Your getting closer every day
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Your getting closer every day
Looks great Mark, moving right along on all that little stuff!
Worked on something other then wiring yesterday. Mel came out and we attacked the left front fender. I want to get both front fenders modified for tire clearance before we pull the body back off the chassis. We got the left front clecoed in place today. In order to get the width I need at full left lock we ended up trimming out the original wheel well lip back to the new inner fender line.
Doing some sketching and thinking. We had the tire in place with the suspension in full jounce and marked full lock left steer and full lock right steer on the wheel well lip.
http://images9.fotki.com/v131/photos...MVC067F-vi.jpg
Yea, this is kinda ugly... Just the initial cut. We will end up removing all of the lip and most of the flare by the time we are done.
http://images18.fotki.com/v270/photo...MVC069F-vi.jpg
Tire in place and positioned at full left lock
http://images41.fotki.com/v1577/phot...MVC071F-vi.jpg
My plans are to make this a "sorta" wide body mod. Clamming an additional fender right over the existing to get the tire covered by the flare at full jounce/left lock. Left lock is worst case by about a quarter inch over right lock.
Here is the "new" fender, Mel is cleaning it up with the grinder after we trimmed off all of the extra stuff and removed the inner bracing so we could set it on top of the original with no interference.
http://images114.fotki.com/v1606/pho...MVC075F-vi.jpg
Set in place with a couple of clecoes holding it on at the front. We let the tire hold it out in the middle and worked on the rear of the flare to get it to suck back in at the bottom.
http://images114.fotki.com/v271/phot...MVC076F-vi.jpg
This ended up being a lot easier then we thought it would be. A couple of passes through the shrinker dies brought it right back to the original flare.
http://images107.fotki.com/v1143/pho...MVC083F-vi.jpg
This angle gives you a good look at the mostly final shape. There is still a lot to do. I plan to fill the gap with screen so all of the flanges will have to be modified and shortened up to inset the screen about an inch or so into the fender opening.
http://images9.fotki.com/v120/photos...MVC086F-vi.jpg
The top will get closed in with a long pie shaped piece that will blend out to nothing at the front of the fender.
http://images18.fotki.com/v60/photos...MVC088F-vi.jpg
The new piece will have a bit of an angle on it. Blending it down from that little reveal to the new outer skin. I plan to keep the same sharp corners as the rest of the body lines.
http://images62.fotki.com/v1452/phot...MVC085F-vi.jpg
Well, that's what I did. Thanks for looking.
Mark
What's it going to be like with the BBC in there?? Lots of work making thing look like they belong but I'm sure you'll get it.
Whew! When I first saw the pic of the beginning cut I figured oh boy.. he's done it now!!!
But nope! You saved it. and it looks great!
Thanks Guys! Haven't had to much to report on but got some stuff done over the weekend. I had a five day weekend and spent 4 of them working on the van. Monday was lost due to the big storm...
Worked on the right front fender last Friday. Mel did some trimming with the plasma cutter on the original fender for tire clearance.
This is pretty much the same as the drivers side.
http://images116.fotki.com/v618/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
While Mel was working on that I gutted the donor fender and got it trimmed down to fit over the original.
http://images114.fotki.com/v145/phot...MVC008F-vi.jpg
Once it was clecoed in place I had to do a little shrinking to get the bottom to follow the shape of the original fender.
http://images62.fotki.com/v1482/phot...MVC010F-vi.jpg
After some shrinking it flowed nicely down to the bottom of the original. Doing some trimming on the flange let it snuggle right up to the original.
http://images114.fotki.com/v271/phot...MVC013F-vi.jpg
This gets the van to a point where we can pull the body back off to start finishing things. We will start prepping it to do that tomorrow.
I was planning to post this stuff Sunday afternoon but that big storm changed my plans... Power went out at 5:00 or so Sunday afternoon and finally came back on at 10:00 last night. Which is great because we were hearing Friday or Saturday would be the soonest. Thanks Consumers!
The plan to get the fenders clearanced was so we could get the van moved over to the hoist side. With the Passenger side fender cut up we could do the move. We pulled the front suspension to lighten the load and started raising the van so we could slip the trundle cart in place.
