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Well, I guess I’m back. Some of you probably didn’t even know I was gone, but that wouldn’t surprise me because my MO is to leave the thread unupdated for long periods. Most of the time, it’s because I’m tired when I came in and don’t feel like writing it up, but this time I have been having some health issues.
Right after we returned home from the trip to Georgia (early in August) that I posted about, I was informed by my cardiologist that I needed to have a heart valve replaced. Actually, I had been told earlier in the year that it was coming, but I wanted to put it off until cold weather, when I have much less to do, but the valve doctor said “Nope! You need to have it done ASAP, before you have a major heart attack.”
Soooo, that started me down a month of tests to determine if I was eligible for a new type of valve replacement that doesn’t require cutting the chest open. During those tests, it was determined that I had a blockage (80 to 90%) that required a stent. This, I was told, explained all of the heart burn I had been having for the last few months. The heart burn went away after the stent. Seems I was headed for a heart attack from 2 different directions.
I did qualify for the “easy” valve replacement and that was done in mid September. That went off without a hitch, but I had complications with heart rhythm afterwards. That has been an ongoing issue that left me with no energy to get much done. I was shocked a couple of times to get my rhythm back, but it wouldn’t last. Finally, the doc changed my medication and it seems to be holding where it should.
I still have to see a specialist about the rhythm, but for now I’m good. Last week was the first time since all this started that I actually felt like I was better than before the valve was replaced. I’m getting stronger and I am able to spend all day in my shop and at work. I hope to be back to 100% very quickly now.
I was still working on the car, but it has been very slow going. No energy and the heat and humidity left me drained. Some days I only worked 2 or 3 hours before quitting for the day. Frustrating to say the least. Most of the time I was just PO’d because I couldn’t seem to get anything accomplished. In hindsight, I have come to realize that the deteriorating valve and blockage had been affecting me for a long time prior and may be one reason it has taken sooo long to get this project done. I’m slowly beginning to feel more like my “old” self and can see the difference.
BTW – One of the times I was shocked, the drug they give you to knock you out didn’t work at all. I was wide awake when the jolt hit me. I don’t recommend it unless you are a masochist with a serious electricity fetish! Felt like someone thumped me hard in the chest with a 240 volt extension cord tied to their fist! Hope I don’t have to do that again.
Now, I’m going to attempt (yet again) to get on with finishing this damned car. I have a lot to report on, since I was actually making decent progress before all this stuff happened. While I was dealing with all this, I just didn’t feel like posting any of it. At one time, I was wondering if I would ever be able to get the car done.
I hope to be posting some updates. They may not include a lot of write up, but I will post as many pictures as I can. If anyone sees something that they want to ask, feel free.
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Hey Mike,
I'm sorry that you've had to go through so much on the medical front, but it glad that the Doc's were able to follow all of the clues to get you to a better status! It sure reinforces why they call it the practice of medicine, and not the art or science! Glad to see you back, and will be looking forward to watching your progress!
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Good to see you back and hear you're on the mend. The work they have done on me in the last few years has been minor compared to what you went thru, but I can definitely relate to the aggravation of the healing process. Hang in there it does get better.
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Good to have you back and getting healthy! Hope the fixes are permanent!
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Glad to see your name pop up in here! Even better to learn you're on the mend!
It'll be nice to see updates to your work but go easy, we're in no rush.
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Thanks for the encouragement guys! I am feeling much better since my rhythm is back on track. I'm hoping that I don't wind up with a pacemaker. That would pretty much curtail my welding. That would really suck. So far no one has mentioned it and I hope it stays that way.
The valve replacement actually wasn't terrible. Normally, the recovery is only a few days compared to 5 to 10 weeks the old way. That's why it was developed. My heart just didn't want to cooperate! Guess it didn't want to be messed with.
I'm working on some updates right now. I'm still finding old stuff on my hard drive that I never posted. My internet is messed up now and I'm having to post this using my phone. I hope to get the pictures uploaded this weekend.
