Actually, she's gonna look a little better. Dropped and drilled "I" beam axle. Painted red with the inside rim of the holes done in black. 5" tires on steel rims painted black and baby moon caps. Just like the rear ones. I'm also leaning toward lake headers with baffles. Yea, just a little better. Paint? Yea, I'm thinking it, but don't really want it on this bucket. I may save that for the next one. There's a part 2 to the citys payoff. It'll be bigger and just take a VERY long time.
So, I finally got paid for my car today! Tomorrow I'll order most of the stuff I need and get the old girl back on the road ASAP! Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement through this nightmare. The best is yet to come.
hey Fred~ it was good meeting and talking with you at the Dark Horse a few weeks ago. The T looks to be on her way and I like the subtle, but effective changes you have planned for the ol' gal. Good Luck. I'll be looking forward to cruisin with you soon. Greg G.
Thanks, man. Once I get all the stuff I need, she'll go together quick. I miss the streets and I have some ricers who have been taking advantage of my down time. They will be dealt with accordingly.
Today the first shipment of parts arrived. Spindles and king pins, along with various pieces needed to get my new frontend done. The "I" beam axle won't get here until Tuesday. I can't wait to see it. I opted not to go drilled and saved a few bucks, but I have a very funny feeling I'll want to drill it when it arrives. It really doesn't matter if it's drilled or not. Either way, it will give me the look that is floating in my head. Tomorrow, I'll test fit the brakes to the spindle, so I won't be fumbling when I have to do it later on. As in my first time building, having to wait for stuff gives me a chance to control my enthusiasm and avoid mistakes. I also plan to check out the engine and may even clean it off and apply some paint this weekend. The water pump got smashed so hard back towards the block, that it won't even turn. I may try to fix it or just get another one. Heck, it was only $30 at the auto parts store. I'm sure glad it wasn't a chrome one. I'll post pics of tomorrows activities. Things are moving right along and I'm in a happy place. One thing I did today was stop and remember just how much fun I have when I'm doing something I love. Stay tuned. Miss Fortune is entering the building.
Today was a short day due to the cold weather. Yea, you northern guys can razz me. It was in the 50's with a good wind. Not so cold for you guys, but it was 77 yesturday, so I was moving slower than usual. Living in Texas has turned me into a weather wuss. First thing I did was lay out the parts and instructions. As you can see, I'm going with a GM rotor setup and 37'-48' spindles with the chevy bolt pattern. Everything went together as it was supposed too. I only packed the inner bearing and didn't use the grade 8 bolts and lock nuts, as I was just mocking things up. When it gets warmer, I'll paint the calipers and brackets. Man, there's nothing like the look of new stuff. Next week, the rest of the suspension stuff will arrive and I'll mock it up as well. Stay tuned. It's only going to get better.
Well, today the axle came, along with just about everything else I'll need to complete the front end. I never realised how cool a dropped "I" beam was until I sat this on the floor and looked at it. Damn, I can't wait to see this on the front of my bucket. I almost don't wanna drill it.
Looking good Fred!!! Glad they didn't screw around with you too much. Looks like everything is going to go very well on the rebuild.
Another vote for don't drill it, save drilling it for later on if you wan't to change the look of the car alittle in a few years.
The last thing I needed to mock up my front end came today. A bitchin' set of bat wings from RPM (Ron). I did some grinding on the welds and set everything up for fit. Perfect! My thanks to The Speedway Tech who made some suggestions in my set up. This looks better than I imagined and was worth the splurge.
Tonight, I decided to set most of the front end up to REALLY see how things would fall in place. It was a drop in. My old frame is damaged, but not where I could use it to mock things up. I think this is going to look really good. My only complaint is that I had wanted to place the tie rod BEHIND the axle. Unfortunately, it would hit the spring shackles during even a mild turn. Maybe I just need to put more thought into it, or perhaps someone makes longer lower steering arms. I don't mind the tie rod in front, that's the way it was before, but it would sure be cool to have the axle as the center piece of the front end. I'll think some more on it and will welcome any thoughts or suggestions. Never the less, it still looks cool to me and I'm glad I decided to go with the "I" beam. Oh, I was going to paint the tie rod black, but Speedway had done it for me. I really need to call them tomorrow and thank their tech department for telling me what would work.
The spring behind setup does bother me some. Read about it below! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304871&highlight=accident
That HAMB link relates to a possible bolt failure, not the setup. I don't get how this is relative to what I asked.
It's not reletive of what you asked, but the possible bolt failure is what concerns me, the whole weight of the front of the car resting on two bolts, or studs mounted horizontaly in single shear, as compaired to how overkill the spring is mounted to the chassis. One of those two bolts could never break, or it could break the first time you put the full weight of the car on the axle. Again I'm just expressing my concern. I would hate to see it wrecked again, once is more than enough.
Sweet. And I can see why the other guys say don't drill it. And I'm not gonna go against anybody........But.... BEFORE: After: Glad to see you're gettin her back on the road
Fred, glad to see it moving in the right direction. I got agree with dreddybear, drilled has a look that is hard to beat........IMHO
Okay, now I understand your concern. I made sure to get all new pieces for the suspension setup. The spring mounts and where they are located is the same as it was before, so I don't think I'll have a problem. Thanks for your concern and sorry I didn't understand your post. It's always good to have input and advice. That's one of the main reasons why I like this website. We have to look out for eachother and sometimes in our enthusiasm, we forget the little things and that can often lead to trouble. So an extra set of eyes is always welcome. Thanks again.
You have a great argument for drilling. It does look good, but so does non-drilled. I think if my tierod wasn't placed in front of it, I'd lean more toward drilling it. But as was posted earlier, I can always go back and drill it later. Or perhaps do it on the next car.
I got up early this morning and finished prepping the axle and assorted hardware for paint. A friend of a friend agreed to spray them for me today. Well this being my first time prepping for paint, I didn't do a good job and after the laughs, I got a lesson in it. So, the pieces got painted and the red is a sweet match to the powdercoating I had on the old axle. I didn't have my camera with me, but after work tomorrow, I'll get some pics. The axle will be red, like before and the steering arms, brake brackets and spring will be in black. The new frame arrives this week and I'll try to prep it and get it painted, so I can start putting MISS FORTUNE together this coming weekend. Man, it sure feels good to be moving along at a good pace. Sorry for missing the HAMB meetup, guys. My lack of paint prep experience turned this into an all day affair.
That's what was playing on the radio at work when the deliver guy dropped off my new frame just now! I'll take it the paint guy this evening and get another lesson in paint prep. Actually, I'll just stand back and learn some more. Funny, but it was like Deja Vu seeing the frame sitting in back of that truck. Here we go again, back in the saddle. It's gonna be a VERY cool weekend.
The Jalopy Journal
