Finally found some time for an update on the coupe! Sorry for the ****py photos, my phone is now considered an antique. Made cardboard templates for the floors. Then ordered a set of steel floorboards and cut them out to fit. Built 1/2" square tubing frames inside each floor panel. Test fitting the panels with the fuel tank in place Had room to build a small package tray out of the 1" square tubing I was using to reenforce the fuel tank. The picture is a rough spot weld. I later removed them, measured and tig welded them clean. Once they're in place in final ***embly, im going to cut out some panels to cover it up. Built two seat rails using 1" square tubing and angle iron. Heres the seat bolted in its final position. One last look at her before shes torn apart... Body off. Bare frame. Total mess! Heres the frame sitting in the makeshift low budget paint booth after paint. High zinc primer under a coat of VHT ch***is black. And before you know it, I'm throwing it all back together again. Battery cables are 0/1 ran to the rear. -6AN hose ran for fuel. That's where I stand currently. I'm using POR-15 under the body's subframe. I'm working with a local transmission spe******t to get the correct torque converter for the car. Soon ill be tearing into the rear axle. Clean up and refinish the backing plates, rebuild the brakes, clean and paint the axle housing, ect. Moving forward at a good pace..
I thought about adding one to kinda cover up the rear springs alittle more... but I'm not a fan of big roll pans. once the body is back on ill look into it.
Nice work! Very interested in your build as mine is a 31 with a "Y" as well. Your build inspires. Subscribed
Im not sittin' on my *** I swear! Blew apart and rebuilt the drums in the rear, then painted and rear axle and drums Finally got around to mounting the front turn signals. Installed the motor and transmission. Checked the height of the shifter to make sure its obnoxious enough. Finished up my battery cables to the motor. Ran 5/16 line from the transmission to the cooler in the radiator up front. I made these brackets out of 1 X 3 stainless sheets. I drilled a 5/16 hole dead center and rolled the outside with a bead roller. These will told the trans fluid feed line to the return line. One line is supported by two rubber coated loops off the oil pan. I replaced two oil pan bolts with 1 1/4" long set screws. secured a nut to support the pan, then inserted the rubber loop. I had to do this because of the lip the oil pan has on the outside of the gasket area. Then the stainless brackets hold the other line nice and tight. Ran 5/16 IF to 1/8 npt elbows, then -4 AN stainless lines to the cooler. After painting under the subframe and the cowl, I finally secured the body back down on the frame. Im getting close. Coming up is a wiring harness and components from Ron Francis. Gas pedal. Dashboard. Windshield. and other nitty gritty also have a few brake line gremlins haunting me...grrrr.
Heres a quickie update for ya Got around to finishing up routing the fuel lines thru the block to the carbs Ive spent most of my time focusing on getting this old gas tank formed to fit some new gauges and switches Used a 1 1/2 conduit punch to pop out some gauge holes, then filed them down to fit. I really like these Wings gauges from Stewart Warner. The speedometer hole took a LONG time to do. The biggest conduit punch I had was 2 inch... so I had to evenly grind outward 1 inch all around!.. My arm was killing me after that one but its done now. Made a little revision for my fuse panel under the dash. Finished up by drilling holes for my indicators and switches, then painted the dash gloss black and the dash rail gloss white. Turned out pretty good I think. Have a few things to finish up before wiring can begin. Have to finish painting the floor, route my gas pedal cable and handbrake cables, ect. ect.
Haven't updated in a while, but alot has been going on... Painted the grille shell black. Completed the Ron Francis wiring. Very simple install. Just took my time and made everything as clean as possible. Setup the alternator. Bracket is from John Mummert and fits just perfect. Filled the radiator up after a few water flushes. So far, no cooling issues. Heres how the dash turned out in the sun. The wiring is a bit obvious here.. Im gonna see what I can fab up to hide it a bit better. Windshield was cut and installed. My "TEMPORARY" trunk floor. I installed a sealed battery box as well. The trunk floor is removable. Once I get the chance ill drive the car to my place of work and fab a better trunk floor. The trunk lid doesnt fit well at all. Alot of body work is needed in the rear, so that is also a future adventure. I just secured it for now with a couple of 3/8-16 bolts. Covered my minivan seat with... what else... Mexican blanket. Jack Daniels overflow mounted with a thrown together box i made and a conduit hanger. This lower radiator hose was a challenge, but it works well! A few leaks here and there, a primary squirt issue, ect ect.. but now she works pretty well. Exhaust was super loud.. which i love.. but the neighbors don't.. Installed some slip in baffles wrapped in stainless steel wool. Used some 3/8-16 all thread to reenforce the roof a bit. Vibrates alittle, but isn't banging around like it was. gotta have T.C. ! Finally got to drive her home and around a bit!! Still have weeks and weeks of fine tuning to do. A few leaks here and there, but nothing life threatening. Now I can focus on the little changes here and there.
Been testing and tuning for a while now, but shes running smooth now. Had some ignition issues first. I couldn't get beyond 4 degrees advanced on the distributor because the advance diaphragm was hitting the manifold. Simply moved all the plug wires over one on the cap and I reached the proper setting. Then some fuel issues. Turns out the primary carb squirter was clogged. Replaced that, then found that all 3 carbs had different accelerator pump plungers. Replaced them with all reman leather plungers. Had extremely leaky valve covers. Fixed that just in time for a lovely blown head gasket. Replaced both head gaskets and cleaned both heads thoroughly. The motor ran great after that.. but as I parked the car one day the shift linkage came apart and I couldn't put the car in park with the shifter. Lucky for me, I could open the access door for the master cylinder, reach down and put it in park. Replaced the bolt with some thread locker. Everything seems quiet now, I hope it stays that way for a while. Gonna get started on some body work soon. I want to fix the little hole in the roof first. Then repair the bent up rear quarters so I can have a functioning trunk lid. A buddy of mine is a great photographer. He took these photos right before the head gasket fiasco. I think they turned out great. Here's the photographers website if anyone is interested in getting great shots like these for their rides. http://www.wildgrease.com/wp/
Looking great, but your steering column seems to have some pretty steep angles for the U-joints. Is that going to be an issue? I am envious... hope you're up and running soon.
Looking nice! Glad you are getting through those little issues of a new build. Hope it goes smooth from here on in. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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