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Well Mike, the ol' body is like some cars, occasional maintenance, and some parts repair/replacement. Another buddy talks about the "heart burn" sign being a tell. He had a stent done about 10 years ago and a couple months ago he started having the "heart burn" feelings again and went straight to Emergency for a replacement. Hopefully folks learn from your example.
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Good to hear you were able to get your energy back, and that your cardiologist was proactive getting you better before you got worse! Can't imagine getting cardioverted and having the meds not do anything when then jolt you. I had a guy I'd do home repairs for on his rentals, all to very destructive college kids. One house was a complete tear down to the studs inside and the subfloor. He would randomly show up to the work site and see a breaker was off, and flip it on without checking to see why it was flipped off. I got a lot of 110 jolts back then! I rapidly learned to plug in a radio to whatever circuit was shut down, and put it on full volume. That way I got a warning if I wasn't touching a wire to flip the breaker back off. Never enjoyed the shock therapy! ;)
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Shock therapy indeed.
I just finished a week in the ceiling of the plant, rolling in a bucket lift. When I got to the warehouse lights (more rolling) I discovered "The Beast" liked to develop a static charge! Then I discovered that the control circuitry doesn't like it when you discharge the static with a lanyard.
Power it down, then spark it to ground!
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Alright, let’s kick this off with some pictures of the firewall going back together after powder coat. These catch up posts will have some pictures from before and after powder coating.
https://i.imgur.com/3g9ON94.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ENgxiLm.jpg
Here are the aluminum panels being refit and riveted to the steel lower section. I gave the panels a brushed finish with Scotchbrite pads and protected them with SharkHide protectant. You can also see some diagonal tubes running down from the firewall to the frame.
https://i.imgur.com/8Fyo0UE.jpg
I added these to replace some tubing that I had to cut out early on in the build. I attached the mounting points at the corners of the steel lower section since that is the strongest point. They have been powder coated now. The angle of the picture makes it look like they are angled weird, but they are not really.
https://i.imgur.com/O7pbHtx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/U3AWzBr.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Kx0TyCx.jpg
This hole had to be there to give the gas pedal more clearance. The cover is steel.
https://i.imgur.com/PAE9Pf1.jpg
In this shot you can see the firewall taking shape.
All of the panels are .060 thick except the one were the master cylinders go. That one is just an .030 cover that goes over the actual steel firewall. I made this section out of steel to support the added stress of the MC’s. The aluminum panel is just there to balance out the look.
https://i.imgur.com/Y2ZG7za.jpg
I added a battery hold down for an Odyssey 1200 battery. I bought this one off the internet. It was cheap enough that it wasn’t worth me building something. This just unbolts with 4 bolts if I need to change to different battery. This will be the first time I have used one of the “high tech” compact AGM batteries. They appear to pack a lot of amps in a very small package, this one has 725 cranking amps and 540 cold, but I still left room for regular old school battery if I need it. I did have to get a charger that has the output for AGM batteries. Apparently they need somewhere around 16 volts to charge them properly if they are fully discharged. An alternator (at 14 volts) can keep them topped off, though.
https://i.imgur.com/c9s4yLZ.jpg
This is all I have riveted for now. I had to get this much done in order to install the engine/trans. It would have been difficult to properly rivet them with the engine in the way. BTW – when I started trying to rivet early on the project, I was using an air chisel with a riveting anvil installed. My results were iffy at best. I found a guy on EBAY selling off some used genuine rivet guns. What a difference! The rivet gun hits slower and harder (IMO) and is much more controllable. I think the air chisel was hitting so fast (even with a regulator turned way down) that the aluminum rivets were work hardening before they were set, making them not want to mushroom as they should. The rivet gun is laying on top of the cowl frame in this picture.
https://i.imgur.com/gh7Pq0P.jpg
This is the bracing I made for the shock towers. I wanted it to be removable to make engine service easier.
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Very nice work you've been busy
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Thanks Steve. Actually a lot of this stuff goes back months. I got way, way behind on updates. I lost track of what I had posted on some of it.
