sorry! I’ve definitely read them I was just trying to get more details. I seriously appreciate the info!
Every block is different now. Have you seen how much rust is inside those water jackets? You should probably ask someone like Bored&Stroked, Ronnieroadster, or McTimm about the required thickness after, but you won't know how much you have before until you clean it and sonic check it.
same thing happened with my '63 corvair. took pushing the car in third and watching the motor to see "hey, that motor is turning" the sheer amount of rust on it made it look very stuck though. carbs rusted solid... you get the idea
I recommend a set of Telescopic Gauges size A thru F . And the harbor freight dial indicator calipers in the black adtic case they were 25 last year . The Telescoping Gauge Set a decent China made for 35 to 40 probably not a HF item go to a machinist supply house ask any engine machinist where in your town he goes
Moving right along. The block is in the machine shop. It checked out and I’m working on the next steps of that while working on other parts of the car. Took the body off the frame last night. The two front mounts were completely sheered off of the frame. Other than this, the frame looks to be in great shape. I’ll tear it down next for sand blasting and paint. I found a little more rust. The trunk floor may need to be replaced as it’s got a few holes in it and has some overall damage. Can anyone tell me if this rear cross member is supposed to be curved (like in the last photo) or if it should be straight?
That brace in mine was totally rotted out but what was left was straight. Looks like somebody used it to haul something very heavy. Those frame cracks happen there on mine too but just a small single line not missing a whole chunk like that. My guess is that car was driven hard on rough roads with quite a load. Sounds an awful lot like like a 'shine car to me. Double check the two layers for rust at the rear kick-up where the X enters the rear frame legs at the rise over the axle, that is the usual place for rust on these frames as that area gets packed with dirt thrown up by the front wheels and leads to moisture being concentrated there.
I agree with Crusty Chevy, looks like someone was packing an extra flathead around in the trunk or too much white lightning. I can't figure out why the frame has been cut by the cowl.... Just one more thing to fix. Your 40 looks to be in about the condition my coupe was when I started working on it. Lot's of challenges ahead for you. I hope you enjoy the process.
I think the frame by the cowl literally just “tore” off. Both sides are like that. The rear trunk is definitely beat up and the right side is pretty dented. I’ll probably replace the trunk floor. I kinda wish I had known that before removing from the frame as I would have fixed it first. Hopefully I do t have alignment issues when I go to put the body back on (at which time I’ll replace the trunk floor after it’s back on the body).
When cutting out the torn sections of the frame, be sure to cut diagonally rather than straight across. The filler piece should be a parallelogram instead of a mere rectangle. (It is a 'physics' rule, as straight line repairs {especially vertical ones} induce new cracks alongside weld repairs) The weld will also be longer, spreading the former line of stress.
Thanks for that advice! If I have the pieces of the frame should I not just use those for the repair? Or should I definitely I use virgin metal? I’m thinking if boxing in parts of the frame too in that area for strength.
If you can find the replacement trunk floor from Carpenter ( or Drake) it will have the correct floor support/ brace and yes; they are flat not bowed. Patching those gaps in the frame in front of the firewall is critical to get right the hood/cowl/ front fender alignment. Wescott has a diagram with all the dimensions for the 40 frame. I'd guess the frame is already sagging at the firewall. You mght try tacking the missing pieces in then check check for a parallelogram, twist, sag, etc. Good, straight frame = happy assembly.
Scrubby is right. In 1985, while stationed in England, I found and bought an off topic 1967 Mini that was a fully documented Magazine Race Car. It hadn't been run in 9 years. I wanted to hear it run so we put gas in the weber fuel bowl and was able to start it and actually drive it a few feet. Did that twice before pulling engine and tearing it down. And yes, it did smoke. I was running the base Auto Hobby Shop and the block was sitting on the work bench waiting to go to the machine shop. A customer started up his car in gear and the car hit the work bench knocking the bare block on the floor. It landed on the main cap and cracked the block. I still have the block even though it is not repairable. I sure am glad I got to hear the original engine run. Because of documentation on the engine, the customer's insurance gave me as much as I had paid for the car (about $1,000). I still have car but now it hasn't been started in over 20 yrs. Not trying to side track, but I agree with trying to start.
