch steel plate. Looks good and now I've got the alternator mount roughed in and the alternator mounted. A V-belt will drive the water pump and a poly-groove belt will run the alternator off of the water pump.
Gotta' take tomorrow off to take the wife for her tests and doctor's visit. I WILL get to pick up the belts and some trunk paint on the way home tomorrow.
I hope it'll be running and driving by Thanksgiving. Wiring and Doors are the big stuff that's left.
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Just read thru your build. Looks Awesome and I learned some more stuff I may use on mine. 8) Really luv the home built 4 barrel intake!!
Keep the progress pics coming.
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Got the belts for the water pump and alternator trial fitted. Gonna' work just fine!! I started on picking up tools and cleaning shop and got an inspiration.
I set in on finishing the cowl/windshield posts. I love the cutting and fitting and welding, but sometimes a project just doesn't call out to me, and I usually do these things in a binge like manner. I should be able to finish the windshield frame and inside of the posts tomorrow. Most of the worst part got done today.
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Looks awesome
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I almost have the windshield/cowl posts finished. I put bottoms on the outside of the posts and got the driver's side post boxed in from roof to floorboard. All welded up and capped the back side under the car, I ground and sanded all the joints and made a piece to go inside the windshield frame for a sealing flange on that side too. It all fastens to the dashboard frame as well.
I did all the patching and welding on the passenger side except for the piece inside the windshield frame. I'll make that in the morning, get it welded in and then grind and sand all the joints on that side. I'm using a rust killing paint on the old steel inside and then coating the whole thing with trunk paint.
I won't get to work on it again after that 'til Tuesday. I have a band gig tomorrow night and I ain't likely to get home before daylight Sunday, then I have to meet the guy who has the canvas for my roof on Monday!!
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So I went to the shop Saturday morning and finished welding and grinding the passenger side windshield post. It was all done before noon and the shop cleaned up and all of the tools put away. Tomorrow's plans have changed and I'll go finish the alternator brackets and maybe start on the driver's door. We ain't even talking' about the passenger side door!! That one will take a couple or three days at least.
While I took a break on Friday, I made a list of all of the things that still need to be done and it came to fourteen, I think. I got two of 'em done by lunchtime yesterday.
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Awesome, getting really close.
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i wish i new you needed a fuel sending unit, i ordered one from summit, it was shipped from factory, they shorted me the float and float arm. when i called they said keep it we'll send another one. well again from the factory, this time they sent me a whole case of them, i tried to call and tell em, they acted like i was accuseing them of something, got real defenceive. so now i got 6 extra. if you were a little closer i would love to lend a hand .
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The new unit for that specific tank was less then $50.00 shipping and all. They have a gauge made for it as well.
I got a good start on the driver's door today. I repaired the front frame and removed what was left of the old hinges. The guy who cut the door down got the window frame all crooked and apparently he cut it too small as well because there was a piece welded in where he cut it too short. The back end of the window opening was more than 1/4" smaller than the front and the uprights were offset so badly that the top of the door was 1/2" farther back than the lower half of the post. I've got most of it squared back up, but the welder broke this afternoon and I'll have to go to Nashville in the morning for parts.
I got inner panels drawn up and sent to the metal shop to be bent and shaped. When I get back to the shop I should be able to form up and finish the door itself and maybe even get it hung tomorrow.
I lost an hour or more trying to repair the welder and I worked to the point where I can go no further 'til it's fixed.
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Get me a tank of Argon while your in town LOL
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;) :P I broke a piece on my MiG gun. It's an old LINDE 160 that's been totally discontinued. There's a machine shop that repairs welders and the guy says he has the stuff to fix it. I'll have to leave here about 6:30 in the morning to get there before the guy goes out on a service call.
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Your making progress, good luck with the welder. Iv'e done the need to do list before, it helps, but it also grows sometimes.
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Thanks for the thought!!
It took a couple of hours, but we got parts made up to fix the welder. $45.00 ain't bad. He ordered me a new complete MiG gun but it'll be a couple of weeks because they have to custom make one for this old unit. I HATE the gun that's on it and a new Tweeco style gun will be a treat to use!!
It took about ten minutes to get it all put back together and I stopped on the way home and picked up the metal for that raggedy driver's door. It ain't raggedy now!! I fixed the rest of the window frame and filled in where some idjit cut it up trying to make suicide doors and failed miserably!! Then I added a bottom inside panel and an inside piece to mount a door latch and a window strap, replaced all of the reinforcement that the door wizard hacked out and put some new metal in where the window had been butchered. I still need to put in a vertical brace between the top and bottom inner panels, but I ran out of time this afternoon.
I took a set of barn door hinges and bent 'em to match what the original hinges kinda' looked like and I've figured out how to jig them up so they hang right and swing freely. I figure I can have both doors hung by first of the week if I don't get sidetracked this weekend too much. I gotta' make a run down to the gun range tomorrow to help a friend move his trailer and take down a tent. Most of tomorrow is shot, but it looks like I got nothin' the rest of the weekend!!
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Nice job on the doors, lots room left in that shop.
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Wow, those look awesome.
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Nice job on the doors, lots room left in that shop.
Thanks for the encouraging words!!
The shop HAS to stay somewhat cleared out. The owner is a friend of mine and he lets me use the shop for free so long as I keep it cleaned up and secured. He wants somebody there kinda' regularly so's he don't get broke into and ripped off. His stuff takes first priority, but I can do most anything that we can move aside if needed. The space I'm using IS dedicated to my projects!!
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Well, I got the driver's door hinged and rough hung. My run to the gun range got postponed because my buddy's truck sprung an axle leak and he won't get it back 'til Monday. I lack a few gussets and some filler pieces on the hinge side and I had to cut the frame on the back edge of the door. It has a little too much bow in it from top to bottom. My jig to line up the hinges really worked better than I'd hoped. The door swings free and there's no bind in the hinges.
My volume gauge on the gas regulator is messed up and I didn't know I was about to run out of argo-mix. When it ran out I had just finished tacking in the bottom hinge. I'll pick up a fresh bottle in the morning and finish up that door. Gonna' get a fresh roll of wire too!!!
When I discovered that I could no longer put stuff together, I cut the passenger door apart. It was unmolested and in need of a 4 3/4" chop and it needed to be shortened 1 3/4" to fit the door opening. It's all cut down except one piece of the door frame. It will also need about six inches of new skin on the bottom, but I may let that wait for a while! The door looks just about gnarly rat enough to do! This door doesn't match the other one. It's a '28/'29 Model A door. The other one apparently isn't a Ford door at all!! It ain't a '30/'31 and it ain't a later model either!! The original hinges don't match up to the original Dodge hinges on the windshield posts so I'm wondering what the HELL it is!! The pics I have on this post probably won't help. Like I said the back edge was too curved to match the '28 Ford door post and I had to straighten what was a fairly intact inner frame.
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I got the wire and the gas for the welder and met my lawyer at his house to follow him to the shop. He has a hot Mustang that needed some rear brake line repairs. He fell in on the 'Stang while I put the welder back together and back to work. I got my pass. side door all cut down, the window chopped, the entire door narrowed front to rear, and all reassembled and welded up. I still have to remove and replace the door hinges and hang it. I'll have to finish both front door posts with a nice finished edge and I gotta' come yup with a pair of latches, but I jigged it up tonight before I came home and it fits pretty good!! First time ol' Lockjaw has had a passenger door since I bought it!!
It'll swing tomorrow!! Pics below.
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Very nice work on this. I really like that intake and sideways holley sitting up there. It makes me think of my edelbrock spider intake on my 402. I know its hard to keep taking pictures while working. I was doing that on my 52 Chevy build but thank you for sharing. Its inspiring to see all these cool builds. ;D
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Thanks! I got the old hinges removed and the new ones built and ready to install, but the guy that owns the shop had to help another of our friends fix his Nissan SUV and had the gas tank out and open. Not a good time to be welding and grinding!! I cleaned up my stuff and took the rest of the day off!!
I got medical events the next two days and probably won't get back to it 'til late morning Tuesday. You never can tell though. I might try to get a little work done tomorrow night. The DVR works and the wife will be busy at school tomorrow night.
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Very nice.
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The foot doctor's office called me when I was half way to town this morning and canceled. The doctor is sick. I'm getting ready to go finish that pass. side door and get it on the car!!
I found a boat port hole that I think will make a great back window!! Even swings out on hinges! Can you say "Opera Coupe?" Sure! I knew you could!! 8) 8) 8) :P
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Like it!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I got that door swingin' and adjusted pretty close. I'm gonna' hafta' fake in some new door frame edges. Those old windshield/cowl posts were really warped and rotted, and they're made for the dodge doors. The gaps on the front of the doors are ENORMOUS! Particularly the pass. side door. A model A and a Dodge were NOT shaped the same!! I'll make 'em look like they were made for the doors on the car.
I welded in a center brace in the driver's door tying the two new panels together. That REALLY stiffened up that old door a bunch!! I'll have to wait 'til Friday, (payday) to get the parts for the door posts, but I have a bunch of other stuff to do in the meantime to keep me busy.
I posted a question in the BS thread asking what this door is. The first few pics are of that door. I could use any identifying info for future reference.
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Yep .... looks like a door to me .... I would just do the best I could and go with it. That's the beauty of this rat rod thing ... ain't gotta be perfect.
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Yep .... looks like a door to me .... I would just do the best I could and go with it. That's the beauty of this rat rod thing ... ain't gotta be perfect.
That's what makes it perfect!! 8) 8) 8)
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My grandson was off from school for a half day today. I picked him up at school and took him with me to the shop to see Lockjaw and hang out for a while. We turned the car around and got it on the rack so I can pull the coolant pipes and get them painted. He can ALMOST push the car by himself and he's just seven years old.
Anyway, he got bored after a while and we came back to the house, but I did get a picture of him beside the car. He's the same height as the car. 49"
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Nice pic, wicked car.
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Proud grandson, that's awesome.
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I got the pipes for the cooling system pulled and painted today. Figure I'll let 'em dry overnight.
I got the pieces to finish the front door posts and started on them. The pass. side was the worst so I set in on it first. I had to notch it around the top hinge so it would lay flat and then I trimmed off as much excess sheet metal as I could to help keep it from warping as much as possible. I clamped it at the top and went down the post with self tapping sheet metal screws to hold it in place while I tacked it all together. Turned out pretty nice. Got a neat gap all the way down the door edge and I got it all welded in and most of it ground. Tomorrow I'll finish the grinding and weld it on the inside in a few places and then I can do the driver's side. The first two pics are after. The next one is before.
I'll hang the coolant pipes back on and maybe fill it with antifreeze. I look to get several things done on it this weekend. Getting close to firing it up!! I've waited on starting it 'til I could put coolant in it. I want to run it and check out the transmission and this carburetor so that if either needs anything, I can have it done while I wire up the car.
Thanksgiving is getting closer and closer!!
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Wow, really nice job
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Got the driver's side done today and put the coolant pipes back on the car. I learned a thing or two on the pass. side and the driver's side turned out much better!! I ordered the back window this morning and it should be here by next Wednesday. I'm making wedges to reinforce the bottom hinges on both doors. These barn hinges have UHMV plastic bushings in them and you have to cool the welds quickly or the bushings will melt!! So far so good!! I'll finish the door posts tomorrow and get some paint on them and I'm going to fill the door posts and the spaces in the cowl where I have several separate spaces between panels with Great Stuff to insulate and deaden some sound. I'll get the cowl area all sealed up and caulked and we can let the upholstery begin.
I'm toying with the idea of lowering the grill some more. It sits higher than the top of the cowl and it looks swaybacked to me. I AM going to lower the headlights about 2 1/2" by making pockets for them to drop into.
It's getting down to the wiring and a few odds and ends like windows and door latches.
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Looks like you are staying busy and getting things done! I hope you meet your goal of thanksgiving!
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I took some time today to clean up and straighten the shop and I laid in some fuel for the heaters. When I got back from taking the wife shopping, I took the antifreeze I bought and some clean rags over to the shop.
With the radiator in the back and not quite up as high as the engine, I was worried about getting the cooling system full without getting an air lock. I put the front axle on the lift and raised the front of the car up to where the thermostat housing was much higher than the radiator, removed the upper hose and poured antifreeze into the hose running it into the radiator at the rear and then back to the lower hose and into the water pump and finally into the block and head. It took 3 1/2 gallons of antifreeze o fill it up!
Then I got a wild hair and drug out my spare battery and some cables. I ran a jumper wire to the fuel pump and primed up the carb. It leaks. The gaskets have dried out and so have the accelerator pumps. I waited a few minutes and they slowed down to a slow seep. I checked the oil and transmission fluid and tried to crank it. It spun over but no smoke!! Checked ignition and found loose wires on the coil, points and starter solenoid. Cleaned that up and pulled #1 plug to check timing. 90 degrees out!! Set the points and rewired the cao and hit it again. Timing too high!! Backed up the distributor and hit it again. SMOKE!! FIRE!! NOISE!! Adjusted the carb and set the idle. It took a little while to clean off the #2 spark plug, but it smoothed out and idled nice. I shut it down and checked over everything. Carb still seeping a little, the oil sender leaks a little and the valve cover leaks was well. All of this is small stuff for a junkyard engine and a home made intake and header.
