This thread is to document the restoration of 94 Touring's red Clubman Estate......
Since the car was here in KC when he bought it, the first part will be done in my garage shop, where I'll pull the engine and replace the clutch, then I'll haul it down to Dan's shop where he'll get after the rusty body.
I tried to use my towbar last week to get it, but the towbar didn't quite fit and I didn't have the tools with me to try and make it fit in the PO's driveway on a cold blustery winter day, so today we took the trailer and retrieved it from it's old home and brought it to my shop.
Sweet. 4.gif
Took the hood off so I can assess the repair....I may try and lift it later today but I need to look carefully before I do to make sure I'm on solid metal. Looks like it was a similar color to Buzz before it was painted red.
Got the car lifted today, rear pads on the rear subframe but the front pads were a problem, as there really isn't any substantive sheet metal left in the floors, sills or A panels and the subframe mount on the right side was torn and no longer attached. I did put some 1/2" bolts thru the front mounts and into the subframe as there were none there. We used some boards that spanned the floor and the bottom of the A panel and the forward edge of the bulkhead and that seems to be holding OK....at least it didn't make any bad sounds!
Then we got to work on pulling the clutch, first we bored a 2" hole in the inner fender so we could get the extension and impact wrench on the 1-1/2" nut that holds the flywheel on - it's torqued to 150ft.lbs or so, so you need some HP to get it off. Once the outer cover was off, the rest was just a matter of fitting the puller and off she came.
I'll do a little cleanup inside the clutch cover and put it back together tomorrow or the next day, then it should be drivable again.....if it was before??!?!?!? ;D
Any ideas what the problem with the clutch actually was? Sticking like we assumed?
Not sure yet, all I did was take it all out yesterday, today I'll check everything over - he said he thought the clutch arm was what was stuck, and he removed the cover to free it up (there is a nail used as a cotter on one of the clevis pins) and after that it slipped. You can see a couple of blue marks on the flywheel parts showing that it was slipping, but I don't know if he messed with the clutch itself and got it out of whack, and that's why it slipped. It's odd that it's only blue in a couple of places like that. I'll try to clean up the flywheel surfaces, but both should really be resurfaced. Trouble is, no one I know around here understands how to do this correctly on this style clutch setup. There may be another flywheel in all the parts in the car, I can root around a bit and see what I can find.....there are some pretty good wear grooves on the smaller part of the flywheel assy, if there's a better one in the parts bin I'll use it, but this one will work....it's kinda like putting new pads on old rotors, they have to bed in but they will work.
If it feels flat enough and cleans up OK I'll re-use it all and just put the new disc, cover and release bearing in. He also got a new clutch arm, so I'll put that in too, but he didn't get new clevis pins and those are what usually wears out. I can get those at Victoria British so no worries there....
More as I find it.....
Got everything cleaned and ready to put back in the car, pressed the new release bearing onto the shaft, got everything polished up and lubed...... tomorrow it goes back in.....
I looked in the parts boxes and I didn't find another flywheel, but this one cleaned up and will work fine, and I did find some rear front subframe mounts to replace the broken ones.......
I'm liking this have people do the work for me setup 4.gif
Well, turnabout and all that......wish I lived closer, we could do a fun partnership where I do the mechanicals and you do the paint/body stuff.
Agreed. I wish John McGee was closer too. I could have plenty to paint. I enjoy mechanical work but sometimes it's a time consuming drag.
That's exactly how I feel about body work!
I just hope your Clubby doesn't do this when I test drive it after I fix the clutch..... ;D
Lol
Haha...that looked like a Lada falling to bits....not far off what might actually happen
Houston, we have a problem......looks like someone tried to make a self-tapper out of the bolt that holds the flywheel on. At the very least I'll need a bottom tap to try and clean the threads in the end of the crank, a new bolt, the lock tab (which was missing completely) and the locking tab retainer washer that locates the flywheel to the crank.
If the threads won't clean up in the crank, we're pulling the engine and taking it to a machine shop to have a heli-coil put in, that's not something I can do in my shop - drilling the end of the crank would have to be done precisely or the crank is toast - it may be anyway.
