URSLO, Thanks for the complements. I have the 57' Olds steering column installed and then the brake pedal assembly that I used out of my 60' parts car that was literally a bolt in... What do you think? The marks on the end of the column are were I am going to cut it off then then notch and move the dog up to clear the 401-425 exhaust manifold. I have a 364 exhaust manifold but it dumps right out in the way of the rack so this is the route I am taking. I will then machine a aluminum end cap that will slide up inside the column tube and use a needle bearing to support the shaft. I will then cut off the flange at the end of the shaft and machine the sides to make a 3/4" DD to accept the Borgeson 3/4" X 3/4" DD U-joint. I am using a 17mm X 3/4" DD rubber dampener U-joint at that fits the C4 rack. I also installed the gas pedal out of the 60' Buick but am going to replace it with a pedal out of one of my 61' Impala parts cars as I think the fit will be much better. I will have to remove the mounting flange and machine a block out of aluminum to mount the pedal and will use screws that will mount from the inside of the firewall for a clean look. Here are a few more pics of the progress.
Thanks James. I got the column apart and I was able to drill out the spot welds attaching the shift dog. Then drive the shift dog off and turn it around 180 and reinstall it. I marked the tube prior to removing it so I would be able it clock it back in the correct location. The jog in the dog is 3/4" so by flipping it 180 it moved the location of the shift dog 1-1/2" back and in between the exhaust manifold and the firewall. I do think I am going to have to add 1" to 1-1/2" of length to clear the exhaust manifold but will wait until I have the rest of the shift linkage figured out. Here are some before and after pics.
Finished up the shift linkage. I extended the shift dog 1-1/2" to clear the exhaust manifold and cut 3-5/8" out of the shift linkage between the frame and the trany and about 6" out of the rod that runs from the column to the trany linkage. Here are the results. Shift perfect.
Great job on the column and shift mechanism. I want to keep my 55 column and retro it to the 425 nailhead/turbo 400 I'm installing. Just read a great article in Custom Classic Truck about downsizing a factory steering wheel, I might head in this direction. I really need to get back on my 55 and your progress is very helpful, now if I will finish the 63 Riviera "driver" that turned into a frame off. Thanks, Ron Pyles.
Ron, Can you post a link to the Custom Classic Truck artical for downsizing the steering wheel or, maybe tell us what issue it was? Thanks Dan
Dan, I bought a grocery store copy because i also have a 57 f100.(can't believe they still sell paper magazines with all the websites) The issue is August 2012 and it has a blue and white 62 f100 on the cover. Its a really well written article. Thanks Ron Pyles
Nice progress Dan with great solutions to the issues. here is a link to the steering wheel article http://www.customclassictrucks.com/techarticles/1208cct_reclaiming_stock_steering_wheel/ Ross
Ross, Thanks for the complement and posting the link to the steering wheel article. A pretty good article. I like the way he made his jig but, there was a couple of things he did not address. He said after he had fit the hoop to the jig and then set the depth of the hub he showed how the spokes needed to be cut down to fit the hoop. Once you cut the spokes that changes the depth of the hub. At least that is how I see it? o No: I thought he was going to take a small portion of the plastic material away from the spokes at the hub as, there were cracks there, so he could then bend the spokes to match the hoop but he did not mention anything like that...o No: Also he did not do a very good job of shaping the area where the spoke and the hoop intersect. In some areas his shaping is to heavy and then in others he took out to much material. It did not look anything like the stock wheel. Other then that I think he did a pretty good job. I have not cut a wheel down but have done the restoration process. I did not use the Eastwood product but a product called Marine Tex Epoxy. http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...adwords!6456&keyword=product_ad_2088&type=pla I have had buddies use the Eastwood product. Some with good results and some with not so good results. Personally I think the Marine Tex is a better product. I has been used for years in the Marine and industrial industry. Also I am going to post some pictures of scrapers you can buy either on line or at a local boat/paint supply that make it much easier to shape the epoxy rather then trying to shape it with sandpaper or a file. You can grind the scrapers to the shape desired and then carve the epoxy to the desired shape very quickly. With sanding you almost always risk removing material from and area that does not need it because your tool is just to big or small. Here are the scraper that I use.
