Black Fastback Build Thread

[Boogievan]

[Clatter]

On that note.. Here's how this is playing out..

First off, I messed up when I designed my cart/pan mount bracket.
Picking up the outside of the torsion caps was stupid.
Not only does it prevent me from messing about with torsions,
Its also a non-standard width that wouldn't fit any other cars.

So, I figured out a way to jack it up using a couple of crates and a trans jack:

Once I chopped down and re-welded my bracket,
The rear can now be cycled through it's travel.
My phone refuses to focus sometimes..

Those Bilsteins have a shitload of pre-load!
It's like they are coil-overs or something.
It was a struggle to get that strap on..

And, yes, it appears that Boogievan is correct in this case; I was unable to find the end of the shock travel before the arm bottomed.

A couple of thoughts about the way these work, now that I have them set like this:

1. It looks like the up-travel stop at the spring plate hits right as the arm hits the old stop pad - there are two places acting as a hard stop at the same time.
This must be why the people who make/run these don't care about stops?
It seems like a LOT more travel is available, and the suspension might just never hit bottom.
That, or the tires would hit the inside of the fender-well first?
Would really need the body on, and some real testing with a fully-assembled car to know for sure.
Oh well..

2. To make this 944 e-brake cable setup work is going to just suck and blow.
The cables need room to travel through their throw as they operate.
This means that they need a decent amount of straight section coming from the backing plate.
Engineering not only shorter tubes, that still have enough throw,
plus getting the cables shortened in multiple places, just the right amount,
is going to be a PITA.
The result of which most likely will be e-brakes that only marginally work, but still get pinched by the suspension..
Another painful, expensive, only-partially-successful project..?

Needless to say, I'm kinda pissed and sulking...
Not sure these arms are worth it.
Might be great for a car with drum brakes, or one that no e-brake is OK,
but that ain't this car.


On a happier note - the last bolt wire-wheeling session is upon us!

Also did a big 'ol Gas Bath session for trans parts.
Nothing cleans parts like good old gasoline..

Good thing the 5/R slider is OK,
These are $959.50 new!

Because the two bearings here on the pinion shaft are $374.00 and $119.75,
I'm (obviously) trying to determine that mine are still good.
(Even if they aren't! )

Rigging up an indicator to determine end-play:

I'm only getting .044" or so deflection at the end of the shaft:

Because the bearings all check out visually,
I'm a gonna run 'em I think.
Seems to me that this proves my point that I want proven so badly..


OOoo.. Almost forget the little detent for the coupler in the end of my shortened shaft..
How sucky would it have been if i'd forgotten that one?
Had to mock it up..

Here's a funny picture..
I ground a little flat into the shaft to give this here center drill a chance of starting.
It didn't stand a chance.
That shaft material is SO hard, none of the bits I had would touch it.
I wasted half a dozen bits before giving up.
We'll see if Bob the machinist has any ideas.
Now I'm beginning to see why the stuff costs so much..

ANyways... There's a whole weekend of frustrating half-starts, re-work, failure, and cleaning.
Time to start collecting stamps or something..
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Bobnotch]

[JeeJeeJason]

I told you those Bilsteins were a bitch to get on! They ride pretty nice though.
_________________
1968 FI Squareback

[Clatter]

Thought I'd throw this out there real quick to tell the story..

Errand day - about 8 hours' worth:

Drove clear to Hayward to Ed's crankshaft;
Dropping off a $120 DPR 69 counterweight for a $180 spin-balance job. (1776 for Oval)
They were there - Win!

Went to HF Hayward for a shop press - place was a zoo.
Tons of pissed-off customers in a long line.
They had 2/3 of my press - Fail.

Went to Valley Plating in N, San Jose (Last chrome shop in the bay area),
They wouldn't touch my bumpers.
The rest of the chrome was $1,250.
I woulda jumped, but still need to disassemble door handles and such.
We'll call it a win.

Went to the vapor-blast guy Forrest's place in Santa Clara, but he moved.
Fail.

Went to his new place in S. San Jose.
He didn't want to do my box of bolts - his cad plater went kooky -Fail,
He did get my trans cases in for blast - Win!

Humped thru traffic to Stevens Creek for a press - Fail.

Back down to S. San Jo HF and got my press - Win!


So a whole day of driving around San Jose,
Plus a full tank of gas,
Gets me a crank dropped off, a chrome quote, trans dropped off, and a shop press.

Not a bad day in the on-going saga of the Black Fastback..
Coulda been a lot worse.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Xevin]

Made it over to San Jose on Hwy 17 in less then 8 hours- Win
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Keep on Busin'

[flyinglow94]

Are you trying do dimple or drill through the hardened shaft? The cheep way to dimple it would be a high speed dremal stone/bit or a carbide dremal bur bit. I have also used carbide tip mason bits. All of them will be expendable so buy a couple.

[Clatter]

Ah! Once again the answer is right there in front of me..
Slap me with a rubber chicken..
Thanks for the tip. I'm easily overestimated.

Not really sure how deep this dimple goes.
I don't have -any- find-able hockey sticks right now!

Can someone maybe give me a measurement of this right here?
Pretty please?
How wide and deep is the dimple in a hockey stick

Slow going with that little Dremel stone for sure..


Stuff for the trans refresh is starting to come in from Pelican.
Gasket set, nuts, o-ring and seals, plus I found that shim.

The stuff in the upper right is a rebuild kit for the compressor Brent gave me.
After another car restored, all that thing makes now is noise, not air.