From the work height we raised it about a foot so the cart could slide under the trans crossmember.
http://images107.fotki.com/v780/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
I get kind of nervous taking a vehicle to the top of the jack stands...
http://images107.fotki.com/v780/phot...MVC008F-vi.jpg
It went well though and we had the van on the cart in just a few minutes.
http://images9.fotki.com/v1548/photo...MVC013F-vi.jpg
Just as we are setting the van on the cart a nice little downpour comes thru to get the grass and leaves nice and soaked.... Sitting a spinning. The Cubby couldn't drag the weight up that little incline to the driveway because of the wet grass and leaves...
http://images107.fotki.com/v70/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
We ended up hooking Mels '79 Parisienne to the cart and hauling it up to the driveway with that. Worked well and he didn't spin a tire... We pushed the van into place on the hoist side and called it a day.
http://images18.fotki.com/v270/photo...MVC018F-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v1493/photo...MVC017F-vi.jpg
I did a bit of cleaning on the work side after Mel left but it was starting to get nasty, weather-wise, so I locked up the shop and went into the house.
Almost exactly two years since this space has been empty!
http://images45.fotki.com/v1451/phot...MVC016F-vi.jpg
I got the fender work posted Sunday but, by that time, the wind was really starting to kick up so I shut down the computer right before the power failed...
My plans to get the body off the chassis Monday were shot in the foot by the power outage so I'll get to that later this week...
Mark
Progress is good. Better safe than sorry. Did you get a lot of the storm there we just got wind with the power flickering once or twice.
Hey Charlie,Quote:
Originally Posted by cffisher
Yea, we got hit hard again. Straight line winds at around 60 or 65 MPH with hail and heavy rain for about 45 minutes. Lost a few more trees.
Got the body off the frame today. It was a two step process but it went smoothly. First lift was to get the van off the trundle cart. Raised it just enough so I could roll out the cart. Once the cart was out of the way I set up four jack stands to lower the frame onto. Once the I had the van on the stands I repositioned the arms to the body rails and hoisted her up, off the frame.
http://images116.fotki.com/v716/phot...jpg?1385241144
http://images19.fotki.com/v276/photo...jpg?1385241146
It'll be easy to set the frame back on the cart so I can roll it over to the working side. Need to finish up the cleaning first...
Where'd you get the sunshine from today. All I got was snow flurries and lots of wind
I had it special ordered just so I could get some pics.. :)
Have a question for you guys...
With the current doghouse the engine cover to carb clearance is about an inch. I need to raise it for air cleaner clearance. What is the LEAST amount of carb to top of air cleaner do you guys feel I can live with and not restrict the intake. I am planning on 2 to 2 1/2 inches. This is going to impact the shifter position and cable routing.
This is the set up I was planning to run. I may just stay with it and rebuild the top of the doghouse to fit over it.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/
The connector from the hat to the tube JUST fits over the thermostat housing.
This set up wreaks havoc with the front of the doghouse, which is what I am trying to avoid tearing up. I am using the front half of the original cover to seal the firewall as it was designed. The new cover actually seals to that and comes off without having to undo the firewall bolts. I'll take some measurements tomorrow to see how thing line up.
Knowing how high I have to be over the carb is key.
Thanks
Mark
I wouldn't want to see any less than what you had planned in the pictures. 2" inches isn't much, I think the dual carb setup filter I have is 1 3/4" and those are known to be restrictive, If I have enough room under the hood, I'm going to stack 2 filters to gain airflow. HTH's..
Mark,
Nothing I would hang my hat on, but if you start searching minimum hood to carb clearance the high performance crowd running hot Mustangs, Camaro's & the like seem to say 4" minimum from the top of carb to hood, and anything less starts starving it for air at the top end.
