Turning Cold

The weather in Indiana has turned cold so it looks like the winter will be assembly.  The frame is under the body and I am preparing to finish cleaning/painting the rails for the marriage between the frame and the body. 

Body bolts/bushings are not available but there are a few options. I will provide a list of the kits that I was able to match for assembly.  Unfortunately, the hardware was too bad to save from the original and I will be making a few parts as I move forward this winter.  A little welding and I should have everything needed to put it together.






I have been reviewing the thousands of pictures from taking the car apart to make sure everything is correct.  Oh...how bad it was when I started.  Within a few weeks, I should have a rolling car again!

I am mounting the transmission on a stand to have it rebuilt this winter. I have an extra c6 transmission I can use as trade for services.



Seems like a lifetime ago!

In the past week, I have mounted the springs on the frame in preparation for attaching to the rear axle.  I did notice a slight leak out of the pinion seal and changed that before sliding it under the frame.

The real problem now is the cold and cleaning. With a small garage, all of my parts and frame are covered with a light dust so I will be cleaning and marking for some touch up soon.



Was it ever this bad?

I was also able to get the front end started.  New ball joints, wheel bearings, and bushings.  You will notice that I have put the old drum breaks on the front.  I hope to change over to the disk brakes but for now, I wanted to assemble to have the car rolling.  Changing to disk brakes can wait until a later date when there is more mobility.

I have to thank Autozone...of all places.  They had almost all of the parts and with coupons, it was actually cheap to get parts. Only a couple of parts were incorrect and easily located.

Curse and a Blessing

I know it has been a long time but life can sometimes get in the way of progress.  I have once again started working.  The frame is complete, the motor is complete, the rear is complete, the transmission is complete.  What have I been waiting on?
I have been able to get enough parts to almost put things back together. For sake of time and room, I have decided to finish the underneath of the body and put the frame back on. Having a two car garage has not given me much room. The frame is outside, covered in heavy plastic, but hopefully won't be out there for long.  This is the motivation I need to get it married back to the body.

Identification Code under body

The curse: 50 year old Ziebart rustproofing is over 1/8 of an inch thick over the entire underbody. In the channels for the frame, it is over 1/4 of an inch! It has held up well but some moisture has snuck underneath a few spots.  Scraping and brushing is taking forever for every spot.


Identification codes above left finder

Trunk pan = toast

The blessing: 90% of the areas are solid and only have surface rust. Once the Ziebart is gone, undercoating will be easy.  Next task after this will be trying to find the body mounts with the "special" nuts that attach to the frame.

I know there are some rough spots but that is the trunk pan.  I will be cutting that out and replacing it as soon as I get everything cleaned up. Only 1 side is gone but it is easier just cutting the whole thing out and replacing it. 

Step by Step

Cleaned

Painted

I have gotten more done that I thought I would so far this week. Two hours per night has made a difference!

I was able to get the front engine housing completed and the oil filter housing finished as well.  Tonight I made good use of the gasket set I purchased 5 years ago...back when I was just thinking of doing a restoration. So far, every gasket I needed has been in the kit. I was talking to my wife tonight and I think I purchased the complete gasket set for around 30 bucks!

 

Cleaned

Painted

I put on the front engine housing, oil filter housing, harmonic dampener, oil pump, and oil pan.  The bottom of the engine is now complete! I turned the engine over on the stand and thought that while I was looking at the top of the motor, I would install the new lifters. I guess I will be working on the top half of the motor for the next week or so.

 

The exhaust manifolds are not as bad as I originally thought.  After consulting some of my fellow restoration blogger, there may be a lot of life in them.  I will, however, have to get them milled before I make my decision.

 

Right Side Up!

On another note, I was able to purchase arm rests on eBay for $10.00! They should be here in the next few days.

 

 

New Lifters!

Ready for winter work

Oil Pan Before

Oil Pan After
 

 I have been getting ready for the winter projects and ready for spring with some small projects.  My goal is to have the engine ready to put on the frame by spring and finish all of the small work in preparation.

