'66 Pontiac Resto-Mod Update

[wmhjr]

Things are moving along. Some good and some not so good.

As mentioned in another thread, I've got a problem with my Ididit column and the Ron Francis switch. I have to say, I'm less and less impressed with Ron Francis stuff. The more I look at, the more I'm noticing some just out of date stuff and things not kept current. I'm also not getting much in the way of them seeming to be interested at all in hearing about any issues. I'll get it solved - maybe with some suggestions from here...

I think I've decided how to change my fuel delivery routing near my intake. Right now, I can't fit a decent air cleaner. I have some fittings being delivered today, and plan to mess with this on Saturday.

I've got a hand lever parking brake also enroute. And a new fire extinguisher. There's a story behind insisting on a fire extinguisher. Got a nice chrome Halguard w/billet brackets coming.

There are a couple body bolts that are in the front fender/inner fender which at different turn settings rub the front tires. I've remoted them temporarily and need to find a lower profile bolt to use.

Need to wire up one last sending unit, and clean up some wire routing slightly. Nothing major at all.

I also have the plumbing for my overflow enroute. Got some -4AN fittings to make it nice and pretty. Another job for this weekend.

Plan to replace the intake gaskets when dealing with the carb plumbing. Gaskets are here and waiting.

I need to put a couple Grade 8 3/8" washers on top of the end link spacers to create just a little clearance between the Hellwig sway bar and the tie rod ends (mainly passenger side).

Need to adjust brake bias and bed the brakes.

Fuel gauge not properly setup. Need to investigate very incorrect readings.

Need to calibrate the speedo.

I'm dusting the car off and driving it tomorrow evening. Local car cruise. It'll be nice to drive it again before I start working on it again.

[Motown 454]

Maybe a button head bolt? Not sure if they have them in the grade you need but a thought

[gearheads78]

Button head bolt or for even more clearance elevator bolts.

[wmhjr]

Have you guys seen button head body bolts? On the pontiacs these are not machine bolts. They are pointed body bolts that go into hidden plastic nuts on the inner fenders. I know totally stainless does not offer them.

[gearheads78]

Should be just a regular 5/16 thread. The point is just there to help start it.

Have you guys seen button head body bolts? On the pontiacs these are not machine bolts. They are pointed body bolts that go into hidden plastic nuts on the inner fenders. I know totally stainless does not offer them.

[Jim Nilsen]

The list goes on and on doesn't it

Just when you think you have things licked they come back or go to something new you hadn't expected. Just a simple swap should not change anything,LOL.

I think we are both at about the same point now. How did you catch up ? Oh Ya ,I blew an engine,LOL.

Enjoy every drive you go out on and have fun with all of the people in your own way. When they stop and gawk and tell you how they had this and that, remember that they want to be like you at the moment and will use any comparison to get there.

I got to spin a tire today and it made me feel better and I hope you can get out and spin yours soon.

[wmhjr]

Should be just a regular 5/16 thread. The point is just there to help start it.

For some reason they look a lot more coarse than the 5/16-18 bolts.

[wmhjr]

The list goes on and on doesn't it

Just when you think you have things licked they come back or go to something new you hadn't expected. Just a simple swap should not change anything,LOL.

I think we are both at about the same point now. How did you catch up ? Oh Ya ,I blew an engine,LOL.

Enjoy every drive you go out on and have fun with all of the people in your own way. When they stop and gawk and tell you how they had this and that, remember that they want to be like you at the moment and will use any comparison to get there.

I got to spin a tire today and it made me feel better and I hope you can get out and spin yours soon.

Yup, Jim. But, other than the pain in the arse steering column/switch thing due to Ron Francis poor design, everything else is actually kind of enjoyable work. Anyway, I'm glad you're on the road again. That was a quick turn on swapping the motor. Good for you.

I'm having fun with the car. It's enjoyable talking to people. Seems like everyone has a story about a mid '60s car. Cool stuff.

[wmhjr]

Weekend update!

Friday afternoon, took the car out. First "car cruise" and we had a great time. It was good to have something to drive after a couple years of project work. The weather started to threaten just after dark, but when I left I decided I wanted a little more behind the wheel time, so I went for a drive. Car runs and shifts wonderfully. Handles very firm, though I have a little steering adjustment to make. However, the car started to heat up at the end which started to worry me - until after getting home I realized that the dual fans in the rad blew the fuse. Mistakenly had a 20amp fuse rather than 30amp, which is obviously insufficient. So, I'd been driving a little while with no fans. It never got above 210 so no problem at all.