:-[ Yikes. I'm glad you're in charge at this point.
Do you have any spare engine parts lying about? Like the flywheel bolt and lock key? All pre-verto's are the same....
I'll call Dan tomorrow after I've made some inquiries and we'll figure out what to do.
Tap - $20-30
Bolt - $20
Key - $25
Lock tab - $5
Machine shop if we need it, probably $100.
But finding the helicoil may be the problem, I haven't seen one in that thread anywhere.....
what about going to up to 11/16-16 from the stock 5/8-16 taps are cheap, and at only .030 a side bigger might just be able to re tap the crank in the car. http://www.mutualscrew.com/product/bottom-hand-tap-carbon-steel-84633.cfm?source=froogle&gclid=CjwKEAiAhPCyBRCtwMDS5tzT03gSJADZ8VjRDrLNz7pOkbWpV2fWRL76yZSoLx7pIWsBkiTPD2AHUhoC1nfw_wcB
jeff
I'll dig through the pickup engine bag o parts and see what I've got. It will be a few days before I'm in town.
you might have to have a 11/16-16 bolt made, I can do that if needed no problem at all if you go that route. I could also make a custom thread insert back to standard size but I start to worry about how big the hole in the crank gets at some point.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff, I'm going to call the local machine shop supply and see if they have a tap, then I'll try and clean the threads first, from what I could see they actually look OK. I wonder if the bolt is softer than the crank on purpose so it won't destroy the cranks? I also wonder how in the world they stripped the threads on the bolt in the first place. The end of the crank is tapered, and machined to accept a key that locks the flywheel, I'd have to look at the end to see if there's enough meat, but I would guess that there is.
I can find 5/8-11 and 5/8-18 all day, but no 5/8-16 helicoils anywhere
I wonder if the guy who put the engine together on their rebuild hosed that up. Or if it's a British botch job then export to the US.
Like Buzz?
I had valid paperwork that said the engine had been rebuilt about 5K before I got the car, when I tore it down there was clear evidence that someone had worked on it, new parts inside and so on. At the same time the work was so bodged.....it was downright pitiful.
I didn't know this engine was rebuilt, there's so much oil and dirt on it. Whom ever had it apart last did the deal.....
He at least had a piston replaced and a bore honed. The bad piston is in one of the boxes. It was all gouged up. It was a bit startling but since the thing fires up so easily I tried to pretend I didn't see the piston.
I ordered a bottoming tap this morning, the local machine shop supply didn't have anything. Helicoils are non existent for this size so I'm going to hope that cleaning up the threads and a new bolt will work. I won't know for sure till I run the tap in, but the threads in the end of the crank don't look that bad....we may be OK.
We will need a new bolt, the locking key and lock plate tho....
I wonder who he had do the work locally? There are very few places that would even look at this engine let alone know how to work on it. Unlike other engines, changing a piston means pulling the engine and separating it from the trans, that's why I know whoever did the engine work did this to the bolt too.
He said a friend of his. I think it was a case of beer type deal.
Makes sense, I still wonder who it was tho - like I said, damn few people left around who know how to work on one of these....the more I look at it the more I think I can save it.
Hopefully like you said the threads on the bolt are softer.
Hey if it's not too much trouble maybe you can check the compression on it. I'll at least know how bad this clubby really sucks lol. Ideally the engine is good and shifts and I just have the body work to contend with as planned.
Will do, I have to get the flywheel back on to do that....
Well, these came today - great service from Moss Motors!
Now if I can just get the tap to show up....tracking says it's been in KC since Friday, but the postman just delivered and it's not on my porch.
Update: Tracking says it's arrived at my PO Branch about 1/2 hour ago. I called them to see if I could come pick it up and got a one word answer - No! It will be delivered tomorrow - and ju vill like it!
If it was UPS that had it they'd be happy to pull it and hold it for me as long as it wasn't already reloaded on a truck....but not the USPS.
Good deal. I'm about to take your clubby for a spin to match paint.