I fired it back up and let it idle for a minute. It idled smooth and when I cracked the throttle it revved quick and smooth. It was on the rack, up off of the ground so I stuck the shifter down in reverse. Clunk! It dropped right in and the wheels went backward with enthusiasm. Neutral! It all coasted to a halt. There is just a little drag in the rear brakes, new shoes and everything. Ratcheted it down into drive. Clunk! It took low gear and the wheels commenced to spinning forward smoothly. I revved it up and it shifted up through the gears like a champ!! Junkyard tranny is good too!!!
I'm feeling like I hit the lottery tonight!! A carb kit, an oil pressure gauge and installation kit, and a valve cover gasket and I can fall in on the wiring!! As far as it goes, I can run a battery cable and temporary wires for the fans and fuel pump and I can test drive the little varmint!!
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Woo Hoo Glad to hear you got it to fire and run You'll be cruising Nashville in no time!!
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That is freaking awesome. Congrats.
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That's is one neat ride.
iPhone sent this was
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Thanks Rab!! I got the new back window today. I've decided to take it out of the hinged frame. It's just too bulky and awkward. I got the carburetor kit and valve cover gasket for Lockjaw today and ordered temp and oil pressure gauges as well as paint to touch up where the carb leaked. I'll pick up that stuff tomorrow and get battery cables and transmission fluid too.
I also got the block and crank for the Jeep FC ready to pick up tomorrow. Went by the machine shop and paid it off and checked the work. MARVELOUS!! Zero deck height, full align bore, crank internal balanced, (it's a 400 SBC) rotating assembly fitted, balanced, and trued to the deck, wrist pin holes fitted for floating pins, pistons plasma coated on the skirts, block bored and honed with deck plates, 6.10" rods shot peened and magnafluxed!! The cam boss is machined for hardened shims and a roller bearing.
Went with my mom today to pick up a truck to replace her raggedassed Camry, so that ongoing pain in my posterior is finally ended!!
All in all a good day. By Thursday, i'll be able to get back on the project at hand full time!!
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So I drove it down to the corner store this afternoon. It's only about 3/4 of a mile round trip. I just couldn't help myself!! ::) ::) ;D ;D 8)
It doesn't stumble or stall, drag or bottom out, and it steers and stops fine. The seat is too high! It's like lookin' out of a mail slot, which I expected, but I can't see far enough down the road to drive comfortably. I'll cut down the mounts and lower it a couple of inches and lean it back a couple of degrees tomorrow.
I forgot that the fans weren't hooked up, but it never offered to overheat and I ran it in the shop for a good while. I think the cooling system will be fine. It sounds like a V8 when it idles. I didn't have latches in the doors, so I didn't thrash it when I got out on the road, but when I get it all tuned and adjusted and the front end aligned it orta' be a hoot to drive!!
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CONGRATS, Brother! 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Yep .... I feel ya ... nothing like that first drive
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Thanks fellers!! I pulled the intake and header and cleaned it up and repainted it. It had streaks all over it from where the accelerator pumps and fuel inlet gaskets leaked when I first put fuel to it. I rebuilt the carb this morning and was ready to reinstall it when I found one of those danged nylon fuel inlet gaskets had pushed out from under it's fitting. nobody has one in town, but O'Riely's says they'll have 'em here by ten in the morning. This thing is a NASCAR edition 390 cfm four barrel double pumper. I bought it for $150.00 delivered and it has the trick red quick change gaskets and the bowl bolt gaskets and several other things were set up for frequent tuning. These are way WAY better than the stuff in the Edelbrock kit!! This thing is likely worth about $800.00 tuned and tricked out like it is.
Found a broke header stud in the front hole on the head and ended up spending an hour getting it drilled and pulled out. New stud threaded right in and it's all back together. The "JESUS!!" clip that holds the throttle cable took off for who knows where, but I've got some of those squirreled away.
Cleaned and painted the valve cover and replaced the gasket. Found a broken bolt there too. This one drilled out and backed out in about ten minutes. Took longer to find a replacement bolt in the junk drawer!!
I started to install the new oil pressure gauge and discovered that the installation kit doesn't have a fitting small enough to connect the compression fitting onto it. The gauge is a 100 pounder and would be ridiculous in this old engine so I'll go and swap it for a sixty pounder when I pick up the gaskets.
My lawyer buddy is coming over to help tomorrow. We may just get some fun stuff done!!
Edit: The inlet gaskets from O'Rielly are the metal reinforced ones. Always use these when you build a Holley!! The nylon ones are TOTALLY unreliable and if I'd had anything else I'd have NEVER used them!!
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Two really productive days!! Got the inlet gaskets in and installed. After a little setback, I got the fuel system complete. The setback was a cracked fuel filter housing and it went from bad to worse before I got it done. We took the filter body off and I was removing the inlet and outlet fitting to swap them over into the new filter. When I tried to remove the outlet fitting, the wrench just rolled right off, bending the threaded part of the flare connection. No way I could straighten it, so I had to drive to town this morning and get a new one. (Brass is getting ridiculously expensive!) Anyway, I got it finished this morning.
I lowered the driver's seat as mentioned in the last post. Two inches and a little rear tilt and the vision problems are 'bout gone. My lawyer buddy reinstalled the seat belts and now I can see much better!
I finally took the grill shell off and made it so that it fits a couple of inches lower. That took that swaybacked look away from any side view. Jeff, the lawyer buddy, laced the screen wire to the expanded steel and helped tidy up the whole grill appearance. A little paint touchup and it'll look great!!
We dropped the headlight assemblies about two inches too.I made two cups that fit under the headlight/shock brackets at the headlight mounting holes. I welded bottoms onto them and then welded the cups to the underside of the mounting brackets. Then we opened up the old mounting holes so that the bezel mount stalks would drop through into the cup and then bolt through the bottom of the cup. The whole car looks a foot lower with the grill and headlights moved down.
NEXT!!! I going to redo the battery box!! The damned new battery isn't worth a tinkers damn!! On further review, it's too much trouble to pull the radiator out of the way to service the battery. I'm changing the battery box so that the battery can be easily serviced or replaced from the bottom!
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I like the view from the inside Kool man!
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My buddy, Jeff, took that picture. I sit a little taller than that, so my line of sight is slightly lower. I can see up to the top of the fifth panel on the garage door which works out to about 5+ feet. It WAS a much lower line of sight before I lowered the driver's seat.
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Looking good glad you got to drive it!
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Got a ways more to go, but it's good to know it'll work!!
Thanks, holis!! Means something comin' from you!!!
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That's turning out real nice. It's amazing what reclining a seat can do for headroom or vision problems.
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Got the battery pulled out, the box modified, and the new battery installed and tested. The side post battery was too wide to go in where the old battery was, so I had to redo the box and turn the battery longways beside the frame. Took a while, but now it'll be much easier to service or replace the battery.
We got the rear window cleaned up and ready to go in. I'll install it tomorrow and we'll have the car where it starts from the seat too!!
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i had to take a couple days off 'cause I bashed my left knee. Knocked out a chunk of meat and it has refused to heal up properly. Finally got back to the shop for a while today and ran a good temporary start and run harness for the car. I didn't last too long. The parts for several operations are here and tomorrow I'll get to some of them.
The back glass is ready to install, the steel for the rear section of the car is laying in the floor, I've got wire and connectors and heat shrink, and I have dashboard material and some of the gauges. Plenty to do. Just hafta' work it so I'm not messing up the old body parts,(me, my hide and my joints) any worse than they are already!!
Pics tomorrow when I get a few things done.
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I got to spend a little time in the shop today. The kid that rents the house on the property is moving out, so I had to move some stuff around and store the landlords mower and some equipment the kid had borrowed.
I got the upper bracket and wiring on the alternator done in between trips to town and rearranging the shop. Took the alternator with me to find out which circuits were used and had it tested while I was there. It puts out 14.8 volts at peak and uses only a switched 12V exciter circuit. It's a 130 amp unit. Orta' do everything I want to do, even if I decide to hang Air Conditioning on it next summer!
Just the one pic today. I'll get to work on it all day tomorrow. I'm REALLY looking forward to that!!
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So yesterday, I got the rear electrical harness laid out and the engine run harness as well. I'll have to put the split loom on them, crimp and solder all the terminals on and secure all of the harness to the frame and body. Picked up terminals and got wire for the front harness and trans and brake light switches today, but I've been sidetracked the rest of the day. I'll have to pirate the plugs off of my donor Astro for the transmission lockup cancel and speedo sensor.
Probably won't get back to it 'til Monday 'cause I'm helping out my lawyer buddy on his old Mustang Mach I tomorrow.
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Good to have a lawyer on your side sometimes.
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Y'all have read about me and my lawyer buddy. He's been indispensable to me the last few years, helping with my disability claim and just being around to help in general. I try to pay him back by showing him stuff that I know and by turning a critical bolt or two for him when he needs me to.
He has an old Mustang Mach 1 that he's been fixing up for years, almost as long as I've known him. We built a stroker Cleveland engine for him, making about 650 at the flywheel and it's hooked to a TreMec 5 spd. and a 9" rear end with a 4.10:1 Detroit Locker. It needs real good slicks to hook it up and on street tires you can light up the back ones launching in third gear.
Anyhow, we've dropped the whole car and we're sorting out the brake system right now. I spent the day over at his place today, and I'm putting up a few pics of the car here, especially for hotwheels since he's a little down in the dumps. It ain't very "RAT", but it's purty cool!!
I'll be back on the coupe tomorrow!!
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I'm not a ford guy but that's a nice car!
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Wow, both of those are awesome. Love the Mach 1.
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I started putting ends on some of the harness today. After looking at the plugs on the cooling fans, I decided to drop another hot wire to the fans. They have #12 wire going into the plugs and that tells me that the fans may draw heavy amperage on start-up. I had planed to run one hot and split the grounds to the two separate switches I've got to control them. Better safe than sorry!!
Nobody in town has grey #12 stranded copper wire!! Go figure!! I had to order on e-bay to avoid having to buy 100' feet of the stuff! I wouldn't likely use that much in ten years!
I quit this evening because the soldering iron my lawyer loaned me won't melt low temp solder on wire bigger than #14. Went to my son's house and got my big Weller 450 watt....... OOOH OOOH OOOH!! Power is GOOOOOOD!!!
Tomorrow I'll put the side post terminals on the battery cables, finish soldering the fan circuits, re-install the battery, (had to remove it to get to the old fan harness) and wire the fuel gauge. I'll pull the temporary run harness and get the full rear electrical harness and the engine harness pulled through the firewall.
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Got the back window installed and it looks good. The plugs for the ignition switch are split with one end for run circuits and the other for fused circuits. I have the run circuits all soldered in and the wire for the fused circuits arrived this afternoon. I got the cooling fans wired and checked out. MAN!! They sure move a lot of air!! I'll do a little more soldering and splicing tomorrow.
I've got the new side post battery cable system completed and it looks stout and clean. I'll take a couple of pics for y'all in a day or two.
I've found a wiring diagram to work with the turn signal switch. If I can figure out how to incorporate my turn signal with the outside LEDs in the headlights, it'll be really cool.
I'm also looking for a diagram to turn the torque converter clutch off when I hit the brake. I had this one hanging on a hook at the shop and some dumbass threw it away. If anybody has one and can tell me which pin in the tranny plug to use, I'd be eternally grateful!!!
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Right on, wiring is where allot of people give up. Awesome work.
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Yea I hate wiring if it's something small I'm ok but rather take beating than wire much. You sound like you've got it figured out!
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Back in 1979 I went to work as a line mechanic working on commission off of the flat rate book. I made a great living, but electrical was the boogie man in my skill set. My boss was smart about that kind of stuff and took me under his wing. I graduated to high end handicapped vans and cars and got some serious schooling from different parts of the industry. The final years of my gainful employment involved wiring custom tour busses for a major bus company in the entertainment industry. We even built the black busses you see the president riding around in.
I always liked welding and fabrication the best, but wiring is not that far down on the list after engines and suspension and going really really fast.
I still struggle with some of the more exotic wiring tricks and I'm not really all that fast, but I don't have to pay to have it done and that makes my wife very happy. And if she's happy, I GET TO KEEP PLAYING!!! :P :P 8)
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U got it goin on!!!! 8) Ur on the down hill side of this project.
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Thanks, Skinny!!
How's your project(s) comin'??
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Slow, really slow. Maybe get more time after the Hoildays is over. Thanks for asking.
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Got my fuse panel today. Took the seller four days to get it shipped and then the USPS sent it from Iowa to Maryland and finally to Nashville!!
Go figure!! I'll get to spend some time tomorrow soldering in the circuits I have already pulled and maybe get the headlights and the brake lights and turn signals.
I been lollygagging for too long ('bout a week now) and I wanna' get some stuff done. I have plenty of stuff I can do on it and it's time I got my A$$ moving!!
