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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:13 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Problem solving and chaos...
Stepping away from interior swag, I decided to tackle the problem of post-disc brake tire rubbing. I had determined early that I'd need to narrow the front beam because of tire rubbing issues. I have massaged a number of type 1 beams as well as one type 2 beam. The longer I thought about it, the less enthusiastic I became. I scanned the internet and came across the Appletree 4" narrowed/lowered beam for $300 bucks and just ordered it. It came in fine shape with a set of poly bushings. New steel. New components. Ahh... Life is good.
Parts in habd, I had no excuse to put it off any longer. I pulled the old beam and started assembly of the new one.
Huge chaos in a tiny workspace! There's just enough room in my workspace to wade around in the tools and parts for this job. Sigh... No matter. Get on with it.
I narrowed the stock spring stacks...
and reassembled that much of it, then installed the new beam with just the springs and trailing arms installed.
Once the new beam was in, I reassembled the rest, then cut and shortened the tie rods.
I had to make one run to town for 2"x7/16" 14 tpi bolts to attach the upper shocks to the beam.
Most everything is finished save the two body bolts and a proper homebrew alignment. I put the wheels back on and ran the steering lock to lock to check for interference. There is none.
I am pleased with the results and the Appletree components. I'm mostly just happy that it's done. I'm gettin' too old for that much crawling around....
I have a new supplimental wiring harness made up to solve some issues with the gauges and added bits and will install that soon. After that, it's on to the finish bodywork and paint...
_________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:46 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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As a side note:
It did not occur to me that the old swaybar won't fit the new beam. More research is necessary. Maybe I'll see if I can narrow the old one.... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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Buggeee Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2016 Posts: 4390 Location: Stuck in Ohio
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 10:36 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Buggeee wrote: |
This car has a bad attitude. |
You should meet the owner..... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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TRS63 Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2017 Posts: 992 Location: Stuttgart - Germany
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Steadily working on the car. I got the door panels finish-fabricated and am on to finish bodywork and paint.
Paint is hammetone anthracite with mica. This is two coats. It'll get a total of three base coats followed by two coats of Eastwood 2K clear gloss.
There'll be some additions before the clear goes on. Im happy with the way it's turning out... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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I finished assembly of the passenger side door window assembly. The homebrew seals and wipers look great and fit well. I painted the front clip today so once that dries I'll tackle the finish welding and bodywork on the driver's side door. _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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toxicavenger70 Samba Member
Joined: July 28, 2019 Posts: 869 Location: CO
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Stunning work! Keep us posted. |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 2:14 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Getting to the final assembly. Passenger door is finished and reassembled. Window is in. Bubble skirt is painted and mounted. Airbrushed flames are finished with the exception of drop shadows.
Visor is painted and clear coated. I'll clearcoat the whole car once all the airbrush work and logo's are painted on. Driver's door is bodyworked and painted, but not yet mounted. I still have to cut and install the lexan window for it as well as install the weather seals and scrapers. Should be finished with most of the detail work by the end of the week...
New paint basecoat
_________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Last edited by WilliamA on Sun Feb 05, 2023 2:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3009 Location: Vermont
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 5:23 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Got the airbrushing finished on the decklid... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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Buggeee Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2016 Posts: 4390 Location: Stuck in Ohio
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:57 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Closing in on major reassembly. Things are coming together pretty quick now and it's time to enjoy the dramatic changes. I took the car out on the road for a very short, cautious drive and am pleased with it. Thanks to the new narrow beam, there's no more rubbing or interference with the wheelwells. That's a huge relief. I still need to do a proper alignment and double check all fasteners but am satisfied that my work was worth it. Shifting is crisp and tight with none of the poke and hope I had before working on and moving the shifter. The electrical bits are mostly working with the exception of a troublesome right side taillight. I'll work on that. I have all the gauges finally hooked up and working with the exception of the speedo. (Note to self: Order a speedo cable)
The front end is back in order. The new bits make it look much better than the mismatched stuff that was on there. The passenger side running light is wired backwards so I need to take it off and swap the two wires. There's a lot of massaging and bodywork in the front bumper. It was pretty rough. I still need to address one stripped mounting point for the bumper horns but I can access that from the trunk. Wi. Requires a front license plate so I need to address that too.
The rear bumper no longer fits due to installation of the fender skirts. In addition, that unit was pretty rough with rust holes and rusty mounting points. The current plan is to repair the blind nut mounts, weld the bumper back together and section 6" out of the forward bumper horns. I cand do all of that on my bench so that'll be a good rainy day job.
Paint is mostly finished and I'll soon be finishing the clearcoat. Interior parts I made are all painted, but there's a lot of detail around the door jams, floors and interior exposed panels. I've no plans to put carpet back in so the floors will (probably) get bedliner. Mostly, because I have some and want to use it up. I just got the door logo pieces printed and will be making airbrush stencils for those.
I started work on the engine. First order of business was to remove the 009 distributor and pitch it in the river where it belongs. I installed a new vacuum advance distributor and IMMEDIATELY got rid of the porky-pig off idle stutter. It's much smoother now with no need to fan and pump away at the throttle to get it over the 1500 rpm hump. I also stuffed in an alternator kit to keep all the volts happy. I've ordered a complete kit to install dual hpmx 40 IDF carbs. Before installation, I'll disassemble, clean and adjust them to spec. No idea if the stock fuel pump is up to the task of keeping them fed. I'll find out when I put them on. I'm really hoping to be able to retain the stock pump. I replaced the 36 horse doghouse shroud with a nice stock 1600 shroud but in the event the stocker won't clear the new carbs, I sanded, massaged and painted the 36 hp shroud.....just in case.
