A week later the first few coats of paint was on the frame. And the a lot of pictures taken with my phone. Wrong brakehose, this one is from a 87 skylark And no, didn't flip the garage, just the frame, so I could get some more room while working in there. Well, the landlord tore down the old barn you ave seen in the other pics. unfortunately he also told people to come and pick it clean, before they tore it down. And just to make sure, that I didn't leave anything in there, I cleaned out quite a few boxes of parts, that have been laying dormant in there for years. but the three boxes with ALL my saved brake parts, was gone. And according to my daughter who was the last to se them, they have been missing for allmost a year. She thought that I was the one removing them from the barn. SH.T!! Need to buy new stuff then.
New stud mounted. Used a washer and a lugnut and just drove it in.. Off course is the base on the studs 14.5mm and the holes 13.2 mm. So I had to use my stepdrill, since I dont have a 14 mm drillbit. But it worked nicely! An impact gun is a must for this kind of job. All in place, and at that point, I realised, that I made a mistake. Would have been easier to clean without the studs!! So then I cleaned the brakedisc. My old compressor has a hard time filling the big tank with air, so I went a bit back and forth, doing different things. Had a few of these lying around, and got an idea. A piece of this. And one from this. And this, (A bushing from a 94 explorer) Which got a bit of a m***age with an anglegrinder. Became a frontsuspension bushing with mounting surface. It goes in here. Like this. The pipe pieces gets welded to the frame and the suspension, and the bushing in the middle. This pipe is for the bolt that goes through the frame. The end of the bolt is square, so this wont work! I LIKE my anvil Just a bit more hammer-m***age, and it will all fit! Like this. A bit to long, but the grinder will fix that. Needs a few larger washers underneath. Want more? let me know.
I'm doing this to show, how I build my rod, and to get info and ideas from you guys. Where's the fun in making at building thread, if nobody sees it or responds?
I'm a Chevrolet fan and subscribed to your talent. Chop chop Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Happy new year everybody. She is back on all four again, and I'm getting closer to fitting the engine. A little paint looks nice on fresh steel. Need to fix the other side as well. But first, a litte work needed to be done on the handbrake. I want to use the original handbrake, so I need to modify the base, since the transmission crossmember has been moved to the rear.. Did all of this after welding the daily clanker, in the rain. I do like my zink primer. Easiest way to check if everything still fits together, was to bolt the whole thing to a wooden plate.
Disc and hub needed some time apart, so they were granted separation Cleaned the hub. Yup, this one needs cleaning too. And after a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, with different tools and abrasives, it looked nice and clean.
I do realize, that I can buy new brake discs from EBC, but for mock-up, these will do Now, for the studs in the other hub, It went fine with an ordinary wrench in the beginning, but had to switch to the impact gun in the end. Yes. I will be cleaning out the old grease. Painted everything with heat resistant paint.
Now we are getting to the latest pictures, taken right before christmas. If you have been reading your way through the entire thread, you might recognize these!! Yup, these are the fenders that originally sat on this car. I kept them purely for mock up, and because if I ever needed to make a fibergl*** copy, they retained enough of the original shape to make that work. But after looking for fenders (for the better part of two years) I finally found a usable pair 700 km away. And the prize was right, only 65$ for the pair. and since he was driving through half of Norway to visit his family, we agreed to meting halfway. When we finally located each other (not easy when we both are at a location unknown to us both!) He actually felt bad about the condition of the fenders, but as I told him, they are way better than mine. hehehe As long as there's more steel than holes, they will be fine. So now we're waiting for better weather.