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Well that was the shortest route, lol. Glad you got it.
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USPS must spend all the budgeted moneys for 2015 or they"ll get a smaller budget for 2016 and wont need as much tax $$$. LOL
What type, brand, and size solder do you use? I have a tough time gettin some solders to flow right.
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I use low temp rosin core solder and a 450 watt Weller gun. Mostly I use radio and electronics solder for it's extra low temp and high conductivity qualities. It is a little more flexible, and with that big gun it flows quickly so I seldom have insulation melting or oxidation problems.
I'll add this for others who don't handle wiring often or have just ventured into electrical. NEVER use acid core solder on ANYTHING electrical. It is highly corrosive and you can't ever clean it up enough!!
Also!! if you have 'em, use heat sincs when working around switches, relays, and delicate items!!
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Spent a little time on the headlight wiring today, but got interrupted by a busted parking brake cable and some plumbing on the rear brakes on that ol' Mach1 Mustang.
Lawyer buddy shot a little video of Lockjaw while we were moving cars around. I'll post it when he gets it edited.
Anyway, I got a couple of good stills of the Mach1
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Good lookin car. 8)
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Really like that Mach 1
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We took it out and drove some miles on it today!! That big stroked Cleveland has got some muscle. Used it as a parts runner for the day.
We got into the wiring on Lockjaw pretty heavy. Most of the turn signal harness is complete. Wired up the headlights and parking lights and got 'em on a switch and wired the headlights through the column dimmer switch. Works GREAT!! I'll spend the daylight hours tomorrow cleaning up some harness issues and start on the fuse panel. It has eight fuses, four that are switched from the ignition switch and four that a live all of the time. I also have several unfused circuits run for stuff I don't want quitting no mater what!!
The door latches arrived today. They're in the wife's car and I'm gonna' go out and get 'em in a few minutes and have a good look at them. In the pictures they look a lot like the ones that came on some old '20s and '30s cars. What they're made for is dozer or tractor cab doors, so we're gonna' see here in a few!!
Only one pic tonight, but I like it!
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Gonna' take tomorrow night and spend some time with Jeff the lawyer and me and the wife will entertain a little.
Planning on watching Alabama and Michigan State tomorrow night!!
ROLL TIDE!!!
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ROLL TIDE
Hey I did it right
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ROLL TIDE
Hey I did it right
Man O Man!! Did they EVER!!!
and thanks for your support!! 8) :P 8)
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I did a first trial fit on the door latches today. Gonna' work fine!! Almost the same as originals!!
I figured out how to make the front turn signals work with the LED parking lights and use the column switch. It'll take three relays to make it work, but I can just flip the turn signal switch and it goes blinky-blinky!! With the parking lights on, a relay for each direction will cancel the outside LED in front each time the signal flasher switches on. With the lights off a third relay will supply power to the directional relays and the outside LEDs will light up when the flasher switches on.
WhenI get a chance I'll draw up a diagram.
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That sounds kewl.
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I got a bunch more of the wiring figured out and run today, including the torque converter clutch disconnect for the brakes. All I lack is that set of relays I ordered Monday. The vendor said fast free shipping, but they didn't ship 'em 'til last, (Thursday) night!! >:(
I guess they'll get here Saturday while I'm at the Motorama car show down in Murfreesboro. I'll finish up the wiring Monday or Tuesday and have one more thing to check off of the list!!
I ran out of electrical stuff that I could complete, so I started on the dashboard. My metal guy donated me a piece of polished diamond plate aluminum that is big enough to make a nice dash and have a few scraps left over for little brackets or trim accents. I bent a 90 in the top 4" wide and folded the ends to go the width of the car. I laid out a pattern to cut the excess away and leave me a neat, retro looking dashboard. I cut out the slot for the steering column and I was able to test fit it before I had to leave the shop for the day. If I feel like fooling with it Sunday, I'll finish cutting out the bottom side and maybe bore holes for the gauges.
I'm tired this evening!! I got a pic of the dash panel on the first test fit. Gotta' rest up for tomorrow!! Wanna' be feelin' sporty tomorrow for the car show!!
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WELLLLLL, the Motorama wasn't all that impressive. There were a few quality Rat Rods and some nice street machines, a whole bunch of new store-bought 4WD pickups with all of the bolt-on stuff you can imagine, and a bunch of roughly average motorcycles. I did score a couple of Model A outside door handles. Both of 'em are for the passenger side door, but they're very clean and I ain't opposed to putting one on the driver's side upside down 'til I can find one like I want.
I left my phone in the car, so no pics on this one, but the light was bad and I was more shopping than spectating.
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I got to the shop this morning and it was right chilly!! Fell in on finishing the fuse panel and the relay pack.
The guy that owns the shop came in with his stepson to replace a hub on the kid's Nissan junker. The kid was amazed at how far ol' Lockjaw has progressed. They were commenting on how much some of the rat rods are bringing these days!!
Anyhow, I got the panel made up and hung in the car on a good solid hinge and I've got most of the circuits completed. I still have to clean up and wire tie some of the wiring and the brake light and speedometer circuits have to be completed. I think I have a bad turn signal switch because there are no hot circuits on the "OUT" side of switch. I got tired and hungry and the Packers game was on, so I'll figure the rest out tomorrow!!
Pics od the new stuff below.
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Turning out well. I like how everything is placed. U have put some thought into it.
edit; fixed spelling; I had replied with my phone and it didn't turn out very well. lol
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Thanks! I'm trying!!!
I don't have it ALL sorted out yet, but if it's laid out right, it makes it simpler to sort out.
I HATE trying to sort through a dozen wires to find out what's wrong. I'm writing out a color code and I'll label the fuses when it's finished. All of it will fold up behind the dash, out of the way when I'm done.
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Have you considered lowering your headlights? To me they just look too high; maybe lower them to no higher than the top of the grill??? Just a thought...
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Yeah! About the headlights. They are actually barge lights from an inter-coastal waterway barge! They're mounted as low as the shock towers will allow without butchering the towers badly. I did drop them into pockets to lower them 2". When it's on the ground they are pretty low and the grill shell is dropped lower to line up with the overall line of the car.
Being a little higher does give them better range down the road at night, plus I'm thinking about adding driving lights low on the frame and set inside the width of the grill.
I HAVE had the thought that they would look better lower, but as the build has progressed, I'm getting to like the look more and more. They ARE different!! :P :P 8)
I got a bunch further with the wiring today. I'm thinking I'll have to go to turn signal and 4-Way flashers made for LED or low resistance lights. There doesn't seem to be enough load in the front light system to make them flash. When I get the dash lights finished and wired in I'll know more about where I am.
When I ran out of materials for the wiring, I went back to work on the dash board. I found jig-saw blades that will cut aluminum without galling up and making a mess of the material. 17 tooth per inch wide set tooth pattern let me cut the entire four foot length of the dash without changing or breaking a blade. I still used a little WD40 on the blade once in a while, but not nearly as much as usual.
I hung it in the car temporarily and got an idea of where to put which gauges and the headlight switch.
Pics below
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Just a thought; a friend and I were recently discussing this on his '23 Chevy coupe and he was stressing about raising them just a couple of inches and his were about in the middle of his grill - I have to agree with him although he did raise them just a little and they look great!
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On the turn signals ... we had LED front turn signals .... hard time making them work ... my brother made a turn signal module with four relays ... works perfect .... just google "turn signal converter with relays".
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Thanks,Bob!
I have a similar relay system on the car. I think the problem is that I have extreme duty flashers in the system. I get paid tomorrow and I'll put some light duty or no load flashers in the system and try them. I've already jumped the flashers and the circuits work as designed. I'm wiring in the brake light switch and the torque converter cancel circuits today and the speedo plug is supposed to be here tomorrow, (my donor car didn't have the speedo plug).
I'm wanting to test the fourth gear switch and the TCC, but it's too dang cold to take the car out with no windows on a day like this. I may just try it on the lift when my son get's off from work this evening. I don't like to do stuff like that when I'm by myself. You never know what might go haywire.
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Big smile this evening!!
Got the turn signals and 4 way flashers working today, along with the brake lights and the TCC cancel circuit!! I even got the brake light, speedo, and torque converter clutch circuits all in loom and secured permanently. I switched to LED tail light bulbs and picked up a pair of solid state flashers to replace the heavy duty mechanical flashers I thought were needed.
HA HA!! You ought to hear all those relays clacking when I flip the turn signal switch! Even a deaf old Rocker like me will hear 'em goin' down the road!! ;D :P 8)
I went back and tidied up the under dash wiring and secured the main harness with some screw down wire ties. I don't think I'll try to put all of the under dash stuff into loom. I'd have to buy four or five different sizes to make it all work and you can't see any of it when the dash is installed anyhow!!
Tomorrow I hafta' put brakes on the wife's Honda. Won't take much more than an hour, so maybe I'll get into installing the tail lights and finishing the rear valence.
For now, it's pizza and the Green Bay game!! :P
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Awesome man, hopefully you'll be able to throw a video up of the lights working.
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I'll try to get my son to take some video . My lawyer buddy got a video of the car running around in the lot outside the shop, but he hasn't posted it yet.
I think I'll go over to the shop and fiddle around with that back valance and the tail lights.
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SWEET!! 8)
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Schweet. Looking forward to the pics.
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Sounds like it's almost done to me! The dash will hide a lot of the wiring for sure I like to tie all mine up with wire ties if I can.
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That's my thought!! Make it neat and tidy, but leave it to where I can get into the harness without having to strip a bunch of loom out to do it.
The mailman dropped off the side-view mirrors off while ago, I found an outfit to cut me a windshield for less than $50.00, I've got a guy working on the info for a title, and I've found most of the little stuff to put it on the road as a driver.
Do any of y'all know if those wiper kits can be shortened up enough to work with a 10" windshield?? Mine is only 10 1/2" tall and they show those wiper arms being 11" long and the wiper blade at 9". I figure I can modify the arm, but if it's easy to shorten up, I could really appreciate something simple for a change!! :P :P :P
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This is a really popular set up: http://www.honestcharley.com/hot-rod-parts/windshield-wipers/shorty-wiper-arm-6-inch.html (http://www.honestcharley.com/hot-rod-parts/windshield-wipers/shorty-wiper-arm-6-inch.html)
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That's PERFECT!! I'll order that with the next paycheck!!
Thanks, hotwheels!!!
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I've been sidetracked the last few days by weather. The driveway to the shop is almost a foot deep in snow with a sheet of ice under it. It's a ten foot rise in forty feet up to the road level and I'm not willing to get down in there and get stuck.
The dash indicator lights are here which will let me complete the headlight, turn signals, and four way flasher circuits. The speedo is in town and USPS will deliver it Monday along with the new air cleaner assembly. I'll pick up some more fuel for the heaters and probably spend most of the day down there Monday.
I still haven't finished the tail light mounting yet and I want to shoot the inside of the bezels with chrome paint to let 'em shine a little brighter. Why in HELL would anyone paint the inside of a light assembly black?? The teardrop Ford tail lights are small already. They need to be bright, especially in the daytime!!
Also!! I found and outfit that'll make me a laminated glass windshield for around $50.00!! And they're local!
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That weather slows everyone down. Y'all got hammered out there. I'm on the east side, we got bout 7"
What you lack after the wiring is done?
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Great price on the windshield. That's about what my glass guy was charging for custom cuts.
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That weather slows everyone down. Y'all got hammered out there. I'm on the east side, we got bout 7"
What you lack after the wiring is done?
I gotta' get the windows cut and put in and the door latches and handles mounted and adjusted. I'm in the process of getting it titled and should have tags on it by the middle of next month. A heater and windshield wiper are high on the priority list as well, but I can get by without everything but the door latches. I've already road tested it. It doesn't stall or get hot and it stops and steers well. All of the controls function well and it has all of the forward gears a good neutral and a solid reverse. You whack the throttle twice and it starts and idles from cold start. I'm gonna' get a muffler for it and a rear view mirror.
Like I said!! When I get the door latches and the dash done, it's gonna' hit the road!!
We got roughly 8" here at the house with drifts up to a foot and a half!!
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Finally got back to the shop today to do some work. I had run by a couple of times to make sure all was well. Anyhow, I got the last of the gauges while the weather was bad, so while I was in town today getting tires put on the wife's Honda, I picked up a new hole saw and some hardware. I didn't have a 2 1/2" to make the hole for the oil pressure gauge and I needed some fresh hardware to mount the door latches to the doors.
The dash still needs holes drilled for the headlight switch and the high beam and turn signal indicators and I'll have to wire all of the gauges and lights and stuff. If I feel better than this tomorrow, I'll probably get the dash installed and maybe get started on the door latches.
And YEAH!! The tach don't match!! What of it??? :P :P
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nice job on the dash. I like the gauge placement also.
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[attach=1]I spent the day and most of yesterday enlarging the fender wells on the Mach1. It will now take a 30" tall 12" wide tire and we got it all sealed up and undercoated. He can put the rest of the interior in tomorrow and it's done!!