The tap finally arrived this am, and it's the correct one (yay!), I don't know why it took a priority mail package over a week to get to me from Floriduh but it's here, so this afternoon when Rose heads off to work I'll jump back on it and maybe someday it will move under it's own power again. (http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/Smileys/smile/grin.gif)
I think this is gonna work............the threads look pretty good in the hole, the bolt threads in smoothly but I still need to dress the edges of the slots in both the end of the crank and the flywheel.
I like good news 4.gif
As long as it torques up to spec we're good.....I'll know later today.
Next I have to dress the edges of the slot on the crank and flywheel, then clean the rust off the clutch disc drive gear, then make sure it hasn't welded itself to the crank, then it all goes back together. Still a lot of steps before we'll know if it's gonna live.
So Dan, where are you going to start on fixing the body on the Clubby? Floor pans?
No clue. It really needs the floor pans, subby attach panels, and door hinge support panels done up before it's streetable. I'll probably do those 3 as I have time then drive it on the highway.
Oops, another delay....I noticed these straps weren't on the flywheel when I took it apart but I assumed (incorrectly) that maybe the 998 didn't use them, as the PO had been driving it like this for at least 2 years. Come to find out that, yes it did need them, so I put in an order and they and the special shoulder bolts that attach them are now wending their way to the land of Oz.
You can just see them in this pic, they're about 3" long and I believe they're both an anti-chatter mechanism as well as locating the clutch centrally on the flywheel.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6221/6211155859_9a797841a2_b.jpg)
I'm still fascinated this thing even drove.
Without those the clutch back plate and cover can mover back and forth, but not much. Seems to me all it might do is chatter a bit, but who knows?
They put them in there for a reason, I don't think you should leave them out......even race clutches use them (9 straps instead of the standard 6)
Once it's back together I think it will work fine, the big unknown right now is whether that bolt will torque properly.
I'm feeling like we're going to get lucky with the bolt.
What's scary about this is I'm the kind of guy that would pull the clutch out, make note or take pics of how it came out, then put it back in the same way. If the previous guy left off random parts I may not catch them.
Don't forget to shim the straps level.
Parts came at last, I hope this is the last of what I need to get the Red Clubby back on its feet!
Well, everything's all buttoned up in the engine compartment - that's the good news. Unfortunately something's still not right, either with the pedals/linkage (rusted) or the slave cylinder. All I can say is the pedal goes down and it doesn't come back up. all the way, or easily, or smoothly.
I put some rust penetrant on the pedal assembly and I'll let it set overnight and see if it makes any difference, next step is to pull the slave off and see if that does anything for it......
Yes, that's the new clutch cover, even tho it looks like it's been underwater for a while, the rest of it and the important parts all look new.
Shall I send a new master? He said the slave was rebuilt.
Let me see what the rust penetrant does first, I'll know more tomorrow.....it's already moving better than it did the first time I tried it.
Does it actually move the clutch arm when the pedal is on the floor? My 74 sat so long it needed the pedal assembly lubed several times over a period of time.
I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know......
Those drive straps don't look right at all. Maybe it's just the picture but they look to be sitting flat on the flywheel and flexed up to the pressure plate horns if so they need spacers under the flywheel end.
(edit) not trying to pick your work apart Dave but strap miss alignment can cause a lot of strange clutch issues, and is often overlooked.
Jeff
I don't understand what difference it would make, all they do is locate the clutch plates to the flywheel....school me on that. All the ones I've ever seen look exactly like that, and none of the parts books show any spacers under the straps. Because the shoulder bolts fit in the holes with enough clearance to allow the straps to sit at an angle, I don't see why it would need them to be level.
I put Buzz together like this with no issues noted. Like I said, please explain it to me, I'm always looking to learn.......
A lot of times you might not have any issue I have taken a few apart with missing spacers also. I have also solved a few slip,judder,vibration issues by simply setting the straps. 3/8 washers work well and normally a box of washers will have varying thickness and you can find ones close enough.
The reason it matters is that the straps are acting as springs trying to pull the pressure plate in and release the clutch in your case, but they can go the other way and make releasing hard . It might not seem like much force but it is you're bending the strap over the edge of the pressure plate horn when you tighten down the bolt on that end. After all three it adds up, in a old coil spring type clutch it can be enough to release it completely.