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Next, I installed some DEI Floor and Tunnel heat shield.
https://i.imgur.com/zIhmnW4.jpg?1
I used the black stuff on the lower section of the firewall and the regular silver everywhere else. I used some black liquid shoe polish (remember when you had to actually polish your shoes?) to stain the edges of the black shield. The insulating backing is white and it showed up pretty bad. The shoe polish made the edge “go away”, sure was messy though.
https://i.imgur.com/A3ExeUG.jpg
I covered the entire underside of the floor and trans tunnel with the silver. This car was hot in the footwells before and I’m trying to do what I can to avoid that.
https://i.imgur.com/jlnwrMX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Fsd7J3U.jpg
I left a hole for a drink holder in the console that I built (more on that later), but the holder protruded into the transmission tunnel. I made a bent section out of aluminum to box off that area. I double insulated this. Don’t want my big Sonic drink melting!
The insulation has a pretty sticky adhesive backing. I hope it stays in place. I used the silver seam tape that goes with the F & T shield and used a roller to go over each section to try and make sure it was well stuck. If you decide to use this stuff, be sure to make patterns of the section you are covering AND orient the pattern correctly on the insulation. Don’t ask me how I know!
I will say it was pretty easy to work with. You can cut it with a heavy duty pair of scissors, but I used metal shears. It bends very easy too, so it's simple to form it around contours. As long as they are straight bends. I cleaned the area where I stuck it with denatured alcohol. My main complaint is that the plastic you have to peel off to expose the glue can be difficult to remove and it tears easy. I used a utility knife to pry up the edge of the covering to get it started. That seemed to be the method that worked best for me.
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"Don't ask me how I know!!!" Those words always say volumes without any further explanation.. and we've all spent time there to be sure! LOL...
As always - nice work Mike. Thanks for the updates/pics too.
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Before I could drop in the engine, I had another important thing to do. That was putting a hole in the firewall for the engine wiring harnesses to pass through. Yes, I will have more than one harness running to the engine. One is the Holley EFI harness and the other will be everything else needed to run and monitor the engine.
One of the major issues with EFI is that you need a pretty big hole to pass all the harness connectors through. Unless, you want to depin the connectors, fish all the wires through and then repin them. Too many spots for errors; way too easy to get something in the wrong place doing that IMO. I did a good bit of research looking for a solution to sealing up the big opening. I found one answer on an experimental aircraft (homebuilt) site. Apparently, some of them use EFI and they have the same problem we do. They need a good seal in case a fire breaks out. You certainly don’t need flames lapping around your feet at 10,000’ for sure.
https://i.imgur.com/JI5XqQ0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9o9oKQx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KHAD3Q8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9EdWm2T.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qanq3Yj.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/89u6tRp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZCjmlRa.jpg
The EAA solution uses a split plate. The halves are stepped and the edges overlap. This allows you to split a regular grommet, fit it around the harness and still have it fit tight in the hole. This whole thing makes a solid, well sealed bulkhead. You can see the size of the hole I cut in the firewall and the bulkhead completely covers it. In case you’re wondering about the red grommets, they are high temp silicone. Another idea I borrowed from the EAA.
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Now that I had pretty much everything done that I had to do before installing the engine, it was time to move on to getting the transmission mounted for the final time.
I painted the aluminum bellhousing and the transmission with some blasted aluminum paint. The trans had gotten a little white moisture spotting from sitting in my humid shop over the summer. It looked bad against the new bellhousing so I painted it to pretty it up. I had to paint the bellhousing so they would match!
I installed a new roller pilot bearing that came in the clutch kit and then bolted on the flywheel. The flywheel is a lightened steel part. Lighter than the regular stock piece, but not as light as aluminum.
I also bought a plate that bolts onto a T56 bellhousing that allows you to check alignment. Mine was within stock specs, so I didn’t try to adjust it. The only other way to do a T56 that I know of is to pull the front cover off the trans and use the input bearing hole to check. I didn’t want to tear into my freshly assembled trans, to I popped for the alignment plate.
The clutch is a “Stage 2” set sold by Texas Drivetrain (they did the trans work). It is a hybrid setup that has Kevlar on one side of the disc and metallic pads on the other. Supposedly, this gives better holding power and smoother engagement. We’ll see. I flirted with the idea of a twin disc clutch and might still do one if I don’t like this arrangement.
