Technical What did you do with your car today? * NEW*

Trying to finish up the chassis inner structure. Just the trans. mount and a couple cross pieces left to go. The final engine is a 398 Blown, injected 1958 Chrysler Hemi so building things stout for the Vicky project.

 

Thank you kind sir.

John

 

Painted my steering .

 

sorry but my neck hurts today

 

A few more details completed. I stopped by a friends shop and picked up a vent for the rear axle ( my friends have made this build happen ) I got that installed and also got the front turn signals hooked up. Now here is a nice rear ! A Dana 60 with Moser axles a spool and with 4:10 gears sitting on Chrysler 002/003 SS springs. Sliders on the rear with 2 degrees negative pinion angle. Bullet proof early SS/Pro Stock technology !
My current rear wheels are 8 and 1/2 in. wide Fentons . I need some 10's or 12's and I am in the process of locating the pieces to band some steel wheels and put a pair together with some hoops. Then I can put some slicks on the Fentons.
It's a great day to be alive !

 

Worked on installing the laminated dash knobs, drilled and tapped a couple for set screws, threaded another, and drilled the others so I can JB weld them in place. Need to wet sand a couple marks out and buff them again before installing for good.
Started to smooth out the bumper guard lights; but my shoulder decided it wasn't ready for a DA yet (hey don't tell the doc).
Tried getting the latches on my buddies trunk thing for his '33; but found out I didn't have a chance of drilling #36 holes in the stainless fasteners. Need to get some regular or aluminium pieces. Sure has been a headache so far. The rack I made came out ok; but I think Model 40's look better plain on the back. To bad someone needs to take so much with on road trips.

 

Bought my wife carpet, padding and install for the basement... Maybe I'll be rewarded with car parts

 

An unspoken cost of our hobby.

 

Tested the color on wife's Nova. She likes it. Aqua marine blue firemist. tcp enamel.

 

I have spent some time installing a couple switches. One is a momentary used for a NAPA brake parking lock I will use as a line lock. Another mounted on the shifter handle is for the trans brake. All though I don't drive at night ( my vision is like the rest of me ! worn out ) I am working on the headlight wiring. I mounted the dimmer switch next to the seat so it can be hand operated. There is still a ways to go with this task.
Also coming up with a plan to get the handbrake in working order.

 

I'd like to hear more about the 2500 rpm stall converter. What rear end gears are you running? OD trans? How do you like the way it works?

 

Well, yesterday, after stalling 3 times on the way home from our show, I figured out it was the carb, not anything electrical, that was my problem. So I pulled the Holley off and put an Edelbrock carb on my Coupe. The Holley had three broken vacuum plugs, so i'm sure that was the problem. Ran great this morning, on the way to work.

 

The handbrake is complete and working. final cost , zero . I had all the parts on hand. Even the piece to hook the cables in. It doesn't get any better than this !

 

More pictures of color. These are old parts not used.

 

My upholsterer just sent me photos of the front seat from my '46 Olds sedanette, retrimmed in OEM material. I can't wait to collect it and see the rear seat when it's done. Carpet, hoodlining, door trims etc are next! A far cry from the original battered interior.

 

Replaced the tail lights on my 33 Dodge. There was salt in them and you could see the water line on the lens.

 

Closing in on assembly of my 351 Windsor. Had the machine work done late last year but didn't begin assembly until the garage warmed up this spring. Still need little odds and ends: Carb spacer, distributor rotor, cap, adapter, plug wires and oil filter. I've got a used water pump pulley coming that I bought online and some other doodads before I pour in oil, spin the oil pump and connect it to an empty AOD to start it up and run it in. It's bored .030, crank turned -.010, has Edelbrock 1.90-intake aluminum heads, Edelbrock Performer intake, a 600-cfm Holley, an Edelbrock RV cam, Comp Cam roller rockers and a passenger-side aluminum water pump. I got the carb ($100), stainless headers ($100), intake ($50) and water pump pulley ($30) on local lists or online, so bucks saved there. The machining, pistons, bearings, etc. were around $1,300, so still think it will be coming in less spendy than a crate motor. Rebuilding the AOD to take the power of this engine will empty the wallet for sure. This marks 48 years of progress. I've just got a trans rebuild, paint, glass, wiring, driveshaft, exhaust, mounting the gas tank, upholstery, etc. yet to do. At 73, still seems doable, but I'd really like to drive it someday, too. A guy's gotta dream, don't he?

 

A week or so ago, I was able to acquire a Wieand WCD4 intake and carbs from our beloved mod, Mark Moriarity. Even though they came with some cute air cleaners, I already knew what I was looking for. I found my scoops at Lucky’s Speed Equipment. I ordered and they showed up today. This is for my 1917 rpu, 283, 5 speed, jag rear.

 

Actually got a little color on...

 

I’ve been working on my Belair wagon, I painted it in 2006 and it’s in need of some touching up, I’m not sure yet how much I’m going to redo but the list of body and paint work keeps growing. The last few days I’m working on the left quarter around the gas door. The pocket the filler sits in is double walled and it’s rusted, I cut out the rust and made some pieces to weld in, after it’s welded up I’ll sandblast the area and epoxy primer it.

 

It's a roller and the body is somewhat in position.

 

Snuck off to a gathering this morning in Newport Beach. Usually pretty small but by the time I left is was packed with more showing up. OT’s there too. 57 T-bird beside me started as a absolute basket and was great rebuilt by a Vietnam Veteran.

 

Finishing up my engine build. Hoping to start it soon.

 

Cleaned out the shed today so I can actually use it. Was gonna do some more work but it was such a perfect lazy Sunday I ended up taking a long nap

 

@Blues4U : The car has 31.5 inch tall rear tires, a 9-inch with 4.11s, and 700R4 (0.7 overdrive) - that puts me at about 2050 RPM at 65 mph. So far the torque converter has been an improvement. I don’t know much about the previous one, but is was likely a stock stall, so something like 1800? The new one was made by Dice Converters near Los Angeles. It really leaves the line hard now - much better than before.

I’m working on a problem with the trans not locking up in 4th gear (which it never has). Hope to have that solved in the next week or so. Apart from ‘that’s how it’s supposed to work’, I need to get the lockup going to make the package work with the 2500 stall and my low RPM at highway speed, etc.

John

 

Adjusted the carburetor and tested the new shocks.

 

Nice..how are you going to put oil in it? I don’t see a breather hole on either end of the valley cover. The side road draft canister and tube needs a breather on top to function properly.

 

Took my wagon to it's first ever show, small local one and somehow managed to get best in show, was a nice surprise and relaxing day. Amazing how many people are now into long roofs.

 

Just looked up Craig Chevrolet in Arvada, Colorado, now it’s a brewery and tasting room. Glad it’s got a great new life and not a mini-mall!

 

Congrats on Best of Show. An awesome longroof you've got!