Zefevinee

Well , the car goes for final body alignment, work and paint next week. Got as much done as i could.
Found the repro rear valance crap and lousy fit so i am repairing the original one.
I kept a piece of the original rear quarter showing a sensational shit repair, putting it up on my wall.
Finally seeing some light at the end of the long tunnel, should have the car back in Feb next year.
Bought the blackout stencil for the hood, is it correct or i have to adjust it.


 

Working on my pedal support since it is currently removed. My original bushings look brand new (13k miles on the car) but there is a bit of hype with the roller bearings. Is it worth the extra $$ to put roller bearings in now?

Well i thought i would post this for those looking into the swap. This spring i did the swap in my 69 convertible w/ 351w and Dougs Try-y (D669Y) headers. Your only option the get the new box in (and the old one for that matter) was to either remove the headers or the power brake booster/master cylinder. then in goes the new unit. the pump sits about 1" away from the headers, but no rubbing issues.

I tried to use my stock ford pump but it wasn't strong enough and the hoses that Borgeson uses would run right into the exhaust. So i bout the new pump from them. once the hoses are on they sit way too close to the headers. I didn't use any thread sealer on the hose ends, just tightened and went.

So after 4K+ miles on it ive came to the conclusion that im not a fan. While it handles nicely, there was more play in the steering wheel than what i thought there should be. But it's a very responsive unit. Down side is, as time goes on the more this thing leaks. The hoses going into the box always leak no matter how much i tighten them down. Now there's a leak from the top plate on the box and possibly somewhere down below. I'm needing to put my car on a lift to let it run to see where exactly it's leaking from. But due to its location, it's pretty difficult to do without burning off your skin. 

Hus65 posted a while back his hose routing procedure which is pretty nice. We were talking about it and he stated his is leaking from below after only 50 miles. There are a lot of others on corvette forums who seem to have leaking issues too. I think with the hoses and box being as close to the headers as they are, they are boiling the fluid and eating away at seals. Hus65 ran his setup into a cooler and the hoses away from the hot parts so i think he would have better long term success compared to myself and others.

I started on the Borgeson conversion today, I did alot of research beforehand and it looked fairly smooth. Everything I read said the collapsible column made it easy. My '70 has an auto tranny, the tang on the column for the lockout rod prevented the column from collapsing far enough for the Borgeson box to fit. I had to remove the column and cut back the column 1/2" or so to get the Borgeson unit to fit.

Guys ,keep an eye out for this 66 fastback ,stolen from Rocklin California ...lice.number 1FAST66
Call Rocklin PD. with  any information .

 

Need to replace mine. Looking at Scott Drake's Assembly. Any reviews from the forum? Should I consider another brand. Thanks in advance.

yes, timing and tuning cam affect vacuum a little but it's best if you know someone that can time the car by ear and, also recurve the distributor if needed . i can post one method to do both of these later if you want to try it but you need a timing light and a vacuum gauge and/or tach would also be helpful, however, this will NOT get you a lot more vacuum so it will not cure your new trans problem.

First, thanks for posting this and congrats on the progress with the second car. I'm impressed with your fortitude and determination, if not so much by your judgement.
 
Second, stories like this continue to reinforce some observations and views I've been formulating, some for decades now...
 
1. Far too many people ask too much for crap "project" cars, and far too many people pay for them.
2. Any minimal amount of shopping the market (and auctions) will show that plenty of very decent cars are available for pennies on the dollar of restoring a beat, rusted "project" car.
3. On a fundamental level, it costs essentially the same to restore something like a big block Mach or Boss 302 as it does a lowly F code coupe or H code Mach; choose wisely.
4. Restoring a car is almost always a money losing proposition unless you're either really good at DIY'ing it, or you score an incredibly valuable example for an incredibly good deal. It takes money to make money either way.
5. The cost of those Dynacorn replacement chassis is far more reasonable than I care to admit.
 
Anyway, I hope the new car is everything you want and more. You've certainly earned having more than a bit of your dream come true. And as a composer, I think your 5 year old has A TON of talent! Do everything you can to foster it. And please, oh please, get her teachers that will show her how to use her talent for good rather than evil... The world needs more real music and less trite pop garbage.