Thanks. Getting it to start in the car was not in the cards. It was frozen and upon tear down I don’t think I would have ever gotten it to turn over without tearing it down. Two of the cylinders were rusty holding the pistons tight. Anyway that ship has sailed and now the entire car is apart!
haha. Those photos don’t even show the majority of my stashed parts. Luckily I just finished my basement and built in a huge storage room and most of the junk that doesn’t belong in the garage was moved downstairs….and the garage space filled with parts. I try to be organized with it and note where everything is along with the photos I take as I go in a journal to keep it all straight. I also spent about 2 hours after these photos moving more stuff o that I can make way for my new compressor and sand blasting cabinet that I’ve wanted for 20 years. It’s all coming together!
All my parts are in bins and on free to me wire racks, plus four more doors and 6 extra fenders, seats and other bigger items are stuffed under the house in a 2'-3' tall crawl space. Unsolicited advice on the blast cabinet, seal all the seams with caulk and if you do not have a dust collector grab a decent quality bagless HEPA vacuum at a thrift store/marketplace and tape the flexible hose to the exit port, they make a mess otherwise. Many household bagless vacuums are not fully sealed and leak a lot of dust while suctioning, shark and dyson do not leak. Depending on how tall you are I had to add height to mine to keep from having a sore back, I used casters to make it more mobile at the same time as adding some height. Too much light inside is just enough, I added a 30w LED outdoor security light recently and wish I had done it years ago.
Note on the blast cabinet, I drilled a hole in top side corner of cabinet, that would fit my shop vac hose. I would attach the small spreader type nozzle to it, in the cabinet, facing up, to suck up the airborne dust.
Appreciate the advice on the blast cabinet! I hate dust and messes. I’m that guy that uses his leaf blower every time I spend more than 10 minutes in the garage. I hate tracking all that dirt through my house! I bought this cabinet. seems to be overall a good value. Years ago I bought the harbor freight smaller cabinet and it was ok but my compressor couldn’t keep up and that combined with the cheapness of the unit just lead to frustration so I threw it away in hopes of one day buying the right equipment). I bought a 2 phase 80 gallon compressor (I had some Gift cards that paid for most of it from work incentives) so hopefully I dont have that issue with this one. I figure this will pay for itself versus taking my parts to my normal sandblaster. He’ll still do my frame and bigger parts. It does have a port to plug a vacuum into for the dust. https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-b60-abrasive-media-blast-cabinet.html
The cabinet should have at least an outgoing hole to relieve pressure as when you fill it with compressed air by blasting it would otherwise"explode". Usually the hole is behind a shield to "prevent" dust from escaping (it does not work in practice). Like Algoma said, drill a hole if necessary for the hose. You need two holes one to allow air in and one across from it to suck it out from as the vacuum will need to evacuate through/across the cabinet. Without the vacuum you just have a big cloud in there and it is very hard to see what you are doing. I originally used a shop vac, it did not last long, the abrasive dust easily penetrated the filter and thus the motor and it starting making noise in no time, $125 wasted. 2 stage 80 gallon is what I have and is perfect with no problems keeping up. You get lots of air volume with them and then only need to use 40-60psi, which makes your grit last much longer than pounding it into dust at 80psi.
I have a HF cabinet with rollers and when I got it , it had silicone on the seams inside the cabinet. The first half dozen times I used it the sand abrasive tore the silicone out and plugged the feed hose. The moral; Don't use silicone in the cabinet. I bought a Vacuum unit from Eastwood. It works pretty well. I also use broken class in my cabinet now; it's much easier on the viewing window.
Finally on to some fun stuff. Tear down mostly complete. Still waiting on engine parts from Machine shop. Working on mock up before I tear it all apart and paint all these clean parts. Having the ability to quickly clean parts with my sandblaster has been a game changer for me.
shhhh. Don’t tell anyone! I actually fixed them after photos were taken after I looked back at tear down photos and realized they were upside down.
The Jalopy Journal
