Projects Mish-Mash Nash -'52 Rambler Wagon

I've had good luck with sleeves.......

 

Thanks for the input @patsurf and @sidevalve8ba. I used a sleeve on a harmonic balancer long ago, which didn't go well, but it's entirely possible it was the installer's fault...

I decided to play it safe and buy a new pinion yoke, but I can always sleeve the old yoke and keep it as a spare. I also needed some u-bolts, and Denny's Driveshafts had both in stock, so they arrived within a few days. Nice sealing surface on this one :



Same for the Yukon limited slip differential, longer ring gear bolts, and marking compound from Quick Performance, so I am mostly set now:



I didn't necessarily need a LSD, but the open carrier I have showed some signs of water intrusion, and I have no idea what the maintenance history was, so again, I erred on the side of caution and spent a bit more to upgrade.

I also assumed the bearings I already purchased for the stock open diff would also fit the Yukon LSD...nope. So, I ordered the correct size bearings from Rockauto and they should arrive later this week.

I've been debating how to reconcile the difference in bolt patterns between the 5x4. 5" Parnelli Jones wheels I picked up last summer and the 5x4.75" LM Corvair front hubs, so looking at the hubs again today it appears they could be re-drilled without much trouble. Plenty of material, consistent thickness, etc.:





And then I flipped the second hub over...:





Yep, two different castings. Looks like I need to find another matching hub.

 

New/correct carrier bearings and races arrived a few days ago, with the bearings and ring gear now installed on the carrier:



The center section looks good in all the important areas, so it will be cleaned up a bit and re-used:







Another order from Clark's Corvair Parts, consisting of all new lower ball joints, upper front shock bushings (which are unique to late Corvairs, I found out), and new front brake backing plate seals came this week, too:



Today, a rebuilt old stock(?)Airtex fuel pump I purchased on eBay was delivered, and looks the same as the disassembled pump I already have, so I have two options now-- this one, or the Stewart-Warner electric pump I bought a few months ago:

 

Picked up a few things at the Madison Classics show today. The '83 S-10 non-WC T5 was a nice surprise find, which I decided not to pass up.





A vintage dimmer switch and two grommets, a S-W temp sensor, some vacuum hose, shock bolts, a mystery section of cloth wrapped wires, and a clutch fork boot were also purchased, so hopefully I can out some of them to use:

 

That's a good score on the T-5. It has the "good" gear ratios!

 

Truth be told, I bought it to get the mechanical speedo drive tailhousing and shifter, and didn't even check the ID sticker numbers until I got home. I like a lower ratio 5th gear/overdrive, so the F-body gears I have should be fine for now.

I had to crack open the T5 and have a peek inside, but everything looks great. I suspect someone has been inside at least once, judging by the black RTV which sealed everything up, but no damaged gears nor synchros, and the brass synchro rings look great, too. I'm happy.

 

Couldn't wait, huh? There's always something one brings home, that needs an immediate inspection to verify a super deal!

 

Nope. I had no reason to doubt the seller's claim that the trans shifted great and was clean inside, but no sense in waiting and finding out later.

I now have a second "dummy" main case and tail housing to use for mock up, which will allow me to rebuilt the T5 and keep it (mostly) clean and dry until it's ready to install, which, may be a while.

 

Nice T5. Been , sorta, looking for one from a CJ , of the late 80s, with 4WD. Scarce. At least I have found none.

Ben

 

Picked up a new Crower cam and Edelbrock manifold for the Olds 215 a few weeks ago, then a nice used Carter AFB earlier today. Ideally, I will eventually find and use a smaller Edelbrock 1403 (or the earlier Carter equivalent), as I suspect the 625 cfm Carter is a bit too large. I figured for $75 and two hours of my time it was worth having.









I have the Camaro T5 mostly assembled, and was able to get the speedo drive gear relocated to match the S-10 tail housing. I used two 1-1/8" shaft collars, and some brass sheet strips to get everything snug and secure. I had no luck drilling into the hardened tail shaft to re-use the stock speedo drive gear clip, so I found an acceptable work around.

