Thanks guys. This is nothing compared to what you guys do...but it really is FUN again...unlike the off-topic eternal project I was dragging my heels on for years. Yup...simple setup. Complicated a little in my case because the pass side rail was really bad in front so I made the spring boxes much longer to compensate AND I had to allow for the different spring setup as well. Benefit was that the boxes weld directly to the end of the subframe connectors so I gained a huge increase in strength. (slant 6 so I can't take chances! ) On a SOLID car this mod is very simple and spring alignment is based directly off the original perches. As usual, with what I had to deal with, not so easy...but not bad. Rust sucks...but it IS fun to bring them back from the brink. (or from the dead in both your cases! LoL)
Just a little update and confirmation that this thing is in MINT condition. The floors are "patched" with tacked on stainless and tar. What a pain to remove! The original floors aren't even cut out...just covered over. Anyway...got one inner rocker repaired and the 2x4 tube stiffener cut and installed. The other side is rough cut and that inner rocker is a good bit worse than the drivers side. Took about 4 hours to get this bit done but that included clean up of the ragged ends and cutting/grinding the stiffener to match the spring box. Should have the other side in tomorrow and if I'm not called away, maybe the floor cut right out of it so I can start on the torsion bar crossmember repair.
This car is just cryin' for a 2 door conversion, I've heard it's pretty straight forward on these bodies too. Almost bought one about a month ago to do exactly that but passed on it to get a Road Runner instead. Keep the updates coming.
You know Bill I could almost swear that you repaired rust before!! We never got to chat much on Friday so I might be out tomorrow for a noisy look.
Right on! Yeah, Fridays sure are busy at your shop now! LoL Give me a ring before you drop up. I have to run out for an hour or so around lunchtime.
Oh man...I'd do that so quick if I had the parts. I have a line...make that a rumour...on an abandoned 2 door at an old dump site several hours away. Myself and fitzee will be checking it out when the snow melts but i can't get my hopes too high. Be pure luck if anything is still fit to use! This car will be strong once I'm finished so it wouldn't be unlikely that it will see a V8 in the future and hopefully a 2 door conversion. I still like it as a 4 door though...so alls good.
Hay!!We should start a "club"!!! All cars would have to have at least 50% rust on them.lol All them So-Cal guys build Snaptile car why we have to nit ours from steel wool!!
Haha theres already a thread for us! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=227247&highlight=pile+crap
I think theres a brick building with padded walls for us sometimes too!!! LoL Got the other inner rocker done Sunday but haven't been able to get at it since. Did some snow cleanup last night and had to go shopping tonight. Tomorrow night might be iffy too if we get the snow thats called for! Heres a couple of pics of the pass side repair anyway. I had expected to post the floor chopped out as well but that will have to wait till next time. I'm impressed with the rockers on this crusty car. The inner rust extends 3" past the actual external hole and then disappears. Looks like the inside of the rockers might actually have been galvanized from the factory! Too bad they didn't do the floors too. Oh yeah...the missing flange will be spliced in and notice the spot welds I did to the top edge of the inner rocker/dogleg. NEVER welded from the factory! Must have gone to lunch or something...
Had some time tonight so I went to the garage and pulled out most of the floor pan. I have to repair the torsion bar crossmember before I install the donor pans but at least the torsion crossmember will be easy access now! I'll be cleaning up the inner rockers first just to get them smooth and less likely to hook a finger or something. The floor was old patches over older patches with what was left of most of the original floor just ragged ends hanging off the bottom. Amazing how much better and easy to repair it looks with all the old stuff gone, isn't it? Thats something anyone planning to rebuild a rusty old car needs to keep in mind. They look like crap until you get the junk cut out...then its a simple matter to replace the old stuff with good metal. Patching stuff over will always result in a lower quality job than just tearing it out and starting fresh. It's one of the reasons "back halfed" Pro/Street cars caught on so quickly in the rustbelt. Gave people the chance to build a solid car from a cool but rusty body shell. 20 years ago it was a viable way to get a hot street machine out of junk!
Very nice work bill...Im 90% sure i seen that car before forsale out around the day, Although the one you have looks to clean to be a newfoundland car. Keep up the good work. Jason
wish I'd seen this a month ago, I maybe could have snagged one of your rear drums for my 61 Dodge. couldn't find a drum so I swapped out the whole rear for a 1965-1969 (?) rear I had laying around. would those S-10 springs have worked in the stock location? I have one that sags on mine and an easy to locate replacement sure would be a good thing to find.