Well, here we go again! Updates should be back on track in the next week or so. After nearly a year break I am ready to get back into the build. Mel and I got the chassis up on the rotissirie today! Had to reconfigure the brackets a bit but, once they were bolted to the frame, the rest went pretty quick. We used the engine hoist to lift the frame high enough to slide the rotissirie ends on. It rolls around real easy now.
http://images58.fotki.com/v447/photo...MVC166F-vi.jpg
This is a step in the right direction anyway.
http://images16.fotki.com/v220/photo...MVC167F-vi.jpg
I need to do some major cleaning and re-arrainging in the shop to make room to work but I am back at it and should have the chassis in the shop by next weekend. I will be re-working the K member to make room for the Gear vendors unit, running brake lines and finishing up the stab bar brackets. Once this is all done I can prep for paint! I hope to have the chassis in paint before December. I have the entire week of Thanks Giving off due to GM furloughing all of the contract people so, if I hit this hard, I see no proplem with that schedule. I will be shooting the frame with a dark graphite color to go with all of the grays and blacks I did the suspensions in.
With the chassis complete I will set it down on stands and start making it into a roller. Building the stab bars is the only real fab work left and I won't do that until all of the suspensions are in place. I hope to have it rolling by the first of the year. GM is furloughing us for the last two weeks in December so I will not be lacking for time!
I hope you will follow along.
Mark
Good to hear you've got time to get back on the van, Mark, waiting to see more updates!!!!
Ditto! Looking forward to your updates, and your progress.
Thanks guys! i am looking forward to getting back to work also!
6 hours worth of cleaning, sweeping and rearrainging and the chassis is on the working side. I am wiped out today but tomorrow I will be starting the clean up process and laying out brakes lines.
http://images45.fotki.com/v1431/phot...MVC170F-vi.jpg
It sure is grundgy looking!
http://images108.fotki.com/v1629/pho...MVC171F-vi.jpg
http://images60.fotki.com/v361/photo...MVC173F-vi.jpg
Man it all takes time.
LOL you need to visit my barn/shop to get a perspective on "grungy". :LOL::LOL::LOL:
Great to see this project rolling again!
Glad to see you back here again
Good to see the frame again Mark!!! Cleaning----one of the projects on my list for next week, too!
Thanks guys! Yea, Dave, cleaning is always on my list. I have started covering everything with garbage bags when not in use. I am looking for some large size bags so I can get the mill covered up before I start sanding and painting. I am also going to cover all of my tool boxes. The big yard and garden bags cover them nicely.
I was in the shop for 4 hours today and most of the time was spent cleaning benches and rearrainging tool boxes. I picked up another Craftsman roll-a-round cabinet with a top box and side box a week ago. So I spent most of the morning splitting tooling between the old box and the new.
Old boxes on the left, new on the right.
http://images58.fotki.com/v447/photo...MVC172F-vi.jpg
Some of the non-essential stuff I moved into the new box which gave me room to re-organize all of my punches, chisels, files and wrenches in the old boxes. Some of the drawers were carrying a lot of weight so now they have a lightened load.
I should have most of my benches cleaned off in the next couple of days so that will give me work space to lay out brake lines.
I keep a roll of the paint masking plastic around. Just cut off what I need and cover stuff up! Works great! I've got to get some updates and maintenance done on my chassis table before I can get into any serious projects for the Winter.... Plenty to do around here too Mark!
So Mark, what's the status of the AstroRacer? I really miss your great progress posts!!
Thanks Roger! It's been two years since I did any real work on the van. I have been busy with other projects, the '56 wagon, building a new railing for the deck, two hot rod wagons, a brake tubing straigtener, a louver press and a bunch of other small projects.
I will be running brake lines on the van chassis but the big job is lowering the engine/trans about 4 inches to clear the inside of the doghouse. That has been the real show stopper but I have resigned myself that it needs to be done so that is my get it done job over Christmas break.
Mark
Sounds like me! But your projects sound waaaaay cooler than mine! With eight grand kids there's a lot of "Oooops! It's OK mom, Grandpa can fix it!", or a downed tree that can be hauled to the sawyer to become lumber which then leads to another project..., or my wife telling a friend, "Oh, Roger can make that for you!" Life's got too many distractions to focus on doing the same thing, day in, day out for me now that I'm free to choose what I use my time on. I enjoy variety.