Still working, did a bunch of small patches, and alot of fitting of the outer wheel house. The small patches take quite a bit of time to make them blend in where they will not be noticed, you can't tell I did anything, other than there are no rusty holes in the metal, and a little primer. The foward trunk floor (foward of the gas tank) is all most welded in, and looks much better. I bought what was left of a B pillar from a fellow forum person and started working the part out that I need to fix mine. To make a long story short, I am going to make one. The interior portion was fragile, and when I removed it from the outer skin, there wasn't much left. Such is life.
I did install the quarter skin for the first time to see if it would even go on the car. I am still amazed at how well this Dynacorn metal fits, and the quarter was no exception. No hammer, just a little push to get the lip to go into the wheel house, and poof! If you are installing any replacement pannels on your ride, I highly recomend these parts. Yes there will be a little trimming, and probably a little fitting on the B pillar area, but compaired to the cheeper stuff, it is worth every penny spent not to cut and beat these pannels on!
Now I get to tear it apart to install the trap door pannel, and all the brackets I removed when I installed the tubs.
I've been talking to Jason Rushforth, of Rushforth Custom Wheels off and on for the past week, and had him photo shop some wheels for me. The color is slightly off, and there is chrome stuff on the picture (There will be NO shiny stuff on this build, anywhere!). I like the wheel, which is the Night Train design, in a couple of finishes. Jason is fun to work with, and his prices are in line with most other custom wheels. Still looking at some other wheel designs, (like Pro Wheel and CCW), but these are on the top of the list. Check him out if you would like. http://www.rushforthwheels.com/

I rolled my new project out of the storage lot, and took it home to start bringing it back to life. I bought the car back in January of this year, and have been gathering parts in order to make it a reality instead of an idea.


This is a true Graber Special, Marti report and all, also know as a "poor mans" Boss 302. This one had a 302 2v, auto, manual drum, and power steering. I told my Wife when I bought it, that I purchaced a rolling roof with a title. She had not seen it since its purchace and was questioning my sanity after rolling it off the trailer. I have started with worse, and at least this project is fairly well "rust free" (ha-ha). It will stay Grabber Green, but the build will be a G-Machine theme. I am waiting on Street and Track to come out with their new rear suspension later this year, to see what they come up with. 

I am going to try out Dynacorn sheet metal on this build, and see if it fits any better than some of the other ti-chen stampings offered by other vendors. The full quarters look good out of the box, hope they don't require a bunch of fitting (cutting in half, beating, re building,ect...). Been there, done that. I did go ahead and get the Goodmark mini tubed inner fenders to use, I could have widened some regular ones, which would have been cheeper in the long run.

I would like to be able to build these cars on a regular basis, so this one is going to be sort of an extream advertisment. I am not going to jump into a business venture quite yet, but ease into it, if it works. Playing with rusty old cars has been part of my life, and I enjoy most every aspect of it. Well see where it goes.
The only part of the build I have not decided on is to build it as a 1970, or 69ish Boss 302? I have always wanted a G coded 69, and could make one, just not so sure yet. Any way, here are a couple of pics as I dig into what is left of this body, and this is the way I bought it, less work for me? My Wife is still wondering...
 
 

Cleaning out the garage and looking to sell a few things. All parts from a S code, automatic sports roof car with drum brakes and standard back seat. Additional pics and questions can be answered. All parts make offer and shipping TBD.

Yes it is 65 Impala a father son project. Good eye! You a Chevy man Too? I like fords in fords and Chevy in Chevy  and so on. I also own a   
74 Bronco trail rig and a 1971 El CaminoSS 454

Mike nice work! What kind of welder are you using?

So I'm making my Christmas list of projects I'd like to do over the winter and I'm thinking of putting in a rear sway bar.  I really like the idea of the adjustable style bars.  So there are 2 that seem almost identical.  The TCP and Hellwig.  Does anyone know why the TCP one would be worth $100 more?
 
http://www.cjponyparts.com/total-control-products-sway-bar-rear-adjustable-3-4-kit-1965-1973/p/TCPARRM112/
 
or 
 
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hel-6806

Kicking myself everyday for the last 30 years for selling my 69 Aculpulco Blue Drag Pack Mach, then finding it 4 years ago, unaffordable of course. The 70 conv came close, but once you've owned a big block Mach, there isn't a comparison in my book. I was able to get a 68 J code coupe at a good price, restore, then flip, in which I finally reached a financial part of my life where I could fulfill my dream of owning another FE 69 Mach 1. I was able to persuade a buddy of mine, after a year, to sell his project to me in April this year. He had owned the car for the past 3 years and had done very little to nothing to it, he had bought it from the second owner where it was dismantled, boxed up, and sat for at least 10 years. The last state inspection was from 1986. The 390 had been rebuilt and never started ,so started there, then the brakes, then the suspension, after many steps forward and a lot more back......she received her new coat of Black Jade, today. I'm going to catch up with a lot of photos to this point, then post as she progresses. I have found this website to be very beneficial along with the pleasure a giving back.
 
