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    Results 61 to 80 of 281
    1. #61
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Still moving along on this with a goal of AC and on the road this coming weekend. Found a spot for the VHX control box and the wiring seems to be moving along smoothly.
      Since this is moving along the resto-mod path I decided to leave the wire harness intact for the next guy who maybe wants an original car. Probably I'll reverse that decision when the body comes off in the next couple years. One thing I have notice relative to other's experiences is that I have a LOT more room to work in and around the engine and dash.
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      I like the shape of the wheel, not the wood so it will get shipped off to be covered in black leather this winter.

      Also found my lost trunk keys when I pulled out the console. Apparently dropped them a while back and just forgot. I needed to match the locks anyway, plus had the adventure of getting into the trunk from the convertible top well side. I'm 6'7" and had plenty of room to work in there.



    2. #62
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Got majorly bummed last night. Plugged in all the switches for gauges and AC and everything works!

      Tried to install the gauge cluster. It doesn't fit! (that one is less exciting)

      I swear I test fit the cluster the first time I was looking at that awesome spot to mount the gauge control box. After getting my wires routed and bundled and tied back I was short about 1/4" of needed clearance. It was late and all I could do was un-bundle all the wires, take everything apart, and guess at where I might reinstall the gauge controls.

    3. #63
      Join Date
      Mar 2010
      Location
      GR Michigan
      Posts
      105
      Country Flag: United States
      I gotta say I really like your project. It's really cool to see cars with the emphasis on the touring side of things. My intent is to build a great road car.

      Thanks for sharing! GO ragtops!
      Jeff

      73 Mustang Convertible

    4. #64
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Think I just came to the realization that grand touring is my thing. Had two XJS's, both hot-rodded, and my current daily is an M6 coupe. I was shocked last week at the size difference when I parked next to a Vette. I'd still love to have my old 73 Lesabre coupe back.

      Sometimes bigger is better.

    5. #65
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      No pictures this post. I spent about 30 hours this weekend buried in the install with a goal of charging the AC. Charging the AC meant cleaning up the under dash wire harness, getting the VHX gauges installed, installing the oil pressure sender, hooking up the speedo cable, and buying an A62 v belt. That's it.

      The under dash harness was leftover from earlier in the week as a known disaster from having to move the VHX control box. It was hard for me to do, but I realized cutting and splicing the unneeded relic and legacy connections for indicators and idiot lights I wasn't using was the only way to not have a rat's nest left over when I was done. Did it, and after years of working with automotive harness suppliers, finally used that vinyl harness wrap to make it look like the real thing. Also dug into my stash of silicone coated harness sleeve and PTFE jacketed wire (sample rolls from O2 sensor harnesses).

      VHX gauges were next up. Should be a no-brainer as I'd already (redone) several test fits. Nope, OE dash light harness didn't quite reach and I forgot to redo the ground wires for them to go direct to chassis instead of through the cluster. Fortunately the light sockets I had just cut off had the correct terminals so I just reused them, lengthened the power wire and here we went, working Christmas lights! Steering column is going in and out during all this so I can function test everything.

      Next up was the oil pressure sensor, easy. Easy as soon as I take off the clutch z bar and work around the headers. Straight fitting didn't look like a fit so I used the 45 degree elbow I also had. Nope. Had a minor tantrum and drove the 2 miles to the parts store to get a 90 degree fitting. Kid at the counter has never seen such a thing and moves to the terminal to start in on "what vehicle..." I said I know where they are and went back into the inventory racks to the fittings. Found it, got the sensor installed away from the headers and clutch linkage.

      Speedo cable was easy since I had already spliced in the new connector and just had to be under the car to click it in. Summit Racing is not selling the correct connector. B*st*rds. Had another tantrum. Made do with a couple of my pin terminals and some heat shrink. Left a one star, politely worded but firm negative review of their connector pigtail.

      Some parts stores cannot look up a v belt by size??? Out at lunch and a different parts store, O'Reilly's, could look up a belt and had one 3 miles down the road at their hub store. I don't knock Vintage Air for this, but their recommended 62" belt is too long and it was too late in the day to go out for another belt. My solution was to hook up the battery charger and move the alternator belt over to charge the AC. Charged to pressure differential based on the ambient temperature and finally got cold AC in this thing. At this point I was frustrated and tired. I took the belt off to put it back on the alternator. As I was routing it, I thought "Oh sh*t, I ran this thing for an hour without the water pump?" Tightened the belt and restarted the car with the heat on full blast and eyes on the temperature gauge before I realized I had run the water pump with the AC compressor. Pulled it in, put away the tools, and decided to walk away until Tuesday.

      Everything appears to work except the speedometer. No pulses being read but that is likely because I wired wrong on the control box. I'll take a look...Tuesday.

