Customs Finally starting on the wife’s 56

Is it done yet?

 

Nope

 

A craftsman uses a contour gauge. The work looks great.
Me, being akin to a blacksmith, just beats the metal into submission.

 

Fine line between craftsman and just a stubborn guy with some hammers.
So far I haven’t used a hatchet.
Contour gauge was a Christmas present from the wife. Kinda ironic.

 

Or was she trying to tell you something?

 

Tacked in place. Still a good bit of dolly work ahead. Better than 1/2 inch of bondo, cracks and brass.

 

Didn’t want to post but

lot of undercut in the weld. All butted up fine.
My biggest mistake was welding some of it yesterday in the shop in the 20s.
2nd I got in a hurry and didn’t tack weld enough.
3rd was I didn’t clean the back side thoroughly like I normally do. The edge against the door had surface rust underneath that made the weld porous.
4th. Vision through my helmet sux. My regular helmet died and I’m using a HF backup. It’s fine for MIG but not near as good for TIG
It’s 90% user error. Lack of discipline on tack welds and cleaning.
I’ll do better next time.

 

Hope my patches come out half as good.
Dan

 

Your ''mistakes'' outclass some of my ''looks good'' work lol. You could have bought a fender, but the rest of us wouldn't have learned so much! Well, I'm still in the learning stage, anyway..

 

The mistakes only bother me because they were avoidable.
I didn’t follow my own teaching

 

Or; you "intentionally" set & showed an example of what not to do, demonstrated w/visual graphics, & discussed the ramifications of what, why, & how to correct them.
All in all; good teaching... .
Marcus...

 

Not intentional. Just a combination of frustration, cold and impatience

 

Anthony.........I think this should be your Avatar!


Some craftsmanship accompanied by a little blood and dirt under the fingernail.............

 

There, it’s fine now.

 

Send it

 

I hear ya on the cold! Been thinking I got somehow teleported to Siberia this week!

 

Fitting my crusty mock up engine
Just rounded up what might be the correct power steering mounts and pulleys.

crank pulleys seem to need spaced out to line up with the WP and PS pulleys.
The other is the engine height. I’ve felt it was too low but this is where the store bought mounts settled at.
I didn’t have the factory mounts but now have a set

According to these old mounts the engine needs to move up

assuming these are the correct original style. If so, that would solve the PS pump hitting the frame issue.

 

Picked up a couple wheels. 15 inch OE style stock wheels are a tough find
NOS 60s Cal Custom spider cap trim rings.

Hoping to talk her into either spider caps or push through cones and chrome lug nuts. And the outer trim ring
Wheels painted blue

 

The guy I got em from said something like that.
mentioned that being factory?
I don’t know.

 

No, not factory. But 57 did go to window less wheels.

 

Those rubber pieces came with a rubber kit for a 55 Vette I did at work. So they must be factory.

 

Well I be
Cool

 

A little reading say’s the rubber insert is used with full wheel covers. It helps keep dust from collecting within the face of the wheel and backside of wheel cover.

 

Think that’s what the guy said. He said he restored several tri5s.
That’s sumthin
I guess this wheel has been sitting in his shed a while.

 

Used a set of OE tri 5 engine mounts. These trans dapt ones are lower than stock. The OE mounts raised the engine up 1/2 inch. I’ll use these trans dapt ones but will make a spacer. The PS pump clears the chassis now. And could run a mechanical pump now.

the alt bracket is just sitting there. It doesn’t clear the alt fan. I’ve fit it with rams horn manifolds. The ones with the alt mount that sticks straight out

my ignorance is showing now. I’ve never used OE brackets on an sbc. The PS is fitting. The alt seems strange.
I’ve got a set of aftermarket smooth 2.5 rams horns on the engine I plan to run. No alt provision.
Wonder how much thicker those are in the center
Got 3/8 clearance now. Everything I’ve looked at fights tight here next to the box.
I’ve thought about shifting the engine over 1/4.
Trying to fit as much as possible before this frame goes to get blasted.

 

Picked up an upper hatch
No exterior rot. A little on the inside.

current one is rotted on the bottom

for $70 I’ll use the lower portion to fix this one
Picked up a lot of needed trim. $25 per stick average.

better shape than the ones on the car. Thinking about adding the rocker trim

 

Figured it out
The upper bracket I have is this.
And I’d need that lower if I run the current exhaust manifold

the early intake I plan to use has a coolant port in the alt bracket location

I’ll get this sorted out
I guess I’ll find some 63/64 style alt brackets
Or these 64 up vette ones

 

90* L bracket, bolt one side to arm, other to intake mount bolt. Simple and effective.