I got the dash for Lockjaw wired and mostly assembled. I broke the bulb for the high beam indicator and had to go to the next town to get a replacement, but I got it and got the light repaired. I lack putting spade connectors on the turn signal and high beam indicators, the fuel gauge, the dash 12v feed, and the speedo input so that the dash can be easily removed for service. We're planning on installing it tomorrow. Oh yeah!! Gotta' punch two holes for defroster vents.
I also assembled the air cleaner assembly and put it on the car for the first time. Orta' be good for a few chins hitting the ground!! :P :P :P
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:o 8) 8) Sweet!!
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Got sidetracked finishing up the Mustang today. I DID get the last of the electrical on the dash finished. I got ready to put it in the car and found that they'd left one of the fittings for the oil pressure gauge out of the kit. I didn't feel like driving to town to get one so I fel in on cleaning up the shop and getting some pieces made for the back end of the car.
I'll go to town in the morning and get the fitting. After that, it'll take about an hour to install it and I can move on to other stuff!!
I kept looking at the car while I danced with broom and all of a sudden I got this IDEA!! Check out the pics below!! :P 8) :P 8)
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That looks really good. The height is perfect.
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Got the dash final assembled and installed today. The gas gauge will need some fiddling to get it close to accurate and the speedo will have to be calibrated, but its neat and tight and it all works. The car idles at 500 rpm and holds 35 lbs oil pressure at operating temp. I ran it for thirty minutes and it only turned on the low temp fan. It only ever reached 180 degrees. It'll need a coolant recovery bottle, (we have a recently emptied Bulliet Bourbon bottle as the number one candidate) and hose. It only heat soaked to 190 after I shut it off.
I cut the raggedy bottom 3" section of the rear quarters off and replaced it with a piece of 1"X3" rectangular tubing from one rear fender opening to the other. Looks SOOOO much better and I can actually make it a lightweight bumper. I'll install and wire the tail lights tomorrow and finish welding up the new metal!!
It's been a good day.
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looks good. How did you roll the tubing?
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I finished up the rear valance and installed the tail lights. To make the bends I sliced the tubing several times on one 3" side and through the 1" sides about halfway. I bent the tubing to the shape I wanted and then welded the slices back together. I'll take a pic and post it next time I'm down at the shop.
I said last post that I need a coolant recovery bottle. My lawyer buddy came up with a Bulliet Bourbon bottle and we installed it in the grill shell today. I'll post a pic or two of that tomorrow too.
We made a pattern for the windshield and finished fastening the dashboard in. We also wrapped and secured much of the wiring harness under the car and inside the front frame. There are a bunch if nit-picky little things that we got out of the way today. We're planning on a little body work and the door latches tomorrow.
Another good day!!
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Looking good. I like the tail lights 8)
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Here's a picture of how I bent that rectangular tubing. I still have a little work to do back there, but it's getting there.
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That helps. Thanks for taking the time to educate me.
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Got it down off of the rack today. I reworked the passenger door to clear the dashboard when closed. It was interfering where the window reveal extended to the window track. I shortened it and cut a recess in the front edge of inner door.
Lawyer buddy decided he wanted to start on the body work where I had to repair welds in the roof that cracked when I squared up the cab and door openings. He's got it looking pretty good for only having cut it with a bondo file. Said I could't take pics 'til he got a little farther along. The guy who started this project had the body all sorts of twisted up and he bondoed over several perfectly good body lines with a TERRIBLE mess of filler!! We won't make it perfect, but he is intent on cleaning up and reclaiming some of those lines.
While he was doing the bondo thing, I set in on the door latches. I had to tie the doors shut when I test drove it. The striker pockets aren't in the right place to work with the latches I bought. A Model door latches were nearly $150.00 bucks each most places and used ones were not to be had. I used some nice dozer cab door latches that were less than $25.00 each!!! I decided to make strikers out of steel angle and mount the latch assemblies to the inside of the doors. Cutting up the doors more just didn't make sense and this looks more rat besides. The outside door handles are in the stock location and the doors close like a vault!!
Gonna' take tomorrow off and track down a few pieces to secure the windshield and make defroster ducts in the dash. Title stuff is in the works and the list of stuff to do is getting shorter and shorter!!!
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Lookin good
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Looks really good....
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I got the muffler for the header yesterday. I chased all over for some parts and fasteners for the windshield, delivered the pattern to the glass shop, and came back and installed the muffler. It's a little too loud and doesn't smooth out the exhaust note, so I ordered another disc to go in it and batch of stainless packing. It'll be here Tuesday and I'll be done with another item on the punch list.
I went out today to mail off the last of the title stuff and pick up the new windshield. Me and the wife did our Valentine's Day stuff today, so I didn't get much done today. I already know I gotta' replace the tach! It crapped out before the car was out the door the other day! It's new and warranteed, so all I gotta do is get it out and take it back, but I'll have to pull the dash to get to the wiring!! >:(
We're straightening up the shop tomorrow and I'll get the tach out and get a first test fit on the new windshield. Probably even get the new tach installed!!
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We drove the little varmint around a little today. Lawyer buddy shot some video and this time he promised to do it on YouTube. The after drive walk around is already up and I'm hoping the other one will be up soon.
It had a little caster wobble at low speed once. I already have an appointment with the alignment shop just in case of this possibility. Had a small coolant leak too. Only showed up when we got back to the shop and had to wait for the door to open. The alternator isn't charging either, but I think it's just a matter of getting it triggered properly.
Anyhow, it was a fun drive. Perhaps a little short, but it turned a few heads!!
Got the wiper motor and arm and blade ordered. It should be here Monday, and I got the muffler installed with the third baffle ring and packing. Sounds better!!
The address for the first video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NboHKYdhd3Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NboHKYdhd3Y)
I'll add the other one here when he gets it up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6pRSEtGykg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6pRSEtGykg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0R4DqHev4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0R4DqHev4)
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Awesome doesn't it feel good to finally get to enjoy all the hard work you put in!!
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You got that right!!
Gonna' try to get the windows and windshield installed this week. Today is doctor day. Ortho and foot doctor vsits this morning, and then over to Lebanon, TN to pick up a C4 Corvette front end for the CJ5 project.
Title guy says middle of March for new title and state furnished VIN number, so driving it legally is still down the road, but my dealership buddy says if I need to move it around, (which I do) to come and get his dealer tag.
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Congrats on it all coming together. I liked the vids. Felt like I was riding along.
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Got some little stuff knocked out today. I've been putting off patching the cowl where somebody widened it, but I din't want to be welding there after I install the windshield, so I finally broke down and made a patch and installed it. Now I can calk the under side of the cowl where it mates to the windshield frame.
We found a big high spot in the roof while we were preparing for the fake canvas top section. I tried dropping it down with a hammer and a 2x4 but it wouldn't do right, so I whacked it with a big hammer and just like I figured, it cracked at the seam and filler flew everywhere. Today, I ground out the filler and cut into the seam. Then I welded it back up like I wanted it. A little less filler this time and it'll be looking good!!
While I was running around yesterday, I picked up the Lexan I needed for the side windows and tomorrow I'm going to start installing the windshield and the quarter windows. I still need a couple of pieces of window track before I can do the door windows. Maybe by the weekend I'll have those too.
My antifreeze leak was a bad hose clamp which I replaced today. I'll get a couple more hose clamps and double up on the two connections under the car and another gallon of antifreeze to top the system back off.
The windshield wiper kit showed up today. I don't much like the puny little wiper blade, but the rest of it looks great!! I'll order a better wiper blade after I get it all set up. The kit ain't bad for $50.00
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Nice
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First test fit on the windshield was perfect. I'll probably install it tomorrow after I finish making a pair of hold-down clips for it. I took the faulty tach back and got my money back. They didn't have one like I wanted, so I found one and mail ordered it. I had to make a new harness extension for the new tach so it can plug in
The weather is turning off cold again, so I'll pick up fuel for the heaters in the morning and something to drink besides water and spend the day tomorrow knocking out the punch list I made before I left there this evening.
Right now....................... I need a nap!!! :P :P :P
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I got the hold-down clamps for the windshield made. I used riv-nuts in the windshield post to bolt them to. The windshield is in and the bottom three sides are caulked and rough trimmed. I'll caulk the top edge tomorrow. I have to tape off the inside top of the frame and then trim out the outside top for a finished look.
I mounted the wiper motor and checked the radius of the wiper blade swing. JUST RIGHT!!!
I may start on the quarter windows tomorrow too. The grill support rods are cleaned up and ready to paint. I can finish them tomorrow too.
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What is the wiper motor from? You have any more info on the wiper set up? Those brackets look really good. How exactly is that set up? The brackets on the pillars bolt to a bracket on the windshield frame?
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The wiper motor is from Honest Charley. This one was $50.00 plus shipping. Includes wiper arm and blade. I ain't impressed with the blade, but the rest is really nice!! You supply a switch, (I'm gonna' use the one on the column with a little creative wiring) and they give you a simple wiring diagram. It's all polished stainless!! It also comes with a grommet and rubber washer, a stainless cup shape washer and a stainless nut along with a neat little seal to cover the end of the shaft and support tube. You DO have to cut the shaft and tube to the right length!! EASY!!!
The brackets are really a clamping device to hold the windshield back against the frame. I used a blind nut insert called a "riv-nut" and drilled the windshield posts oversize so they could be inserted and then I make a tool out of a couple of washers and a nut and bolt the appropriate size to crimp them in. The fourth picture down shows the riv-nut installed. I made the clamps, (brackets) out of 1/8" sheet metal and drilled and bent them to apply tension to the glass when I tighten the allen bolts. I can trim the edge of the clamp if I need less tension and I can bend it a little more if I need to tighten it up. I'm going to make a pair of insulators out of 1/8" plastic air hose to go between the metal clamp edge and the glass. Just split a short section of the hose and slide it over the edge of the clamp.
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Cars looks awsome love the intake
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Looking good making good progress looks like!
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Dude got Skills. Its coming to gather nice.
You may be ready for the Coker Tire/Honest Charley car show April 2
We goin to try an be there driving Clifford down
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Pretty close to finished with the windshield. A little more curing time on the sealer and I can final trim the edges. Got the wiper motor mounted and the blade and arm assembled. These little fellers only swing about ninety degrees so I'm waiting until I hook up the switch before I tighten the arm to the wiper shaft.
I cut a pattern and laid out the Lexan for the quarter windows and cut and installed them. Again, I'll wait a couple of days to do the final trim out on these was well.
While I was getting the CJ5 project organized I found a pair of grill support rods that I'm not using on that project, so I made a couple of angle iron brackets and adapted the rods to Lockjaw. I welded them to the grill shell and bolted them up to the firewall with a pair of carriage bolts. Worked out great!!
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Thanks for the info and I may try that bracket set up on a 32 Hudson windshield frame
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I spotted something similar on an old car years ago!! Mine are hardly as graceful as the originals, but I'll tell you anything you need to know as far as materials or whatever.
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I got the replacement tach Saturday while I was over at the shop. I didn't even bother to open the box. Bad mistake!! It's a nice piece but there are NO instructions for wiring or setting the number of cylinders. I went to the manufacturer's website and they're not showing anything. Okay...... I'll wait 'til Monday and call the vendor.
In the meantime, I get the holes in the dash cut for the defroster vents, we fixed a couple of dents in the roof and I added two extra hose clamps to the coolant tubes in the rear of the car.
We spent some time on the Mach1 where lawyer buddy overdid a test drive and tore up some little stuff.
This is where it gets good!! On Monday I make a couple of other calls and I send a message to the vendor about the tach!! I then look at the shipping info and receipt and there's a phone number for customer service! I dial up the number and a real nice guy answers the phone. I explain my problem and he proceeds to direct me to their website, walks me through the information and instructions tabs and leads me right to the needed info, which he says I should copy and keep. This is the kind of service that EVERYBODY should provide!!
Southern Rods is top shelf!! southernrods.com and I'm ordering their catalog in the morning!!!
Got the tach, dash, and defroster vents installed in no time this morning and ran the wires and set the blade on the wiper motor. Special Note!! Those wiper motors only swing about 90 degrees!! Keep this in mind when you look at these kits!!
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Wow, that turned out nice.
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Great job! Looin really good.
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Got an appointment tomorrow with my alignment shop. These guys have done all my work for nearly thirty years, including some drag cars that ran in the low 200 mph range. i figure they can handle a little rusty four-banger. The caster wobble will be dealt with and we'll get everything centered, adjusted, and squared up!!
I finished wiring the wiper and got the wiring all tucked away!! I also attacked the driver's side quarter panel. The guy who originally tried to build this thing had no clue about squaring anything up or making things symmetrical. I've fixed a bunch of stuff that just couldn't be made to work otherwise and done some small stuff just 'cause I could. This quarter panel has bugged me every time I looked at it for more than a year now, (Have I really been working on this thing this long????) but it wasn't critical making it run and drive. It was welded to the back of the cab totally crooked and had a ridiculous curve where it rolled over to the trunk lid. I was ready to walk out and go home about 1:00 this afternoon when I turned to look at the car. The next thing I knew, I was slicing down the top of the quarter with a jig saw and draggin' out the body tools!! Walked out at 5:30 and it's almost done!! Another half hour with the welder and a little "plastic body filler" and we're rockin'!!! 8)
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Good luck with the alignment shop, a lot of them would tell you to go home and change everything to look like a pinto so they can figure it out.