The other thing that can happen is when you are tightening the strap down at a angle and its forcing its way flat it tends to pull the pressure plate off of center not much but the weight of the plate and diaphragm together is enough to cause vibration if off only a little. The mini I had before my current had a rhythmic buzz like vibration at highway speed that went completely away by setting drive straps up level. Made the car much more pleasant to drive all that mass spinning around at nearly 5k rpm off center makes for lots of noise and vibration.
I have only taken apart three clutch units that were factory original but they all had spacers for what it's worth.
I don't know that I would take it back apart unless you have a problem might work just fine like your car and many others I just wanted to point out that it can cause issues so if you have one start there.
Here is a write up on setting them up http://www.minimania.com/Clutch___Drive_Strap_Alignment
Jeff
I just noticed when re reading that you said the shoulder bolt gives clearance for the straps I don't know that this is correct I think if you had the lock tabs installed it would not a flat washer is often used instead with a drop of loctite on the threads.
However the floating action would help it to not bind up as long as the straps don't wear the bolt or their hole too much.
(edit) I'm now wondering could some oem units still have clearance with lock tabs just enough for angle of straps rather than spacers? doesn't seem right they would be loose but like you I'm always looking to learn. How much clearance did you have? more than a lock tab worth? Still don't seem right to have a drive strap loose on one end but now i'm curious.
Jeff
I think you misunderstood, the straps are not loose, just that the hole is big enough that it doesn't bind the bolt - when tightened the straps do not move or rattle....that's the way they have been on every clutch I've done (admittedly that's only a half dozen or so), but none of them ever had spacers or lock tabs either - I do know they came with lock tabs originally. Seems to me that having an angle to the straps is not a problem because when you push on the clutch diaphragm with the release bearing, the entire diaphragm moves inward, which would straighten the straps or level them out. Having them level to start only means they would bend as you push on the clutch...same difference. I'm not saying you're wrong, just thinking out loud here.....
This car had no straps at all and the owner said he'd driven it for two years like that with no issues! (http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/Smileys/smile/8.gif)
This is all new info to me. I've done two clutches in 15 years of mini ownership and have never thought about any of this stuff!
Were those pre-Verto or Verto clutches?
Vertos are much simpler, they're almost like a regular clutch!
One of each!
Ready to come home on the trailer.....
BTW, do not drive this car - the right front wheel bearing is gone - as in the wheel can move as much as 2"....I'm so glad I couldn't get my tow bar to fit, if that wheel had come off on the tow home we'd been picking up pieces of this car all over the highway.
Fun. I had a wheel bearing go bad on a drive from Oklahoma to Arizona around New Mexico. It drove a long time before it finally broke bad and wouldn't move anymore. I made it into the Phoenix valley at least close enough for aaa to rescue me.
In the pic you can see how the right front wheel is canted, it will move than much or more the other direction too. It's as if the inner bearing isn't even there.
Tell you what, if you have them, send me the bearings and the master and I'll see about at least making it mobil, I don't know if that will make it safe, but it'll be more mobil anyway.....
I don't have bearings on hand so will need to order some. I can send the master up tomorrow but your call if you feel like it lol. Hopefully he hasn't hosed the swivel hub. They're not cheap brand new. I do have a spare set but planned on using them on another car.
I have some wheel bearings if you want me to send them over to Dave.
Dave you really feel like doing all this?
Oh sure.....why not? :-)
I have a set of roller bearings new in the box but they're for disc hubs, if they'll work you could replace them to me when we do the exchange next month.....
Edit: Looks like they're different - if you send them be sure to send the inner spacer too if it uses one.
I don't even remember what this thing has...drums up front or disc? They'll be different bearings I'm pretty sure but maybe I'm wrong. I always use the roller bearing style like you have. Pm your addy and I'll get the master in the mail.
Drums on this one all around.....
FYI you can use ball bearing on Disc, or drum brakes, as we use the ball bearings on our race cars as they do not build up as much heat and cook the grease
Looking online, it looks like the replacement ball bearings already have the NLA spacer built into the races.
The master cylinder arrived today, I'll get it installed sometime over the weekend.