I was able to finish a few things this week.  The front radiator housing is cleaned and primed. I still have to go over it again and make sure it is completely ready for painting. I did lay the housing on the frame in preparation for making some of the plastic housing that is long gone.  I have partial diagrams but it is going to take some measuring and cutting. 

I have done a little exam of the radiator and it is totally shot. It will be more expensive to rebuild than it would be to purchase new.  All brass....so maybe some cash for scrap.  I also have partial wiring harnesses ready for rebuild. My plan is to replace all wiring with new. 

Working through the winter

Before
 

This was a fairly slow week but I was able to get a few things completed. The cross bar is cleaned and ready to be installed.  I was able to salvage the parking brake cable.  It was in great shape and I don't remember the emergency brake every working so it was practically new...although dirty. I will install the cross member this week in preparation for the drive shaft.




During

I did get 1 upper control arm installed. The control arm bushings were a wonderful treat! I did not think I would ever get them pressed in but after much swearing, sweat, and walking away, they went on very easy later in the day. 



After

I have the steering gear half way apart.  It was way out of adjustment and I am unsure if it can be salvaged. Looks like a rebuilt one is only $70 or less and that may be the way to go. I won't know the condition until I get the Pittman arm off...and that thing is not moving.  I broke a nice removal tool and it has not moved at all!  Looks like it will either get the torch or the grinder soon.








Slowly moving forward

This week has been a clean, scrape, blast, and paint week.  It is nice to have a rolling frame to get in and out to work on.
I have managed to locate the trackbar bushings as well as the upper rear control arm bushing. Moog K8136 and Moog k8447. I have been told that these will fit with very little modification. I will post the specifications and outcome once they arrive.
I have cleaned and painted the drive shaft. The front control arms are finished and ready for the shelf until bushings arrive. I also have finished a few odds and ends from the front end.


Unfinished Crossbar

Digging through the barn, I have found a front break drum and rear break drum. I will be restoring those later on in the week as extras or to be sold. I also have acquired a 2bbl carb I will be rebuilding and selling for parts money. This came off of the 390 I purchased a few years ago and I forgot it was on a shelf.
This week will be a slow week and I do not expect to get much finished. It will be mostly a cleaning and preparing week. I will decide this week if I am going to use the C6 transmission or the Cruse - o - Matic. Although I know the C6 will be more reliable, I am not sure I can find a new cross member to fit the C6.





Unfinished

Unfinished Drive Shaft



Finished Control Arm - Lower



2BBL Carb to rebuild



Finished Upper and Lower Control Arms



Finished Drive Shaft

Finished Drive Shaft



Almost finished Crossbar

Simple Black

 Doing little by little each night pays off. All of the motor is complete but the intake and heads are not bolted down yet. I took some time to finish off the intake this week. That was the last part to complete before starting the process of getting the motor completely assembled. I still need to paint the motor, but I think it will be easier to bolt on the intake and heads before finishing the paint.
I did spend a lot of time getting the break drums cleaned and painted. Even though I will be putting disc brakes on the front, I will probably assemble the front to make a rolling frame.
There is a slight update on the rear control arm bushings. I was able to get OEM bushings from a local store very cheap. I know I wanted to use poly bushings but some of my fellow restorers have warned against using them on old control arms. I actually got the OEM cheaper than the poly bushings.
The next step will be pressing in the bushings and then trying to find the dreaded rear upper bushings. I have a couple of leads and hopefully it will pan out.
I was looking for the tracking bar bushings today and I had to laugh at O'Reilly Auto Parts. They were the only place that have the bushings available and they wanted $187.99 each!! Honestly, one of the bushings fell out back in 1988 and it was replaced with a rubber garden hose that worked fine for 10 years. I will not go to that extreme. Adjustable tracking bars are available fairly cheap with the bushings included and there are several other options.  Even OReilly shows on their web page that these are the same bushings used on 532 different cars dating up to 1973.  A quick search for the 1973 LTD bushings yielded a pair from J.C. Whitney for 19.98.