Finally put the water necks on for good, forgot to put in the thermostats! Took off the necks and finally torqued them to 20ft-lbs... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
On to the transmission cross member... The rubber mount takes 3 bolts... it was however cocked to one side, so I took it off the tail housing I used the vise to press the metal back in place Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I measured various points on my x-member 16 1/8” Next task was to lay down some scribe lines for my cuts... I used the band saw on this for a clean cut I then laid out the marks for the three holes... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Carb surface is zeroed out with car under its own weight sans body... It’s tricky trying to find out the trans pinion angle as there isn’t much real estate to attach my angle finder to, and it’s aluminum. I’m going to attach the pinion u-joint and hopefully measure from that. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Worked for about 5 hrs on the cross mount... Punched a couple lightning holes... Cut down the edges and welded them up... Rubber mount fits in nicely Need to drill through the side cross members to bolt the “removable” crossmember... This will aid in any future work that might be needed on the trans without having to pull the body.
Trans rear spline Angle is 1.2deg This is a shot of the final setup... now I need to focus on the rear end... Making sure the rear diff yolk is zeroed out... I will then set the rear end at 1.2deg and then tack weld the ladder bars... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Rechecked zero once again Off by 3.6deg The green arrows demarcate where material needs to be removed so the rear angle can be dropped Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So after further thinking... the KISS principle seemed to kick in... I don’t need to hack anything just yet. I actually need to cut and lower my P&J front anchor point for my ladder bars... I was getting ready to cut and tack but I ran out of Argon! While picking up the gas I also grabbed some steel stock... the place was really neat so I took pictures as usual! In this picture you can see material that could be used for a grill insert... This bad boy lifts the material to various cutting stations (shears/plasma/band saws etc.) It spans the entire footprint of the plant and there are four of them! The material is delivered via train Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I thought I could get some wiggle room by lifting up the trans... but no dice... With the rear yolk angle at 1.2deg the front of the ladder bars are 4” too low. My goal is to center this piece in the oval section of my cross member Therefore the front mounting point will be strategically cut and lowered to maintain correct angles... If you look closely at this picture this part must have left P&J’s before hitting QC as it is missing 4 sets of finish welds. I’ll get to that during the final welding. It seems like this is taking forever but I don’t want to mess this up so I am waiting for my son to get back to help me. In the meantime I’m working on smaller more manageable projects. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I knocked out the spacer by fusion welding two washers and a steel spacer together... it’s the one to square up the offset T5... This is my little welding fitment... After the fusion welds I put some chamfers on the spacer to knock off any rough edges and did some final clean up on the lathe... It seemed to come out ok I guess Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Next I had an issue with spacing on my transmission mount. I needed to raise the area by 1/8”. So instead of using individual spacers I came up with another solution. I used the cut section from the bolts to hold this piece in place for tack welds... I then zipped it up Here you can see where the bolts are now taken up... Welding is a perishable skill, and this was more of an exercise in getting back on the bicycle. I have miles of welding ahead of me but the more you do it the better you get! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Some fabrication today along with pulling apart the fuel pump, cleaning and starting polishing... need to order a rebuild kit... had a shitty day at work but an awesome day in my shop! I’ll take that happenstance all day long like donkey Kong. Getting a good fitment is half the battle Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Tackling the rear ladder bars and anti-squat setup The rear end will not handle well like this as the ladder bars are actually pointing down. Elevating the ladder bars to get them at zero would increase my pinion yolk angle to 15deg. Neutral or slightly upward is the preferred angle for ladder bars per my reading. So we got to cutting tack welds and cleaning the area to set the angles and re-tack Everything was set in place and tacked up again... I re-checked the angles once again Both sides looked good Now I need to set the yolk angle with the center cross member. I added one of my tags to the transmission mount... I welded an area around the oval and riveted it down... I think I’m going to do this to all my major parts with a part number stamped on the piece that will be linked to a parts diagram and digital manual for future reference. