[roger1]

Oops. I didn't link the first image of the door hinges:

[roger1]

I got the core support repair finished.

Opened holes to good metal and squared off and cleaned up of rust around the edges. I blasted the brackets in my cabinet. I then made the patches out of 16 gauge sheetmetal.





Patches welded in:









Ground smooth and plug weld holes drilled in bracket:





Welded in the brackets:





Ground smooth and holes drilled. Took a while to make sure I got them in the right place. The holes on the frame that they match up to are 39" apart center-to-center. I tripled checked my measurements onto the core support before drilling. I drilled the holes out smaller and used a carbide burr the rest of the way.









Next up is using a wire wheel to remove the undercoating from the inner fenders. I got a start on that today. It was put on thicker here than anywhere else on the car. I've already made a mess. Then I'll weld up the ugly access hole.

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by roger1

...Took a while to make sure I got them in the right place. The holes on the frame that they match up to are 39" apart center-to-center. I tripled checked my measurements onto the core support before drilling.

I wish I did.

I measured the holes on the top of the frame - they were different center to center than the dimension on the bottom of the frame where the core support bolts to.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

I wish I did.
I measured the holes on the top of the frame - they were different center to center than the dimension on the bottom of the frame where the core support bolts to.

I measured from the bottom holes but when I looked at the top holes, I figured they would be the same. Glad I didn't make that assumption. I hope it didn't cause you too much grief.

[roger1]

No, I think they are smaller than the holes in the frame. I made them just big enough for the neck part of the mount rubber to drop through.

[roger1]

As I was prepping the core support for blasting using a wire wheel, I noticed this area was cracked:



That led me to check out the rest of it and I found some spot welds had broken loose and a couple of flanges the factory missed spot welding at all. Between that and the fact that one mount was completely rusted out, I'm sure the entire support was under a lot of stress.
Got the welder back out and got it all corrected.













Got it blasted today:

[Greg Reid]

Hmmm..... I can't see the pics in posts #290 or #295... Just me?

[bluejudge]

Another great job, thanks for the pictures. You can make a living if everyone sent your their radiator supports. Thanks, Marc

[roger1]

Originally Posted by bluejudge

Another great job, thanks for the pictures. You can make a living if everyone sent your their radiator supports. Thanks, Marc

Thanks for the compliment!

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Hmmm..... I can't see the pics in posts #290 or #295... Just me?

Try refreshing the page. Maybe my photo hosting service (imgur.com) was down at the time your page loaded.

[roger1]

Stripped the undercoating from the inner fenders with a wire wheel. Messy job.



Here's that ugly access hole:



Stitched up the wound:



Smoothed out the welding and then used a hammer and dolly followed by the shrinking disc. Took a while to get it right:



Underneath:



After blasting:



Underneath:



I had to do some hammer and dolly work on the valance panel. Used the shrinking disc too. It was pretty banged up all around the license plate area.



After blasting:



I now have everything blasted that needed to be done outside except for the convertible top frame which I will do down the road.







Got some good news and some not so good news.

The good news is that the guy from the machine shop texted this photo to me today:



Looks fantastic!
I'm guessing he will be ready to get it running next week. I'll find out tomorrow as I'm going over there to drop off a couple of parts he had me order.

The not-so-good news is that my transmission is delayed. Art said that I will take about 6 more weeks. The special clutches he uses are on backorder. His supplier says it's because of Covid.

[Scarebird]

Looks great - are you going to run the fuel inlet passenger front?

I hindsight on mine running Chevelle BBC lines would have been better, allowing the feed to go on the passenger side.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

Looks great - are you going to run the fuel inlet passenger front?
In hindsight on mine running Chevelle BBC lines would have been better, allowing the feed to go on the passenger side.

That is what I am thinking right now but I'll have to see how everything looks when it's in the car and the accessories are bolted on.
I'm going to install a stock replacement fuel line on the driver side frame rail and am going to bend my own ni-copp 3/8" line to run up the passenger side rail.

[roger1]

I got the fuel lines installed.

The Inline Tube reproduction fit pretty well with a little finagling. It helped that I took detailed photos of the original line before taking it off the frame.



I bent and installed the NiCopp 3/8" line on the p/s frame rail and mirrored the one on the other side. Since this line will be the feed for the fuel injection, I installed a fuel filter with a bracket using an existing frame hole. I didn't drill any new holes in the frame for the entire line.