Sorry for the lack of pics. Apparently, I didn’t take a lot of this step. Here is a shot of the clutch, though.
https://i.imgur.com/DPxLt9D.jpg
The throwout bearing is a stock LS part. I did make one small modification to it. I machined the end of the bleeder to accept a push on hose. The way it was, the bleeder didn’t exit all the way out of the bellhousing and bleeding it would have made a mess. At least this way I have a chance to catch all the extra fluid.
https://i.imgur.com/b2EYmha.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/n4Hwc1b.jpg
After bolting the engine and trans together, I was finally able to get it in the car for the final time (hopefully).
https://i.imgur.com/yLGKYor.jpg
I could have sworn I took a picture of the engine actually in the car, but this one hanging off the hoist is all I could find.
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With the engine in, it was time to move onto the exhaust. If you have been following along, you will remember that I had built a stainless steel exhaust system that used Corvette tri-y exhaust manifolds. When I built the engine with the Trick Flow heads, I found out that the ports in the manifolds were smaller than the actual exhaust ports in the upgraded heads. I reconciled myself to using some 1st Gen Camaro headers that I had been given, even though that meant redoing the front half of the exhaust system. I wasn’t sure, though, if I could even get the headers to work on the car.
https://i.imgur.com/q3Ez8T8.jpg?1
Turns out that I was right. The right side header went on fine, but hung down way too low. This engine sits well behind the front axle centerline and with the headers so low, I could see this as catching on every speedbump and curb.
I wasn’t able to even get the left side header on. It interfered with the firewall. I probably could have made it work by cutting it up and modifying it, but it was going to so much work that I think it would have been easier just to build another header! Plus, both headers would need to be shortened.
Soooo, I pulled out the old Corvette manifolds and gave them a closer look. I had originally thought that the down tubes were just as narrow as the manifold openings, but on closer inspection, that turned out to be wrong. I used a set of spring calipers to roughly measure the tubes and it turns out that they have more area than the head ports. The tubes actually have a slight taper and get even larger once you get past the short turn. But, the manifold port openings were still too small. They were around 1 5/8” (mostly a little smaller) while the heads were 1 ¾”.
It just so happened that I had on old cheap header gasket left over from the Speed and Performance headers (that I didn’t like) that had been on the car and it had 1 ¾” openings. I laid that on the manifold and it didn’t look too bad. I thought I might be able to port the manifold openings to match the gasket.
https://i.imgur.com/Tq5E2iy.jpg
There was another issue (there always is, isn’t there) and that was the EGR setup on the manifolds. Both manifolds had an extra flange added between the center tubes with a cavity behind it that opened into both center tubes. GM used a special gasket that actually used the head itself as the backup for this passage. No one that I could find had a performance gasket with EGR and with larger ports. There wasn’t enough meat in the stock gaskets to open them up, either.
So I improvised. I used nickel based filler rod to weld up the openings to the EGR passage.
Then I dressed the flanges down on my belt sander. That part worked out pretty good. The manifolds were not cast iron like old SBC manifolds, but some grade of cast steel and welded great. I may even have been able to use steel filler, but the nickel will get the job done and would have been correct for cast iron if that’s what they turned out to be.
Now, all that was left was to port them.
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"......The only other way to do a T56 that I know of is to pull the front cover off the trans and use the input bearing hole to check......"
Been there done that.....not fun.
It's always great to get the engine and trans in for the "final" time isn't it? :3dSMILE:
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You are so right Mike. I'm beginning to feel like I've been working on this car forever and I'm ready to hear it run! Still have a ton of "details" to get done, but I'm weeding through them.
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The engine for the 37 sat on the run stand for 10 years before it finally got put in the truck, (at least it got started every 6 months or so).......hell the mock up motor has still been in it longer than the running motor.
You've only been at this 7 years or so...... you're making a lot better progress than I did. :LOL:
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Mike, I'm trying real hard to resist the urge to fire the engine up now. Sure is hard though. A couple of days and it could be running, but I want to wait until I can drive it a little to seat the rings. I will most likely fire it up in the bare chassis just before I stick the body back on.
I’ve done a little head porting over the years, but I’m certainly not an expert. Mostly pocket porting and cleaning up the ports in SBC heads. It’s not real fun and it takes hours and hours. These manifolds were no exception. As a matter of fact, they were worse. Normally with cast iron heads you just get a lot of dust, but these things were steel. Attack a piece of steel with a burr and you get thousands of needle like slivers of metal and, of course, the steel didn’t cut nearly as easily as cast iron.
https://i.imgur.com/KgvbajJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p27Y9ac.jpg
This is just part of the pile of slivers I wound up with and of course they were magnetized, so that they stood up nicely, like some medieval torture device, on every piece of iron they came in contact with. I’m not sure why these things get magnetized, but it seems like I have a problem with that in my shop. Maybe it’s the welding. Maybe it’s just related to the act of cutting. I dunno.
https://i.imgur.com/ZXdosg5.jpg
These are my tools of port destruction. Not shown are the fine tweezers that I was constantly using to pull shards of metal out of my hands. Yeah, I probably should wear gloves, but they don’t let me feel the cutting action like I want to. I did use a full face shield, though. I may be dumb, but I ain’t crazy! Yet, that is! I’m not sure I would attack a set of these things again, but I got it done. I used an air die grinder that I fitted with a short hose and regulator. That way I could alter the speed of the grinder by adjusting air pressure and not by trying to modulate the trigger on the grinder. That works better for me since it can get tiring trying to hold a constant speed for hours and you will burn up a lot of cutters with high speed.
https://i.imgur.com/0sTceHn.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/4BY6BcJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZD7x5XO.jpg
Here is what they looked like before and after opening them up. You can see in the top two pictures how much had to be removed. No, they are not completely round. In a few places the ports fell outside the radius of the gasket opening and I called that good enough. No need to waist energy making them round. I did blend and polish the openings after enlarging them.
I also cleaned them up as far as I could reach beyond the short turn radius, removing quite a few lumps and bumps along the way. Some folks with a lot more experience than me will probably say I was just wasting my time with all this effort for pair of stock manifolds. Maybe there wasn’t a lot to be gained here, but I just couldn’t leave that sharp edge facing the exhaust port. What little I know of fluid dynamics says that’s a flow killer since it causes turbulence in far greater proportion to the actual size of the step. I was already giving up HP and torque by not running long tube headers. I didn’t want to throw away more. At least the effort made me feel better about it.
The last thing I did was bead blast and paint them with VHT as cast header paint. They turned out looking good, but I may pull them after I have the engine tuned for some Jet Hot ceramic coating. That would definitely be a winter type project since the inner fenders would have to come out to remove them after the body goes on. That’s why I went to all the trouble making so many parts easily removable. It’s the only way I will ever be able to service some things.
https://i.imgur.com/gEzvJYX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KKkyTsZ.jpg
I installed them with Remflex gaskets. The stock gasket is on the top in the picture. I’ve never used the Remflex brand before, but they got rave reviews on some other LS specific forums. They are thick, well made of some high tech material and look like they will seal up well. I will eventually install Stage 8 locking fasteners. Accessing the manifolds to tighten a loose manifold bolt would be a pain, so I popped for the Stage 8’s. Maybe they will help prevent loosening. I will probably run the gaskets through a couple of heat cycles and retorque before installing the locking tabs on the bolts.
https://i.imgur.com/ZxvtyWA.jpg
Here they are finally on the car with the stock heat shields. They fit perfectly and the shields should help keep the footwells a little cooler.
Sorry for the long post.
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Heck, please don't apologize for a long post! it's great reading!! especially with this mornings coffee. 8-)
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Nice job, they turned out really nice! I had a set of headers jet coated for my v8 miata and they are pretty rusty now so I don't know what to think about that stuff. It would be interesting to hear other peoples long term experience with it.
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1 Attachment(s)
I had these done by Jet Hot about 10 years ago, promptly cooked the finish tuning the EFI and they recoated them free. I've seen some light surface rust a few times, but a bit of Mother's polish fixes it.
Attachment 74197
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Yeah, I've cooked ceramic coated headers a couple of times myself. Only learned recently that the coating is recommended to be done after break in and tuning. That came directly from JetHot. Also, you are supposed to run it through a couple of mild heat cycles before running them. That's really hard to do if you're breaking in a flat tappet cam and the mixture or timing is a little off. I'll bet a lot of the precoated headers that are sold get torched on initial startup.
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Mine was on a relatively stock mustang 5.0 with stock EFI, so tuning was not an issue. I was considering coating my Stude headers I built because some of the "stainless" was of questionable quality and gets surface rust. It's just expensive to do and if it rusts anyway maybe not worth it. Ok, I'm done hijacking your thread, keep up the great work.
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Well gang, I'm laid up for a while yet again. I was informed by the rhythm specialist that the medication I was on to control my afib wasn't a long term solution. It is apparently very hard on the liver and kidneys. One year max was all that is typically recommended for this particular medication. It was recommended that I have a procedure to short circuit the extra electrical pathways in my heart that commonly cause arrhythmia. Since I was already into my insurance deductible for the year, I made the decision to have it done now.
This was a 4 hour procedure. That is the longest anesthesia I have ever had and the after effect wasn't pleasant. I do appear to be on the mend, though. I'm on severe restrictions for the next week while I heal. I hate that, since I was making great progress on the car and could have used that time.
I do have some older stuff I will try and get posted next week if I can find the right pictures. Not much else to do.
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Good you're dealing with it, ignoring that kind of stuff never turns out well. The hot rod will wait.
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Yep, gotta take care of you first, then figure out what needs to be done on the car! Hope things continue to improve on the health front!
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Well.. that's a bugger as Johnboy says. but you're on the mend and that's what's important right?. The car, and us, we'll be here when ever you're ready.
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There's aroha coming your way from New Zealand too.
I hear you on the restrictions and 'wasted' time too. I know I'd be driven nuts with enforced idleness, I've got to be doing something! Anything!
But as has been said, your wellbeing must be the top priority.
And it is a bit of a bugger.
Look after yourself.
Top priority.
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Thanks guys! I appreciate the support. Unfortunately, cardiac issues run in my family, so genetics was bound to catch up with me sooner or later. At least modern medicine has the potential to correct things without too much downtime. Truly, after the meds had my arrhythmia under control, I felt better than I had felt in many years. I still have to take them while my heart heals, but if the procedure takes, I will be able to get off them and the blood thinners.
I'm confident that this will just be a bump in the road.
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I feel for you. Fortunately you didn't have to have a valve replacement. take it easy, the car will wait we'll look forward to your progress when you get to feeling better.
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For a moment the child side of me wants to write.... are "we" there yet? Sorry.. it just slips out! LOL 8-)
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Good you got it taken care of and hope the healing time goes well and quickly for you!
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Just hang in there.......this will just be a memory soon enough.
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Thanks again, guys. I'm taking it easy for the next few days. I had a bad hematoma several years ago from not following doctors orders, so I ain't taking any chances.
OK, sifting through the old pictures and found some stuff that I don’t think got posted. These next posts will be dealing with interior pieces that I got done during the final mockup. This stuff goes back quite aways.
After I got the rear mini-tubs done for tire clearance, I could move on to the roll bar that I wanted to add. Actually, I wanted dual roll hoops more like a Cobra has. I just like the looks of them better since, to me at least, they just scream vintage sports car.
I decided to buy the bender because the folks I found around here that could bend the parts I wanted charged an arm and a leg to do it. Getting someone to do it was going to cost more than the tool, so I figured I might as well just buy it and do the work myself.
The tubing bender I used is a JD2 model 32 with a hydraulic conversion by SWAG Off Road. I also bought a 1 5/8" 180* die set. I plan to buy some more die sets in the future. I think this tool will be handy, especially the square tubing dies that are available for it. Square tubing is much easier and cheaper to come by in these parts and suitable for most of my projects. I have no complaints about the bender or the SWAG conversion. Both do a fantastic job.
