Projects 28 RPU "problem child" build thread "first try at a hotrod"

If it doesn't ruin your mood maybe several holes drilled in the top side of that coil mount might help keep that coil cool in that spot.

 

fair warning is that at least in this brand it is really transparent and difficult to match. A buddy painted a rpu but used black sealer and didn’t have near the trouble I did.

I think I’m going to do a big hole in the middle then go down smaller as it goes out both ways possibly.. hated to have to move it cause I liked it being out of sight..

 

Omni color needs at lest 3 coats maybe 4 for full coverage. The clear cote is the same 3 or 4 coats if buffing....

 

Painted my OT (51-year-old) car with Omni Single stage, it was a solid red.
Very happy with the way it turned out for a at home paint job

 

talked to a guy today that does painting on the side and he mentioned having to do way more coats with Omni especially maroon colors.. said when he does then he usually steps up to the Omni plus line and has better luck...

I know for sure when I get it out in the sun it’s going to have light spots on some of the edges..

Some things I’ve been working on a little everyday. Sanded and polished the fuel black and put the lines back on... need to order a new linkage since I stole some parts off it for the 34 truck.


put the old wiring back in and apparently I left way to much slack when I did it the first time.. so had to cut some back and just fix up some things I don’t know why I did it that way.


had to remake the fan mount.. went to set the radiator on and it hit the distributor.. made a new one and stepped it to set right up against the core.. did put strips of an inner tube between it and the core to keep it from rubbing.


drilled a few sets of holes in the coil mount.. one line on top and one line on the side. Didn’t think about it but luckily it just missed the fuel line.. wouldn’t have been good to have to remake that..


installed the welting on the grille


installed two new layers of screen on the grille also to dull down the radiator.. was able to get it to lay down flatter this time.. I’m sure it will loosen a bit after some miles anyway.



Hoped do the welting on the cowl and set the hood on to get the correct distance so I can remake the upper radiator pipes. The. Get a fuel pump plumbed back in since the salt rusted the first one and it’s discontinued now..

 

Not putting the old back pump and hoses back in.. it was a good enough to get it going type setup..

So made a plate to move the pump up into the crossmember and lines to go up over it instead of being on the bottom side closer to the exhaust.

Old was basically in the same spot but no hard lines.


hopefully no leaks.. I don’t know if it’s the copper pipe or the ferrules but seem to really have to crank them down to get them to tighten against the tube.. cut the pipe with a die grinder since the tubing cutter seem to be making it just a little out of round...

just have to clamp the hoses and put a filter on the output of the tank. Hopefully not much longer to get it started..

 

I file the ends of the tubing flat and square and de-burr it before flaring it.

 

Few more little things checked off..

Little tricky and required another person to get the support rod holders on the tank.. had to tape the nut and washer in the closed end of a box end wrench then dad had to start the screw from the outside..


next up is getting the hood welting on.. this was the easiest way I could figure out to set the rivets for it..

Poke the hole with a scribe


Get the tiger through it and start the tabs over with a pair of Small needle nose


Then I used a pair of vice grips like this to fold them the rest of the way and tighten them up.. way less violent then a hammer and dolly


Going to try and get the hood rods on and have to get the J bolt or make something work to get the upper welting on the tank for the hood.

 

I don’t have any trouble flaring it.. it’s the compression end with the ferrule on it. Takes a good bit to get the ferrule tight against the tube

 

Beautiful project and I really like the maroon.

 

Was plugging along decent made up a new floorboard since the old one didn’t quite line up


Test fit the hood


Pulled it off and filled it with water and oil. The water pump on the passenger side was leaking.. the gasket had shifted and the hole was oval now and was leaking.. made new gaskets to fix that..

few days later the floor under the was wet. Found that the drivers side head gasket was leaking in multiple places..

Pulled the head off and ordered new gaskets. The day they showed up I started to wipe the cylinders down to install the new gaskets and found this


Pulled the engine back out to inspect and took the other head off since it was East now. Found two wrist pin clips wanting to exit.. the drivers side actually did fall out when I pushed the piston out of the bore.. the passenger side wasn’t to far behind... almost wore in two..



so spring isn’t looking so likely now.. going to work on the engine and making new seat boards in between motor work.

 

These long-term threads, with tons of detail are one great thing about the HAMB.

 

For sure but I guess glad I found it now before I had it all together and it let go going down the road someday.

it sure feels like an eternity at this point haha. I need to keep up with this thread better.

over last night and today was able to get the motor 90% stripped


While going through I made a few little things to try and help make the process a little easier. Made this punch or drift to knock the guide down to remove the upper retainer off.. the normal flathead pet bar wasn’t budging them. the small part is same diameter of a valve stem and has a recess so it doesn’t hit the edge of the hole and sits on the face of the guide.

After that I used a 5/16 bolt with a jam but since it was thin enough to fit between the windings of the valve spring. Then used a large slide hammer to get the guide to come up out.. amazing how hard they stick even after only being on the road for maybe 10 years.


The original engine stands I made were always aggravating to use.. so made up a new plate and pipe out of some scrap.. 1/2” is a little overkill but it let me thread it with 3/8 fine thread so if need be I can switch it over to the other side of the engine.



The fight begins tomorrow trying to get all the studs out of the block. Which I made another tool for but it’s about done just have to see if it works like I want it to.


parts pile.. labeled all the parts and valve train so hopefully goes back together easy.

 

As a 63 year old rookie hot rod builder I am very appreciative that people like yourself and many others here on the HAMB take the time to post and share their. Incredible work and attention to detail. So much information in this one build. Thank you for sharing.

 

They are not mistakes you just learned how not to do it

 

that’s great! What are you building?

have to learn somehow!


Few more things kind of checked off the list.. remade the rear cab and seat support.. forgot to take pictures of it.. older brother does woodworking so I had him help do the joints. Instead of screws in at an angle we put pegs in up through the bottom and glued all the joints. Way stiffer now.


Next thing was to do some temporary work to make it easier on the guy that’s going to do the upholstery.. I know why better then to even try that.. I took home economics in high school since a relative thought that class thinking it would be an easy pass... I almost failed it.. so best leave the sewing to someone else.

made up some pins to bolt to the seat riser to keep it from sliding forward




cut the back board out and left everything a little long so he can cut it down if need be. Going to work out away time hold the seat back to the cab while waiting on the block to be done


And hopefully call the machine shop Monday to see when I can get it in.


There were two studs that broke that just wouldn’t come out.. tried everything from soaking them to welding a washer and nut to them. Drilling them then welding to them.. no dice... so I ordered inserts that should be here tomorrow cause they will have to be drilled out.

 

Nice progress, small details like the inserts take time that "doesn't show", but adds to overall build.

 

They also make oversized inserts, I believe they are called Keenserts they are bigger than a HeliCoil and work great in blocks.you can also cut out studs with a torch. One other thing do you know a machine shop with a EDM and let them burn it out. Electronic Discharge Machine.