1967 1600-2 : Some Assembly Required

[jgerock]

Nice progress.... unless I missed it, are you going to relocate the rear sunroof drain tubes?

 

Derby would be a nice color on your 67.

[dasfrogger]

Nice progress.... unless I missed it, are you going to relocate the rear sunroof drain tubes?

 

Derby would be a nice color on your 67.

Thanks! Hadn't planned on relocating the sunroof drain tubes. Had thought about replacing the tubes and running them a bit longer though. I'll have to do some searching on these guys. Let me know if you have any links / info handy

 

What's your thought behind this? Do you think it's somehow cheaper or remarkably better or what compared to just replacing bearings? I would just replace the bearings and seals and check other parts and call it done. Parts cost is what it is. I bought recently all the stuff from a German BMW dealer as I couldn't find them cheaper anywhere else (in Europe).

 

  Tommy

For the m20 I wanted a 3.64 ratio instead of the 3.91. I would have rebuilt and sold the 3.91 to fund the new 3.64 build, but since the repair cost was higher than expected it just makes sense to do a rebuild and gear change in my existing case and sell off the 3.91 gear set.

[jgerock]

Jake - see the index of Keith Kreeger's website www.my2002tii.com for his sunroof drain re-routing.

[Tommy]

For the m20 I wanted a 3.64 ratio instead of the 3.91. I would have rebuilt and sold the 3.91 to fund the new 3.64 build, but since the repair cost was higher than expected it just makes sense to do a rebuild and gear change in my existing case and sell off the 3.91 gear set.

 

Oh yea, 3.64 is better paired with m20. Just find a good gear set and rebuild what you have.

I had 3.64 open diff earlier and now I went to 3.91 lsd. I really liked cruising highways with the overdrive+3.64. With a bit more torque I would certainly choose 3.64 but since I just have m10 I wanted to try 3.91.

 

  Tommy

[dasfrogger]

More bodyshop updates:

Got the Hood and trunk lid dropped off. Few dents in the hood they'll have to work out as well as a bit of rust in the passenger side front corner. They set it on the body for storage in the meantime. It's almost been a year since the last time the hood sat on the body. Amazing.

 

There was a little bit of rust in the spare tire well and instead of repairing it with metal they used "cat hair" /fiberglass to patch the small holes. They still need to go back and finish it up so it looks right, but I'm not completely impressed with this method of repair. Do y'all have any opinions?


I've been told that the rear quarters are finally done. Got to take some shots after he finished his final pass on the drivers side and just after he mudded up the passenger side again/Before he started sanding the passenger side.



Body guy showed me what he had to cut out to repair the roof behind the sunroof opening. Amazing how after all the care we've put into making sure there was no more surface rust at all this was still lurking. I'm terrified of what else has been missed, but there can't be much.


The focus is now on to rebuilding subframes so I can get the car off the rotisserie as soon as it comes back from paint. I just got Blunt's suspension rebuild kit in the mail and I need to get blank subframes ready to go. Still trying to decide between powdercoat or some kind of heavy duty paint. Still not sure about going stock rubber for this build, but if I don't like it my '73 needs a refreshed suspension so I can always swap it over to that car and try out poly bushings.

[jgerock]

+1 on the BLUNT suspension kit and powdercoating the subframes.  Make sure to reinforce the steering box mount prior to coating/painting.

[scanner]

Great project thread. Personally i'd leave the cat hair on the cat and replace rusty holes with good steel or if extensive a rust cut of the tyre well, especiallly as you are doing such a thorough job of the rest of the car. Keep up the good work

[dasfrogger]

Stopped by the bodyshop today while I was running some errands for work. Body guy said he spent about 30 hours on it last week, lots of progress, but hard to tell.

 

They removed a few dents in the roof and re blocked it to get rid of the tin canning. Was a major problem before, should be good to go now.

Repaired the bad rust in the bottom of the nose. Still got to smooth it out all the way, but looks way better. Also worked on dollying the bottom of the lip straight again. Still has a few bends, but way better than it was.

He started work on the hood too. Had a few dents that he's popped out. Now needs to primer and wet sand.