 

Picked up a dirty, used Edelbrock 1403 carb (500 cfm w/electric choke) last Sunday, then disassembled and dropped it into the ultrasonic cleaner today:



Dirty, dirty, dirty...:





One jet was ruined trying to remove it, so maybe buying the coordinating Edelbrock calibration kit would be a good idea. Everything else came apart neatly and intact, and both floats are still buoyant, too.

It was a mostly low humidity weekend here in SE WI, and I was able to get most of the front suspension component painted, though the final sheen turned out a bit glossier than I had hoped:

 

Whatever it was on probably didn't run very good. That thing was nasty.

 

Started with a new carb rebuild kit in hand...:



...and finished with a rebuilt carb:



It made for a nice Heat Dome '25 project yesterday, and everything went back together without a hitch.

Today I carried the left door into the basement and started stripping it down to the shell. I had to drill two screws out, but the rest came out after a bit of a fight. RIP large phillips bit from the vintage Vissel impact driver/remover.

I also removed and disassembled the left door hinges, so I will eventually media blast them and source new hinge pins and bushings.

The bottom corners of both doors need some rust repair, but the areas where the left hinges mount is mostly solid, so I've got that going for me:









Too hot to work inside the garage this weekend, so hopefully I can get back to work on the rocker panels next weekend

 

Those Phillips head hinge screws are the worst to remove. Harbor Freight sells a comically oversize flathead and Phillips screwdriver set, they claim the Phillips is a #4 size head but it's bigger, and the shaft is square instead of round, so I've been beating that screwdriver into those screws and then turning it with an adjustable wrench on the screwdriver shaft, and I've yet to have one strip. It's the only thing I've ever had that really worked. I've ruined tons of those impact driver bits trying to remove those screws.

 

I made this tool for my air impact, and use the hammer impact adapter and bits with it. Worked pretty good on my 56 tailgate screws. Of course oil, and some heat helps too. Don't even try turning the screw, until it's ready, but still get some impact work in.

 

ANYBODY else used this harness... Think im gonna use it in my 32...

 

I cleaned up the two used oil pans I have, with the hope of combing them to end up with one good oil pan, with the sump area moved rearward two inches or so. I was hoping the bolt holes were all evenly spaced, but no such luck. I need to straighten out the pan flange and ease out two dents, too, but having a spare/third engine block to use as base is a nice luxury.

Nice flange, ugly sump:





Better sump area on this one:



The space soon to be filled with the modified pan:

 

I cut up two oil pans this week, then started fitting and welding them back into one pan today. I made a conscious effort to not overthink things here, and either live with the results or do it over, but I think the end result will work fine. I had to remind myself this part is going to be mounted to the bottom of the engine, and its job is to contain the oil, not look sexy, so while I did do some hammer and dolly work, I accepted a less-than-perfect fit in some areas...time will tell if that comes back to bite me. For now, the modified pan is mostly complete, with some detail grinding and a leak test still to be performed, and maybe some dent removal, too:







The below photo shows where the welds are. I wasn't 100% sure on welding the two sections together at the 90* angle at the pan rail, but it welded nicely and I got good penetration, so I feel a bit better about that decision now:



Below you can see the weld seam yet to be smoothed, and the less than elegant rear vertical section of the sump area. Should function fine, just not all that pleasing to the eye:




In hindsight, I could/would have done a few things differently, but if it doesn't leak and fits in the space it needs to, I'm happy.

 

Thank you both, @Squablow and @Algoma56 for the suggestions. I do not yet have a large volume compressor nor air tools, but I did stop at HF today, and "comically oversize" was no exaggeration. These screwdrivers are HUGE at 21" long. Below is a pic of the Phillips head bit below a Craftsman #3 Phillips head bit:





I think this may be exactly what I needed.

Here's a pic of the large Phillips head machine screws which retain the extruded aluminum door top section to the lower/main steel door: