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Can't believe that I haven't been subscribed to this from the start! Am now!
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Tom - now that I know you're watching...I'll get back to work on it!! ;)
I have a few more update pics to get posted - I'll try to do so this week. Nothing major, but little bits of progress. I also bought a big pile of 4130. I may try to build some components of the cage prior to putting sheet metal back on to allow for easier access for welding. |
Finally and update!
Got the tubs all final welded and then put them in SPI epoxy. I taped off the areas that will be welded and used weld-thru (I missed a few though and had to grind the primer back off later before welding the quarters on! :)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...no/15%2B-%2B27 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2...no/15%2B-%2B24 Measured the off the centerline and used my laser to locate from. Kind of neat when it all lined up with a factory hole in the firewall! The laser works really well because is projects a line all the way to the back. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...no/15%2B-%2B20 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...no/15%2B-%2B23 https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...no/15%2B-%2B21 |
Again - using the laser to locate brackets. Some of the stuff that you may noticed needs to be final welded in the pics is because I'm going to wait and final weld it when it's upside down on the rotisserie (call me lazy!)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...no/15%2B-%2B18 A lot of times, I'm working by myself and I also don't have the factory front leaf spring perches to locate the front link bracket from, I decided to fixture them up at the correct width and weld them to a piece of tubing (easier for me to hold in place. I also used the frame spec dimensions to measure from the rear spring shackle location to where the front mount should be. Just for good measure, Dad and I checked dimension on his stock '67. (yeah, that has been handy from time to time) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-N...no/15%2B-%2B19 Once everything was tacked into place, I wanted to bolt the rear housing in to satisfy my worries that everything was located properly. It was almost dead square and if I remember correctly within a 1/4 side to side (minor panhard adjustment) with the links set right out of the box. I was happy enough with that and proceeded to weld everything in solid. I moved around a lot and kept checking measurements to make sure nothing moved. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7...no/15%2B-%2B16 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...no/15%2B-%2B13 |
Progress is looking good, You'll sleep better knowing all the rust is gone and you have clean primer sealing all the unseen areas. If you're really quiet you can hear the rust behind my quarters plotting against me. :secret:
Link mounts look good, I've seen 2 builds now where people welded them directly half way over the frame rail and torque box. |
Rear filler panel removed and inner structures being cleaned up.https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b...no/15%2B-%2B10
Quick test fit to mark off the areas to be welded. This panel had been fit with the quarters and had screws place to locate it back in the correct spot. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...-no/15%2B-%2B9 Crappy pictures, but it's primed on the inside... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...-no/15%2B-%2B8 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...-no/15%2B-%2B7 |
Driver's side quarter fitted and mostly welded.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...-no/15%2B-%2B6 Porta-Power to push the wheelhouse out to make the quarter fit properly. As I've mentioned earlier in the thread the passenger's side outer wheelwell didn't fit very well. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0...-no/15%2B-%2B5 Not always using fancy tools!!!! Block of wood along with the Porta-power. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...-no/15%2B-%2B4 Notes - - because I'm forgetful! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...-no/15%2B-%2B2 There is a little wave in the quarter and using a long straight edge the lower rear of the quarter needs to go in slightly. We'll jack out with a little pressure where I have "Hold" and using body clamps to pull in on the lower until it's where it needs to be. Finishing some of the welds all while holding it. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...-no/15%2B-%2B1 |
I also picked up the firewall bracket and master cylinder for my hydraulic clutch setup. I talked quite a bit to Walt from Classic Nova about it. I believe he did some of, if not most of the development and fitup on the part and DSE appears to be making it. Nice piece that reinforces the firewall and locates things properly.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...no/15%2B-%2B39 |
Nice work Brandon! :thumbsup:
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Way kool!!
I love these Novas! |
Very nice work. I love your frame table.
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Following
Anything with Chevy II in the title has my attention!
Lots of cutting on that one...cant wait to see it finished |
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Great work Brandon,very nice detail on everything your doing:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Brandon,
I'll be honest. Reading the updates on your build inspires me to get back on mine. Kind of stuck with time and ability. Looks like some patience helps a lot on these builds. Plus, the skills you have, and showing how to use them helps. Please keep taking pictures and posting. Awesome job. |
I struggle with the patience piece of it, but it really is key. I think we had the quarters on and off probably close to 10 times to make sure it all went together right before welding anything. I'm still learning new stuff all the time.