Now some would say, "I need to raise the doghouse 4"..." but nooooo, let's drop the engine & tranny 4"! As I recall you've already invested a lot of time on the doghouse and associated parts, so it's the right answer, but takes a bit of work. Looking forward to seeing some pictures if you can take time for that hassle. Very glad to see you back, and hope you have a Merry Christmas and flow into a great New Year!
Too many distractions! Exactly that! I have a good time in my shop though so non of it is bad. I noticed a lot more after I got the Frankenmill. :)
The issue with the doghouse is sealing it up. Plus, that is where the shifter is mounted and cable routing goes right over the top of it. Hvac stuff and gauges are also up there so lowering the driveline really is the easy way out. :)
It's been a VERY long time getting back on the van. When I picked up the Wagon in early '14 I had no clue how much time and money would be spent getting that car reliable and comfortable to drive. Too much, really... Anyway I am back on the van and will be working on brakes and brake line plumbing.
I got out there this morning though and dusted off (yea, really) the hydroboost unit. I pulled off the original Prop valve and designed a bracket for the new Wilwood Adjustable Unit. Made the bracket out of some scrap .090 aluminum and bolted on the APV.
Took the whole thing in to my local Car Quest and they dug out a couple of fittings for me. A 9/16-18 for the front line out of the booster and a 1/2-20 for the rear line. 4 bucks and I was on my way. :) The HB unit I am using is out of a '95 Astro Van and the front line was 1/4" so I was happy they had the 9/16-18 for a 3/16th's line.
I also did a lot of cleaning on the boost unit. Now that the bracket is built I will mask everything off and spray the booster with silver ceramic brake caliper paint.
I got pictures but didn't get them uploaded yet. Maybe tomorrow. :)
Mark
And you thought some one would have worked on it while you weren't. HA HA I have things out in my other shop too but can't find the guy to work on them.... Good to see you back at it.
Yea, that would be nice wouldn't it? Although they probably wouldn't do it for free... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by cffisher
Here are some pics of what I accomplished yesterday. Mostly getting the bracket designed and fabbed.
After removing the original Prop Valve I had this nice bracket to work with.
http://images54.fotki.com/v1642/phot...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Getting my bearings by holding the new Prop Valve in place.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1637/phot...MVC004F-vi.jpg
I did a lot thinking on the placement. The bottom has two outlets for the front brakes. I could use either one or both. In order to mount the valve where I wanted it the rear "front" outlet will be covered. I will use the forward outlet and plumb a "T" into the line on the frame. This is what I came up with for a bracket design.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
I cut the shape out of a piece of heavy cardstock and "made" the bracket so I could check the fit of the valve.
http://images16.fotki.com/v378/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
Bent up and mounted. The top bolt for the master cylinder and the slot in the bottom of the original bracket are plenty to get this attached.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC010F-vi.jpg
I used the paper template and laid the design onto a piece of .090 scrap aluminum. I cut out the shape with the stomp shear and my scroll saw.
http://images12.fotki.com/v1641/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
I sweetened up the profile with the angle grinder and drilled the holes. The dashed lines are the bend points.
http://images54.fotki.com/v1642/phot...MVC017F-vi.jpg
I used a pair of seaming pliers to do the bends. .090 is fairly hard to do by hand so I clamped the bracket in the vise so I could get more leverage.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC018F-vi.jpg
All bent up and bolted in place. I'm happy with it. It will be hidden behind the valve anyway.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1637/phot...MVC020F-vi.jpg
With the valve bolted on. Clear access to both of the outlets on the bottom of the valve and it's not going anywhere. Once the lines are made and bolted in it will be pretty solid.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC021F-vi.jpg
Mark
Got out today and got the lines plumbed. This was a bit of an adventure getting the tight bends that were needed to run the lines.
I ended up making a little bending fixture to get it done. This will be pretty handy for doing the rest of the van.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1633/phot...MVC023F-vi.jpg
I made the clamp block on the mill. Both ends have their uses and I used both getting the bends into the lines.
http://images41.fotki.com/v1634/phot...MVC016F-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC017F-vi.jpg
The line for the rear brakes is in.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC020F-vi.jpg
And here is the line for the front brakes.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC006F-vi.jpg
This is one of the double flares I do with my CPP Flaring tool.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1633/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
Got a lot done today and I am pretty pleased with the bending fixture.