Just saw this post for the first time and ...WOW! That is an incredible amount of work and from a small garage with mostly basic hand tools. Very inspiring. Need to back up a way and ask a question. There is a picture of when you first rolled the frame from under the body. Maybe I'm seeing things but, did the rear suspension have the original leaf spring on one side and a coil spring on the other? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thank you, and yes. That's a coil spring. What happend was this. A guy, that I know through facebook only. were on a vacation/car meet down south, when he broke the original spring on his car. And called for help on facebook. I told him that I would mount coils on my car and that he could have the one that wasn't broken. So they used zipties and duct tape (not really!) to hold the spring together and drove home with the car. The day after he was here, ready to pick up the spring. We took it of my Master and replaced it with a coil spring, to keep the car somewhat level. He asked me what I wanted for it, and I told him, that he could have it, or pay me what he thought it was worth. So he paid me 500,- for it. (thats 65$ or something like that!) "Because" He said, "everybody else he had spoken to, wanted 5-10 times as much and they were either in worse condition, or the seller were not nice on the phone! (this was during the summer hollidays!) and drove off a very happy man, and I got to meet a fellow rodder. Bought a sixpack of beer, and steel for the money. hehehe
Not if you ask my daughter, she would just say, "Just dumb enough, not to know better!" My wife agrees with that statement! heheheh
What rideheight do you want? I think it gonna be a little high when you do that way(my opinion) I myself building a 39 2dr with the same ifs and i had to do two cutouts that the frame fall in to so i get the stance that i want.
I dont know the rideheight yet, not easy to know, until everything is back on the frame. But living in Norway is not the thing if you are into lowered cars, most of the roads are horrible, and those that aren't will be roadtaxed. So I'm not going for a total "flat on my ***'ed" lowered car. but a more sensible drive first of. A couple of inches, from original will be enough in the beginning. I dislike snow, Not all of it, but mostly the one I have to remove by hand! And I have realized that my blastingcabinet is to small, way to small So I need to get some materials from work, and build myself a bigger one (4-5 times bigger should do it.) The reason for getting a bigger cabinet, is due to low visibility., low pressure, bad lighting, and no room for bigger parts! Not blasted yet. But I spend a few days on these. A bit to close with the camera! Need to blast everything again before paint, cant see sh.t through the gl***! These are the only ones that didn't need blasting again!! And the wife let me use the dining room table for storage until I'm done with blasting and painting. God bless her.
After blasting again, they got painted and the other side Brakecalipers got painted after blasting as well This is from my local dealer one coat, 3 hours drying, another coat, 3 hours drying and so forth And a little trick for painting somthing not complety dry. This pait will not be completly dried for 10 days. Remember to fill it halfway with water, for stability
bolted the backingplates on. Cleaning the threads bumpstops got blasted and painted Cailpers got bolted on brakepads in place But forgot the upper bumpstop on the other side. let's get that in place took some fiddeling. So a threaded rod with a plate and a nut works perfectly And it's where it's supposed to be Need the weight of the engine. Backingplate on the drivers side Cleaning the threads and all the other stuff. Not much room to work on this side. Much better. Padclips on. And locking pins All will have to be removed a couple of times befor i'm done with the front suspension. The tape marks the spot for the brakehose clamp Need to make those.
Testet the rack and pinion The locknut was stuck. monsterstuck. no tools I had, would move it. So here comes the gasburner. And after a few hours of heating, cooling, lubricating, and so forth, it finally moved. an WATH THE FUUUUUUUU..........! Who the h.ll uses red lock***e on the tierod????? Needs cleaning. And need to remember wich is pressure and return, that's why i took this picture. It's there, sort of, but the toe in is way off! Makes it look cross eyed Even this is almost right. And this too Next project. brackets for the brakehoses A piece of 2mm plate. A bit of cutting and grinding later Needs a 15mm hole But my stepdrill on has 14 and 16 mm. so a bit of filing is needed.