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My guy is old school!! We've collaborated on all sorts of stuff. I did one of the first MustangII drag car front ends in this part of the state back in the late seventies. He helped me sort it all out and the car went straight, stopped straight, and landed straight when it came down after a wheel stand!!
Jeff, the guy that does the work now, learned from his dad when I was first coming to them for repairs. They take their work seriously, and they're familiar with the old stuff.
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:P :P Well!!! The front end is done!! I got most of it right to start with. The toe in was perfect, there was only 3/4" of stagger, and the front and rear ends were on center!! By the time we got the caster set, it needed only three turns out on the left and two turns in on the right wishbone ends to square it up!! The camber was perfect and it took four turns on the drag link sleeve to center the wheel!!
The left kingpin had 15 degrees of caster and the right had 12. It now has 6 degrees on the left and 6 and a 1/2 on the right. We had it squared, but put a half a degree back in the right after the test drive to alleviate a slight pull to the right.
Cost me $65.00. Too Cool in my opinion!!
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nice work for little $$
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Schweet.
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Ready to ride now!
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It's getting down to a bunch of little stuff. Lawyer buddy bough me a window track kit in partial payment for all of the work on his old Mach1. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he insisted. There's the parking brake system, modifying the brake pedal, the rocker panels for the doors, finishing that messed up quarter panel, getting the trunk lid made, louvered, and installed, A final adjustment on the shifter and the kick down cable on the transmission, and another going over for the carb.
On a separate note, that damned Mach1 crushed the spring perches, bent and wrapped the back halves around the axle tubes, broke the rear U-joint and beat the driveshaft U-bolts to a pulp. The rear end rotated over backward about 20 to 30 degrees!! I spent the whole day today chasing down the pieces to fixit and welding on new perches and making heavy gussets and welding them in to keep it from happening again. I'll post some pics tomorrow evening of the damage and the repairs.
You fellers are making my build a whole lot better and tons of fun!!! The tips you guys have provided and the encouragement have been indispensable!!
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I've spent the last two days fixing the damage on the Mach 1!! :'( We got the suspension all repaired on Friday and a short test drive done. It seemed to work okay. When we went to back it out yesterday morning for a real test, it didn't want to take reverse. >:( We shoved it out the door and went to find a nice concrete bridge to see if we could hook it up. We punished the suspension and drivetrain seriously!! All of the repairs worked. Now we had to get it back on the rack and swap the transmission out. The 5 speed Tremec came out and a T&C Ford top loader 4 speed went in. The Tremec has a bent reverse shifter fork and some of the internals don't look too healthy.
I'm taking the day off today and it's back to Lockjaw tomorrow!! I got window track and other stuff to play with!! I DID get Lockjaw outside for a while!!! :P :P I stuck the little air filter on it 'cause it's been raining and I HATE polishing out all that aluminum when it gets dirty!!
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Those pics outside look awesome.
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My apologies for slowing Blackwater down as I'm the jackass that busted up my Mach 1.
Sometimes he just has mad skills, other times I could swear I see steam coming out of his ears. The little coupe is a neat project and his attention to detail throughout is way to nice to think of as rat.
Now if it were a true rat rod, he would have let me do the wiring!
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Welcome to the nation Jeff, lots of guys around here don't like doing wiring, but we do carry fire extinguishers.
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So I got the brake pedal reworked. It's an inch and a half longer, laid back a couple of inches, and the pedal plate is now at a better angle. It feels tons better!! I also installed the hydraulic parking brake valve and lines. I put it right beside the driver's seat between the seat and the body, attached to the floor.
I fixed a tiny pinhole in the oil pan. I kept getting a drip after a hard run on the engine and a smokey mess on the header. Yesterday I happened to look up at the pan while the car was on the rack. I'd just driven it around the yard so I could back it into the shop, and there it was!! A tiny drip of oil that seemingly had no origin. When I wiped it off, the drip came back and showed me the spot!!
I replaced a faulty temp gauge and did some more tidying up under the dash.
Jeff came over this evening and helped me bleed the brakes, adjust the shifter, and adjust the TV cable on the transmission. All of those are things that are really a pain if you don't have a pressure bleeder for the brakes and it's nearly impossible to adjust those cables by yourself.
Tomorrow I get to order the last of the pieces for the doorways and the window tracks, and when I get done here I'm going to order the replacement panel for the bottom of the passenger door!!
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All of the pieces are in the works or on the way. Callenjr81 has louvered a trunk lid for me and it's really nice looking at the pics!!
I have all of the body parts drawn up and my metal guy says they'll be ready to pick up sometime Monday.
One thing I don't understand. Why is it you can only buy door patch panels in pairs??? >:( I had to buy a door for the passenger side of the car. The door on the left had a nice, solid skin, but the new door was rusted out at the bottom on the outside. I could use one panel if anyone would sell one, but I bought two because nobody would sell me just one. I also need a garnish molding for the driver's door where the bottom of the window meets the upholstery. I DON'T NEED TWO!!! I'll have to pay over a hundred bucks to get just one 'cause they don't sell singles!!!
I'm gonna' try to find one used. maybe there'll be one at some of the swap meets coming up. I did see a pair, actually a whole set for a Tudor on evil-bay. If they don't go NUTS bidding I may place a bid next Thursday when it's about to close.
I also decided to add a transmission crossmember, even though the engine and tranny are on motor plates. I have it all fabbed up except for a couple of pass through sleeves in the tubing where the bolts that fasten it to the frame go through. I'll finish it up tomorrow and get some paint on it.
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I went hardware shopping this morning and then to the shop. New steel line to hook up my vacuum advance and a perfect grommet to go in the hole where the wiring harness passes through. I found and installed some slugs to finish up my transmission crossmember and slicked it up and painted it. I removed the alternator so's I can get it checked out and figure why I got no charge!!
I bought some plastic tubing to make cushions for my windshield clamps. I cut and split the tubing and put it on the clamps where they contact the windshield. I was tightening the last bolt and THE DAMNED WINDSHIELD CRACKED!!!
I'll be off to the glass shop in the morning for another windshield. Glad I decided to keep the pattern!!
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I got the rocker panels done today and I installed that transmission crossmember. I also got started on patching the passenger door.
The driver's side door is finished, frame and all. I do need to install the window and track, but I figure to get all of the welding done so I can re-install the alternator and replace the busted windshield. I did stumble onto an original sun visor from a '30 Model A and Callenjr81 made me a new trunk lid skin that'll be here tomorrow while I'm gone!!
I taking the weekend off to go shooting!! I play cowboy from time to time with real guns and real ammo, and this weekend is the start of a new season for me. I haven't shot in competition since last July when I had my rotator cuff rebuilt, so this will be interesting!!
Anyhow!! Here's some pics!!
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I put the carb in the shop to get it dialed back a little. It had some weeping at idle in the secondary and the accelerator pump in the secondary occasionally dumped a small drop or two, also at idle. We decided to replace the throttle plate to eliminate a bad piece of linkage and simplify the entire system.
It'll be ready in the morning and I'll have it going tomorrow night. Gonna' try to get the header wrapped this evening and finish the revamp on the plenum chamber.
Lockjaw is now legal!! Got tag and registration today and should receive a new title in a month or so. The vanity tag should be ready in three weeks or thereabouts. Gotta' call my insurance agent too!!
I should be able to do Honest Charley next weekend if the weather is good. I'm not enthused about driving in a bunch of storms and stuff. A little rain, maybe, but not a steady downpour.
I'll put up some new pics tomorrow!!
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That is awesome. Congrats
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SO!! I get home from the shop just before midnight Thursday night and sit down at the computer to do a couple of things. All of a sudden I get this massive head rush!! I've been suffering from severe vertigo ever since. My wife is on spring break, so I got her to drive me over to the carb guy's place to pick up my carburetor. When I wobble back to the car, I suddenly throw up violently and nearly pass out!! Made it home and went to bed for several hours, but I'm still drunker than a cootie.
We spent several hours Saturday at the emergency room while they ran numerous tests. They found NOTHING conclusive even with a CT scan, EKG, and several samples of blood.
I took a big dose of dramamine last night and made it through my band gig with no major problems. A little better now, but I'm still on a BIG cheap drunk!!
Anyway!! Almost everything is at the shop to finish up and it'll take two good days to get it together. Jeff has ripped the driveshaft out of the Mustang. We expect parts midweek and we're upgrading more drivetrain parts. I'm hoping I can muddle through the week and be ready for the Honest Charley show on Saturday, weather permitting.
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Well shit, that sucks. I was getting vertigo a while back and it turned out to be my high blood pressure meds. Are you on anything for blood pressure?
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Yeah. I've laid off of everything the last couple of days. No change. Gonna' go back to the quack's tomorrow afternoon.
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Hope you get well soon
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Get well Buddy
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Jeff is picking me up in the morning and we'll do a little work on Lockjaw and I'll set up his pinion in the new bearing assembly. My problem is only bad when I'm standing and particularly when I walk. Sitting is okay aside from having trouble maintaining a steady gaze for more than a minute at a time.
I have a follow up with my doctor tomorrow afternoon. I've been struggling with my sugar levels for a while and I'm thinking I need to change meds. They have decided that my sugar levels were still within safe levels and that this is likely an inner ear problem. Likely it's a low grade infection, a residual of a head cold I had a few weeks ago.
I'll get through this and I don't think I'm in any real danger, but thanks for the encouragement and well wishes!!
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We got the manifold and header assembled and did some sculpting in the manifold plenum to reduce volume, enhance the flow, and try to improve throttle response. You know how tunnel rams don't work well at low speeds. I may or may not show what we did, depending on how well it works.
I got the license plate holder frenched into the rear panel. It still needs a little trimming up, but I got the result I was after. The whole plate can only be seen from directly behind. You can see some of it from other angles, but not all of it.
I put the carb back on this evening and it works much better. The new linkage is a little quicker to bring in the secondaries, but it seems to be okay. It now idles without going rich and the accelerator squirters don't dribble anymore. We did put smaller squirters and needle and seat assemblies in it and the throttle linkage can be set up to work the TV cable to the tranny without the adapter. That'll make the whole throttle system work easier and smoother too.
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We got Jeff's rear end reassembled this morning. I think it'll be better than ever.
He set in on the passenger side quarter and rooted out about a half a gallon of old body filler and straightened out some of the worst dents. I have trimmed the quarters in front of the wheels and reinforced them with half inch square tubing. It looks a lot better and it's much sturdier.
We removed the old windshield and installed the new one. There is enough good glass left in the old windshield that I MAY have it cut down into a couple of wing windows like the roadsters have and mount them to the front of the doors. Anyhow, the new windshield looks better than the first one.
Jeff says the right quarter will be ready for paint tomorrow and we may get a start on the driver's side. Since I had to forgo the Honest Charley show, I'd like to drive it to a gig I picked up at Highway 12 Motorsports next Saturday. They're having an open house and hired my band as entertainment for the afternoon.
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It'll be ready for primer. Paint would be wasted on Lockjaw.
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It'll be ready for primer. Paint would be wasted on Lockjaw.
YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!!!
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Lookin good I almost gave you a call to swing by and take a look at it when we where goin through Nashville but we where runnin behind
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Callenjr81
Did ya' get to stop and look around or did you have to go on to Gatlinburg??
I live over west of I65 about a half hour, over off of I24. Gimme a call on your way back through if you come this way.
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We did stop in nashiville for about six hrs went to Broadway and checked it out we stayed in cookeville last night then goin to dandridge to look at some property I also heard there is a classic car junkyard in Knoxville would like to check that out if we go back that way I will difentily give you a call there is a 32 ford body in Ohio I might go look at on the way home so might head up that way
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Sounds fun. Wish we could take a road trip. Between staying in a hotel and the dang snow, no traveling up here.
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Jeff busted his butt today!! When I posted that we'd get that quarter in paint today,he took it real serious like. I think he outdid himself!!
I got the window tracks installed and made reinforcements for the split wishbone mounts. I never liked how they looked. Seemed too flimsy, and after an incursion with my car dolly that bent one of em, I've been eyeing 'em with plans to do something to make 'em suit me.
I plan on finishing the windows in the morning and then meeting an old racing buddy of mine that has a metal break and a shrinking tool. We'll finish shaping the trunk lid that Callenjr81 made for me. If all goes well I'll have it on too before the week's out!!
Y'all take a gander at Jeff's quarter panel! He just got promoted from shop monkey first class to MUD MASTER!!!
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Hope it's nothing serious so you can get back to spinning the coupe's wheels instead of the room!
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Awesome and congrats to Jeff on the promotion. Mud monster is a dang important position.
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Lookin good
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LockJaw is lookin Really GOOD. I hope you get to feeling better soon. Spring Rod Run is coming up soon.
goin to dandridge to look at some property I also heard there is a classic car junkyard in Knoxville would like to check that out
Dandridge is getting close to me.
