69 coupe from SVK

[mikee 51]

Meanwhile in my garage....

I was considering repairing my old seat platforms, but there was no even one usable edge so I decided to build them. I am still not sure what seats I’m using so I went with standard mounting system.

After I took some time to design panhard bar mounts. It wasn’t easy without axle in the car, but I double checked everything (already with planned 1 inch drop) and have still some adjusting possibilities on design of the leaf bracket.

That is all I had to do on underbody, now I’m moving onto body panels, and until my quarterpanel patch arrives I’m sealing and coating underbody and engine bay.

[Vicfreg 771]

Nice work on the Panhard bar mounting...

[mikee 51]

Hi A

well, summer is almost here and I’m getting short with my time for work on my stang. My second passion – MTB is calling me in woods J. Anyway, I am still waiting for left quarter panel to arrive from US. Meanwhile I was at least able to repair all other small corners I did not like...

[mustangstofear 608]

Nice  metal  work  

[mikee 51]

55 minutes ago, mustangstofear said:

Nice  metal  work  

Thanks

[mikee 51]

My slooooow progress. Roof to windshield area is done, now I can move to my nightmare - drip rails.

[mikee 51]

After a while I’m back in my garage and starting working on my car. During summer I just replaced rotten Quarter panel with patch from CJ. Took some time to fit on car but is not bad. After I did last missing part – drip rails. I didn’t find them on net to buy so I made them. After primer I sealed them with self-leveling sealer from SEM. Now I’m doing putty and sending exterior. Just for increase of my motivation I installed brake lines to finally see it coming together J

[Mike65 475]

Looking good, it is coming along nicely. Thanks for posting the info on the sub frame connectors you made.

[Vicfreg 771]

Nice job!   In previous post about torque boxes you mentioned you own a pre-production model?  Can you explain?

[mikee 51]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 2:19 AM, Vicfreg said:

Nice job!   In previous post about torque boxes you mentioned you own a pre-production model?  Can you explain?

Hi Victor, That was just a joke – my torque boxes were „missing“ J

[mikee 51]

Guys, I have a question about brake system. Is there some good producer of master cylinders in lower price range? I found many of them but reviews are sometimes terrible (except expensive Wilwood).  Is there some "middle way"?

Thanks

[Vicfreg 771]

I used a Ford Explorer/Ford Ranger Master Cylinder.  I will find some pictures.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Here is a picture of the engine compartment with the late model master cylinder.  I used the small diameter dual diaphragm power brake booster.  There are a lot of posts on this forum on this topic.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Here is the original master cylinder I tried. The brake lines came out on the passenger side of the master cylinder, way too close to the headers and engine.   

[Vicfreg 771]

This did not work for several reasons, primarily, tried it with the engine out....bad idea....

[Vicfreg 771]

I kept the original master cylinder (Ford Ranger on the right) and I got an Explorer master cylinder (on the left).  The Explorer master cylinder had the brake line connections on the drivers side, but also had a "tilted" reservoir (due to the way it mounts in the Explorer).

So... I swapped the reservoirs (they pull right out and re-insert easily with O Ring Seals), and put the Ford Ranger reservoir on the Explorer body...and.....  

That's the rest of the story.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Oh....you will have to enlarge the mounting bolt holes to fit the older booster.  You will also need to go to local parts store and source some metric to SAE brake fittings to make this all work.

I also used a Wilwood proportioning valve to ensure I had proper braking from front to rear.

[mikee 51]

Thanks man, you are better than CJ ponny video manual!

Exactly what I was looking for, this helped me a lot, even possibility to use booster as well. 

That engine bay is just lovely.

[Vicfreg 771]

Thanks Mikee.  Lot's of hours in the engine bay, all the wiring is hidden in the fenderwells….   hope you don't have too cold of a winter....

[mikee 51]

So the winter is not so cold, but free time is missing..

I had just fabricated some parts needed for Panhard system, repaired door hinge and made back plates (mate them with metric threads), I broke some bolts by removing door.I realized that at this point I must install the door and check my body lines before I repair door skins. So next step - rebuild hinges a mount the door.

[mikee 51]

Hi Guys, 

I need some advice. I used overlap joint on door repair (in attempt to get some reinforcement in this area ), and anyway I tried to weld cold and I blow single tack cold i got pretty deep valley in my repair joint. Its between appr. 3/8  to 1/4 inch deep and Id like to get at least under 3/8 before some filler work. Is there any trick or simple method to do it? I'm just thinking about preheat it and hammer to stretch in weld joint....

Thanks for any advice.

[aslanefe 333]

I would grind the weld smooth then use a body hammer and dolly to push the weld area out cold. 

[mikee 51]

Thanks Aslanefe, 

you were right, Its working even cold. Its not easy to hammer inside the door, but its possible. Its challenge for me and even for my neighbor (he loves me hammering :) )

To all of you Guys, stay safe and healthy in this terrible times. Good Luck to us all !!!

[aslanefe 333]

1 hour ago, mikee said:

Thanks Aslanefe, 

you were right, Its working even cold. Its not easy to hammer inside the door, but its possible. Its challenge for me and even for my neighbor (he loves me hammering :) )

To all of you Guys, stay safe and healthy in this terrible times. Good Luck to us all !!!

Looking good.

When I have to hammer inside close/tight areas, I use a dolly as a hammer instead of a body hammer with a handle. By using a dolly as hammer, you do not have to swing it as wide to move the metal compared to a hammer. Close to the ends where you can't get a hammer or dolly to swing, I push the dent out in very small sections with one of my body picks (like the ones used by paintless dent removal folks), a pry bar or a flat screw driver I modify the end.

[mikee 51]

So, both door repaired, and checked how lines and gaps fit.

Now I need to install my rack / pinion steering that I finally found as suitable for my car. In loving memory the donor (Opel Astra) and long life to king :).