Oooops!#@*^!! The car was getting pretty dirty so I decided to pull it out and wash it the other day. While I had it out I took it for a quick spin around the hood. I cruised around a little then decided to kick it once before taking it home. I made a turn in the somewhat light industrial end of the neighborhood, then hit the gas just enough to break the tires loose and was greated by an awful sound from under the hood. I killed the motor and coasted to a stop now smelling anti-freeze. When I opened the hood I saw the culprit...the fan had somehow hit the radiator. There was a big hole in the rad and one fan blade was bent around backwards. The rad was still tightly secured and the fan wasn't loose so I have no idea how this happened. The fan clearance was tight as I'm running the long water pump. I had found the pulleys for the short pump and had planned to make the swap when I mounted the A/C compressor. Guess I'll be putting in a new rad as well. :ball: As for the A/C, I have everything under the dash done except hooking up the A/C lines which I can't do until I have the compressor and condenser mounted so I can cut the line the proper lenght. And it makes no sense to mount the compressor and condenser 'til after I go back into the motor to try and solve my timing issue which may require me changing cams. So one thing leads to another and blah, blah, blah. ou: Until then check out the under dash instal here http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?action=view&journalid=21077
2 months and a little done As usual making any progress on the car is like running in quicksand. Since my last post I tore the motor apart and degreed every lobe on the cam in an attemped to solve my timing issue but the cam checked out OK. I did however find that the intake seemed to be leaking around the bottoms of the intake ports drawing air and some oil in from the crankcase which could cause it to want a lot of advance to run. The S-divider didn't seem to set right on the motor so I bought a used B4B and I'm in the process of putting the motor back together now. While waiting for parts, engine paint ect, I cleaned and painted the floors and installed the new carpet and padding. I've also been working on brackets for the A/C compressor. I've attached a pic of the roughed in bracket and you can see more details in my journal. http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?journalid=21077&action=view#power tour or ????
One giant leap forward to where I should of been last year Finally got the timing issue straightened out. The motor's running good now with a borrowed carb while my 800 q-jet is at Dean Oliver's for a build up. Should have it back next week. Gonna dial in the distributor this week end Got the compressor bracket finished. The condenser and drier are mounted and all the lines have been mocked up. Now just need to get the fittings crimped on the lines, get a belt and get the system charged. Here's a pic of the finished bracket. http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?journalid=21077&action=view#time for more a/c
what to do? what to do? So the A/C is about done. Its charged but now I need to mount a fast idle solenoid and fab a fan shroud. I mocked up a shroud out of art board but now I need to decide what to make the real thing out of. Should I re-create it out of sheet metal or just cover the mock up with fiberglass? Mind you all I have to fabricate sheet metal is a pair of tin snips, a few hammers and the edge of my work bench but I've got pretty good at making things this way. Just thought the fiberglass would be quicker and lighter. Here's a pic of the mock up. What do you guys think?
I'd go with sheetmetal. I think it will be less expensive than fiberglass, less messy and longer lasting. If you keep metal in good shape (painted), it won't brittle up on you like unfinished fiberglass.
Is your paint code and "H" on the data tag? My '66 looks like the same colour and it is code H, but the car is Canadian built and they called it Laurel Mist Metallic. None of the books list this colour for '66, so........not sure what the name would be for US built cars. I wasn't sure if I wanted to repaint it the same colour, but yours looks really nice. Maybe I can get a mock up panel sprayed in base/clear and see how it looks. My paint is just really dead looking, so it's hard to imaging what it will look like in b/c. You have done a very nice job on the car so far! Brian
Thanks Brian. Yes, the paint code is H. I think its called "Sea Foam Green" here. My paint store didn't have it either so I took the cowl panel, as it still had the original paint where it wrapped under the hood, buffed it out and had them match it. In the original laquer it does look kinda dull but I wanted the car to look as if someone bought it new then made some minor "hop ups" to it during the late '60s. The color in bc/cc came out looking much better than I thought it might. I'm very pleased with it. I just can't believe that I painted it almost a year ago and I still don't have the rest of the car finished yet. :ball:
finished dash Got the dash done. What do ya think of the controls for the heat & A/C? Think I have to do something so they don't stand out so much. http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?action=view&journalid=21077
Wow, haven't posted here in a while. Not much to write about but problems. Don't really care to hash it all out here but if you feel like reading my tales of woe check out my journal. I did however get my Pull-A-Part posi rear in today with the help of kennygs72. It came out of a '65 'lark with a V-6 of all things and turns out it has a 3.08 gear. Sweet! I liked this pic so much I used it for my avatar and oh yeh, there's no power braking going on here. :Brow:
I did about four of these then figured we'd better split. Now all I need to do is get the shift kit in and my mechanical goals for this year will be complete. Actually I think this pic works better for my avatar.