Gotta source some salt flat hubcaps too.
More to come.... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 7:33 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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New logos on both doors. I'm learning a huge amount with the airbrush. It's fun and challenging.
The engine is coming together nicely. Alternator kit and vacuum advance dizzy are very welcome additions. I spent. A few hours disassembling and checking the new hpmx 40's. I did all my base adjustments and calibrations on the dining room table before installation. Aside from a couple really minor linkage foibles (casting flash cleanup) they were fine. I installed them, set some base linkage adjustments and cranked (and cranked) it over to fill the bowls with the mechanical pump. Stuck the coil wire on, hit the starter and it fired up instantly. I fiddled with the base idle and hooked up the linkage without any issues. The difference is astounding. Doesn't look like I'll have to rejet at all. We'll see.
I got around to the repairs on the rear bumper. I patched a couple of holes and fixed a rotted out mount point. I cut 4" out of each side of the bumper horns to clear the side skirts, welded the three piece bumper and plug welded the bolt holes.
The new/old bumper all nice and secure. Now just gotta peel it off and paint it.
_________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9601 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:46 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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The throttle cable guide tube is missing from the fan shroud. It really needs it so that the cable does not fray along the edge of the front and rear holes in the shroud. Fraying not only leads to a cable break but increases friction. Also, it appears as though the carb linkage's throttle arm should be moved slightly to the right so that the throttle cable is centered in the hole, especially after you install the guide tube. |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Rome wrote: |
The throttle cable guide tube is missing from the fan shroud. It really needs it so that the cable does not fray along the edge of the front and rear holes in the shroud. Fraying not only leads to a cable break but increases friction. Also, it appears as though the carb linkage's throttle arm should be moved slightly to the right so that the throttle cable is centered in the hole, especially after you install the guide tube. |
Thanks Rome for the keen eye, but if you look really close you'll see there's no throttle cable either. I waited until I had everything to Hoyle before I put the cable and guide tube back in. It's all lined up and tidy now. Mostly I waited till last because it means crawling under the car to sort it all out. I ain't as good as I once was....but I'm still as good once....etc, etc... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:45 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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The list is getting shorter and the tasks are getting smaller. I'm still dribbling on airbrush work so not much clearcoat to report yet. I don't have a timing light so engine tuning will wait until I get over to Harbor freight. In the meantime, I've been chasing a couple electrical gremlins. In addition to a recalcitrant right side taillight I've complained about before, the right side turn signal circuit was lazy. That was easy. I removed and opened up the turn signal switch to find what you'd expect. The contacts were eaten away and nasty, so rather than fix that I took another route. I had previously built a mid engine dune buggy with Harley Davidson handlebar controls and for the running lights and taillights on that car, I used a:
"Badlands, Illuminator Pro III" motorcycle light controller.
It eliminates the stock turn signal switch in favor of the momentary switches on the handlebar controls, controls running lights front and rear, turn signals front and rear and brake lights. It also eliminates the flasher. It also provides timed, self canceling turn signals (they flash for 11 seconds, then go off) and by pressing both momentary turn signal switches simultaneously, provides 4 way flashers. I installed that yesterday and it's working great. It's solid state and internally ballasts so it'll run any kind of light bulbs up to 50 watts per corner. The taillights work on one wire per side to provide tail/running and brake light duties. It's wired to the high output filament of the 1157 bulbs and provides different brightness functions by modulating input voltage to the light. It's a really slick, compact unit. I still need to source a couple of dash light led's for the turn signals (I've got some somewhere but can't seem to find them) and will drop those in as soon as I get to the parts store.
As to the troublesome taillight, I pulled it out and took the bulb holder apart to discover a problem that wouldn't allow the contacts to seat evenly. Fixed that and it's working fine now.
There's more on the list, but now I'm coming down to details and paint putzing. I'm waiting on a couple more airbrush stencils to finish up the paint and then clearcoat. I have a friend's ghia to go get and do a bunch of work to so that'll be the priority. The snow is still butt-crack deep with more coming so no need yet to panic.
Putz-putz-putz...... _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9601 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 3:57 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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Quote: |
but if you look really close you'll see there's no throttle cable either. |
Ah yes, I see that now. OK. |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 8:02 pm Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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I made an outline stencil so I could finish the decklid and did the image with an airbrush. Now I can (finally!) Get to the clearcoating. The weather is back up to the temps where I can reliably get that done in my tiny shop space. I'm planning to get up within the next few days and pick up my friend's car to do a bit of work on. That means stepping away from this thing for a couple of weeks.
Pint can't hold a quart. _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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WilliamA Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2005 Posts: 447 Location: Spooner, Wi
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Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:21 am Post subject: Re: 65 ghia sedan |
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I have been waiting on an order from CIP so am spending that time removing snow (just about daily!) and painting the interior. I pulled the dash overlay and seats with their mounts and got those all painted and clearcoated. Last night, I painted the center console. Just need to clear oat the console and reinstall everything. I also picked up a timing light and got the timing sorted out. Also figured out what was wrong with the right taillight and got that fixed. _________________ “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
-Theodore Roosevelt |
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