 

Noticed today that the shadow knee line trim on the passenger side had been wiped out after the collision that gave it the rebuilt title. They'll have to mount the door so they can get it right. This colission must have been terrible, but it's amazing how much work someone did to make it 'right'. You can still see evidence in the trunk by the gas tank and thruout the floor pans. If I was really anal I'd replace all that metal, but I'm not too worried about it. Will be hard to tell once it's undercoated and I like that history being there. I'd really like to find out more about where this car has been in it's 46 years.

As I had mentioned (probably) in earlier posts I was hoping to have this back the friday before Thanksgiving. We're still a long way off, but that's ok since life has gotten in the way of doing prep stuff like getting the suspensions rebuilt or starting on the wiring harness.

[dasfrogger]

Took my weekly trip down to the bodyshop to check out the progress. Main thing that was done was rust repair on top edge of the hood, some more block sanding and started to do block sanding on the trunk lid.


 

 

I had gone up to visit Karl and Mike Self on Sunday. It was great to get to visit with them both. Lots of fun to catch up and talk 02's.

 

I brought back some 'heavy parts' - sub frames, 1600 block, diff, steering boxes etc. Excited to pick up a later subframe - all have in stock are early subframes w/out the sway bar mounts. Went over to the shop today and worked on dismantling it. Found out i really should have taken the sway bar off first and then the trailing arms, but I made it out alive. I'll go over on Sunday and blast both suspensions to prepare them for the powder coat shop.

[dasfrogger]

Drug out the good ole soda blaster this afternoon to prep the subframes. After today I've decided it's time to sell the blaster. It works great, but makes way too much of a mess - even outside - to make it worth it.



My front subframe has so much surface rust the soda didn't do much to it. I'll have to let the powdercoat shop sand blast it to get it prepped. The rear subframe went much smoother as it was in pretty good shape. I got almost the entire thing to bare metal, but the undercoating that had covered it was a real bear. I ended up leaving the last bit attached since they're going to have to sandblast it anyway.

 

Before:

You can see where I had started on the right side before remembering to take photos.

 

 

After:

The black is the stubborn undercoating. Wish i would have taken a picture of the other side - this photo makes me look pretty lazy. The remainder of the subframe is clean.

In Progress:

 

 

Done:

Edited December 16, 2013 by dasfrogger

[dasfrogger]

The holidays have slowed me down quite a bit - something about spending time with family prevents me from spending hours at the shop. While I haven't been able to spend time working, I have been able to think about the flow of the build and what parts I need. Just got the last of my big order spree in today - pretty excited.

 

Placed my first ever order to Walloth & Nesch. I was amazed that my order got to my door in less than three days!! I was bummed that I received a bill for customs charges including an additional charge for deferred payment. I had thought I paid those charges in what they charged for freight.

 

I took advantage of their seasonal sales and picked up complete fastener kits for the doors/hood/trunk lid etc. I was also really excited to find they still had a NOS football shaped washer fluid reservoir for early cars. I had thought it was NLA, and apparently I got the last one as it's no longer listed on their website. Unfortunately it was listed as having a cap, and a cap didn't show up. They said they mailed one after the fact, but still haven't seen anything. 

 

DIYAutotune was having a sweet black Friday sale so I took the opportunity to pick up their small weather pack kit and a pair of crimpers. From what I could tell they had the best deal going - very comprehensive and a pretty good price. As daunting as the wiring harness redo will be, I'm pretty stoked to learn about it.

 

 

Picked up a lot of parts from individuals too - 10 slat kidney grilles, tii rear trailing arms, new sun visors, early window crank.

 

Couldn't leave Blunt out of the spree, so I picked up his stock suspension rebuild kit and a full set of seals for the e21 323 5speed transmission.

 

Got a big order from Ireland Engineering to round out my suspension rebuild parts. Swaybar kit (with drop center for m20 swap), steering coupler, M20 front strut bar, front subframe reinforcing plates, rear disk kit, wilwood proportioning valve, m20 thermostat housing, and 12" electric fan kit. Christmas came a few days late!

 

This has been exciting lately. I haven't bought parts for a few months now and It's nice seeing stuff come in that I know will be going on the car soon. It's mildly terrifying at the same time though because as I plan I realize how much more I still need to order and how little money I've got left over. Time to start selling some parts again to fund new ones!

