seems like the last few things from Drake I tried to buy "out of stock"... keep up the good work man !
Now I'm anxious, you guys are gonna curse me. Where are you guys sourcing radiators? I've seen a few from Speedway. They have Griffin, AFCO, and Walker. They all seem to be about triple what I thought they should cost. Google brought up a bunch of eBay knock offs for less but I really just like building stuff once. Buy good parts from known manufacturers and rely on reputation.
i read through the whole thing almost expecting a finished project, or at least the small block in. you're killing me! Love where you're headed with it!
Maybe it's time to think outside of the box, grab yer tape and head down to the junkyard and see what you can scrounge up.
I love that idea. It's certainly a romantic image. Around here we only have corporate name brand wrecking yards. They make money off turning over inventory and selling parts fast. The last time I went to the yard everything had plastic side tanks on the radiators and nothing was older than the mid 80s. It's weird to think that the junk yard has become virtual. I can cross reference manufacturers and brands, size and material construction, cost and efficiency all from the toilet seat in my house. Anything with copper or aluminum disappears real fast around here, too. Our crankster community loves to feed the monster by recycling anything they can pry loose. Hopefully I can find something that meets my needs. I'd love and still love to spend an afternoon in a legit, old school wrecking yard. Times have changed and there's not too many left.
Summit crosses the line first. Fuel pump, regulator, and filter. I can set up the pump now and drill some holes in the frame to mount it before everything is pretty in powder.
Bob Drakes stuff showed up today. New tank, filler neck, gas cap, sender unit, and assorted assembly parts. Should be all ready to go in.
spend the bucks on a Walker for your car.. have one in my 36.. also do you have the old radiator ? Any good radiator shops around the area.. I recored the radiator in the 62 Poncho Wagon, and 62 Mercury...they were fine... just a thought @DRUGASM
I have the old radiator but it seems to be a bit beyond repair. It looks like it may have fallen off a jack at some point, the bottom is pretty FUBAR'd. I ended up going with the Griffin after asking around a bit. I had one in a 65 Chevelle awhile back and it kept things cool. I wanted to go with the Walker with the built in A.C. condensor but after talking to a namebrand A.C. company they advised against it. Something along the lines of they can't guarantee parts they dont produce and don't gamble on mixing pieces. Makes sense to me. The ongoing mantra or theme I've been repeating to myself..... " Build it right, build it once." Radiator should be here on Valentine's Day. I guess I will see if the invoice helps cool momma down or gets her heated.
I went with the same stuff. I'd recommend attaching the tank to the frame while you've got the body off. It was a challenge for me to get the bolts for the tank mount tight . . . not much room between the tank and the frame! Mating that piece of rubber to the tank and the filler tube was another chore!
I lucked out on my Walker radiator, It was a "Garage Sale" item from Speedway. They said it was damaged so I called to see how bad it was, they said the lower outlet was bent do to the box being dropped. They said I could return it if I didn't like what I saw. All that was wrong was the outlet pipe looked like it had been squeezed together a little. I spread it open and used a big socket and body hammer and dollied it into shape. Works perfect, save about $80 on it. I also got the shroud for that radiator, it comes solid so you have to cut your own hole. My car was a 6 cylinder and like the tri five chevs the stock radiator was way foreward, it cooled fine at speed but in traffic it got hot in a hurry! A Buddy found me all the V8 hardware that I needed to move the rad back and it now cools great. Glad you got your tank, project is looking good!
Thanks for the input fellas. Yeah the push on dropping coin for some parts was because the body is off. Need to get as much done while it's in the air as possible. I would like to get a lot of the wiring ran along with fuel lines and brake lines while it's off. Time will tell. I saw a few in the Garage Sale area at Speedway as well. Looks like they drop a lot of radiators.
No real updates today. I spent all day on the working end of a shovel moving a ton of bark in and out of flower beds for momma. I did manage to take the bumper brackets off. This is my version of "I wasn't asking". Those dudes did not want to break free. I soaked them in PB Blast most of the day and still no give. My jack handle eventually convinced them to give up.
All except one. This guy was bent and jumped out of his home. He just rattles around with the impact and laughed at me. So I took my life in my own hands and got the cutting wheel out. I survived to fight another day and fared way better than the last time I used power tools.