The rear drums from the 2 piece axles were removed from the hubs at some point in the past and were replaced with slip on drums from a later model. The drums themselves will fit perfectly on my 67 Plymouth 8 3/4 rear I'll be putting in. (I have an S10 rear I was gonna use but the 67 rearend turned out to be available so I decided to keep it in the family.) Not sure what was involved to remove the staked on drums but once they're off the later drums seem to just slip on perfectly. I have no idea if the person who did the work had to remove or even replace the lug bolts to make the change. The S10 spring has different design bushing rolls at either end that would make it impossible to simply use one. Also the spring leaf is much thicker than the original Mopar spring. I would have much preferred to use the actual Mopar springs but it would have meant full custom leaf sets as nothing from my original packs could be reused. With the spring relocation happening anyway, it was easy for me to make the changes required for the S10 springs to work. You wouldn't be happy trying to make them work in the stock position! What are you driving??? B body?
Thanks Jason. Appreciate it! Oh no...its a LOCAL car alright! Hahaha I bought it from Monty but he bought it out around South River I think. It was parked for a few years. Darn...I was supposed to send you some pictures of the "other" project! Completely forgot. Sorry. I've been running around like someone possessed for the last few months and "real world" stuff is getting put off way too much. I'll send a few tonight after I clear up my driveway. Groan.....
I love it when a plan comes together Hey Bill (and Fitzee)pick up the current issue of Canadian Hot Rods the article on Chads car is in there!
I don't think you can get it off the shelf here and I don't have a sub! I gotta get a sub to that mag. Bought a load of copies at the Nats intending to buy a sub when i got home and never did. It's really an excellent magazine. Glad to see Chad get some recognition for his work. He's no follower...and thats a tough thing to do while trying to keep a traditional look. The car is radical in styling yet has all the elements of an old taildragger. When you consider what it was made from, the short time frame for building and the road performance it's capable of (all we could do to keep him in sight!)...its nothing short of amazing.
I don't think you can but I'll keep my fingers crossed! Let me know how you make out fitz...I'll take a shot over tonight if they do have it. Pics would be great Steve. Geezzz...I wish we didn't have that damn ferry ride keeping us all separated. We'd all have some fun garage crawls and maybe even a few helpout/Pizza Saturdays!!! LoL
If you cant find any there on the island let me know I will pick up a couple of issues for you guys, if I remember tomorrow I will scan the article !
Hey Bill, I picked up Canadian Hot Rods at Dominion in Mt. Pearl today, are you guys from the city allowed to go there?
I'm not. Mount Pearl threw me out and shut the gate! LoL Since this came up I've found out they're everywhere over here. I bought several a couple of years ago and then they seemed to disappear but I guess at some point they started putting them on the shelf again! It's a good magazine. Haven't been able to get at the Dodge at all this week due to the heavy snow every second day AND trying to find info on a good torsion bar crossmember that we knew of. Fitzee was finally able to contact the owner to see if it could be bought and sure enough, we're off bright and early tomorrow morning to go pick it up! I even had a length of 2x4 tube bought to start making one up myself but I didn't want to make the start with the purchase of the OEM one still up in the air. If he had of said no sale...bright and early tomorrow I would have been cutting metal! LoL Sunday I should have some good progress pics.
Road trip tomorrow!! Steve Nice write up in the mags. Some one said there was a car on page 84!! I didn`t see no car!! So who this friend that is blamed for hooking Chad on Custom?? Now I know why you want us to get the mags!!lol
Dropped over to Chapters this afternoon and picked up a copy of the Mag. Nice writeup on Chads Custom!!! Fitzee and I took a little roadtrip to Jons garage and picked up the front unibody and crossmember assembly to do the repairs to mine. Nice shape! What a beautiful area he lives in. I should have taken a few shots of the drive but only got a couple. Didn't really keep the camera ready. LoL Jon has a B body racecar and several other Mopar vehicles in his fleet...along with a totally wired pet dog who's whole purpose in life seems to be to play and run around at 110%!!! What a ham!!! Anyway...we pulled the front out of the snowbank and carried it out to the driveway, tossed it in Jons ATV and brought it down the hill to the truck. Once we dropped it off at my place we took a ride over to a friends house to check out an engine fitzee was interested in AND to look at a Rambler Marlin the friend had just picked up as a project. It's been laying up forever but hopefully he will change that story in the next couple of years. Radical looking car for the day and well equipped. Cut the donor clip apart tonight and the crossmember looks good. Hope to have it reinforced and in place tomorrow so i can move on to the floor replacement. Inner rockers are done on both sides, except for the areas where the seat belt anchors will be placed. I need to finalize the location and make the reinforced plates, then weld them in.
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