BTW, I named your Red Clubman.................
Wait for it.........
Rusty! :)
Ha it's definitely rusty.
About got paint on Buzz today but needs one more final sanding. I had to fly back to work instead. Your gutters are going to be beautiful!
Rusty is mostly just sitting on the rack right now, there's too much stuff in the way inside the car to put the battery back in it's place (it was sitting on the front passenger floor when I picked him up) and hook up the cables, so to crank it over I'll hook jumpers to the starter solenoid - that way I can get the compression test done - right now it's really cold in the garage but it's supposed to warm up a little next week. Till then, he's just resting. While I had the starter out to do the clutch I lubed the Bendix up with PTFE. It moves smoothly now.....
I put in an order for a couple sets of wheel bearings. Now the question is when will I find time..
I am finally happy with the clutch. I was told that the PO had installed a new slave cylinder so I hadn't really looked at it, but I noticed the clutch rod didn't look right (1st pic) so today I took the slave off and pulled the boot back, this is what I found inside (2nd pic).....no wonder the PO said it was slipping. I think they were trying to engineer a solution to NOT replace the clutch, by lengthening the clutch rod to get more stroke......(3rd pic)
Removing this stuff and readjusting the clutch makes it work correctly again. Job done.
Lol ah boy. :D
You never know just how far into the madness they've gone till you keep digging........tomorrow he's on the trailer and Tuesday he goes home.
I've got dibs on that air fitting!
I'll add it to the stuff in the back....
Hey I put the battery in and it shifts like a charm. Didn't drive it out of the yard but it seems to have power, though stumbling like it's out of fuel, which it probably is. Needs floors bad.
Well, Rusty is now home and safe in Dan's shop, by now I'm sure he's already unloaded him and is looking at him planning where to start the repairs.
(Edit - beat me to it!)
The trip from KC was a bit "eventfull", before we could go the had date changed several times as did our plans to meet up, but yesterday my friend John showed up with the trailer and we loaded Rusty on and tied him down - less that two miles later we had just entered the highway when we heard a strange noise and I told John I could not see the tailgate of the trailer, we pulled over and sure enough it had come undone from it's hinges and was dragging along the ground behind us. We tried to slide it back on it's pins but couldn't so we laid it on the back of he trailer and tied it down......we should have turned right back to my house and fixed it but we were on a schedule and needed to be at Dan's shop by a certain time - so we went on.
All was fine for the next 100 miles or so, when John went to pass a semi on a two lane road and all of a sudden the car went all weird.......he'd lost the power steering, and after a few seconds the temp gauge headed straight to the red zone and the alt light came on, so we both knew we'd lost the fan belt. In the middle of nowhere. With NO tools at all. (See why we should have gone back to my place when the tailgate fell off?) We opened the hood and that's exactly what had happened - John had replaced both belts and tensioners along with the water pump just a few months before, but the small A/C compressor belt had failed and when it came off it took the main serpentine with it.....both belts were still in the engine compartment but with no tools and an overheated engine, we weren't going to fix it there on the side of the road. After about a half hour's cool down we managed to limp into the next town and at a tiny gas station borrowed a wrench, in two minutes we had the serpentine back on and all was well, we just had no A/C, but it was a 50* day so no worries.
The rest of the trip down was rather uneventful, except we were now late and as Dan had an appointment we quickly unloaded Rusty and loaded Buzz after getting some help reinstalling the tailgate from Dan and MtyMous. We all said our goodbyes and John and I headed home, we decided to stop in Bartlesville for lunch - only about 20 miles up the road - and as we rolled up to a stop light heard a big thump from behind, I jumped out and found Buzz completely untethered, he'd rolled forward but hit the spare tire at the front of the trailer - we looked at each other in amazement as we knew we had him tied down solid when we left Dan's shop.
So, we tied him down solidly again, then continued on......instead of going to KC tho we went to Lawrence to drop the trailer. We unloaded Buzz (started right up, too. Yay!) and I drove him the last 40 miles home.....where he is now safely tucked back in the garage.
