27 August 2011

So... quick and easy I got the driver's seatbelt totally out (one of those bolts was a real sticker...) and got the exhaust manifolds all unbolted and ready to come off (soon as I cut out the exhaust pipe.  Did some more disassembly and labeling on the wiring harness, took the horn out.  That was the easy stuff....

Jacked up the front end from under the k-member mount on the driver's side and heard this awful crunching sound.  I wound up putting blocks under the center of the k-member to support the front of the car and as a result I could really see how the k-member is really only attached to the car by 3 bolts, not 4...

Jacked up and blocked...

 Manifolds disconnected... didn't break anything! 

 Wiring harness action.  Think this is the positive battery cable lead. 

 Shot of how the k-member is totally loose here, the part of the k-member bolted to the frame rail is totally rusted out.  It's not nearly this bad on the other side, but I can tell the metal of the k-member is compromised.  Need a new one or a donor.  

Another ugly spot... where the front frame rail (driver's) meets the torsion bar crossmember.  Problem: where do I support the car while I'm replacing this stuff?  I suppose I can support from the frame rail while replacing the torsion crossmember and then support from the crossmember while doing the frame rail.  

Here's the passenger side of the same connection... so that's how it's supposed to look!!!  

So... phasing again.  Most important is to get the body structurally solid, which means replacing the front frame rail, torsion bar mount and the rear frame rail all on the left side.  To do that, I'll be pulling the engine and transmission... well, mostly everything to get the weight down.  I'll leave the rear axle and all on while I'm working on the front, though.  I think I'll shoot to do the torsion bar crossmember first and all of the supporting steel in the rocker area, then while the car is supported from there, I'll do the front frame rail.  Nice project for the winter, right?  

speed/rpm calculations

Found a web site calculator for figuring engine RPM related to speed... with a 2.76:1 rear end and the A904 transmission, the engine would be running about 2300RPM in 3rd gear at 70mph... that's not bad at all, I think.

So... that whole 'overdrive transmission' plan is even more unlikely to happen.  If I ever get around to beefing up the engine, a 727 and new driveshaft is likely just to handle the horsepower and torque, but can probably leave the rear end ratio alone, though of course it needs a limited slip differential... ;-)   (that's like phase 4, though... actually I don't know what phase it is, probably phase 3, since my previous phase 1 and 2 are not just one big phase to get it running and safe on the streets.

No frame for you.

Got an update from a car forum contact... the car does not have a 'frame' per se, it's Unibody, with 'frame' elements integral to the body itself.  This makes sense based on what I was seeing under the car as well as my complete inability to find a '1974 satellite frame' in any salvage yards or anything.  Also, the pictures of one of the guys' 1968 project car (road runner) on a rotisserie looked VERY much like the shackle mount setup on the back of my car, and the other shots of that car made it pretty clear that there's no 'frame'.

So... there won't be any 'rolling chassis' for me to work with... time for a plan D, I guess...  Ideally, I'd dip/tank the whole body and major body parts (hood, trunk, fenders, etc) and dip prime them to kill all of the rust and protect against it, then cut out the rusted sections and replace with new metal.  From what I've found looking around, I'm probably looking at 3-5 grand to have that dipping work done... and no place local, the closest I've found is over by Chicago.  So... add a few hundred bucks in trailer rental and gas if that's where I have to go.  This would mean I won't be doing any welding this winter, probably... unless I just start practicing on little pieces.

Also, Sarah expressed interest in having a media blasting cabinet... then of course I'd need an air compressor... and probably need to get a 220v line run to the garage...  so... for now, I'll keep pulling parts and scrubbing.

19Aug2011 update

There were a few things I wanted to attend to on the car.  One was to do a visual inspection on the areas of concern on the frame...  so I jacked up the rear end to check things out.  I also got out the wire brush to clean things up so I could see the damage a little better.  I have mixed feelings about tapping the frame rail and having a shower of gravel and rust chunks fall out of the holes... on the one hand, it's good to get that stuff out of there.  On the other hand, it's not good that the frame is filled with gravel and rust.  Some of the chunks are... substantial.

At least the shackle mount looks okay?  

While sweeping underneath to clean things up (spider webs, etc), I would tap the underside of the car occasionally... each tap resulting in a little shower of gravel... so I got the brush and did the same deal with the frame up by the K-frame under the driver's side fender.  I knew that was another area of concern (especially right under where the driver's floor is)... more places where metal will need to be replaced... 

Looks like a crack... rusted thin frame rail.  

 Driver's side lower rear fender area... luckily they make patch panels.  