Mark
Very nice and your double flare is just as it should be.
Thanks Charlie. I use CPP's flaring tool. It is an excellent tool and, for the price, I have not seen or done better flares.
Well, I've ran into a bit of an issue with the prop valve placement. It is too low. The outlet for the front brake line I need to plug is to close to the bracket underneath it. I didn't think it would be a problem finding a low profile inverted flare plug to fill the hole but I have found nothing that will work. The regular plugs are to tall and I do not want to remake the bracket OR the hardlines, so.... I will make a low profile plug.
I puttered around in the shop last night trying to figure out how to tighten the plug and came up with this. I bored a .177 diameter hole in a test piece of aluminum.
http://images41.fotki.com/v1634/phot...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Then I used a short Torx bit to "broach" a hole for the driver. I started it with a few taps from a hammer to make sure it was straight then just pressed it into the test piece with the 4" vise.
http://images45.fotki.com/v1636/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
This worked great! I have some 3/8-24 threaded brass rod coming from McMaster Carr today. Hopefully the technique will work as well on the brass.
http://images61.fotki.com/v1635/phot...MVC011F-vi.jpg
Making the inverted flare side is easy. A 3/16 drill and 90degree c'sink work perfect for that. Getting the "driver" side done will be the challenge.
Mark
I tried using an Allen key to broach the driver hole but it just wouldn't do a clean job. It kept galling as it was pushed in. The Torx driver works great for some reason. I don't really care what it is as long as it works. :)
I got the threaded rod and made a couple of plugs. Went as easy as I was hoping. The Torx driver pushed in just as easy as it did with the aluminum test piece. I'm happy.
I got a foot of the 3/8-24 rod and used about half of this piece I cut off...
http://images54.fotki.com/v1642/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Dilled a pilot hole and ran a 90 degree chamfering tool into the drilled hole to make the bevel.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
The beveled hole.
http://images41.fotki.com/v1634/phot...MVC009F-vi.jpg
For the broaching job, I drilled the hole out to .173 dia. That is the one I used in the aluminum piece.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1637/phot...MVC010F-vi.jpg
I ran the fitting into a 3/8-24 nut so I could get the "broach" tapped in straight.
http://images45.fotki.com/v1636/phot...MVC011F-vi.jpg
Just a couple of light taps with hammer got the broach started.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1637/phot...MVC012F-vi.jpg
I then clamped the assembly into the vise and pressed away...
http://images59.fotki.com/v1640/phot...MVC013F-vi.jpg
Didn't take much to do the job.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
I ran one into the prop valve.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC016F-vi.jpg
And checked the clearance. We are good to go.
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC017F-vi.jpg
I made a couple of them while I was doing it. Now that I've made one the whole process only takes about 10 minutes. :)
http://images54.fotki.com/v1642/phot...MVC018F-vi.jpg
Now, on to bigger and better things!
Mark
Got out in the shop Saturday morning and made a couple of new, shorter, plugs. These go pretty well flush with the prop valve now so I know there will be no issues with fitment. These fittings are much nicer.
http://images45.fotki.com/v1636/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
They flush up real nice with the prop valve. The plug on the left is off the shelf.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1633/phot...MVC006F-vi.jpg
With that finally done I started laying out parts to get the brake lines ran. This junction block will bolt under the cross member. Drilling a hole for a 1/4-20 rivnut is next.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC010F-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v1639/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
Rivnut installed.
http://images41.fotki.com/v1634/phot...MVC016F-vi.jpg
With the block installed I can start routing lines.
http://images34.fotki.com/v1633/phot...MVC017F-vi.jpg
I routed the line up and around the forward 4-bar mounts. This should keep it out of harms way with the wrenches. Once I had this done I thought I could route it better. I will probably do that later.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...MVC007F-vi.jpg
The line runs back along the inner rail and follows the kick up back to the rear shock cross member.
http://images61.fotki.com/v1635/phot...MVC013F-vi.jpg
It will run out across the cross member to the junction block for the rear soft line.
http://images51.fotki.com/v1638/phot...jpg?1483830946
I'll get the front line ran tomorrow.
Mark