More info on the classic junkyard, Where is located, Name, contact number?
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So!! I'm still dizzy, but I'm starting to improve some.
I got the windows cut out and slid into the tracks. I made bottom stops for both with the stock rubber pads and put them in with screws so they can be removed. That'll make it easy to remove the windows if I need to. Still gotta' make straps and snaps for raising and lowering them.
I decided to replace the tubing around the fender opening on the driver's side. The old one was really crappy and I figured it would break where the nitwit that put it on pieced it together and the welds looked unreliable. WRONG!!! It took an hour for Jeff to cut it off and it came in pieces. Serves him right!! He's the one who convinced me to do it in the first place!!! :P :P I put the new tubing on this morning and it's waaaaay smother looking now! He went to work on the driver's side quarter tonight. It's a lot worse that the passenger's side, but he 's got it looking pretty good already!! I'm glad he likes body work, 'cause I HATE it!!!
I managed to get the trunk lid mounted. It'll need more work to meet the standard Callenjr81 set pressing those louvers in it, but that's a job for another day. May leave it raw!! A little induced "patina" might be the way to go.
I put the alternator back on since I'm through welding.............................I think ::)
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Did the measurements work out good I like how it looks on there
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I'll answer for him-The measurements worked out perfectly. He had plenty of room to fold the edges and shrink the sides to get the proper curvature.
The fit is very nice and while Blackwater will probably tweak the fit a bit the panel you made was outstanding.
When I get the Mustang back on the road, I will eventually make a front belly pan of sorts. I'll need louvers and I will get with you-Having handled your work first hand, I would gladly endorse it.
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Thanks I'm glad it worked out I would gladly help you out when your ready
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I'm lovin' my new trunk lid!! It just sets off the back end of the car!!
Check out my new belt driven window regulator!! :P :P :P
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had to look twice to see what ya did, good work almost looks stock.
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had to look twice to see what ya did, good work almost looks stock.
Thanks! That door is as solid now as my factory door on the other side.
I took ol' Lockjaw out for a drive yesterday. It drives and handles great!! It's geared a little tall for knocking around town, but orta' be a real cool ride on the interstates and highways. It still has bugs to work out. I need to move the inside rear view mirror down and that means it has to move forward to be out of the way when I'm getting in and out. I broke the rod to the rear master cylinder. The parking brake valve wouldn't release, (it works on line pressure) and I tried to push the brake pedal harder to make it work and broke the rod!! I didn't think my old leg was that strong anymore!!!!
I gotta' figure out how to get the cooling system full. I've had to take it apart twice and both times I haven't gotten it all the way full until I raise the front of the car up about four feet so that air that's trapped in the radiator is purged.
All in all, I'm tickled with it. Jeff has got those raggedy quarter panels looking good. They're still rough looking, but most of the old Bondo is gone and ya' won't get scraped or stabbed when you lean on it or run your hand over it.
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Speedway motors and others sell a radiator fill neck that goes inline on your upper radiator hose. Air bleed is fairly easy with them.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Die-Cast-Filler-Neck-1-5-Inch-Hose,9010.html (http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Die-Cast-Filler-Neck-1-5-Inch-Hose,9010.html)
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Speedway motors and others sell a radiator fill neck that goes inline on your upper radiator hose. Air bleed is fairly easy with them.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Die-Cast-Filler-Neck-1-5-Inch-Hose,9010.html ([url]http://http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Die-Cast-Filler-Neck-1-5-Inch-Hose,9010.html[/url])
Good thought, but the hoses connect to the radiator from below. I've got it kinda' figured out. I have to tilt the car up high in the front and fill the system. Then I close the system and fire it up, raise the right rear to roll the air bubble over to that side and it pushes the air forward to the engine when I let it back down. It's not as bad as purging the air out of the old Ford V6s that had the thermostat on the bottom of the timing cover. Some of those could take half a day to get the air out of!!
I also discovered that the ignition timing was way high, (the new balancer has different indexing than the old one). I fixed that Saturday morning, but I haven't tested the car yet. I'll fix the brake tomorrow and go through the purge routine and then take it out again.
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I got it all repaired today. I bypassed the parking brake valve and removed it. i think I've found a suitable replacement, but it'll be next week when I get paid before I can buoy it. The new brake valve will be lever operated. It's raining here today, so I didn't get out and drive it. I did let it run for a half an hour in the shop and it didn't try to get hot. Fingers crossed!!
The title got here over the weekend and I received notice that my personalized license plate has been approved and will be here around the 25th of this month. It'll read LOCKJAW !!!
I can't say enough about Jeff73Mach1 for all his help in trying to get it ready in time for an event last weekend. He more than did his part!!
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awesome personal plate.. great to running. :D
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Those window regulators are cool. Great idea.
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Thanks, guys!! It really is coming together now. I've pretty well figured out the cooling system. It took some real mental gymnastics and a lot of patience to get it cooling, but it stayed on or below 200 degrees all afternoon. I put a 195* thermostat in it and removed the bypass hose I had installed on the heater circuit. I discovered yesterday that with the heater system looped, somewhere between a 1/4 and a 1/3 of the hot coolant can circulate directly back into the engine!! When I add a heater, later, I'll make sure to install a heater control valve. I've always used a gutted thermostat in my hotrods. I never before had an overheating problem doing that. This li'l feller has to have a working thermostat or it WILL overheat!! I drove it about thirty miles total today. No steam, no leaks, no problems. I ain't completely confident yet, but I'm getting there.
I DID find a few more bugs. All are easy fixes. I looked at the gas gauge at one point and noticed it was at half a tank. I thought it wasn't working 'cause when I first got it all running, it showed empty!! I filled up at one point today and it's back to empty!! Wired backwards!! It is hooked up with the ground wire grounded and the gauge wire on the little post that says gauge. Easy fix!!
I moved the rear view mirror forward to the frontest top bow. I need to put some bonding agent of some sort between the bow and the roof to stop the crazy vibration, but the line of sight is much better now.
I need to re-index the wiper. I got caught in the rain and while it does a good job of cleaning the glass, it is only cleaning the area behind the carb and breather and a little to the right of that. Out the left side, you get watetrworld!!
Gonna' cruise the town tomorrow!! Lock up the women and children!!! :P :P :P 8)
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Glad to hear your gettin close its looking real good
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SO!! The gas gauge is wired backward internally!! I switched the wires every way they could be swapped and it only works backward!! I guess you couldn't ask for anything more RAT!! :P
I drove it to town yesterday morning. It got a lot of looks and some serious attention everywhere I stopped. I stayed out all morning and it never offered to overheat and it ran well.
I did a small tune-up as a reward for doing so well. Points, plugs, condenser, and rotor, I changed oil and filter and straightened up a few things.
The turn signal switch has failed. The 4-ways and the brake lights work but the signals don't trigger at all. I reckon I'll go over this morning and pull the steering wheel and check it out today. I did a bunch of these when I mechaniced for a living, so it ain't no real problem, PLUS I can fix the horn button.
I drove it about sixty miles yesterday. I guess you can say it's on the road now!!
I'm gonna' take next week off and loaf!! I deserve a break!!!
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The guage I bought was for a Ford and it works backwards It has a Ford ranger sending unit I was told to switch to a Chevy guage and it would fix mine. I learned how mine works . At 1/2 a tank best be finding a gas station QWIK mine shows empty when full so.... :o
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I took the wife for a ride this evening. She grinned. I'll fill up in the morning and see how much it holds. Sender is for a Jeep Commander.
Got the turn signal switch back working, but it doesn't flash. Swapped flashers with the 4way and it still doesn't flash. I'll figure it out. I hafta' find a couple of little parts for the horn button, but now I know what I'm lookin' for.
I'm gonna' take a couple of days off and relax. Gonna' see if this vertigo is going away.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
We even stopped for some groceries on the way home!!
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Well, I took a little time off. I was a total slug for a few days. The vertigo is STILL kickin'!!
A good friend of mine passed away last Sunday, an old shooting buddy who had played out his string. We knew his time was short, and me and Jeff had planned to visit this last Friday, but he died on Sunday evening, peacefully, surrounded by his folks. The memorial service this last Saturday was attended by at least twenty of us cowboys, Jeff and myself included, dressed if full cowboy regalia and toting full cowboy weaponry. That's the way Red wanted it and we "seen to it'!
I drove Lockjaw to town yesterday for a little sit in gig with some of my musician friends. You'dve thought I landed an airplane in the parking lot from the attention that li'l feller got!! It ran flawlessly!!
So! Today I'm back to doin' the stuff that needs doing and I'm picking up a '64 Galaxy to do some work on. This job will pay for getting my Harley painted!
Do you reckon that old bike qualifies as a rat rod?? It started out as a '79 Lowrider and now it's got pieces from 1945 through 2001 and several things like six speed tranny and 80 spoke wheels on it!! NAAAAAHH!! It's painted slick and has lots of chrome stuff.
BUT NO BILLET!!! 8) 8)
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Well.................
It's official!!!
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That is just way awesome!
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Looks good blackwater glad to hear it's running good and your enjoying it :P
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That's awesome, congrats.
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Like the plate and glad it's running good it's nice to get out and enjoy them after working on them so much!
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Got my pre-entry bonafides for Redneck Rumble today.
Looks like mid seventies and partly sunny for next weekend. Orta' be a good time!!
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Schweet
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That will be awesome
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'Bout ready for Redneck Rumble!! Me and Jeff made a canvas covered roof panel for the car. All of that roof just needed something!! I thought a fake, (for now) sun roof would look kinda' cool, so we spent a couple of nights making a panel that I could fasten down and remove later when I cut the hole back in the roof for real.
I've been trying to figure out how to maintain vacuum for the distributor advance. The little NASCAR carb doesn't have a ported vacuum circuit, so the advance drops out if you hit the accelerator because the only source for vacuum is off of the intake manifold and it works the PCV valve too. I had pulled one of the old plastic vac balls out of my donor Astro, but it looked a little too ordinary and modern for my tastes. Jeff had this neat coolant recovery tank that we haven't found a use for, (Trust me!! We've tried!!) and he stuck it up next to the little 4-banger and it just screamed, "Put me here!!!" So I did. Makes a slick looking vacuum reservoir!!
Gonna' spend a little time tomorrow tidying up a few things and pack a bag and maybe a cooler as well as my chair and some kind of umbrella or shade of some sort. Me and the wife are gonna' spend the night in Lebanon on Friday night and maybe catch the new Captain America movie or just cruise around!!
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Top looks nice
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Top looks nice
Thanks! Jeff worked hard on it and I spent a whole day getting the panel ready to cover. Between the two of us, it ads up to about thirty hours. It's real sail/tent canvas that I sprayed with matte clear and a layer of semi-gloss. We'll see if it holds up!!
I spent the day today getting ready for the weekend! I think I've got everything packed, tidied up, and buttoned down. I'll take as many pics as I can and give y'all a full report sometime late Sunday night or early Monday. I've got a gig with the band on Sunday afternoon, so it depends on when I get home and how tired I am.
Y'all have a safe weekend and make sure to remember your moms!!
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Lockjaw arrived at the show with no major problems. Blackwater reports that he was unable to break anything of any significance.
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Nice I'm hoping to make it down!
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Home again! Home again! Jiggety jig!!
The only mishap was the cheapassed temp switches I used to control the cooling fans BOTH failed before I got to Nashville!! I grounded the fans so they run all the time when the ignition is on and forged ahead.
We even sat in traffic for thirty minutes on the way home and it never offered to overheat.
I HATE that I missed hollisc10 but I DID see the black truck and it really IS a great ride!!
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I run my fans anytime the key is on in the bug and have had no problems. Til now. I just jinxed myself! :P
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We looked all over the vendors' row and I never found a heater assembly I could use. I'd given up and then Jeff walked up and handed me this neat little Allstate heater!! It needs a core, but I've already found a picture list from CarQuest that shows several possibilities.
Even has the right size ports for the defroster vents in my homemade dash!!
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We're gonna' try to make a run with some of my biker friends this weekend. My old Harley won't be ready, so the gang all decided I should take Lockjaw on the trip. I've discovered that one of the master cylinders, (the one for the rear brakes) is bypassing and lets the pedal slowly drift down. I ain't about to try to travel with a pack when the brakes don't work perfect. Luckily, Howe still has some kits for these old cylinders and I was able to acquire a couple. I'll be able to duplicate the kit if I ever need one again. The rubber parts are standard stuff.
Got several hundred miles on the li'l feller and he's doin' good so far.
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Got the master cylinder done this evening. It would have been a breeze if I'd known the new lock ring supplied in the kit was too large for the land it was intended for. I bet I fiddled around for an hour before before I got around to comparing the old ring to the new one. DAMMIT!!! :P :P :P
Sure made a huge difference in the brakes!! 8)
We're taking a little day trip tomorrow!! The wife retired Friday at noon and we're getting out with friends to celebrate a little!!