The roof looks terrific, in fact the paint is so much better than the rest of the car that it suffers by comparison, but till I actually win the Powerball he won't be getting repainted. Dan did a terrific job and I really appreciate all his hard work!
Glad you're happy! Glad the car didn't roll off the trailer! You'd have to drop it right back off here.
Back at cha......since I didn't get to drive Rusty I had my fingers crossed that everything would work OK.
Pedal depressed so easy I was concerned at first but works great.
Great news, and isn't that the way it's supposed to work? :-)
Now we need to discuss this engine and transmission once I get into it and see what it needs.
Yes we do. Again zero rush.
Looked over it a bit before bed last night. Can't wait to show pictures of the front left floor/door area.
Yep, it reminded me of the first episode of Project Binky, where he was sticking a pink pen thru all the rust holes! :-)
Well I thought...this side sure is flimsey. Pulled the trim and carpet and the door frame on the bottom, door attach panel, and floor isn't even connected. In fact the floor is just a big hole. It looks really daunting at first glance. I'm actually excited to repair it.
It will be a challenge, but I know you're up for it......when I first saw this car at the local micro mini car show 3 years ago it was already this bad, the owner said he was just waiting on a few parts and he was going to fix it. The last year I saw it it was as it is now......guess he figured out it was more than he could handle.
When I first took the Jag apart, I found a floor panel had been bent up and tack welded in about three places, unfortunately, the rear suspension attached to this panel!
Some of the floor isn't rotten at all. Other areas completely gone. The rear load bed is in great shape, but there's a grape fruit sized hole randomly in it. Kind of odd.
For every bad panel I fixed on the Jag, I found three more that were worse......I wasn't sure I would ever find good metal again.
Well it's like this car for David in OKC. Started as two door skins and A-panel and is slowly evolving into a full paint job
Don't know if you've tried to drive Rusty again since you have so much spare time these days but don't forget about that right front wheel bearing - you also need new boots on the axles.
In fact, what you could do is once you get the body all solid and ready for paint then send the car back to me and I could fix all the mechanical OBTW's......
You may need to invest in a trailer and tow vehicle, now that you have room to park them? Or at least a lightweight trailer, something that could be pulled behind a car or minivan or something?
There's a lot of new things it needs! First up is floors, doors, and sub panels. It will get tended to after Stan's car.
So, a few months away yet? That's fine with me.......my next event is Mid-March where we'll be going either to Eureka again or Steelville, Mo. then the trip to Sandy Eggo in June.
Drove it out of the shop and under a car port this afternoon. Still fires up.
Got your plans put together for this one yet?
Are you going to leave the engine in and redo it a bit at a time, or stick it on the spit and chop into it?
Well not really. Stan is next in line then you, then this thing. I'll probably collect panels in the meantime. Plan to leave the engine alone for awhile then perhaps cam and that 940 head on it.
Took it for a drive in the yard back into the shop. The A panel wasn't even attached, pulled right off. There are some new panels in place but not properly in or fully welded. The floor is surprisingly well on the drivers side wwith the exception of a length of rotted out section. The plus with that is I'll only need to patch it using a section of floor iI have handy. The rear corner and subby attach panel is a nightmare. Overall this side sshouldn't take me too terribly long. The other side is worse.
So I might have gotten carried away...I found 3 brand new panels somewhat installed. 2 are salvageable. Probably should have braced it but I ddon't think it matters too much considering it was on the verge of splitting prior to me cutting out sections.
I'm glad to see you tearing into your own car for a change!
Wasn't a whole lot of actual metal holding this car together was there?
So was the car originally bright yellow?
Virtually nothing holding it ttogether. In fact I welded up a stress fracture on the tunnel before I cut out that side. The left side is already disconnected as a result of rust. Oh and I think the car was tan or maybe yellow.
The other side is worse ? .....This will be a great to watch the progression of work and see it all turn out looking new in the end. Do you have a color in mind for this clubman yet .
This is probably the worst one I've done yet honestly. I forgot to mention the left side buckled past the door when I jacked it up to take a peak at the uunderside. I already knew I needed the lower full side panel, but it's not something that gives you an easy feeling. Driving through the yard it felt "flexible". Anyways I really liked the tan on Dave's clubby and have some paint to use up from his roof job. My mood on color might change. Other notable crazies on this car were only two lugs bolts on the front right wheel are functional and the rear right trunion iisn't even there. This guy drove it this way!
yabba dabba do.... just shave a bit more off of the left side and viola !