The biggest help in the whole process is having my own personal adviser - -my Dad! I learned a ton from him on previous projects and learn things everytime we go to the garage. He's been doing this stuff for, well, a long time. Without his skills, coaching and patience, let's not forget the tools!... this would be a much more difficult journey. |
Dad's.... What would this world be like without them?
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Nothing major to report. I've spent the better part of two weeks off and on working on my beater pickup that I let go to hell. All new brakes (calipers, wheel cylinders, lines, rotors, drums, new fuel pump)... I know boring, right?
I did manage to finish all of the welds on the quarters and grind most of them. I'm hoping to get the cowl and a-pillars removed and ready to start mocking up new sheet metal tonight...we'll see. I need to remove my sharpie notes! I've completed those tasks.... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y...-no/15%2B-%2B1 https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...-no/15%2B-%2B2 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...-no/15%2B-%2B3 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...-no/15%2B-%2B4 |
Starting drilling spot welds again. I just mocked the parts into place. I will blast and primer the inner structure and back side of the dash etc.
Also, if my car wasn't so rusty, I would have located the upper sub-frame support locations with bracing etc.. I could see that mine were rusty and pushed back, so I'll just locate them as they need to be to get the subframe level and square. The firewall needs plenty of patching too.... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...-no/15%2B-%2B3 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...-no/15%2B-%2B1 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0...-no/15%2B-%2B2 |
Looks great! Lots of really nice work here. Chevy II's are one of my favorite cars, definitely at the top of my list for a future project.
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I'm in
Anything with a Chevy II gets my attention
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A few more pics
This picture makes it look funny, but i made a patch for a rusty area under the A-pillar and welded it in.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w..._155556609.jpg Here it is after it's smoothed out. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r..._161210455.jpg Then this happened..... I took a stock crossmember (one of the several that Dad had laying around -- thanks Pops!). I bolted it in and welded it into place before removing the firewall and supports (or whatever you call them - -I called them subframe mount framerails) https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7...429279_HDR.jpg Here is the firewall prior to sandblasting. - - don't mind the damn grass that I can't get to grow....2 years after my garage was built. I'm finally to point of just putting down sod (I think) https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1..._150512179.jpg |
Oh - I also picked up a cheap "mock-up" engine. I'll tear it down and just use the block and heads to mock everything up in my Chevy II. Depending on what it looks like on the inside, I may rebuilt it with a few upgrades as a motor for my '72 Suburban at some point. I'm not sure what the issue was/is - it was in the core pile at the local salvage yard. It's a run of the mill 5.3 (LM7).
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...-no/15%2B-%2B8 |
I'm waiting for my super expensive firewall to arrive so I sandblasted and sprayed some epoxy primer on the inner structure that I won't be able to get to later.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...957238_HDR.jpg |
It's great that you are taking the time to resurrect this car. The body work is looking really good. Taking the time to do it right and put it all together square and proper will really pay off.
Even if everything fit absolutely perfect (which it never does), there is still so much unseen work that goes into something like this. Good work. |
Thanks - - it's not rocket science, but it does take time to do it right (especially for me!). I laugh every time I try to explain to someone outside the hobby what I'm doing. I'm pretty sure, they don't have the slightest idea, but even with the little that they comprehend they look at me like I'm a dumbass!
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My favorite is when you tell people how much you have in a build and they tell you they could build the exact same vehicle for 1/4 of what you have in it and the best part is when then tell you they could do it in 1/2 the time it took you. ps Even though I will never re-coop the money I have spent on my cars I just like doing it. |
The satisfaction and personal gratification of doing the work yourself is a huge part of it. Indeed.
I see it as an investment. Both in handling/performance and reliability/safety. Production standards have improved, sure. But you never know what you are paying for until you tear it apart. That's true for a 40 year old car, and one fresh out of the factory doors. When you build it yourself, you know every bolt is torqued correctly, every seam welded proper, every inch of metal is coated, every measurement is square... That's what makes a car last. That is what makes a car safe. You can buy a new CTS-V for $70k and still just have a production car, albeit a very nice production car, but production nonetheless. Or, you could buy a used CTS-V for $20k, and put $15k into it with some elbow grease, and have a dialed in, tuned, faster, safer, more structurally sound vehicle for half the cost... And it's still a Cadillac. I love the CTS-V, so I used it as an example. But the comparison works as a concept. People who can't replace the ink stick in a click pen, or change a light bulb without calling the landlord, or operate a fork without going blind... They don't, and won't, understand why we do what we do. That's fine. They can buy the new stuff, somebody has to. We need people to buy and wreck new production vehicles so we can get low mile engines for our swaps. |
I hear you! --Amen!