So a 14 mm hole was made. and a couple more for a selftapping skrew. cleaning the edges Let's expand the hole to 15 mm Not quite, more grinding After the got the right size, the bracket was secured with a selftapping skrew Perfect. Need a brakehose klamp, let's make one. And the other side Found more parts for the steering Back to the brakehose Re-use of old part is ok No binding on the hose, and the wheel can go from lock to lock Brakelines THink my camera is a bit shy, it doesen't like getting to close. theese clips are form a 87 buick, and slightly modifyed First attempt on the brakeline, didn't like it Let's try again This is the old hole for the shock absorber through the frame. And this hose fits perfektly
Brakeline clips. 2$ a 6 mm hole Base for the clips. And the clips in place So, lets find a route, that won't interfere with engine or any other parts in the engine bay Like this! Same hole, on the ohter framerail And the rest is left here until the T3 brakebracket shows up. If there is a chance of contact between the brakeline and the frame a piece of rubber hose is used. This rubber plate, was used for forming some of the tighter bends on the brakelines. And next, fitting the R&P
Well, after smacking my self a few times with the facepalm I had to move on. Turns out, that I have made a huge mistake, thats copper lines, i have been bending and using. And thats not good enough, I want coppernickel lines. So a new trip to the store later in the month to buy all new brakelines. So let's get back to the R&P. This one is out of an 1980 Skylark, that I junked three years ago. After cleaning it in the partswasher, (need to install heating in that thing. It's minus 10 degrees celsius now, so cleaning it with thin rubbergloves on was not a stroke of genius!!) Might need the grinder here But all in all it doesn't look that far off Needed to raise the frame, as my jackstands wont go low enough. Center found reading about frontend here http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/undestanding-ackerman-suspension-geometry-227762.html exelent explained But looks okay more is comming, but not today, as it is freeeezzzzing outside.
Today my daughter showed up with gas for my welder So I wanted to do something about the brackets for the rack Everything is tacked, so I can move it around as needed. The lower parts were the hardest to fit, it took a lot of fiddling, grinding, testing, grinding, and so forth. And more grinding, fiddling, testing, welding, testing. One of the top plates takes shape. And this is for the other side And this is actually well thought through, even though it looks like something I'm just throwing together. But I want to be able to pull the rack, from under the car, with only hand tools, and not tear the whole front of the car apart. All brackets are made from 4mm plate steel. Still have a lot of hours in front of me, before I'm satisfied And I still have 3" of clearance in case I need to drop the frame into the front suspension And theese are my heater in my garage. not much to shout about, but with both running, it's almost livable inside. As long as i'm using my winter suit, and bring hot coffee Lets see if I get anything done tomorrow.
So, this is Saturday evening in Norway, and I finally got my **** in from the garage. (walked out this morning at 9 am and got in at 8 pm.) Continued with the top plates today. These are not nice welds, but they keep the nut in place Dont think my welder likes the cold, since it delivers the thread a bit erratic. Enough clearance for the shaft of the steering wheel. Beginning to take shape But I wanted more rigidity in the rack, so more bracketing was made. And out with the front suspension, again...! Took me 12 minutes to get it out. Welded it on the underside, and in all the places that I could not reach from the overside. Made a few gussets in the bottom, but was in cruise mode, so forgot all about the camera. hehehe Maybe I used a bit to much paint!! hehehe And with these pictures, even I can see where I made mistakes. But all in all a wonderful day in the garage.. And I gave the brackets the sledge test. they didn't move at all, so i'm satisfied.
Hydraulic line. Drilled a hole so the nut almost fits. Nearly there, just a bit tight. But nothing my "motivator" couldn't fix. :-D It's almost there, but I don't want it to come loose. Should have bought "nutserts" but on a sunday, everything is closed in norway. But a few tac's did the job. Not pretty, but it works Thinking about making new brackets, but thats something, I'll consider later on. A bit more test fitting And then the IFS was back in place. I needed something to help the bolts in front. some sort of steel angle, since they are mounted in an angle, so I don't pull them crooked, when I tighten them up. but I'm lousy at drilling square holes, so let's see what I can come up withJ! Have a lot of old 1/2" sockets lying around, and strangely enough, they had the same size as the bolts!? So a little carefull cutting with the anglegrinder And look, It fits perfectly. A few more tacs, so it will stay in place! Oops, that's a "Do it over!"
