Lots of stuff done this week!

I finally managed to get the transmission apart and the casings cleaned up and painted. Next week I'll order a rebuild kit and put new bearings and gaskets in it so it's ready to go. Then I'll move on to the shifter, clutch and bell housing so it's all ready to drop into the car in the spring. There's still a lot of work to do, but at least I won't be TOTALLY covered in grease as I'm working on it. Notice the tailshaft housing has not been tapped yet for the shifter - I'll get to that next week and start restoring and mounting the shifter assembly.

In addition to that - Santa (okay, UPS) delivered part of the front end:

Yup! That's a Chassis Engineering bolt - in crossmember. I'll paint it this weekend before I put it in storage for the winter... I'm running out of good weather - and I'm afraid it'll be freezing by the time I get the whole front-end rebuilt, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to drop in the motor yet anyway: I still need to do the clutch, bellhousing, rebuild the transmission, and then I want to give the motor a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. Maybe new valve covers, too.


Now I'm waiting on the Mustang II components, and the transmission rebuild kit...

Woah

JPL called me right after I put the order in for the Mustang II front end and gave me an awesome deal that included shipping, sway bar, and the braided brake hoses as well! It'll probably be too cold to start working on the car when it all arrives (we'll see, I love winter and I have an awesome suit) but there's still lots of stuff to do over the winter anyway.

I've just loaded the tranny casing into the back of the truck - heading up to Dad's so I can tap out a stuck side cover bolt. By the time that's done, the tail housing should be here and I can re-assemble the transmission, paint, fill and set it aside.

Once that's done, I'll start on the clutch... so that IF we get a warm-enough spell that I can put the new crossmember on, then I can shave the rest of the firewall, paint the firewall, set the motor & transmission in the car and fabricate the transmission mount as soon as spring is here.

THEN it's on to the rear end (which will get disk brakes, either in kit form or if I'm lucky and I find an LS1 camaro rear brake setup then I'm golden).

We're movin' slowly!

Still plugging away

The cold weather is approaching, so I've moved some of the work into the shop since I last wrote.

I DID manage to find some wicked awesome deals: '55 Chevy driveshaft, all of the necessary body patch panels and a new Saginaw transmission tailhousing.

The saginaw is sitting on my bench right now - in pieces - but all of the gears look good (enough) and the case is cleaning up nicely. (I have to retap one bolt hole).

Not much to look at, but progress none the less!

At the front, I've just ordered the crossmember and Mustang II front suspension. Tubular control arms, 2" dropped spindles, 11" crossdrilled rotors.

I'll be getting a hold of a rear - disk conversion for the 10 bolt rear end - four wheel disk brakes - and hopefully a new set of springs/perches/shocks. If I can get everything before the snow melts, then I will be VERY HAPPY. But there's no rush...

RUST! AAAAARRRRHHHHHHHHHH!

(Pics coming, I ran out of light)

So, in order to fit the v8 in, I needed to cut the 'ribs' in the firewall- the 350 is a lot wider than the original I6 that was in it. So, I started cutting away- and to my "surprise" - the front body mount was rotted out.

No problem.

I'll finish cutting the firewall ribs away and grind down the highspots, at which point I'll measure and fabricate new body mounts out of Lbar. I can easily weld them in to restore structural support.

I also pulled out the guages and radio, etc - so the dash is bare (and I shot a coat of primer).

While my speedo was beyond restoration (I managed to find a replacement on ebay) the oil, fuel, temp and ammeter all seem good. I polished the chrome ring by hand and it looks really nice.

So much to do... but while I wait to order the mustang II front end, cross member and so on, I have time!

Window seizure...

Freed up one of the rear windows today- the other will take a bit more work to free up.  I think I've also tracked down a new speedometer for it- I'll know more in a couple of days.

I'm hoping to sell off some more studio gear- I have a potential buyer - and if this deal goes through, I'll be able to order the new front end components. This is critical - I need the new front end to position the motor mounts, which I need to do in order to fabricate the new transmission mount & measure for the driveshaft.

New Engine!

Picked up a "new" engine today- it's a 350 out of a 1969 Full size chevy. It's complete, carb-to-pan and runs well. She'll get new 64cc aluminum heads and  a crane blue racer camshaft. I've also tracked down a dual plane intake and 600cfm carb. That combo should be good for around 350 horsepower- perhaps more...

Block Cleanup Stopped

The pitting in my #5 cylinder isn't bad, but it would need some serious machining. Since the machine shop work would total around $700, I've decided to change plans a bit. Not that I'm cheap - I'll still rebuild this motor, but not for the Chevy. I'll probably use it in my next project (Tracee want's a classic pickup).

I've found a '69 350 from a Z28 (300hp) I might pick up instead. It's complete, and in good condition. I'll be calling the guy later today and checking it out soon.

I should probably go clean up the garage though...

:)