This is the style of bender:
https://i.imgur.com/leVNRHe.jpg
And this is the hydraulic conversion:
https://i.imgur.com/hayN2EU.jpg?1
I chose 1 5/8" tubing based on NHRA recommendations. They require that size in .120 wall, but all I could find locally was .156 wall. The thicker tubing was heavier than I wanted, but my only other option was to order short sections online and pay through the nose. I will say that I bent one of the hoops by hand, using a 5' cheater pipe for a handle. Man! What a work out! I just wanted to see how much effort it took and it was a bunch. I'm not as strong as I used to be when I was younger, apparently. After the first part, I decided the hydraulic conversion wasn't just a luxury. For me, it was a necessity. The .156 wall tubing is very strong and had a lot of spring-back. I had to go about 10-12 degrees past my target to allow for the spring.
I noticed a while back that there were some tabs added to the frame in the area where a roll bar would sit and a little digging in the assembly manual indicated that they were there for the optional Classic Roadsters roll bar. I built these heavy duty mounts that used those tabs. These probably didn’t need to be quite so heavy, but I had the material.
https://i.imgur.com/tMTLSh1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6D7DWj9.jpg
The CR roll bar was just a traditional single hoop that spanned the area behind the seats. The double hoop arrangement I wanted posed a problem in that there wasn't any real structure in the middle of the chassis to anchor the hoops to. I also wanted this to be real roll over protection, so I had to build a solid base to anchor to. The base was built from the same tubing that the hoops where made from. It's pretty heavy duty (and just plain heavy), but will no doubt add some extra stiffness to the rear of the chassis. There are heavy steel tubes inside where the lower section and the hoops bolt together that serve as alignment dowels so that the bolts are not the only things keeping them aligned.
I wanted to enclose the area behind the seats to make a covered storage area and my first plan had the hoops mounted on top of where the package tray will be with no other bracing. In the end though I didn't think that having the hoops cantilevered with no support would be strong enough if it was ever needed in an accident. So, I added another support so that I wound up with the same tripod arrangement you typically see with this type of roll hoop . Not quite as trim looking as I wanted, but way more sturdy. They are also a little taller than I would have preferred, but I had to get them over the seats and they had to be mounted higher due to my back issues.
https://i.imgur.com/IkRNSab.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xtRzX1d.jpg
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The hoops and braces have been chromed. I seriously doubt these roll hoops would pass something like an NHRA tech inspection or any other sanctioning body for that matter, but they at least give me a chance if things ever go south.
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Great job on the hoops, they fit the car very nicely!
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Thanks Dave.
Once I get the folding top and it's boot installed, they won't appear quite so tall. The boot and top are about 4 or 5 inches tall when folded.
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Before I could move on to the dash, console and rear package tray, I wanted to attempt to install an arm rest that I had picked up on EBAY. The rest is out of an Audi A4, if I remember correctly. Without having any U-Pull-It type salvage yards available to me any more, I find myself wandering around on EBAY, looking for some kind of item that I might be able to make work.
The Audi part folds up between the seats to get it out of the way. There is precious little room in the cockpit and I didn’t want an arm rest cluttering my steering space when I wanted to drive this thing hard. There is also a small compartment under the top. I think it was originally for a hard wired cell phone (remember those?). The marine sound system I will be installing has a hard wired remote that is compact enough to fit in there and that’s where it will most likely wind up. The only odd thing about the Audi part was the offset mount that it had. It must have had to clear somewhere on the Audi chassis.
The Sebring chassis came from the factory with a mount welded in for an optional 3rd link traction bar that ran from the top of the rear end to the bracket under the trans tunnel. That bracket just happened to wind up right between the seats. I made a simple bracket for the arm rest that bolted to the traction bar bracket since it wasn’t being used for anything else.
The arm rest turned out well and actually looks like it was made for this car. When the console goes in, I will be able to cover up most of the Audi mount. The dang thing is gray. It was supposed to be black. I have some spray on dye that I intend to use to change the color. If I don’t like the way it turns out, these are available in black and I will have to buy another one.
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