1950 Pontiac "Ol Blue" spirited cruiser (who am i kidding AutoX monster eventually)

[Mtrhd329]

I did. I cut the mounting pads off both sides and ground down the leftover metal.....plus all the stuff the PO missed when he cut all of the brackets off to swap this axle in. Mocked up the new saddles without shims this time and made new center bolts for the springs. I swapped the leaf springs so the front mount is in the rear and the rear is in the front. I know its not the right thing to do but it made the rear end line up better in the fender opening. I will see if i can spin the lower leafs around so i have some support from axle wrap. But thats another day. I ran out of sawzall blades and cutoff wheels and jigsaw blades so i cant cut **** until amazon brings me more tools. Plan to start cutting my boxing plates tomorrow and weld them in. Then i can re run my fuel lines make new brake lines and set the car down to set the pinion angle and tack the saddles in place.

[jc70chevy]

Keep up the good work bud... U keep me motivated.

[Mtrhd329]

Likewise!! I got some "new" leaf springs from a 2nd gen camaro and modified my shackles and made new front mounts from 2x3 to fit them. Got them installed and my mounts all welded in place. New perches set on the axle and now i just need to set pinion angle and weld them in place.

Forgot to mention earlier i swapped in moog springs and cut a coil to drip the front some. That and 3" lowering blocks and i think i will have a decent stance. We will see tomorrow.

[jc70chevy]

What rate on the Moog springs

[Mtrhd329]

They were the moog 5660. I prob should have went with the 5664s as they are a little stuffer but i can always swap them later. I cant remember the rate. They are way more than the stock springs that were in there thats for sure.

[jc70chevy]

I did a similar thing with my Monte Carlo I ordered Moog springs and cut them down to fit my ride height..they worked well

[jc70chevy]

You should check out second chance parts... Or second chance race parts

[Mtrhd329]

Got the rear end centered and sat down on the perches. I am going to hate speed bumps. I may need to lift it up a tad but we will see when i drive it around the block.
Got my.angles right and tacked the perches on. Going to sleep on whether or not i want to swap from the 3" block to the 2" block and look at it again before i weld it solid. At least now i know i can beat on this car and not lose the rear end. Larger lesfs, perches done right, and proper u bolts will ensure a safe driver.

[jc70chevy]

What app is that you use for the angle finder

[Mtrhd329]

Its the tremec toolbox app. Ive built lots of stuff with it. Works awesome!!

[Mtrhd329]

Swapped the 2" blocks in while i was down there and had this thing apart for the nine teen hundred and fourty seventh time. I can always swap back to the 3" blocks later. Got my perches welded in and the suspension all put back together. Had to wrap up early and pack up for tomorrows events. I have a work thing that will be taking place over the next 36 hours initiating some people to the next rank, so needless to say i will be taking tomorrow off from the car.

Please excuse my mess.

Got a box of brake lines today. A roll of 1/4 a roll of 3/16 a roll of line wrap (springy stuff) and a bag of fittings for both. Not bad for 60 bucks. We will see how it works out.

[Mtrhd329]

Took the cover off the master in an attempt to suck the fluid out before i took the brake lines apart and found this gem. Gotta love a junkyard swap where they use ****ing everything including the brake lines.



Well this looks prefect. If you need to seal your brake lines just wrap some of this "i used the wrong fitting" tape on it and send it home.



Combination valve is on the passenger side with this bracket so i need to make it work on the drivers side.



Well that was easy. Now i can unroll this brake line and start mocking up lines. I ordered larger wheel cylinders and the better brackets for the 9.5" drums. Supposed to have a little more holding power going from 3/4" bore to the 7/8" bore the new ones have. Also swapping in the larger bore master from a B body which should help the pedal feel a little better.

[jc70chevy]

Any updates buddy

[Mtrhd329]

To keep myself from racing i plan to keep the drums. I will do some upgrades to make sure i can still stop well. With the 9.5" drums come a 3/4" wheel cylinder. A 80s manual brake s10 has a 7/8" bore cylinder that also uses a bracket instead of the goofy clip. These together make much more stable braking and more holding power. Once i sell some more stuff i will get another brake shoe set and add two rear pads to each side. They have a little more pad surface area which will help stopping power.

Picture of said cylinder bracket

Goofy clip thing.

Here is everything removed. Waiting for funding for shoes.

I also managed to secure a braided rear hose to replace the factory rubber one. And a 1980 c10 master cylinder which has the same fittings as a gbody which i what i had in there but a 1 1/8" bore instead of the 1" bore i had on it. This should help pedal feel some. I also got a brake line for the axle that i knicked with the grinder when i was cutting off the old perches.

Got the master bench bled and installed with the combo valve on my new bracket. Started bending up the lines to go between them and the combo valve is metric. Gunna see what i can do to save those fittings. The kit i got only had SAE fittings in it. Got the brake line to the rear mostly ran but i need to make a support bracket for where it transitions to the runner line since this car never had one.

[jc70chevy]

Keep killing it buddy

[Mtrhd329]

Got a little bit of work done today. Got all but the drivers side front line out. Cut all of the fittings off and saved the ones i could. Made the new line to the rear. Made a bracket to support the hard line where it bolts to the flex line. Got my braidedrear flex line installed. Got the drivers side front line bent. Waiting for my buddy to come by when i get everything mocked up to flair the lines. I still cant believe the PO swapped the entire brake system in. Lines are too long for this car? Its ok i will just bend them up into a ball and run it. Be glad when i fix all these issues.

[Mtrhd329]

Waiting on some parts. Making the best of my time and ran my fuel lines AWAY from the exhaust and put some heat shielding i had in my drawer on it to protect my little nylon lines.

[jc70chevy]

Keep up the good work bud......I'm bored with floor pans ...on mine may try to install a cage on her next.... Never seen a four door with a good looking cage

[Mtrhd329]

Ha. Floor pans take a while. Its worth it when its done though. I need to do mine still. Not looking forward to that.
Cage is fun but then you have to cut holes in your floor.

Got a lot done today. Got all my drivers side boxing plates cut out and welded in. Mocked up my shock crossmember and tscked it in place. Waiting on my braided stainless lines for the front and then i can turn the car around after i bleed it to work on the other side.

[Mtrhd329]

Got some time in the garage tonight. Getting less and less with my new job. Got my shock crossmember tacked in place and started making the shock mounts.

Im still not sure i like how they mounted. I may add some triangles so they are stronger.

Got my brake line and fuel lines ran in nut serts and brackets down the boxed frame rail. Now just a few more brackets and this side will be done. Then i can turn the beast around and start the other side.