Painted the caster stags, but need to insulate the garage, or build a new one, cause i'm freezing my b..s of. This is "Crankenstein" Just a 305 cu that I threw a set of new gaskets after, and parked it on the cart for 7 years. It's called Crankenstein, because it's a mix of 5 different engines and other parts. It is actually the first V8 that I ever pulled apart, and rebuild. Got done with the pedestals for the ifs bolts. They could be prettier, but my right foot is twitching for a drive. So with the better weather, I took time to fix a leak on my air tank. Casterstag bushings? Either find new ones, or modify what I already have. Guess what I vent with!? Hehehe Made the hole bigger. Who would have known, that bushings from a 91-94 explorer 4wd would fit so nice on a Opel Commodore IFS Need to modify the top ring. That will work. Well, just realized, that I will have to pull everything apart, and respray the whole frame and IFS in the same shade of black. hehehe But this is not bad, just need to figure out, if I have to make a metalring for filling it, or leave it, so it can move Threw this on, so I can steer the frame, without pliers! hehehe Hmm, Something is off!? Had a swaybar, from a 79 Malibu, but it didn't quite fit, but surprisingly the original did, well almost! To thick, and the wrong angles Look who is out for fresh air, for the first time this year. And here is Crankenstein ready for dismantling. So out with the engine stand. And the hoist. And with good help from my son in law, we quickly tore down the engine. After a closer inspection, We/I decided that a new, cam, bearings, timingchain, lifters is needed, And maybe an overbore, but I'll check into that later on. Found a good place for the crank And heres where I realized that something was wrong. all the pistons was in the wrong place!? Turns out, that I have put all the pistons from the drivers side, on the p***enger side, and vice versa!!! I am really glad I didn't try to run this engine, that would have been catastrophic! So a recheck of everything is needed, again. All bolts are kept in the same place, so I don't mix them with Kenneth's Ford, and Jeanett's pontiac Maybe a new oilpump is in order as well.
And a quick update before I go to work this afternoon. Got a packet yesterday in the mail, but didn't have the time to pick it up, until to day. It looks like something I bought, but it is bigger than expected! (poor girl in the mail office almost s...t herself, lifting it to the counter! hehehe) Slightly dismantled for easier handling and mailing. And this is one of the most important components in the braking system. It's a reverse brake pedal ***embly from a VW LT. (A small truck!) And this have to be modified, since I want remote brake fluid reservoir Think this needs cleaning. Maybe an acid bath Still there. And I guess I need to figure out, what heads I want to use on the engine. And maybe clean my table But that's for later. now off to work.
After a few hours fixing brakes on a friends car, and my own, I got a bit frustrated, and vent into the garage. I removed the clutch pedal and cylinder from the ***embly. But that gave the brake pedal room to move from side to side, and I don't want that. These have the same diameter, as the axle the brake pedal swivels on. After a bit of m***age with an anglegrinder, they fit. See for yourself. hehehe I think I have used 40% of this kit on the master. The master cylinder must have had a leak. But after 5 minutes with sandpaper and a rattlecan! And I spend some time to remove the sharp edges. Let's look at the master cylinder. After putting the LT cylinder up against a GM there's only a few mm in difference. The GM is 10 mm longer, than the Vw I need to get some help to decode these numbers. But decided to go for the Vw. so I blasted it. And painted it. My porting tools vanished, after a "friend" borrowed them, and I haven't heard from him in 3 years. So that might not be a bad investment. hehehe But bought the basics to make new tools. I know that you guys can find them everywhere, but this is Norway and I refuse to pay 200$ for a kit. When I can make my own for 10$ More coffee, since it's 9am here on a sunday. and then I'll go out and have some fun in the garage. hehehe
The Jalopy Journal
