franktf

iTrader: (6)

Today was a good progress day for a change..... I fitted the reinforcement plat in the driver side control arm and then welded everything up..... Next I notched the pass side control arm, made the side filler and fitted the reinforcement plate, then welded it all up..... I installed the control arms, then change the pins for the bump steer kit.....

I set up the spacers on the bump steer kit so that the tie rod was parallel to the control arm..... That did not work(at ride height I set the toe at zero - then jacked the car up 3.25" which is ride at the top of the suspension and the toe there was in 15/16" - Then I let the car all the way down to the bottom of the suspension which 3.125" lower then ride height and the toe there was out 5/8")..... I had to look everything over for a little while and I realized that the bottom of the control arm is not correct plain for the pivot points of it..... There is an imaginary line from center of the inner bushing through the ball joint pivot point which actually works out to be just above the top of the tube on the control arm..... So I took a 3/8" spacer out of the bump steer on both sides(put the car back at ride height and set the toe at zero again - jacked it up 3.25" again and the toe was down to 7/16" in, getting there) - I removed another 1/4" of spacer out of the bump steer(put the car back at ride height and reset the toe to zero - jacked it up to the top again and the to was maybe 1/32" - so I let the car all the way down and the toe was out less then 1/32") - I am very happy with these results, once the car is back together I will recheck this and make one piece spacers that are the correct height.....

I also checked the caliper clearance at the back of the control arms, it now has more then 1/4" clearance..... I picked all the tools up around the car, put the front springs in then got the car off the blocks and back on it's suspension for the first time in a quite a while.....

Here is the progress on the control arms.....






Here is the difference in the pins on the 2 bump steer kits.....




Here is the clearance at ride height between the brake calipers and control arms.....





Here you can see the difference in the angle of the control are and tie rod with the bump steer correct.....




Here the car is back on it's own suspension.....





and late this afternoon I met up with a buddy at his shop to get an LS1 block for mock up, this is a fine ventilated version of an LS1.....

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

It is nice to finally assemble eh?

franktf

iTrader: (6)

It's nice to get it back on wheels again, but everything will have to come back off one more time when I paint it all.....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

Today I modified the bottom of my steering column for a bearing support..... Then I got the new steering shaft made and installed.....

Here is some steering column progress(I like to dimple the double-d shaft so the set screws in the joints lock in to it).....








and here is the steering shaft.....




On a side note I disassembled the mock up block I got..... It's amazing the bearings looked nearly perfect including the one in the broken rod..... here's a couple pic's of the carnage.....

Jimbo1367

Looks like you can save it. .lol. Nice progress. Can not wait til we can see some hot side fab work!!!

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Frank,

Have you thought about making that intermediate shaft a slider?



Andrew

franktf

iTrader: (6)

Thanks..... Me either.....


My column is serrated and has a collapsible shaft from the factory(it has approx. 11" of collapsible area)..... In this pic you can see the serrations at the bottom of the column and the double d slider in the shaft at the left side of this picture.....

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Frank,

I saw the collapsable column, but the reason that I did it was not because of crash safety, but to isolate the chassis flex from being transmitted into the steering wheel.

Andrew

franktf

iTrader: (6)

If the chassis flexes enough that I can feel it in the wheel it's time to stiffen it up some more.....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

This morning I got the block pressure washed and dried..... I made a cardboard cover for the top of the oil pan and attached it along with an oil pan gasket to the block, I masked the outside of the pan with cardboard and tape(It's a new pan and I did not want to get marked up or dirty)..... I attached my engine cradle to it and stood it up right then put cylinder head alignment dowels, head gaskets, and heads on it..... I gutted powerglide with a deep pan to it and put an engine lift bracket on the valley..... Got it up in the air, removed the engine cradle brackets and set it in the engine compartment..... I had and old Maverick V8 crossmember I started to modify for another application a while back, so I drilled it for the glide trans mount and put it in and bolted the trans to it..... Next I pot a 3/4" block between the rack and oil pan for clearance..... After that I was trying to center the motor and I just wasn't looking straight in the car, so I said the hell with it for the day and went home..... When I was loading the pic's on the computer I realized I drilled the front of that crossmember and put it in backwards..... The way these crossmembers bolt in the factory trans mount slots are slightly offset so the trans is centered in the car and when I put it in backwards it moves the trans to the driver side..... Tomorrow morning I will go down and get the car off the ground so I can get this corrected and make sure the trans is properly centered.....

Here is the cleaned up block and the progress as I put it together for mock up in the car.....







Here is the trans crossmember I drilled and on of it in the car.....





Here it is the motor/trans sitting in the car(everything looks pretty good but I may try to raise it a little to get the pan even with the k-member, I also think I am going to move it slightly forward for a bit more firewall clearance.....

S10xGN

iTrader: (11)

Frank, was that your finish-machined block? My block's back from machining, but the outside is filthy. Looking for an easy and safe way to clean the outside. Gotta be easy, the heat index here is 110°...

nuckifuts

iTrader: (7)

Your skills and attention to detail amaze me Frank.

Didn't you have a maverick after the coupe?

franktf

iTrader: (6)

That's a junk block with some cross ventilation..... I just cleaned it up so I don't get grease on the bare metal in my engine compartment..... I used a pressure washer and some easy-off oven cleaner.....


Thank you..... Yeah I had a Mav, but I got rid of it when I found this low mile unmolested Comet.....

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Frank,

What steering wheel is in the car? I have a Grant steering wheel in my Cougar, and I would be happy to send you a Mercury Man medallion for the steering wheel, if you think it might work.

Andrew

franktf

iTrader: (6)

I have the GT Performance Wheel shown in the pic below..... I think I could definitely make it work, I would like to have one..... I'll pm you my addy, send me your Paypal and I give you some money for shipping and such if you would like.....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

I got it up on jack stands this morning, and I put the crossmember in backwards..... After looking it over I liked the way the 6 cyl crossmember works with the glide..... I notched the center out of it and added a piece of 3/16" plate for the mount pad, then made angled fillers with some 1/8" plate..... I welded it all up on both sides, then ground the top side smooth so it wont hold any dirt or oil on it down the road..... The trans mount was properly centered now, with that corrected I was able to center the motor and everything looked good now..... It looks like I will be making a set of motor mounts since the driver side on is all but hitting the steering shaft..... No biggie or surprise really.....

Before I went home I wiped the engine compartment down with OSPHO, with all the rain and humidity we have been having it was starting to surface rust..... That stuff is amazing, by the time I wiped it all down the almost all the rust disappeared.....

Here is the trans crossmember progress and what it looks like in the car.....







Here is the engine compartment.....

aggie91

Progress looks great. Ospho is some great stuff....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

Thanks..... Yes sir it is.....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

I got some material this week to make the motor mounts, and I got them made today..... I also got a the 2 outboard tubes to the k-member tacked in place..... I hope to get everything with the motor mounts finished up tomorrow.....

Here are the pieces for the new mounts all made and drilled and then one of them welded together.....





Here is a couple with the outboard tubes tacked in place.....

franktf

iTrader: (6)

First thing this morning I removed the rack&pinion and oil pan to make room to work..... Then I made the inner mount tubes and got them tacked in good..... Next I picked up the motor and removed the k-member, got it on the bench then drilled a piece of angle and a piece of strap for a make shift jig..... After that I welded everything up and got any weld spatter cleaned off the tubes, then reinstalled the k-member in the car.....

Here the new inner tubes are made and tacked in place.....




Here the k-member is on the bench through the process.....






and here the k-member is back in the car.....