Quote from: 94touring on April 06, 2016, 07:22:38 AM
This is probably the worst one I've done yet honestly. I forgot to mention the left side buckled past the door when I jacked it up to take a peak at the uunderside. I already knew I needed the lower full side panel, but it's not something that gives you an easy feeling. Driving through the yard it felt "flexible". Other notable crazies on this car were only two lugs bolts on the front right wheel are functional and the rear right trunion iisn't even there. This guy drove it this way!
Now you know why I was reluctant to try and lift it on my lift, and why I put all those boards under it for support.....so glad we trailered it rather than trying to flat tow it like I planned, there would have been parts all over the highway from KC to Tulsa!
(http://memesvault.com/wp-content/uploads/Heck-No-Meme-25.jpg)
I should be ordering brakes for the 74 or engine parts for the engine build but couldn't resist a half floor and lower side panel including the door frame section.
We need pistons first (that way the machine shop can finish the block), the rest can come a little later.....
Got some needed panels in.
I dunno, all that new metal sure will take a lot of flex out of the chassis, could compromise the ride quality! ;D ;D
Not nearly as fun when it's not like a slinky.
So, did you get a chance to weld some metal back into Rusty? At least some floors?
Just got back home after 3 weeks. My wheel bearings are first so I can drive again. Stans car is getting stripped, then back to the floors.
Door frame tacked in place. Door test fit went well. Floor is pretty close to true just sitting there.
Door opens and closes without falling off now ;D. I had the old A panel to verify things match up before I finish the welds.
Ha! That will be a switch, not having to hold the door up as you close it!
And what, no Flintstone floors?
Felt good opening the door for the 1st time. Can't wait to weld up the floor!
Really isn't that hard to do. $500 in panels for that side and 4 hours of fitting and welding is all it really took.
Got the floor positioned to be welded in. I bolted 4 corners of the floor to the adjacent panels to cinch it up, as well as threw a few sheet metal screws on the lip of the door frame. I'll probably drop the rear subframe to fix up the sub attach panel once I get to welding it all together.
Dropped the rear subframe. Neither side had front trunions or the portion of the subframe attach panel with the captive nuts. I took dimensions from Stan's subframe attach panel and made a model of where exactly it needs to go. Also noted that the subframe attach repair panels are 11 1/8" from the edge of the panel to the center of the captive nuts. The full panels themselves measure 11 1/8" from the first indention edge to the captive nut as well. This made things a bit easier to fit a patch out of thin air without having the captive nuts in the wrong place. After I welded in the right side sub attach piece, I went ahead and fitted the cill and got all the spot welds knocked out.
Poor Rusty, he had to go on the back burner for a while till some of the other cars get finished, but soon.......
Someday... It's hard to build 8 minis at a time.
The rear subframe has been torn down and ready for a media blasting. I also just purchased enough parts to rebuild 2 subframes, this one and believe it or not my 68 pickup that's gone untouched for years. I keep looking at the brand new subby on the shelf for the truck and decided it may be time to actually build it.
And......you have the tools! ;D
Glad to see you making progress......what does the trucklette need? Engine and trans? Rear subframe? interior? Just a few bits here and there?
Well I have an spi motor for it, just need to build up the subbies. I have interior mostly for it minus a headliner and dash, then it's really just me running a brake and fuel line and painting the rest of it.
Well, the truck will be more of a show pony, right? You'll use Rusty for hauling stuff I'd think. I know my Clubby was sure handy for carrying lots of stuff.
Not any more ssho than the rest of them. I'll likely use it as much as the clubby.
So, here we are 2017......
You've got a Patton car to finish, Vikram's car to finish, the Cooper S to paint - down to 3 customer cars?
Maybe Rusty will get some attention again soon too?
And my rx7 to drop the motor I rebuilt in. I'm definitely taking a hiatus from projects once I slim down the herd.