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I noticed that the rear tires were a little low on air, so I pumped them up. After they were up to the correct pressure I got to cutting the PJ front mount I lowered the transmission into place after zeroing out the carb mounting surface for the last time and zipped everything into place... The pinion angle stayed around the same at 1.5-2 deg or so... unfortunately after pumping the tires the diff yolk went from 4.5 to about 10 deg! Still trying to figure this one out! But I took the reading 4 times and that is what I have to go with. I had to cut the tack welds again, and will re-tack the ladder bars at 8 deg positive or pointing upward by 8 deg, so that when I rotate the rear end down to 2 deg it will set the top of my ladder bars to zero. More to follow on that. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Today was a catch up day... I put a ton of tools away. I just don’t know where they come from! I also welded up the PJ Crossmember. I think I understand why they “forgot” to finish welding this thing. It was a complete nightmare. It took me 4 hrs. I had to weld left handed, right handed, pulse on, no pulse, up, down, sideways. The tungsten was also out past 3/4” at some points. Well I got it done and that’s what counts. My weld is below, their’s is above... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Ladder bars tacked at 8.5 deg... Crawling under the rear end is so much fun... They are jutting up Set back to zero when the axle was rotated forward finally the yolk angle was set to 1.5-2 deg by lowering the center mount. It seemed my cigar cases were the perfect spacers to get the yolk angle. Who said smoking’s bad for you! Next up is the rear panhard setup, and final welding of the PJ brace to lock in the yolk angle. I also need to drill in the crossmember so the trans cross mount can attach. Stay tuned!
Drilling side members... New measuring tool on my phone Center drill for accuracy Unpolished, partially polished and show polished Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The rear ladder center mount bracket will double as the exhaust hanger mount... one down three to go... Test fit This one piece took 3 hrs 3/4” rubber grommet to receive the hanger Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Chipped away a little tonight... Finished part 2/4 This tool is good for working sharp edges Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This new setup really helps with drilling the holes... this piece took an hour Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Put some time in with my son today. Finished drilling holes and a little sanding. This is far from done with another one on the way. It looks like a ghost! More to follow on that later Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I went ahead and finished polishing the fuel pump... I washed the glass bowl with pumice soap and did a test fit to the intake... I really like the way this turned out. I need to order a rebuild kit. Tomorrow I’m going to finish up my ladder bar mounts and weld up Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Got the ladder mounts finished. The top holes are for the cross member to tie into. The middle hole is for show and the 1/2” holes are for the exhaust hanger and gas/brake lines to go through via robber grommets... More to follow on that later I tacked up the fitment on the frame first I then took the fitment to the table to finish welding it up... Wanted to finish but the Bears game started. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Ok so my Bears lost by a missed field goal ): so I went back to work on the car... Everything looked good, so I chopped the ends off with the the band saw... The rear yolk is at around 2 deg... This area needs to be dressed and final welded... other side Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This moment has been a long time coming for sure. The driveline is sitting under its own weight. Both sides drilled through... Everything bolted down... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Got the ends lined up ready for the driveline. Will order that from Denny’s driveline. Continued welding up the cross member. This is called the lay wire technique, where you weave back and forth across both base metals and run across the welding rod being careful not to contaminate the electrode... I’ve been using the 2% lanthanated recently again. The electrode was out almost 3/4” on some of these passes with the argon turned up to 25-30%. 20 pps at 120v This technique is helpful when there is a slight gap in fitment. The rod was pretty much the same size as the gap. I clamped the weldment to my table It’s peanut butter grommet time! Peanut butter grommet time! Still at 2.5 degrees Need to tack in the cross member and finish welding during final weld up... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Will call tech support for some clarification on this... will also check on prices of steel vs. aluminum and thicknesses. I have the 28 spline output Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Will use this info for the rear end conversion. Talked to speedway and Dennie’s driveline who were very helpful. View attachment 4159670 Need go figure out 6 vs 10 spline... Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
