The transmission crossmember was very thin at the ends. It still held the trans up, but I’m not sure how. I added new ends, but I’m not real happy with my welds. It was 20* in my garage, and my little 110 Hobart mig welder doesn’t get hot quick enough. It is a strong joint, so I left it at that.
Rear end is in. I have it held in right now with G body bolts. Brian Trick sent me all the correct hardware, so once it’s here, I’ll swap it out and tighten it down. I used G body springs for the rear to hopefully bring the ride height down a bit. I’m also gonna take 1/2 coil out of the front springs before the front suspension goes back together. Does anybody know if G body shocks will work on an A body? The mounting ends all appear the same, and I have a low mileage set of KYBs I took from a regal I parted out.
Engine and trans are mated up. Verified that the flexplate to torque converter holes lined up beforehand. I actually laid the engine/trans on the old frame in the car to take the front suspension apart since I don’t have a spring compressor. Worked like a charm.
While I love restored cars I am also a big fan of just having fun with what you have. I am all for beaters being fixed up enough to drive well and be fast. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing more. Greg.
Ya my 70 lark is a real rot box lol. Don’t think it ever missed a New England winter in prob 45 years ! Frame has one small spot that’s an easy fix and floors and trunk somehow survived ?? I’ve prob knocked 15/20 lbs of rust off underside of this thing ! Price was rite and it’s a stripper car other than ps/pb, which I’ve converted to disc . Goal is to have all running gear new , rebuilt or gone through. Stage 1 motor built and patiently waiting. Same with turbo 400. Father-in-law rebuilding factory 12 bolt ( Framingham built) as we speak ! Goin 373 gears. Bench seat car. New lines , springs , shocks hardware etc. heater core fixed while motor out. Once rear is in , get Goldie back down on all fours and install motor trans together. Should be piece of cake as core support is out as well. Gonna be fun to fire this jalopy off and break her in !!! Don’t know if Jason cook realizes what he started , but damn … it seems to be catching on lol !!!
Thanks for starting the thread Tim, roadkill garage is probably my favorite on tv right now. I love the beater look as long as it’s not too rotted, like the Rotson, that thing is junk, lol. I would love a beater look but I would have a nice interior and chassis and engine fully detailed. For some reason my ocd won’t allow for a rusty frame and suspension. Hope to see you around this summer.
This turd is nowhere near as rough as the rotsun, mostly because I had already done a bunch of sheet metal replacement. I thought about having the frame and suspension cleaned and painted, but it would absolutely take me down a rabbit hole and stall the project out. So, ugly is gonna have to do. Another local friend of mine supplied me with all the original metal brake/fuel lines from his Arizona GS. I have been sitting on this stuff for at least 5 years. Received the proportioning valve and fuel/brake line hardware kit from Todd, so if I ever decide to do the car right, I don’t have to buy it all again. All brake and fuel lines are installed, along with new hoses from the local Napa.
With the engine and trans mated up, it’s ready to go on the frame. I’m rolling the dice a bit with this trans. The fluid looked good, but it’s been sitting since the late 90s. It did yard drive when I got the engine running in the car it came from.
Engine/trans mounted onto the frame permanently. I know, I know, I can’t believe I didn’t at least rattle can the crossmember either. Headers were super easy to install without a body in the way. The only cutting I had to do on anything was elongating the mounting holes for the factory transmission mount to bolt it to the 200-4r trans. Even the crossmember mounts lined up perfect with a set of holes on the frame. Really couldn’t have gone much better. In the first pic, you’ll see one of the original wd wheels that came on the car. Those are probably gonna go satin black with the original poverty caps, but leaving them rusty silver has crossed my mind. Still a long way from that point though.
That's overkill, I had a Oldsmobile 455 complete carb to pan in the back of my pt cruiser and drove an hour home. The answer is no I would not want to go much further than that, I noticed the extra weight.
Pleasantly surprised to see “made in America” on my ball joint boxes from Napa. I cut about 1/2 coil off the bottom of the springs hoping to get the ride height down. Didn’t pay much attention till after I put the front end together and down on wheels, but being that I cut the flat area out of the spring, it actually forces a bend in it. Probably gonna need to find a set of 1” or 1 1/2” lowering springs for it. The g body springs aren’t flat on both ends and the lower A arm is designed to accept them that way. Obviously doesn’t work for the A body. If anybody has a set of lowering springs collecting dust, I’d be interested in them.
If you have an angle grinder or something similar, you could always try to grind them flat on the ends...
Here's a tip for installing front springs. Put the spring in the frame and lower control arm. Place a floor jack directly under the spring. Put a chain around the front axle of the floor jack and around the frame rail, just behind the upper control arm. With the chain installed this way, you can easily compress the spring more than enough to install the knuckle. Before I put the spring in, I install the knuckle on the lower ball joint so all I need to do is connect the upper ball joint. This is how I always did it on the LLV's when I replaced the frame.
I’m trying to get the whole car about 1 1/2” lower than factory. Were the 350 springs the ones you ran in your white 68, Don? That car sat perfect