Went over to my neighbors and machined my end piece for the steering column last night. I cut 1-3/8" off of the column tube and then machined the end cap/bearing support to fit. Cutting the tube off gives me room to machine the end of the shaft to a DD to fit the new Borgeson U-Joint. You can see in the pics the old end cap and then the new one. The old one had a bushing pressed inside that supported the shift tube. I pressed the old bushing out and re-used it in the new end cap. I also used a roller bearing to support the shaft. Today I will assemble the column and install the new end cap by drilling 1/4"X 20 X 3/8" button head machine screws instead of using the clamp that GM used back in 57. Once the column is assembled I will be able to install the shaft and steering wheel and determine the length of the shaft. I am going to tig a stop collar on the shaft on the inside using a piece of UHMW Teflon as a bushing. On the outside I will make another UHMW Teflon bushing and use the Borgeson U-Joint as a stop. Here are some pics.
Steering is all done. I have been working on the brackets for alternator, power steering and, AC compressor. I will post some pics of that a little later.
Here are a few more progress pics. I finished up the brackets for the AC, alternator and power steering. Then cleaned up all the casting slag from the 425 block and will be putting the 425 together over the next couple of weeks. I also found a rear seat out of a 1962 Olds Starfire that I am going to use. I have a set of 64 Grand Prix buckets sitting in the car now but am not sure if I am going to use them or a split bench seat I found out of a 55' Cadillac Coupe De Ville that has the chrome over the back of the seat like the buckets. Any thoughts from you guys?
I like the retro steering column mod. I'll keep that one for my 55, when I get that far. Just finished my 425 build on the nailhead forum, plenty stout, but kind of pricey. Keep up the good work. URSLO
Oh yes I have been paying attention over at Da Nailhead...:TU: Those are some very good numbers you made. My build is some what more moderate as the engine I found had recently been rebuilt. I did not know it when I bought it but upon disassemble I discovered that to be the case. It also is 0.030 over and has new cast pistons. My plan is the ring, bearing and, gasket it, balance the rotating assembly clean up the block and heads and reassemble. I did buy an new cam, lifters and springs from Russ Martin along with bearings, rings and gaskets.
After getting the brackets done I figured I had better see how my inner sheet metal fit. I found the battery box was just not going to work with my alternator on the drivers side. There was maybe 1" of clearance and the exhaust manifold was ever closer so I drilled out the spot welds and removed the battery box from the inner fender. Now I had plenty of room but a big hole. I started thinking about making a new panel to fit in place of the old battery box. Then I remembered the battery box had a panel on the inside that already had the cut out for the control arm. Again I was able to drill out the spot welds and use this panel to make my inner fender complete. The panel that came off the batter box had a "S" curve in it that was the opposite of what I needed to mate ups to the inner fender so, I decided to straighten out the "S" curve and then bend it back in a "S" curve the opiset of way it was and the way I needed it to fit. Once this was done the replacement panel was about 4" to short so, I went out and cut a piece out of one of my 61' Chevy parts cars that has the same role in the corner that would match the bend I needed to finished the job. I had to re-trim the opening for the control arm to fit. I think it looks pretty good and once I get some 60% black powder on there I think it will look great. I also fit the stock radiator in to see just how this was all going to work. With the way the engine is sitting in the car now there is no room for the stock fan shroud or the mechanical clutch fan that I want to run. In order to get around that I think I am going to switch to a cross flow radiator that will be set far enough forward to accommodate both a fan shroud and clutch fan. The pocket that was crated up front by the core support by removing the battery box will house a recovery tank for the radiator as well as the remote resivor for the power steering pump. Here are a few more pics.
Made a template for the radiator. I used a piece of 2' X 4' X 1-1/2" foam. I cut it in half and then glued it together with some contact cement. That gave me a 2'X2'X3" core to work with. Then I cut to fit my hole 24"X22". I dadoed out the sides and put a piece of wood in so I would have a place to attach the flanges. It will mount from the front and will be basically inside the core support. The foam had a barrier so the contact would not eat it up. That left both sides with foil. I'm going to run a cross flow copper and brass from US Radiator. It will have a goose neck filler out of the drivers side tank and a recovery tank tucked in where the old batter box was.
Im impressed with your progress and finding your creative ideas useful. Thanks for sharing. Im making progress with the suspension and steering on my 56 but not quite as quickly. Purchased a delphi power steer box here in NZ and had a longer pitman shaft installed to use the same pitman arm, just fabricating mounting brackets and setting up column angles etc. Will post some photos and start a build thread sometime in the near future. Ross
Ross, I would love to see some progress pics... I used some PVC fittings I had laying around to make up the hose bibs and goose neck fittings on the radiator template...:idea2:
I've been working on the rear bumper ends. I cut out the plates and blasted the insides. I am lucky as this car is a low mileage rig so they look pretty darn good. Instead of using the shield like the factory did I am going to weld in a shield to the bumper end itself and them make a stainless steel tip that looks like the original shield. Also cleaned up the inner fender extensions (scraped off the under coating) and mounted the remote reservoir for the power steering.