I say take my life in my hands..... the last time I was using a cut off wheel was almost my last. I was flat on my back trying to cut out a bolt on the gas tank when the grinder jumped out of my hands and gravity took over. I felt it bite and get caught up in my shirt. As I scrambled out from under the car I looked at my buddy Scott and he was white as a ghost. Am I bleeding? Am I bleeding? No response from Scott.
I snapped that pic just to make sure I didn't to write out my last will and testament. I got lucky and I think the shirt slowed it way down before I could do any real damage. Lucky boy, just looked like a hickey for about a week. So, at any rate. Be careful in the shop fellas.
I've been looking for those bumper guard bolts for three years, had the bumpers and guards rechromed but the guards are sitting in a box just waiting. I broke all four of those bolts when we blew the car apart. Mac and Drake both show part numbers and pics of the bolts but of course there out of stock,, if you find some, please let me know where they are, I need em!! Thanks
That's no good about the bolts. I like the guards on the bumpers.... on the front anyway. I'll keep an eye out and let you know what I find.
Heard the doorbell ring this morning followed by a pro-street burnout. Apparently the delivery guy didn't want to stick around and chat. Found this on the porch and was pretty excited. No jokes about coming early guys, it was supposed to be here on the 14th (Valentines Day).
It's not as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. The rad itself looks okay, just bent that foot up. I'll call the company just to show it was damaged when it arrived. It may be a year before it actually gets used and I would hate to just be ass-out. The find and tanks look okay. Must have been a good hit to tweak that leg up still.
Isn't that a shame! Nobody cares anymore, nobody gives a Rats Ass about taking Pride in there work. There was a time when you could have gotten that radiator shipped in a paper bad and it wouldn't have a scratch! I spent 45 years in the Trucking Business and a "Good" Owner/ Operator would have checked that box for damage before he loaded it, then secured it to keep it from getting damaged! But that was a different world I guess. I can't remember UPS or FEDEX bringing something to our house that didn't have some kind of damage, the box or the contents. Then we have the Freight Charges, why do they put two brass fittings that would fit in a Marlboro Box in a box the size of a Beer Case. Because the big box takes up more space, space costs money! I would have put them in an envelope and mailed them for a Buck and a half, not Trucked them for $8, that's just me though. Keep plugging away DRUGASM, your gett'n there!
Good move going to Tracy...great planner and fabricator. I have a '47 Fordor my lifelong friend gave me...just had time to do some on the stock crossmember. (my friend's brother cut it on both sides, so it's up to me how low to go there...plus 4" '33 type axle, flattened and reversed-eye Posie front spring) SBC maybe, or my nice Olds...not in stone yet. Other stuff ahead of it. I got some 'Box Skirts' from Tracy, so mine will be 'low', but slightly lower in rear, true to the 'customs' that cruised Santa Clara around '53-'56.
Tracy smiled the other day talking about "Uncle Mike". He said you were there and knew what it took to get them right. Something about Volkswagen tires on the front and Cadillacs on the back.
Spent some time tonight with my nose pressed against the glass of the blast cabinet. Front shock mounts for tube shocks and the gas tank brackets cane out clean.
We were looking at the rear mount for the leaf spring hanger and noticed it had 3 holes that were unused. There were no extra parts and I doubled checked the instructions... No mention of these holes. Figured if they were there and it was going to make it stronger we may as well use them. Broke out the drill and added some more holes. I'll grab some matching hardware when we have it apart for powder coating.
And that brings up the latest and greatest. I've been lucky that I've been able to get out and get some work done over the last few months. We celebrated the birth of my son, Harry in mid December and I have burned off a bunch of sick hours. I have been at my current job for almost 15 years and had accumulated over 550hrs of sick time. The birth of my son just happened to match up with a job transition for me to a new place. Same job, different employer. I was able to take all of my baby leave at once and burn off all that time I had stored up before I started my new job. New job starts Tuesday the 20th. Updates on this old gal will probably slow down a bit but expect big things to happen over the next few months. Stay tuned. We have a frame that's gonna come back real pretty and match up to that body, an engine and trans ready to drop in, brake upgrades, and some new tires and wheels soon. Sacramento Autorama is this weekend. One last good hoorah before it's back to life of a working man.
The Jalopy Journal