Coming home, how she sat for 10 plus years, sanded down

Over the winter I am planning on replacing the rear springs in my 69 Coupe & replacing bearings, seals & the ring & pinion in the 9" rear & was wondering if I should stay with the open rear or upgrade to a limited slip?. The car will be used a weekend cruiser. I was looking at this one from Ford Performance. Thoughts, suggestions.
http://www.cjponyparts.com/ford-racing-differential-trac-lok-limited-slip-28-spline-9/p/M4204F28A/

I have a 1969 Mach 1 with Deluxe interior.  I recently changed out the dash voltage regulator to solve my blinker, interior light issues.  It worked, but now my dash lights don't work.  I have my clock pulled out because it doesn't work either.  I had one good bulb and one burned bulb in the clock, so I don't know if I have a bad clock or if it's just not getting power or both.  What is the best method to test my clock?  I want to make sure to mention, I did check fuses first and they are all okay.  I also replaced the light switch and that did not solve the problem.  I am getting ready to pull by dash pad off and pull out the instrument cluster for better access to my wiring.  Where should I begin?  If my clock is bad does anyone have a good clock guy I could send my clock to for repair?
 
I finally have my dream car, I just have a few issues to correct.  Thank you for any help.  I appreciate the opportunity to learn from all you wizards!!!!

Hi everyone, I need a few of you to measure from the rear of the rocker panel to the rear tyres and see if there's a difference side to side, I have a 9-10 mm difference but have done measurement checks of the chassis and its all within 2-3mm, so am at a bit of a loss as to where it's out? Or has anyone else had this issue?
Thanks

Hey friends, taking my car apart right now for a complete restoration. The car will be somewhat of a resto-mod….stroker 351W, TKO 600, etc.  Car is a 69 Mach with power front disc brakes and has been sitting since 1983. As the car has been sitting so long, I expect issues with the brakes, specifically the front calipers, brake booster and possibly the proportioning valve.  I don’t care about the master cylinder, it is not original and thus I will replace it. The other parts are all OEM components on my car. For what I will be doing with the car, I feel the factory brakes are fully adequate, provided they are in good working order. That said, I’m thinking all my OEM parts will require rebuild or replace. I’d like to keep my original parts, booster and calipers. I’ve read you cannot find parts to rebuild the booster, is this true?  Also, I’m not finding much on rebuilding the calipers. Thoughts on this matter and suggestions would be much appreciated.      

I've read a lot of posts here, but wonder if anyone here has been running them for awhile?
 
Any do's, don'ts, if I did it over I'd do this instead?
 
I am thinking of changing over to fitech in the spring. Just looking for real world reviews.

I am thinking about taking advantage of Black Friday deals and buying a set of drag radials for my 69 Mach 1. I currently have a set of 255/60-15 BFG's that look great but aren't the best for traction. What would it take to get a set of 275/60-15's in the wheel well? I would be putting them on my 15 x 8 Magnum 500 wheels. 
 
Thanks,
John
 
 

So check this out: the guy who never gets anything for free just got a hook up. so i went to get the oil change on the work car, and the shop owner says there's an old car he's looking at. went over to the storage unit and here sits a ford ranchero surrounded by toploaders, blocs and two rear ends. We start to dig around and find a set of headlight assemblies for a 70 mustang. tons of parts but we leave as he wants to sell the whole place. hour later i get a call and was told i can have the rear end and the headlight assemblies. 
 
this weekend we took the rear apart as there was no axle id tag. Here's what i found. 3.50 w/ traction lock w/ 31 spline axles. total width is right on point, but the spring perches are a hair off from very quick measurements. 
 
So here's my plan. i want to tear it apart to put new seals and bearings in, re paint it, then add some nice disc brakes while its not under a car. Ive been looking at getting a wilwood big brake kit to do the fronts and the backs so everything matches. 

What's the best way to fit the cage nut in the rocker panel, forgot how to do it , old age settling in.

Time for an update again. Started on getting the Tremec T-56 Magnum installed.
 

 

 
First up was installing the engine. Dropped right in of course.
 

Next up, the Magnum.
 

Test fit to see where it hit the floors. It did hit the transmission tunnel crossmember first. I'm using the TCP motor mounts, and I can't drop the engine any more because the Rack & Pinion goes under the oilpan. I know guys who has Mustang 2 style suspension or front steer rack can lower the engine more, and don't have to cut up the floors.
 

 

 
Started drilling out spot welds for the transmission tunnel crossmember.

Hey Barnett, 
 
Can you clear ur pm's? got a question for u
 
Thanks.