The big-ass snap-ring pliers from HF are needed to dis-assemble synchros.

Speaking of HF;
Got to play with my new press.
Made short work of a mainshaft..

Here I was all stoked talking them down to $143 from $179,
And there's a 'Super Coupon' for $99 in the back of this month's HotWVs no less..


Chrome tidbits stripped down for the tank;
Lock cylinders and the whatnot.
Remembered to add a dis-assembly hole to the seat release knobs.
VERY important..

Made tools for tiny roll-pins and the like.
Probably a better way to do this one,
But too late now.

Bagged and tagged for the gas bath..

On and on and on.. Trivial, but it happened.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Brent]

Great to see that compressor getting a rebuild. It was getting weak after all the abuse I put it through. Made in China (or maybe India) - hope it works out and the parts fit.

I have a hockey stick buried in my garage o' moving boxes... Will probably be a couple weeks until I can get to it.

On you diagonal arms, I would be reconsidering using unmodified ones. I think you can get the height you want without the drop arms, and use factory bump stops. Better to hit a rubber snubber before chewing up what will be a really nice paint job. My 2 cents.
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69 Fastback Build
Berg5 Build

[Clatter]

Ugh.

I worked Friday evening, and about half of Saturday and Sunday.

What I actually did is hard to say..

Getting all of the bolts packaged up, so they won't scatter all over the floor at UPS if the box is dropped, took a couple of hours.

Figuring out the e-brake cables some more..
Talked to Russell at Old Speed; he was helpful.
He'll be getting me some snubber mounts.

Put in another order for little trivial whatnots at ISP.

Cut down an e-brake cable to facilitate the trailing arm surgery to come.

Took off the sub and fixed a fuckup;
Forgot to notch the sub for some 944 spring plate bolts!
Touched-up with the paint, only to find out it needed sanded better (and primed).
Damn scratches, and stupid bubbles showing thru - Keep going!

Had better luck re-locating the brake line mounting brackets..
In addition to the arms, the body brackets are being re-lo'ed as well.
Had better luck with this one:

^^This was a PITA!^^
Since I'm not set-up to weld inside, and my 220 power cord is super short,
There was this HUGE bench and furniture moving session to make it happen.

Big Gas Bath on the chrome to get it ready.
Also cleaned mainshaft.
Watch popping apart those synchros! They're some biters!

A weekend of staring, scratching, sorting, drinking, and staring some more.

Tons O' Nuttin'!
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Donnie strickland]

I know you already know this, but man, be careful cleaning with gas. One spark...
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71 Elm Green FI A/T Squareback

[MonT3]

You're making some progress and sometimes you leave some skin behind from your knuckles or you christen a part with some blood. Way to keep at it. I agree with the gas though. Never liked cleaning with it. Hang in there and don't worry about the scratch in the paint as it'll be dirty after your first week of driving all over the place.
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MonT3
67 Squareback
64 Squareback
63 Squareback
Engine rebuild
Trailer rebuild

[69 Notchback]

All I can say is wow. Such attention to detail. This will be the best looking and funnest fast back to drive ever. You my friend have true car building talent.
Leo

[Clatter]

Thanks for the props, Leo. Much appreciated.
Was thinking that the thread had gotten too long for anyone to read it now!

And, yes, I always clean parts in gas outside, not inside.

Actually, any of you worried about fires,
Please keep your Lithium-Ion portable drill and whatnot battery/chargers outside.
More likely to burn your house down than cleaning parts in gas.
Those things can spontaneously combust out of nowhere.
A friend just lost his house that way.
Chargers and batteries outside, on concrete, when not in use(!)

Nothing cleans parts better than gas.

Anyways,
Yesterday was my day off, and I went to pick up a crank from Ed's for the 1776,
Dropped off all of my chrome at Valley Plating,
And stopped by Nexgen Professional Finishes!!!

www.nexgenpf.com

Forrest took good care of me.
He can take care of you, too. Hit him up!

What have we here? A fan shroud, and a couple of brake rotors?

I can't stop taking pictures of this...
How many pictures constitutes douchebaggery, again??

Just so you know, those five trans case parts cost around $500 to have done.

Remember that the car they came from was in a fire,
So thick trans oil/goo was baked on bad. Really bad.
Those guys at Nexgen hate me now.
But they powered through, and got it 100%.
Any specs you see are pores in the casting; It's magnesium, and very porous.


Also, this gives an idea of the scope of my project to package fasteners for shipping.

These are going to Oregon to Precision Metal Finishing.
http://www.precisionmetalfinishing.net/

The idea is to package all of the fasteners so they can be dropped from way up high, or sit in the rain overnight, or..?
Perish the thought right now that this box gets lost in the mail.
Can't even imagine what it would take to re-create all of these..


_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Bobnotch]

[Clatter]

I don't have two days to spend driving the stuff.

Can you drive over here and deliver it for me?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

And then come and get it and bring it to me when they are done?

Please?
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Pretty please?

Come on, Bob, you can do it.
Hook a brother up...
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Xevin]

Sending your stuff to Oregon for replating Just when I thought you could not be any more detailed/anal with this project. You up your game. I used to drive by that shop everyday. Can't wait to see what you're having done at NASA Don't wash your pig with gasoline
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Keep on Busin'

[Jason37]

I would put a “tile” in that box... and maybe package it all in Tupperware, the original survives a nuclear holocaust type.