Been a long time since I've posted here. Got screwed TWICE on my convertible top and frame. Made me so sick I couldn't even look at the car for months. Since then I ripped the new top off and got the frame and windows adjusted myself. I bought another new top and will be putting it on myself when I get time. Other than that I've been working on the underside. Paint, exhaust ect. Here's one pic and a link to my journal for more details. http://hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php?action=view&journalid=21077
Keep at it Mike! I know it can be really rough at times (I haven't stumbled upon any showstoppers yet but my car still isn't running so...) but deep down inside we all know that it's worth it in the long run. And, when looking back at it all when the car is finished, you can point to your car and say "I did that! I brought it back from the land of the almost dead and breathed new life into it with nothing but my own two hands." When comparing the finished result with what you started with it really doesn't matter how long it took, all that matters is that you got a car the way you wanted it to turn out. Keep up the good work. :TU:
Will someone just find a 2x4 and hit me in the head. The convert top misery just won't end. I started installing my new top and everything was going fine as the 1st pic shows. That is until I moved on to attaching the top at the rear trim stick and found it to be about 2 inches too short. In the 2nd pic I'm pulling the top down as far as I can and it still won't reach where the trim stick bolts on even though everything else is lined up right. I mean WTF really? This is getting to be too much.
Well, the top fiasco seems about over. The manufacturer (Acme Auto Headlining) refused to replace the top or issue any kind of refund. Fortunatly the distributor (Clays Classic Cars) is a good guy and ordered another top for me from Kee Auto tops and this one fits. I'm just about finished with the installation and its looking good. I've been documenting it over at my hotrodders journal but a camera malfunction has put me a little behind. I also tried to fix the edge of the door where the second upholstery shop damaged it with somewhat disastrous results. Catch all the exitment here: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jou...tion=view#Revenge of the readneck paint booth
Dude! This is the first time I have seen this thread. I am impressed with your work! I hope the top gets squared away. You deserve a thumbs up :TU: for doing this work yourself, and doing such a good job. Keep it up. It gets better each time I see it. Looking forward to seeing it in the 12's again in Reynolds this year!
Thanks Jim, that means a lot. Its gets discouraging when everything keeps going wrong but when you work through the problems and learn something new then that can be gratifying. Now I know I can put on a convertible top but it still sucks that I paid someone else to do it then had to re-do it myself. Oh well, guess I need to let it go. What've you been up to? Have you seen Mike LJ? I hope to get to the Yearone test and tune in July to see just how much the new exhaust helps. You can bet I'll be at Reynolds this fall. Who knows, maybe I'll have made some other improvements by then.:Brow: Stay tuned for the new interior and wheels.
When is the Year One test and tune? Is it in Commerce at the same time as the Outlaw 10.5 deal? LJ is doing great. We are about to rip off the front of his car and repair the core support. (Should be fun). Last time we had his car out, it went a 12.97 in halfway decent air up in Jackson with his old B and M Converter. He's doing good though.
That is funny, you are already calling it old... I guess I HAVE to go with that converter change now, LOL... Hey Mike, Keep at it and don't give up, not that I think you will. But I had to say it that way for a good old fashion pep talk. We will definately get together at Reynolds this year, I am sure it will be a good time like last year. Mike
Hey Guys (Mike and Jim) Sorry for the late response. I've been on vacation and just got back last night. Jim, YearOne has a cruise every month and every other month they do a test and tune at Commerce afterwards. The test and tune is only for a couple hours like 9 to midnight or something. Check it out on yearone's web site. I wanted to go to the BPG nats in August but this vacation killed me. I had been promising to take my wife to NYC for the past two years and she finally decided that this was it. I didn't mind cause I love that city but we got stranded up there because of weather and couldn't get a flight out for two more days. Two days equals a lot of money there and then I came home to the credit card bill and found she had been on a little spending spree before hand as well. So national trail is out. There's always Reynolds though and I'd really like to go to the BOP race in Gainesville FL this year too. Any chance I could talk you gents into going?