 

Edit: I've gotta say a big thank you to everyone who makes an effort to keep these parts available. If it weren't for folks/businesses like Blunt, IE, Walloth&Nesch, hanksjim1 etc etc these cars wouldn't be nearly as accessible. I know i certainly wouldn't be doing something as ambitious with such little skill without the support of a great community and great parts availability. 

Edited December 31, 2013 by dasfrogger

[dasfrogger]

Dropped off the passenger side door to the bodyshop today. they'll use it as reference to recreate the missing shadow line in the passenger quarter since it had been obliterated in the accident. Not much else has been done on my car - it's more of a work bench right now than anything else. Doesn't help that it's been super cold in the building my car is in and they haven't been working on it for a few days. When I stopped in this afternoon I found their water pipes busted and leaking all thru the shop!

 

They have sprayed some more primer on the hood. The edges look great, you'd never have known they were rusted thru. Still need to repair the underside, but it's coming along nicely. Looks like they're about to the last coat of primer on the trunk lid too. I'm hoping they can get everything together and have it ready to paint by the end of January.

 

I took advantage of Harbor Freight's 25% off coupon for New Years Day and picked up their 12 ton shop press. Looking forward to putting it to use pressing out old bushings and pressing the new rubber in! This was by far the easiest HF tool I've ever assembled. Lots of folks seem to complain about the rigidity with the four bolts at the top and thus go with the 20 ton model for it's welded frame. I think HF solved this problem as mine is pretty solid. Probably helps that i used a breaker bar to tighten everything instead of regular hand tools.

 

[dasfrogger]

Things have been really slow lately. I have pressed out the bushings, but haven't had a chance to get away from work to take the subframes to the blast shop. Need to get a 36mm socket so I can remove the rear trailing arm Jesus nut too.

 

Still haven't decided if I'll have the subframes powder coated or if I'll just use a heavy duty paint. Right now I'm leaning toward paint so I can do it myself and hopefully save some $$.

 

I'm starting to reconsider using Poly bushings over rubber just for ease of installation and maintenance. Anyone have an opinion on if rubber is worth the extra hassle / will poly be a noticeably stiffer/bumpy ride? Using Billy HD's and H&R springs which should be softer already.

 

 

Does anyone know if there is supposed to be a gap on stock Tii Trailing arms?

[AceAndrew]

Things have been really slow lately. I have pressed out the bushings, but haven't had a chance to get away from work to take the subframes to the blast shop. Need to get a 36mm socket so I can remove the rear trailing arm Jesus nut too.

 

Still haven't decided if I'll have the subframes powder coated or if I'll just use a heavy duty paint. Right now I'm leaning toward paint so I can do it myself and hopefully save some $$.

 

I'm starting to reconsider using Poly bushings over rubber just for ease of installation and maintenance. Anyone have an opinion on if rubber is worth the extra hassle / will poly be a noticeably stiffer/bumpy ride? Using Billy HD's and H&R springs which should be softer already.

Does anyone know if there is supposed to be a gap on stock Tii Trailing arms?

 

Looks like some good progress Jake.  Good luck on that Jesus nut.

 

For the Tii trailing arm, there should be a gap at the end.  you can weld it up if you want, but it does kind of act like a drain of sorts.

 

Aside from the fact the 2-piece urethane bushings are easier to install you know where I stand on rubber vs. urethane on a street car (urethane suspension w/ rubber drivetrain).  And as you know its very hard to quantify given everyone's personal preferences. 

[M3M3]

yes, there should be a gap there in the TA.  there should also be a tiny gap on the bottom in the back of the TA under where the wheel bearings go for water drain.  this rusts up closed over time and accelerates the internal rusting....

 

shop presses are wonderful things to have.  did you cut the shoulders off those TA bushings before pushing them through the "wrong" way?  i would wonder about a lot of force from the press bending the TA "ears" together in the manner you have it set up.

 

poly vs rubber?  poly is a lot easier to install and sure is nice on the track, but you have a press for the rubber bushings.  for a street only car, I would go rubber.  my car is all poly, JGerock's car is all rubber bushings except the sway bars.  his is SOOOO much nicer to drive on street and is still great handling with ST springs/sways and billy HD's.