BTW - -I've also been pondering a used CTS-V for a DD....Can't quite pull the trigger while I'm building the Chevy II though. I'm trying to stay focused. In other news - Dad and I tore apart the 5.3 mock up engine, stripped it down to the bare block. Interestingly enough, the bearings looked immaculate and there is no ridge in the cylinders. I think it's definitely a candidate to be freshened up for the Suburban after serving its purpose at a mock up block.......We shall see. I've never built an engine, so I think I may do it just for the sake of doing it. |
Slow, but it's progress
I moved some things around and cleaned up the shop. Got started on the front-end.
I got the front frame sections and firewall, located them with the mounts that I made prior to tearing the car apart. I then welded them into place (checked everything with the frame specs first). Welding them into place consisted of installing the DSE connectors and adding another locator x-member on the frame table. Adding that x-member allowed me to remove the bolt in location so that I could bolt up the DSE front-end and check it for squareness, parallelism to the rest of the car. Since the upper locations were also removed, I could adjust everything to be right on prior to assembly it again. There is enough play in everything that you can put it where you need to. Public service announcement - if someone wasn't very careful in putting a car back together from being torn down this far.......you could easily make a mess. I've probably been overly critical, but the alternative scares me to death. With all of the money I've spent on this thing already, I can't afford to ruin it! OK - enough rambling - - Pics This pic shows how I located the frame sections using a spare factory x-member. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NB...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/N1...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/WS...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u6...=w1080-h608-no |
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ox...=w1080-h608-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B4...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SJ...=w1080-h608-no Making sure everything lines up (all still just mocked up) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UF...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/P_...=w1080-h608-no |
Almost looks like a car again (until I blow it back apart again)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Dx...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eS...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d5...=w1080-h608-no Apart so that I can punch and drill the holes to plug weld it all back together! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wP...=w1080-h608-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ba...=w1080-h608-no |
Progress Brandon!! Good for you.
My favorite body style - don't know why I've never owned one. |
Filling some factory holes in the kick panels and the cowl that I won't be using - fewer opportunities for leaks.
I used my Mittler Bro's powered bead roller. I'm getting better with it. These aren't real visible, so good practice pieces! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2q...k=w489-h869-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Tl...g=w489-h869-no Not certain I don't want to just cut this one out and make it smooth after doing it. We'll see....... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/80...=w1080-h608-no View from the inside of the kickpanel. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A7...Y=w489-h869-no Next is to final weld in the firewall, inner-upper cowl and inner-lower cowl. I'll wait on the outer cowl pieces until I finish up enough of the cage to tie the from frame down bars into the cage. I'm excited and nervous about getting more acquainted with my bender! Hoping to not generate too much scrap. I have a pretty pricey pile of 1 5/8" 4130 sitting in the garage. Oh - - unrelated, but I decided to sell my 2002 Ford Ranger (beater truck) and my DD (wife's hand-me-down 2005 Ford Escape) and buy one good all-purpose DD. Ford had some smoking deals on leftover '14 trucks.......so... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6u...=w1080-h608-no |
Kind of a bit out of order, but here is the prep and welding on the DSE frame connectors. I'll snap a few of them installed next time I get out there. I cut off the parts off them that were cut to fit the factory floors since I'll be building my own floors.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pO...=w1440-h810-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Li...=w1440-h810-no |
Great update its looking like a car again. Will you shave the cowl vents since you blocked off the fresh air doors? I think you might need door jamb vents are some venting to keep pressure from building in the car maybe?
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Nice update, fitting it up and taking it apart will definitely save you grief later.
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Brandon,
Great job on the build so far, its gonna be a great feeling to know what's under that paint when she's done. I had a question on your rear quarter panels... did your body line on the rear quarters match the door and front fender so far as thickness is concerned. When I say thickness I mean height wise. While I was building my dads 66 I ordered a set of Goodmark quarter that at the time was the best fitting out there and I found that the quarter did fit well but I found that the body line was bigger than my factory door body line. Wasn't sure if that's something you ran into or not. Continued success with the build, i'll be watch the updates. Thanks BB |
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