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I got a little side tracked this last week. The trip was great and Lockjaw performed admirably. Absolutely no problems as far as driving, starting, stopping or anything. BUT!! A bus picked up a rock in front of us on the last leg coming home and broke the globe on the left headlight. I'll have a hell of a time finding one of those globes, so I bought a set of Dietz 7" headlight buckets and a new pair of lamps for the li'l feller 'til I can find one!!
I'm going to swap in a 350:1 ring and pinion to see if it puts the power curve in a little better spot for the overdrive on the transmission.
I've also started on a new cylinder head and reciprocating assembly. The little Chevy II engine is a little anemic out on the interstate and on long or steep grades. Those engines were rated at 90 HP!! I'm gonna' see if I can get it to 180+!!
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Damn that sucks about the light. Hope you find another one soon.
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My machinist/head porter called yesterday. The new head for Lockjaw is a massive success on the flow bench. All new hardware, state of the art valves and springs, screw in studs with guide plates, Perfect Circle valve seals and the silicone bronze valve guides. He pulled out all the stops on the porting for a good street head. Flow numbers for the intakes were in the low 2s at just .400" lift and in the 2s again at .500" on the exhausts.
I almost can't wait to do the rebuild, but the wife says we're going on that big vacation and that I'd better not be spending vacation money on hot rods.
I've got my parts list figured out for the short block and cam and the machine work needed to make it work. The head cost over $900.00 including purchasing the core and the flow bench time. The bottom end will likely be the same.
This fall and winter look to be FUNNNNN!
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That's awesome!!!!
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I started on the headlight replacement yesterday. DAMN!! That turned into an ordeal!! First I removed the old headlight assembly on the right side. Had to cut the wires to remove the plug and the wires for the LEDs. Next I had to modify the base for the new headlight bucket to fit my mounting bracket. I had to drop out to the hardware store for some materials to complete the base assembly. Finally got the bucket mounted and discovered that there wasn't room for all of my wires. I pulled the ground wire out of the harness and managed to get the other four wires into the bucket. I fabbed a new ground wire to mount to the bucket and proceeded to solder and heat shrink the harness back together. I then discovered that the new lamps did not have a bulb in them!! That made me really mad and I called the supplier and gave them an extensive piece of my mind!! I robbed the bulb out of the old lamp and assembled the headlight. I went to test the light and NO LEDs!! After disassembling and testing the lamp, I find that the LEDs are wired backward!! Strip off the heat shrink tubing, unsolder the connections and reassemble them as needed.
TOOK ME FOUR HOURS TO REPLACE ONE DAMNED HEADLIGHT!!
I fixing to go back over to the shop and put the other headlight on. Oughtn't to take me more than a couple of hours. It's hot and I ain't movin' real fast.
Here's a pic of the one headlight mounted. It looks good, but it looks average too. Hope I can find a globe for the old ones. I LIKED lookin different!!
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And they think this "hot rod's stuff is easy,,,,,,,,,,,,,, :-X If I went thru all that I would find a pair I liked better the following week.
good luck on the next one.
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It wasn't a real problem since I knew up front what to do.
Until I find a new globe for my "Barge Lights", I ain't about to go through that again!! :o 8) :P
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What, no bulbs? Is the seller that freaking cheap? That's just crazy....
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What, no bulbs? Is the seller that freaking cheap? That's just crazy....
That's what I said!! That and the assurance that I'd NEVER do business with them again!!
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I wouldn't buy from them either. Terrible way to handle a sale.
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Looking good those new lights should light the road up good!
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So how did they work out?
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They put out about the same amount of light. The bulbs are the same. I didn't take more pics. Just been too damned hot and I forget. I'll take some and put 'em up tomorrow night.
There's a little cruise on Friday night not too far from here and the heat is supposed to break a little tomorrow. I may decide to put in the 350:1 gear tomorrow. I'm really curious to see if it makes much difference in cruising capability.
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I got side tracked and didn't get time to do the rear end today, but I had to go by the shop for some materials.
Here's what it looks like with the new headlights. Orta' be great at night!! [attach=1][attach=2][attach=3][attach=4]
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I put the 350:1 gear set in the car. It whines a little at part throttle, but it's smooth and vibration free. I took it out and drove around on July 4th and got lots of waves and thumbs ups from folks on the ride.
It's better on the interstate and other bug highways. The higher RPM in overdrive seems to let it stay there and not want to downshift on grades and most hills. It remains to be seen whether it will improve gas mileage, but staying in high gear more may just be the ticket here.
I'm planning on a trip in it next week. A three or four hour drive up to Eastern Kentucky for a major shooting event that I've never missed.
Maybe a little day cruise the middle of next week too!!
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My AOD seems to shift up real fast and down really slow. I've got to where I manually shift it as needed. I like to listen to my pipes too much! I may get better mileage if I didn't shift it and let the throttle body do it's job.
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My AOD seems to shift up real fast and down really slow. I've got to where I manually shift it as needed. I like to listen to my pipes too much! I may get better mileage if I didn't shift it and let the throttle body do it's job.
If your AOD has cable control for passing gear you can adjust it to get a little quicker downshift.
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It's a Lokar and it's adjusted with the supplied tool. AOD's are funky trans. You burn them up REALLY fast if they're mis-adjusted. I learned it the hard way!
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Yeah!! I worked for a transmission shop for about ten years back in the eighties. Somebody that knows AODs may be able to help with adjusting the kickdown. I don't remember the particulars without seeing the setup. Some of the Ford trannies used a cable connected to the throttle linkage, some used a switch, and I don't remember which is which.
You're dead right!! If you don't have the adjustments correct, you'll burn it up in a heartbeat!! GMs are much more forgiving.
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Took Lockjaw on an adventure!! The event lasts a week and is 250 miles each way and mostly all interstate. Great fuel mileage with the 3.50:1 gear. I was a little concerned with that, but it seems about the same as the 3.00. The car drives really well and handles nicely. It IS a little light and wiggles when you get a cross wind or pass or get passed by a big truck. It weighs 2300 lbs.!!
Now for the bad news!! It slowly heats up if you push it hard on the freeway. If I run 70 and 80, it will eventually get up to 240 degrees. It's not real fond of long or steep grades at high speeds. I can back down to 65 mph and the car cools back off. I'm thinking that I'm losing flow through the radiator at speed due to wind flow under the car. I also suspect some slippage in the water pump belt. It squeaks a little when you start the car. I'll replace that before my next major excursion. I have several brand new high capacity oil coolers set aside for just such an eventuality. I'll add one and that should alleviate the problem.
NOW FOR THE WORSE NEWS!!
I wrecked it!! As I was driving up the interstate on my way to the event, the steering wheel started to come loose!! (I had removed the wheel to repair the horn button, decided it would need an entire turn signal switch, and had stuck the wheel back on to move the car and evidently neglected to tighten the nut properly!!) I managed to get the car onto the shoulder on the exit ramp and was going maybe 15 miles an hour when the wheel came off in my hand!! I knocked down one of those "WRONG WAY" signs and jumped a small ditch. I got off into the tall grass and got it stopped, got out and drug the sign post out from under the car, saw there were no leaks, steam, or fire coming from the car, and drove it on to where I could give it a thorough inspection. There was no damage other than the front axle was somewhat misshapen!! The toe-in wasn't bad and nothing else was hurt, so I tightened down the steering wheel, test drove it and decided to continue the trip.
I dropped in on a friend who has a shop right off of my route and we proceeded to straighten the axle without heating it and when the toe-in was correct, I continued my trip!! I'll take it back to my front end specialist when I get an opening and get it back to perfect.
No harm. No foul!!!
I had a fabulous week and got home last night!! How was your week???
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Glad to hear that the only major thing hurt was your pride!!! The Boog bug does the same heat up thing. I've enlisted a radiator firm to help I need to check my e mail and see if they have responded. Do you have an external tranny cooler? I have both an in the radiator and an air cooler for mine. I figured my problem is a 4 cyl radiator and a v8 motor.
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Wow glad you are ok and Lockjaw wasn't hurt to bad.
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Glad to hear that the only major thing hurt was your pride!!! The Boog bug does the same heat up thing. I've enlisted a radiator firm to help I need to check my e mail and see if they have responded. Do you have an external tranny cooler? I have both an in the radiator and an air cooler for mine. I figured my problem is a 4 cyl radiator and a v8 motor.
Yeah!! Big tranny cooler out front in the wind. It's free standing. We did this a lot for tow packages back when I was in the transmission industry. I DON'T have an engine oil cooler on the car, but there will be one on there before I take another trip. A good external, free standing oil cooler will reduce coolant temps by as much as 30%. Oil is the first coolant in any internal combustion engine.
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Glad you guys are okay and lockjaw wasnt hurt
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Wow glad you are ok and Lockjaw wasn't hurt to bad.
Yeah!! The story got a lot of laughs during the shootout last week!! The car got a lot of attention as well!! Seems like Cowboy Action Shooters are big on originality, but I already knew that!!
Jeff73MachI will be in Somerset this weekend with the yellow MachI. If you're up that way, try to look him up!
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Glad it turned out ok, just part of driving a rod I guess.
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The car looks killer, glad you were able to slow down before that wheel came off. I just changed out my radiator on my truck due to it heating up at 70 mph. If I get back to 55 it would cool back off. I just put a larger core Aluminum radiator and it seems to be good as of now. Good luck
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Thanks everybody!! I went ahead and told the story because, having been a professional wrench turner all those years, I should have known better!! I worked in the industry for nearly forty years all together. I NEVER had this happen to a customer vehicle, partly because we always went ahead and got the new parts and finished the job. In this case, I was working on my own stuff and intended to pick up the parts and finish the repair at another time, before driving the car again. Other things came up and I never finished the repair, (I was working on repairing the horn button, a less than essential system) so I never completely tightened the nut!!
DON"T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!! Leave a note! Leave the job disassembled! WHATEVER IT TAKES!!
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I once finger-tightened the lug nuts on my hot rod and forgot to torque them. When rounding a corner in town, the left rear wheel came off, dropping the car on the ground. The loose lug nuts had wallowed out the wheel holes and ruined them. I had to buy new wheels.
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I've got a white board that I write on with eraseable markers. It helps with builds too. Posted a picture of it once,I'll see if I can find it. Anything to help this 1970's brain.
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I mostly use post-it notes and I keep a book. You'll STILL miss something once in a while if you loose focus!!
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Retook the pix of the white board. It's a shower enclosure fall off piece. I do thinks Booger Speed Shop needs another project LOL :o ;D :P
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I have Lockjaw, which is nearing completion as a project, the FC170 which will be a long term project that I will probably document here.
There's Jeff's '27 T roadster.
Then there's the '64 Galaxie I'm working on to cover the paint job on my old Harley AND the old Harley.
Finally, there's my son's '84 Z28 HO.
Wife admonished me today!! NO MORE PROJECTS!! Even if they ARE free!!!
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Damn man, glad your doing okay. That could have been really bad.
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i'm BACK!!! 8,500 miles, 21 states, a dozen natural and man made wonders, a Cowboy Shootout with live bullets, and two cars in twenty four days!!! I'll tell ya's all about it when I get a little rest.
Got some good pics. Not many of cars, but I did take a few at Bonneville.
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WELLLLLL! The li'l rat has had a nice long vacation. There's a little cruise in this evening at the local park. Reckon a little bath and some fresh gas will have me out and about!!!
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I went up late to the Somernites Cruise there were Mustangs everywhere. Didn't go downtown to the show just up to cruise and get a bite to eat with the wife. Didn't see your buddy but wouldn't of known him if I had.
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I got the new work table fitted with new wheels and did some straightening on the shop!!
Gonna' be a lot easier to do things on this table than on that lousy little folding table. I can mount a vise on this one and if the mood strikes me, I can put a 1/4" sheet of steel on top and use it for a welding table as well! The new casters are rated at 400 lbs. each and we can roll this one anywhere in the shop that it'll fit!!
Jeff73 bought me one of those "Stoplight Finders" for Lockjaw!! Gonna' get it mounted and try it out this week!!
Thanks for the help with the table, Jeff!!!
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I've got 3/16 plate on mine and it's as handy as a shirt pocket! I didn't mount my steel so I can turn it on its side to get through the door into the bar when it's cold
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Hollis, I didn't make the Mustang show, due to a death in the exwife's family-had a sudden change of plans. I'm sure we'll cross paths down the road.
Glad I could help on the table, wish I'd found that phillips head bit about 20 minutes sooner though
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I've been laid up since the first of April, so I ain't done much of anything all year. The doc says I may be allowed to walk again before Halloween. I did buy a nice latch and handle with keys for the deck lid on Lockjaw and I finally found replacement for the headlight globe and LED that had failed, (half the LED for turn signal quit).
The latch/lock is made for truck camper shells and I finally found one that's painted instead of plated. I think it'll look better than the Gorilla tape I've been using to keep the deck lid closed!! 8)
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Glad to hear your getting better. Wondered if you was gonna make the Shoot at Sparta complex as I hadn't heard from you
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Ain't likely I'll make Sparta this year!! The home club up there has obtained permission to hold their monthly matches there, and I have several friends in that club. I have a spot at the big shoot down in Texas the end of September, but it looks like I may not get completely healed up in time for that either.