View looking to the rear, along the nearly non-existent rocker panel...  

Also started taking the front end apart... got the headlights and grill out!  I need a body manual so I can label parts better than 'body panel in front of hood'... 

Other fun stuff... the rodent jawbone that fell out of the frame rail and the wasp nest I found nestled under the brightwork around the headlights.  

Still can't get the trunk open, I'm going to get a bigger screwdriver like what my dad used to get it open, see if that does the trick.  I did try to crawl into the trunk from the back seat area to disassemble the lock but... well, I don't fit through that gap.  

I decoded the fender tag as best I could and verified that she just had the standard transmission... which I double-checked with trans pan pictures to verify that it's an A904 3-spd.  My continued research says that should be fine for engines putting out up to 300hp, assuming the trans is in good shape.  I also verified that the shift linkage is all still connected... but when it's in 'park', I can still turn the wheel and I hear a clicking from the transmission, so something's broken in there for sure.  I'm not keen on the prospect of rebuilding an automatic transmission myself and if I have to pay someone 600-800 bucks to do it, I might as well just buy a 727 transmission for about the same price (as I've found available online)... although then I'd need a new driveshaft, too.  I've looked at eventual overdrive transmission options to get better mileage on the highway eventually... a 5-spd manual conversion kit is about $5G (not counting the bucket seats and console I'd have to get), a 4-spd automatic kit is about $4G.  Neither of these is worth the savings in gas, but if I wind up driving her regularly someday, it would cut down on the engine RPMs quite a bit which would be nice.  

Or I could go with a different differential ratio... my rough estimations (turn rear wheel so that the axle rotates twice... take inverse of the number of times the tire turned (roughly 1.45 times), multiply by four (calculation I found online somewhere) and got about 2.76:1.  So that's already pretty 'highway friendly'.  I'd rather go with a higher gear ratio and an overdrive transmission... but that's not happening anytime soon.  

BTW... verified it's an 8.25 rear end, open differential.  

In other news, I can't see any way to disconnect the body from the frame.  I hope they aren't welded together... well... maybe that would be better, I don't know... but I wanted to get the body off of the frame so I could work on them separate (divide and conquer).  Oh, well.

My cousin Ron is hooking me up with an engine stand... whoo-hoo!  I really want to take the trans, driveshaft and rear axle to a coin-op car wash and scrub all of that oil and dirt off of everything... I'm not doing that in my driveway.  I'm going to leave the axle where it is as long as I still  need to roll her around... but I suppose once I get the engine out, I can pull the trans and driveshaft and clean them up.  With the engine out, I'll be able to clean up the firewall and all of those other areas a lot better, too... looking forward to that.

Washed up a few of the interior panels that I pulled out... I might start fixing cracks on them, if only to prevent against further cracking/breaking while they're stored out of the way.  

That's all for now... 

9Aug updated

Took some more pictures last night after I started on the interior panels and headliner (gross).  I started with a few pictures of the engine bay... showing it cleaned up a little more...

Digging into the interior.  So much dust... ugh...   Is this some special kind of cardboard?  I hope not...

 My stack of interior panels.

Some work here.... cleaning, I assume sanding, priming, painting... the fade line is pretty funny where the sun didn't bleach out the color.

VERY dusty.  I don't know if I mentioned but we lived on a dirt road through all the years that Grandma drove this car.  Used to billow up with dust inside as soon as we went from asphalt to gravel... assuming that's from the rust holes in the body.  That dust is EVERYWHERE... and 30 years old....

There is nothing holding that seatbelt in place anymore.

I think I need to get that roof support UP somehow.  My nephew smashed the hood down years ago from jumping on it.

I don't know what this is... I thought it was a wire, but it's like... insulator or something, the middle is kind of gooey... and it was attached to a cardboard panel which doesn't sound like wiring to me.  <shrug>  I'm sure it isn't important... ;-)

Engine bay coming apart...

Shots from when I started digging into the accessories and everything...

With the hood off...

Here's that bolt that I torqued off.

My results from trying to stop the rusting.

Think I need a patch panel?

All snuggled into my third stall...

This part is pretty clean, at least.  Well.. after I soaked and scrubbed it.

Battery tray's pretty shot... and look at those pristine alternator bracket bolts!  I think the entire coolant system is filled with rust and dried stuff...

Where the battery was...

This is what I did to the transmission fluid lines when I tried to disconnect from the radiator... dumbass...

Starting to open up a little bit...

Here's the negative battery cable.  I was unbolting the clip and the bolt just snapped... it was corroded to near nothing in the middle.  Acid rocks!