This is an FI fuel filter with 16mm metric ends. They are very easy to get at any parts store. I have adapters ordered that will adapt the ends to 6AN so I will finish this up when I receive them.



I'll use 6AN fittings on the supply line back at the tank and at the engine for connecting to hoses. This is the flare tool I use for the flares that these use:



This is where the fuel lines enter the engine area:



I will not use AN fittings on the return line. I'll just clamp hose onto that.
I'll will get a double line clamp to replace the zip tie:



Nothing from the machine shop this week yet.

[roger1]

I got a text late today from the owner of the machine shop. My engine is on the dyno. Being set up to run I assume. I'm guessing that now that it's on his machine, it will be top priority to get it broken in and tested and off the machine. I reminded him to call me when he's ready for the test and I will keep my phone on me. I've got to assume it will be early next week unless there are any issues.

Also, the coil spring compressor I ordered a while back is finally off of back order and will be here Monday. I also ordered loaded and black powder coated brake calipers for the front and shoes for the rear and those get here Monday as well.

I received the adapter fittings for the fuel filter and got that done. I also installed the new bushings and rollers into the door hinges and blasted all the hinge bolts. Thread chased the bolts and nut plates as well.

[Brewster]

Looking good and love the updates. Thanks for sharing! Cheers

[roger1]

I shipped off my dash to Just Dashes to get it restored. They will do my glove box door and ash tray as well. Their estimate is 4 months before I get it back.

I installed a line clamp on the fuel lines at the rear and also an AN adapter for the supply line.



Received the coil spring compressor I ordered and got the front springs installed. It's an OTC 7045B and does work well and seems very safe. I got the front brakes installed as well.
After I installed the first spring, I realized how much easier it would be to use the tool if I had 1 1/4" ratchet wrench. I was surprised but Home Depot had them in stock ($25) so I went down and bought it before doing the 2nd spring.







I installed the brake shoes on the rear and finished that up this morning.



I've now got a rolling chassis:







Nothing from the machine shop this week about my engine. I thought it would be running on the dyno by now but I guess not yet.

[Greg Reid]

Excellent progress and craftsmanship, as usual. Is that brake line on the differential an Inline Tube product? I need one and that looks good.
Yeah, those wrenches will definitely spoil you. I've been working on an old import I have here lately. I don't have any metric ratcheting wrenches and I sure miss 'em!

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Excellent progress and craftsmanship, as usual. Is that brake line on the differential an Inline Tube product? I need one and that looks good.
Yeah, those wrenches will definitely spoil you. I've been working on an old import I have here lately. I don't have any metric ratcheting wrenches and I sure miss 'em!

Thanks Greg!
Yes, I got the complete brake line kit from Inline Tube and the 3/8" fuel line on the driver side too. Very good fit on all them.

Yes, metric wrenches sure make life a lot easier. I bought a standard set and metric set a few years ago. Both Sunex. Should have gotten them way earlier. Most things that are 1 1/4" you can get a socket on but not this spring compressor.

[Bruce Meyer]

I have a suggestion. Test fit the engine and trans and check the clearance between the oil pan and front crossmember. Todays motor mounts seem a little smaller and the pan will just touch the crossmember. Or it will be so close that engine movement will make it rub. Ames sells 1/4" plates that go under the frame mounts to fix this. Better to find out now before the whole car is put back together.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Bruce Meyer

I have a suggestion. Test fit the engine and trans and check the clearance between the oil pan and front crossmember. Todays motor mounts seem a little smaller and the pan will just touch the crossmember. Or it will be so close that engine movement will make it rub. Ames sells 1/4" plates that go under the frame mounts to fix this. Better to find out now before the whole car is put back together.

Thanks Bruce, I have read about this issue before. I don't expect to have this problem but will check it very soon. The machine shop should have my engine done this week and it will go in the frame soon after that.
I did buy THESE motor mounts from Ames and they seem like they are very good quality. They have the heavy steel like from back in the day when all these parts were made in the USA.
As far as I know the car didn't have this problem before. The engine was out of the car when I bought it but I did get the old mounts it was using and they were the same cheap looking Korean mounts that I think most of the parts stores sell right now.