Me 'n' Jeff73machI got out yesterday and looked at some ruined Cobra parts, but it had been in a fire and gotten so hot that all of the aluminum in the car had melted down!! The steel in the chassis clunked when I pecked on it with a hammer. BAD JUJU!!
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I threw a best offer at a Buick V6 turbo unit and won the damned thing!! Looks like ol' LOCKJAW will be turbo boosted when I build the 153!! I already have the head, (as mentioned previously) and a crank to grind offset for increased stroke. When I pull it down to build I hope to have rods, pistons, and a cam/valvetrain setup so that I can have the block bored and decked and put it right back together.
I MAY get to get back on my feet and back into the shop within a month and I've got lots of parts collected for several waiting projects!!
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LOCKJAW gonna be doing a Wheels up start at the drag strip? Mid to low 8's? Glad to hear your getting better.
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I got a new set of roller rocker arms and an Ah OO GA horn for Christmas!! With the money donated to my Christmas parts fund, I also bought a set of 6" H-beam rods like I wanted for the build on the little 4banger!!
THE PARTS ARE STARTING TO PILE UP!!
I'm sending the crank off next week.
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Nice...
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If you send the crank off, whose going to look after you?
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DONT worry, she'll be back.........CANT go without her
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Got the new rods early last week!! Gorgeous!!
I talked to the crank grinder this morning!! WOW!! He'll regrind the crank to the 3.650" offset stroke and polish and index it for around $150.00!! AND he's local!! Quick turnaround too.
Pics of the rods and rockers added:
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Damn, that’s a good price...
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Looks like the crankshaft will be ready this week. I had him drill the snout for a balancer retainer bolt. Only $25.00!!
Jeff bought an all steel 927 Model T Coupe this afternoon. It's a roller with a tube front axle and a GM third member on coil overs and tuning fork radius rods!! This ones NICE!!
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Got my crankshaft for the Lockjaw engine redux picked up while ago!! 3.650" stroke, .010" undersized mains, indexed, polished, and the front snout drilled and tapped for a balancer retainer bolt. I'll put up pics a little later!!
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Awesome
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Been doing the '56 F100 thing for a while, BUT I'm still collecting up pieces for the Lockjaw engine update. I've bought another block that came real cheap and I sent it to the machine shop to be cleaned, bored, checked for crank and cam alignment, and have the deck height set. It came back bored .040" and with cam bearings and freeze plugs installed and nicely cleaned and prepped. Another piece of the puzzle!!
A blind hog will root up an acorn now and then!! I've been lusting for a roller camshaft for this project since before I actually started on it, one that used hydraulic roller lifters and was streetable. An acquaintance on another forum bought a cool little trackster/sprint car and it runs a 153 four banger just like Lockjaw. When he bought it, it had an old, (1960s) McGurk street roller in it. He drove it for a while and it roached an exhaust lobe on the camshaft. It has the lifters and valve springs included and it cost me an oil pan and pickup in trade.
I sent the damaged camshaft to Oregon Cam Grinding and after they examined it, they repaired the lobe and reground it to a nice hydraulic street grind for less than $250.00 including shipping. I sent the lifters to Ron at Iskenderian and he says that he can put together a set of hydraulic rollers for me. The camshaft arrived today. I'll talk to Ron this afternoon and see what the lifters will run.
Long story short, I'll have a complete valvetrain for a thousand bucks less than having a roller camshaft tooled up and ground!! They just aren't making rollers for these little guys for the street and most cam manufacturers won't even talk to you about grinding one!! I'd rather be lucky than good!! This time I got real lucky!!!
9/10/2019: Still waiting on the roller lifters, but they have to run small batches of one off stuff when it's convenient! Hopefully in a few days!
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Already started back on Lockjaw! Pulled the engine oil pan Sunday morning and I've set out a plan to build a "BOX" style pan for it! I've collected a new block, cleaned, bored, decked, with new expansion plugs and cam bearings install, a new cylinder head, ported, polished, new, larger valves, new valve guides and springs, screw in studs, stainless roller rockers, raised intake ports, and milled to make better compression, a new, stroked and indexed crankshaft, a new roller camshaft, a set of straight cut timing gears, and a set of 6" "H" beam rods. I lack rings and pistons, which will be custom fabricated for me by my friends at Total Seal and RaceTec/AutoTec in the next couple of months. Ron at Iskenderian is putting together a new set of hydraulic roller lifters for this combination.
The entire assembly will be balanced by one of the local machine shops that specializes in high performance engines!
All of this to build a more modern, reliable engine that produces a good 250hp and will live in today's world of fuels and lubricants!
NEVER FEAR!! It'll STILL be rat!! No two major pieces came from the same engine! Some of the parts are big time salvage stuff, (the camshaft is an old McGurk unit from the '60s, welded up and reground to modern specs!). The block is from an old Jeep mail truck. The crank is of unknown parentage, (bought it off of EvilBay!)
I've also collected some fun stuff, like an AOOGAAAAH horn and some other gadgets. AND!! I've got a set of the old C4 Corvette wheels and tires to go on it!!
I'm still in the "getting it all together" stages, but look for a new chapter in the Lockjaw saga in the near future!!
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kool Sounds like a plan is in place
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WELL! I've spent almost three months in the hospital since I last posted here. Between that, being on the road with the band, and another major remodel on the homeplace, all I've managed to accomplish is getting my roller lifters and securing a few incidental pieces. STILL haven't ordered pistons and rings and I'm hitting a wall finding a stud girdle for the l'il feller.
Don't mean I'm not staying busy!! I've been collecting more stuff for the T Coupe project and I'll put up a thread about it in a little bit!! Y'all will love this one!!
Anyhow, I hope everyone is doing okay!! The quarantine orta' have some new progress for some of ya's since ya' kain't go anywhere, hardly!!
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Forgot to mention that Isky fell through on finding the roller lifters!! I ended up buying them from an independent inline engine parts distributor. If y'all need parts for Chevy inline sixes and fours, I'll hook you up!!
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Stumbled onto a nice little piece of information while ago!! Saves me a good chunk of change on the 153 hop up!! Found out that a Small Block Chevy stud girdle is the same spacing as what is needed for my 4 cylinder head. Studs, valves, and pushrod guides have the same spacing along the length of the heads!! The only difference is the rocker arm ratio!! Speedway had a single SBC stud girdle in their garage, (Crane Cams) for $47.99 plus shipping in the E-bay adds. The only other stud girdle for my engine is for a six cylinder. You have to remove 1/3 of the bar to make it work and it costs $189.00!! I jumped on it with both feet!! Saves me over $120.00!!
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WOW That's good info to have! They told me that my Aluminum heads are based off LS Chevy heads. Told the headers would work ... they will not . they hit the block. Sometimes the bench racing Garage is not accurate. :o :o :o
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Finally got the pistons and rings ordered for the 4 cylinder project!! I LIKE RaceTec!! They cover all the bases when building a custom piston. Took me half a day to run down all the information they wanted to design this piston!! They even wanted cam specs, induction requirements, valve sizes, and the thickness and width of the little end of the rods and the width of the big end!!
The guy I talked too was customer oriented and extremely knowledgeable!! 'Bout four weeks and I'll have a set of pistons designed for my specific engine and with rings, pins and retainers, $410.00 delivered to my doorstep!!!
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I heard from RaceTec on Thursday!! My pistons and rings may get done by the end of the week!!
I had some work done on my foot on Wednesday and the wife had her first cataract surgery on Thursday! She's in for the second one this coming Thursday and I have another foot doc visit this week too!!
Parts are starting to pile up!! Got a new timing cover, a new SFI harmonic balancer, some more of the cam retainer and timing pieces, and a full gasket set for it!!
I'm getting antsy!!
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Dropped the reciprocating assembly and the new balancer off at the machine shop for balancing yesterday morning!! Might mock up the valve train this weekend to see if I have to order new pushrods...
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I picked up the reciprocating assembly and the balancer from the machine shop this morning!! My machinist told me we could have put it together without balancing it. It was that close. There was one gram difference across the four pistons. A quarter gram per piston ain't a bad average!! Took a little work on a couple of rods and a touch up on the crank. That new balancer is dead on!! I took a chance on that one. It's made in Australia and meets SFI specs for NHRA and NASCAR!! I'll get the box and pass along the brand next post!!
The next couple of weeks will be devoted to Christmas stuff and learning to walk on both feet again!! I got the cast off of my foot yesterday and I have a couple of places left to get healed up!! I'll keep procuring pieces, (I have to get crank bearings, a gasket set, an oil pump, and maybe a set of pushrods.) and finishing up the little details to the short block. I've still got to do a little clearance work in the lifter galley and to the camshaft, (the stroker crank puts the number two rod too close to the fuel pump lobe on the cam, so the lobe has to be modified or removed) and start swapping over the distributor, header and intake, and the starter and alternator.
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Kool. Glad to hear your getting better.
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I made another decision about Lockjaw!! I have a pretty nice set of original C4 Corvette wheels sitting around, collecting dust! I think I'll scare up a set of tires for 'em and put those on the li'l feller!!
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That balancer I found is a ProSport. It's made in Australia and meets SFI specs, so it's safe for high RPM applications. It's also dirt cheap and comes in many engine applications. My machinist spun it up pretty high when he did the balance work on the little engine and said it was very true and well balanced.
You can find 'em on Evil-bay. Be sure to specify the SFI approved unit. It costs a little more, but I'd say it's well worth it
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Got all of my gaskets and my rod and main bearings, Thursday. I'm still not getting to work on it much, but I'm getting closer!!
Came across a factory Chevrolet oil cooler setup. It'll require new hoses and maybe a small fan, but I've already got some brand new fans just made for the job!!
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I spent a good bit of time in the shop yesterday! I mocked up the head for the new engine to see what will and won't work. Was hoping to be able to use the Mercruiser valve cover. NO WAY!! I'll have to make a complete cover or an adapter and use a small block chevy cover 'cause the stud girdle won't EVEN clear the corners of the old one!
I THINK what i'll do is cut the flange off of one of these cast aluminum 4 cylinder covers, do the same to an old cast SBC cover, and then weld the two together with the SBC flange facing up. Since small block covers are symmetrical, I can bolt the 4 banger flange to the head and then bolt a tall small block cover to the upward facing SBC flange!
It would let me take off the cover as needed. The "adapter" could remain on the head semi-permanently, only needing to be removed if the head had to come off.
Guess I need to track down and old cast aluminum Chevy valve cover, maybe one of those old Ansen covers that we used to see years ago!!
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Kool idea. Do you have a TIG/MIG welder for aluminum? I've been thinking about investing in a TIG just to weld aluminum. Probably only use it once or twice a year as I don't weld a lot of Aluminum. That may change if I get it.
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I' don't have a TiG!! Part of me wishes I did, but the expense and the fact that I seldom have any need for one keeps me from buying one. 'Spose I might would use one for chassis work, if I had it, but that would tempt me to start building race car frames again and buying chrome moly and T6 aluminum in quantity again!!
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Found a shop that I think can do my TiG work for me!! I'll cut down the two covers I'm using to make the adapter, tomorrow. Got a doctor's appointment Thursday, so I'll take it over there Friday.
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I got to spend some time in the shop today!! YIPPEEE!! Cut out the pieces to adapt the SBC valve cover to my little Nova 4 banger!!
I cut the flanges off of one aluminum SBC cover and used some of the flat sections to make filler panels for the ends. The Mercruiser valve cover is considerably shorter in length so I had to make up the difference. Both covers are basically the same width. The bolt holes on the straight side of the 153 valve cover even line up with the small block bolt holes, but the other side of the 4 banger cover is real wavy and has three bolt holes where it attaches to the head. That side will take some filling material to finish it!
I'll have the welding shop fill the holes in the SBC flange and then I'll drill and tap for studs to bolt the actual cover to the adapter. I'm also planning to stud the head so that locating the gasket will be simplified!! Once it's all done, I'll probably epoxy the outside of the seams to be sure it doesn't leak.
t think it'll look ridiculously cool with the intake and header and all the other little touches!!
PICS!!!
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Got the piece back from the welding shop yesterday afternoon!! Needs a little dressing up to clean up some of the welds, but it rings like a bell and there are no signs of potential leaks. I ground down a couple of welds that were a little too thick and got it all deburred and prepped for drilling and installing studs for the actual valve cover.
A little more sanding and a couple of good coats of black wrinkle finish paint and it's ready to install.
Pics to follow...
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Finished up the rocker cover adapter today. Sanded the rough and sharp edges, cleaned it with solvent, drilled and tapped the flange for studs and nuts, and installed those studs. Heated it up a little, (it was about 29 degrees in the shop when I went out there this morning) and laid on a couple of good coats of wrinkle black engine paint.
I put the cover and a gasket on it to be sure it was all correct and took a few pics.
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I set up t the valvetrain on my 4banger to see if it would all fit and work with the adapter and the SBC valve cover. The adapter can be removed and installed so long as the stud girdle is removed. Looks like it will all work great!