I also realized I needed to space up my end links for the Hellwig front bar. Plus, the snap rings on the front UCAs had expanded and that needed fixed. Had some other things to do (non car related) on Saturday, but by Sunday noon I had taken both front UCAs off, replaced the snap rings, and I even safety wired them just for good measure. Got them back on along with spacing the end links to remove the confict between the tie rod end and the Hellwig bar.

Then, removed the carb and intake to start replumbing and dealing with that stuff. Due to mothers day, ran out of time, but intake is off, gasket material cleaned up, and I've started with the refitment. Should be OK. All in all, a good weekend.

[wmhjr]

Made a little progress last night. Not much time, but at least I got a little done.

Mounted the Meziere overflow reservoir using the aluminum bracket I made. Haven't polished the bracket yet. Installed two 1/8" NPT to -4AN fittings to the reservoir. Replaced the 1/8" NPT barbed fitting with a 1/8" NPT to -4AN fitting in the rad neck. Made a -4AN braided line with some clear plastic sleeve over it and installed it. I still need to make the vent line and attach it - plan to use a -4AN 180 degree hose end. Looks like this will work pretty well.





Also mocked up the initial fuel deliver setup. Note the regulator relocated to under the bracket, the repositioning of both the mechanical regulator and the electronic fuel pressure sending unit. I have some fittings due in today to make the -6AN braided feed lines. I think this will work well, and the good news is that it only slightly lowers the main supply and return lines so I don't need to replace them.

[wmhjr]

Had some time to work on the car last night. The fuel supply lines from each side of the regulator to the carb (front and back bowls) really had a tight turn. By lowering the regulator I could no longer use the stainless hard supply lines. I had talked to Brint at Fragola earlier in the day to bounce a couple ideas off him.

I ended up using 180deg hose ends, and having the back regulator port come around behind the regulator and feed the front carb inlet, and the front regulator port come around behind and feed the rear carb inlet. Problem was that the rear of the regulator bracket was completely in the way of the rear carb inlet feed then. I did some playing around, and realized that the rear of the bracket really isn't necessary in my configuration as the bracket is providing limited support. So, I removed the rear, cleaned up the cut, and installed it.



It's not perfect, but it's about perfect in terms of fitment and clearance with the drop base air cleaner



Previously, I had checked and was also very pleasantly surprised to discover that with the drop air cleaner, I could swap out the 3/8" phenolic spacer for the 1" Wilson carb spacer and fit a full 3" element in the 14" round air cleaner. I put clay balls on top of the air cleaner assembly to check for clearance, and seemed to have plenty of room!

Today I'm going to try and finish up the fuel plumbing, finish the vent line from the overflow, and a couple other minor things. Plan to go out for a bit of a drive this afternoon. Looks like a beautiful day for it!

[jocko124]

Looking good Bill. I'm hoping to get mine out on the road before the end of summer!!

[Jim Nilsen]

It's good to see that you can let go of some of the cosmetics that are going to be hidden. I can't tell you how many details that I worried over only to find I was the only one who knew it wasn't the way it was planned.

Get it back together and go driving some more to find the other things you need to find. It seems endless at first but the driving relieves the pressure that you have to get it done or you won't be happy with it. It is the weekend and time to go find friends,relatives and innocent bystanders to influence in a bad/good way.

It is really good to hear you are enjoying it.

[wmhjr]

Looking good Bill. I'm hoping to get mine out on the road before the end of summer!!

It looks like you're darned close, and yours is really going to be a nice car! Stay on it. Driving it is way more fun than wrenching!

[wmhjr]

It's good to see that you can let go of some of the cosmetics that are going to be hidden. I can't tell you how many details that I worried over only to find I was the only one who knew it wasn't the way it was planned.

Get it back together and go driving some more to find the other things you need to find. It seems endless at first but the driving relieves the pressure that you have to get it done or you won't be happy with it. It is the weekend and time to go find friends,relatives and innocent bystanders to influence in a bad/good way.

It is really good to hear you are enjoying it.