    6. #66
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Progress is happening. Made it over all the trials from the weekend, got my miscellaneous bits and pieces together, and am just on to reassembly.
      I called Dakota Digital over my non-working speedometer (no pulses read) and worked through it in about 30 seconds. I had a wire in the wrong terminal from when I moved the control box. Moved the wire to the correct terminal and calibrated the speedometer. Made it to here:
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      Started in on the new dash pad. I'm not thrilled with the quality but it appears to be the only thing available. I plan to save my OE pad and have it recovered later on. Still feel like it will come out presentable with everything together. Also struggling to find center vents. Mine are kind of serviceable but look pretty bad. I have El Camino vents on the way in hopes that they are dimensionally the same. I think I need to leave the chrome on those to carry the line of the trim across the dash. Also plan to pull some fiberglass molds of the A pillars to make a set with tweeter mounts but no hurry on that. Summer driving is the goal on this round of work.
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      Lastly is the gratuitous night view of gauges. Happy overall but I took out the (green) diffuser panel in the instrument cluster and have not found a white one yet. That should clean up the hot spots from the overhead LEDs. The small filler panels in the cluster seem not quite flat so I will be redoing those in stainless instead of plastic rather than trying to fight a couple of wavy pieces.
      Name:  lit gauges_sm.jpg
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    7. #67
      Join Date
      Sep 2017
      Posts
      63
      Country Flag: United States
      Looks great man! Keep it up!
      1965 Buick Skylark Sport Coupe V8, Two Door Hardtop - Project
      2014 Mercedes Benz C300 Sport 4Matic - Daily

    8. #68
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Took me till 2 am but I was determined to drive this weekend and didn't want Thursday to be the late night. Dash pieces came together nicely and someone finally reproduced Impala center vents for my model year so I can duct that last open AC hole.
      I was able to repair/keep the "lap vents" which don't seem to be a thing anymore. Because of the factory ducting, one of my center vents goes to the actual center and the other is routed to the lap vents.
      Blows cold air in just the right places...
      Name:  dash together_sm.jpg
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    9. #69
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Yesterday I received a gift box from UPS:
      Name:  12bolt.jpg
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      I was going to put off installing this until winter but nope. It'll happen as soon as I get time. 12 bolt, 3.42, posi paired up to my existing TKO. I just couldn't bring myself to put a Ford pumpkin under this car.

      Also got the KORE3 rear C6 brake kit to match the fronts aaand... after a lengthy discussion with SC&C, placed an order for a different set of shocks/springs/sway bars. I was impressed by the time they were willing to spend and the details covered.

    10. #70
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Had a little more time this weekend for unboxing. I didn't do much else because my back is still sore from unloading this thing in the first place.
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      I did have to stick the wheels on the ends just to see what I'm in for. This is without the brakes and and adapters, which is why the LCA mounts are just inside the wheels. The tape measure says I need about 1 3/4" additional spacing and everything should fit right in.
      Also need more jack stands.

    11. #71
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Progress continues... I managed to get the brakes mounted and added fluid. I have a pulled back muscle and as much as I want to, it's a really bad idea to try and install this right now. Probably break down and redo the rear exhaust anyway. I'm still not happy with it because there's an occasional knock against the rear axle.
      Name:  12_bolt2.jpg
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      Still waiting on the new shocks/springs/tall ball joints. Also have to drill through my perfectly good Global West control arms to install a rear sway bar.

    12. #72
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      So the rear axle is still sitting. Over the last few weeks I think I have around 4 full day's worth of time in getting the "pre-bent" exhaust to fit properly. I put on around 600 miles of living with loud knocking over larger bumps and odd road noises from exhaust tube contact with other car parts. When I got the car up in the air and had the exhaust apart, it was amazing how little clearance there was in all the wrong places, like they designed the exhaust for a car with no suspension travel. Rear suspension had maybe 1.5" of free upward movement. It was rubbing the upper links and occasionally even the panhard bar managed to get smacked.

      It's an unconventional car to make handle well but I want it really and properly sorted so that I feel good about driving it. Finally sucked it up and reworked everything. I still have one pipe only tack welded but now the thing seems to fit with good symmetry, acceptable clearance from the moving parts, and close up to the underside. I probably have some blame in the initial install too, but now there's some experience to go along with it.

    13. #73
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Didn't think I was motivated to get this far but out with the old...
      Name:  12bolt_out.jpg
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Size:  208.3 KB
      I also finally test fit the Corvette wheels. Other than needing adapters, more than enough space in there for these things.

    14. #74
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Mostly making progress with one notable exception I've asked about in the appropriate forum.

      This has come up before so I thought to take a picture of how I pressure bleed my Wilwood MC. Back when I bought it, they weren't making a large enough adapter plate.
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    15. #75
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Just about there. Going to run the break in procedure tonight for the new rear. Think the drive shaft is a bit longer than ideal - probably find a shop to get it shortened this winter. Also took the time to finally run plug wires. Not much for go, just to show.
      Name:  IMG_2604.jpg
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    16. #76
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      Post a picture of the slip yoke installed with the car at ride height.

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    17. #77
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by andrewb70 View Post
      Post a picture of the slip yoke installed with the car at ride height.

      Andrew
      I'll be able to get up under it again tonight. At ride height there's contact with the dust seal, probably due to the Moser pinion yoke length.

    18. #78
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by JustJohn View Post
      I'll be able to get up under it again tonight. At ride height there's contact with the dust seal, probably due to the Moser pinion yoke length.
      What trans?

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    19. #79
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Posts
      799
      Country Flag: United States
      So here's where it's currently sitting:
      Name:  IMG_2605[1].jpg
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Size:  107.3 KB
      I used to be able to see about 1/4" of slip yoke but the new rear pinion yoke is a little longer than the stock version.
      Based on everything I've read, this seems just a little too close for my comfort. It's a TKO 500.

    20. #80
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      That's just the dust shield. It is supposed to cover the open part of the slip yoke. There is another seal inside, which keeps the oil out. To my eye, your DS is perfect. Keep in mind that under power the driveshaft wants to pull out, not push in.

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

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