WOW , just read the whole thread and I am impressed by your workmanship, subscribed, keep up the good work... congratulations...
Man I dont know what you do for a living but your a hell of good metal worker, hope your going to chop it I got a chevy aero like to chop it great job
WOW! Your car is looking really cool! You have a eye for detail, and some awesome metal working skills.
Remember I'm a Carpenter doing the metal work, so I do have to get the filler out sometimes. Rhinoplasty, I had to google that. HaHa. Harley, my favourite saying, no such thing as a free lunch.
I feel I have turned a corner, I'm at the stage on this project where no longer am I finding new nightmares to be sorted and fixed, pushing the completion date even further into the future. It's a good place to be, working with a clean primed car trying all the shinny bits I've had tucked away for years. This hasn't happened by accident I have put in some serious hours over the Christmas holidays and every weekend since, determined to stick to my plan of a running road legal car by the summer, not finished mind, but out there in primer being used and I hope enjoyed for a season before being back in the garage for final paint and those thousand and one jobs I didn't even think about. Pat giving a helping hand showing off his new toupée. Underside all cleaned and undersealed. Boot and interior primed after hours of wire brushing with a grinder. Stripped ready for a bit of filler and paint. Front suspension remarkably good condition, all greased and ready to go but I am going to fit some tube shocks to the front A question for the more technically minded ,what are these springs wrapped around the drums for?
Loads of progress, and out this year, i'm impressed. I think I've managed about 3 hours in my garage since Christmas...
I was thinking along those lines Fedcospeed could they also be a heatsink. Neilswheels I tend to be a bit of an optimist, which is a help when building a car but a lot of things can go wrong in six months, so I might end up with my tail between my legs. HaHa.
Making steady progress, still sticking with plan 'B' to have it out this summer. Body is now filled and totally primed but before the big assembly there were a few remaining jobs to take care of. Petrol tank was the first, after getting the original back from the blasters looking like a Swiss cheese, I was on the look out for a replacement, a bit of research soon found a '71 Mustang was very similar in size with the filler tube front centre which was ideal as I had removed the filler flap from the rear fender some time back. Fitting it on brackets where the old one lived it was hanging a little low. So I decided to cut a great hole in my new boot floor, that hurt a bit, lost a couple of inches boot space but the tank now sits nicely out of harms way. Next up was find a home for the battery, you may not be familiar with a Poncho's heating system but it is extensive starting under the front fender and finishing with a huge box under the drivers seat, this was all removed and skipped long ago for an extra 10 horsepower, but what it left was a nice convenient hole in the floor ideal for the battery, made up a simple box welded in place soon sorted. Next I wanted some decent tube shocks on the front, the original arm type were not that brilliant from the factory and mine were shagged. I used a simple bracket fitted with a bolt on pin welded to the bottom arm and a pair of F1 shock mounts for the top. A straight forward job well worth the effort, done a similar set up on another car, transformed the handling. The old shocks are left in place after removing the little sprung valves inside the casing, fill with engine oil for a bit of lube and the top arms will last forever. After much deliberation I have now actually picked a colour for the top coat, dark green with a teal tinge so I want to prepare a few bits and bob's to try it out and get a feel for the colour before I commit. Hence preparing the dash for paint, there was a few rust repairs due to a leaking screen, one thing I was itching to do was get rid of the clock set in the glove box lid, as to me it looked like my granny's alarm clock, made good the hole and this week should see a bit of colour on the new smoothy dash. Ooooh exciting.
Thought it about time for an update. I did manage to get the Poncho road worthy during the summer but turned out to be one of those two steps forward one step back. Doing well for about a thousand miles or so, until the Caddy engine started breathing heavy, took the heads off for an inspection and nightmare situation, three of the cylinders were deeply scored by the gudgeon pins moving in the pistons. So engine out for a rebuild at the moment. I did enjoy those thousand miles, good to be back in a powerful full sized car. Not hanging around crying though, been pushing on for a full paint job. A few pictures of the details for your perusal. A few alterations were needed to the trans cover and crossmember for the TH350. Managed to reuse the original floor starter button. Tranny crossmember Finally finished the grill, very Caddy looking. Inside view of the rear skirt. Fitted to car. After much deliberation, a sample of final colour. My first attempt at peaking the bonnet started to offend me, this is the beginnings of the mark two version. Proof I really did drive it back in the summer, stopped for some pub grub on the way to Pendine Sands.
Darn...I was in London a couple of weeks ago and would have liked to see your car in person. Keep up the spectacular work. Remember...we all like the progress photos.
Thanks for the kind words guys. Not much to show at the moment, the Poncho is totally stripped down again waiting for the paint man to do his thing, although I'm still debating the colour since I done the sample wheel. I will put up some pictures as soon as it gets a bit of colour.
Time for another update… I’m a bit stressed out at the moment having dropped all the chrome off at the chrome shop, taken the engine into the machine shop and the trimmer has all my seats and interior. I haven’t got much car left! I’m feeling a little out of control with half the car spread out over the south of England and I got a text from my credit card company to tell me they are suspecting fraudulent activity on my account! But on the good side the paint man has done his bit, and very nice it is too. I changed the shade of green at the last moment, which is very risky, but I’m glad I did. It’s now BMC Almond Green, a colour used on the Mini Coopers.
So whilst I’m hanging around waiting for the phone to ring I’ve kept myself busy putting the wiring loom back in, fitting the Dynamat and rear lights all whilst trying hard not to damage the lovely new paint. Steering wheel sorted. Picked this beauty up at a house clearance auction. Result! That's it for now!
The Jalopy Journal