Yup Jim - the fuel stuff is "OK", but in this case I think "OK" is "good enough". Driving yesterday was a blast. Had fun at a local car event. Everybody loves the paint, but I really appreciate the people who notice the little things that we all spend time on. Stuff that's as much functional and engineering focused as it is appearance. I still need to work on getting the brakes to be a little more aggressive, but other than that the car is running wonderfully. The ground clearance is a little tighter than I expected. I find I'm brushing my header flanges from time to time on back uneven roads with a high crown if I'm not careful. It really is fun, however.

[Jim Nilsen]

Yup Jim - the fuel stuff is "OK", but in this case I think "OK" is "good enough". Driving yesterday was a blast. Had fun at a local car event. Everybody loves the paint, but I really appreciate the people who notice the little things that we all spend time on. Stuff that's as much functional and engineering focused as it is appearance. I still need to work on getting the brakes to be a little more aggressive, but other than that the car is running wonderfully. The ground clearance is a little tighter than I expected. I find I'm brushing my header flanges from time to time on back uneven roads with a high crown if I'm not careful. It really is fun, however.

It's not that OK is good enough, the details are everything and I too like the people who notice them. I am just trying to say that you can let them go for a bit, think more about them and get back to them. There are several things that after driving and having to take things apart I really knew I had to do them just a bit different, not a lot different but different enough to make it easier to work on. The little details like the wiring and a few fittings That don't stop the car from driving and are mostly hidden. The other thing I found is that several parts didn't seem to be a problem or would ever seem to be a problem until I really got out and drove it.

The best example is my Lokar throttle cable. Who would have ever thought that the damn thing would come out of the sleeve and keep my idle from going all the way back down, it was a little disconcerning at the track and a piece of tape solved it for the time being and a set screw should have been installed from the beginning to hold it in forever by them. You would think the spring return would have held it well enough to stay forever and testing it in the garage seemed to be good but it wasn't.

I could try to nit pick your car all day long and not find more than a handful of things I would bet, you probably are losing sleep over them just like I do. There are several things that slap me across the face yet noone ever seemed to notice them or maybe they were being nice and not mentioned them, don't know?

It sounds like you are as low as you can go and that can be fixed easier then being too high. It took over 1000 miles to get my car to sttle down to even close to where it should be, it has come down an inch and needs to come down another 1/2 in. to be at stock Vette ride height for the suspension and the car weighs the same or 50 lb more. The wheel base makes a big difference and yours is longer than mine.

I also thought I wanted to have it all done before I pulled out of the garage but many here got me to do the smart thing and drive it befroe it was done with all the details and I am glad I did.

Keep that smile on your face by driving it when you get wrapped up in the details that are worrying you and it will come together. There are a lot of cars here that have been being sorted out for going on 3 years now and they were done when they hit the road too!!

You have the shiny side out and it looks PERFECT !!!

One more thing: the brakes won't really get to where you want them to be until you stop coming down from 100 mph plus.LOL

[wmhjr]

Yesterday I took my dad for a ride, and then the car was dropped off at the paint/body shop again for a couple days. There are a couple minor things that need to be done prior to GoodGuys.

A couple other notes....

Here's what the engine compartment looks like now (though it should be cleaner...) The photo is just a little dark...



I think it's actually pretty good. Just about perfect clearance for the gauge, and it looks pretty solid and neat.

Also, I had a bit of bad luck - all due to what appears to be a poorly designed $10 part. I put a Spectre power steering reservoir cap on the freshly painted and rebuilt pump. I checked my fluids yesterday morning, only to find...



The brand new cap with a total of about 25 miles on the car fell apart. This piece - the dipstick:


fell off and was in the reservoir. The little tabs that secure the cap to the reservoir are missing. I was able to fish out the dipstick assembly but cannot find the tabs. Who knows what may have been ground up and shoved through the pump, lines and box. I put a stock cap on. I'll be callling Spectre today, but most likely it means pulling the pump, reservoir, lines and box. All because of a friggin cap.

[old66tiger]

There should be a magnet in the pump body as well as a fine pre-filter screen.

[wmhjr]

There should be a magnet in the pump body as well as a fine pre-filter screen.

If I remove the pump assembly, how would I check for that? Drain the fluid, remove the pump from the reservoir, and look where? Or do I need to also disassemble the pump itself? Thanks!

[Jim Nilsen]

How is it going? Did you kick that pumps ass yet?

I hope you had a good weekend and all is well. Sure am wondering?