gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Good luck with selling the car Andrew.

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

What's next Andrew?

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Thank you Sir! Pass the word around....If the lead comes from you, Ill PayPal you a nice finder's fee.

I am thinking more of a highway sled...want to trade for the Volvo?

Andrew

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Darn!




What does everyone think of this beast? Crazy talk????

Andrew

G Atsma

I see an LS3 w/hi lift hot cam and 4L80E w/ 9" rear in its future... Oh and some Wilwood binders...Other than that leave it alone.... STEALTH BAYBEEEE!!

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Despite the fact that I am trying to sell the car, I can't help but tinker with it.

The other day I was doing some unrelated things (I had some trouble with the DBW going into limp mode) and I accidentally spilled a little alcohol on the hood. I noticed that the alcohol soaked into the hood and made it a lot darker, which I liked. This lead to some further experimenting. I did a portion of the hood and I rather liked the results:



Various people have also suggested trying penetrol, so I did a portion of the roof, and I liked what it did for the paint as well.



What prompted all of this is that before it got too cold, I wanted to do something about the roof, trunk, and other horizontal surfaces. The sun has really done a number on those areas. You can see how badly the paint is flaking on the roof:





The trunk wasn't much better. You can also see how the clear coat is just coming off on the top of the rear quarter.



So I grabbed a palm sander with some 80 grit and went to town. What a mess!



I sanded the roof, trunk, hood, tops of the fenders, and basically all other areas where the clear was checkered and coming off. This was after I rinsed the car. The hood was still wet, but you can see the roof, rear quarter, and tops of the doors have been sanded. All of the light areas is where I used the sander.



Then I started to coat the whole car with penetrol. I used a green scotch brite pad to apply it.



Here is the whole car after everything was coated with penetrol.





The sun was setting so I decided to see if I can get some decent beauty shots.





Overall, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I should have done it a while ago.

Andrew

EdyJun

I like it!

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

"What prompted all of this is that before it got too cold, I wanted to do something about the roof, trunk, and other horizontal surfaces. The sun has really done a number on those areas. You can see how badly the paint is flaking on the roof:"

My first thought, with a chuckle, was "what paint?" But I must admit -- you've highlighted the patina in a manner that makes it look mo better even to my jaundiced eye.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Thank you for the compliment!

Andrew

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

Did you give any thought to B.A.T. for selling it?

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Today I finally got started on the electronic steering project. I've also been meaning to address another problem. All you Ford guys know how the stock pedal pivot points are made. Ford decided that it was a good idea to use some sort of pot metal bushing that was swedged into the pedal box. High mileage cars really suffer the most, but even my low mileage car had really wobbly pedals. The clutch pedal takes the majority of the load and it also holds the main support shaft for the brake pedal.

Mustang Steve has been a round a long time and I had one of his kits for fixing this problem. He sells a nice set of parts that allow you to replace the stock bushings with roller bearings. So while I was waiting for a few more parts to arrive for the electronic steering, I figured I would go ahead and fix the wobbly pedals. Since I already pulled the steering column, it wasn't but a few more bolts and the pedal box was taken out.

Here is the pedal box with the pot metal bushings reamed out. I used a step drill then an angle grinder.





Then is was time for a little welding. My wife is out of town for a few days, so naturally, what better place to weld than in the kitchen. That door leads to the one car garage, which is holding my GTO, without any spare room. The welder is parked just on the other side of the wall right next to a power outlet. Perfect......



The kit from Mustang Steve includes these little bearing sleeves that have to be welded to the pedal box. Don't judge me...it has been a long time since I have fused metal together.



The bearings support the shaft for the clutch and the brake pedals.



Here is the whole thing put together and assembled for good.



#batchelorlife



Andrew

79LS1FOX

iTrader: (11)

As long as its all cleaned up by the time she get home no one will be the wiser.....

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

My thinking exactly!!!

It was raining sideways this morning, but by the early afternoon it had stopped, so I decided to make a little more progress.

The first thing I did was fix the attaching points of the lower column support. From the factory the column support is held in place with sheet metal screws that go into the firewall. I figured I can improve on that a little. I got an inexpensive rivnut kit on Amazon, drilled out the holes and installed 1/4" rivnuts into the firewall. Sorry for the weird picture, but I forgot to take a picture this afternoon so I took one with a flash light.



The UPS guy showed up and brought me the lower steering shaft bearings. I ordered two kinds. I really liked the one on the left, but it turned out to be disappointing. As it turns out it isn't a bearing at all, but just a swiveling bushing. The bearing on the right will do nicely. The bore fits on my steering shaft much better and there are two set screws in the retaining collar. The three hole bearing will go back to Speedway.



I then made a paper template of the column support, transferred it to some 16 gauge steel, and punched 4 holes in the appropriate locations. I made the holes a little bigger so there is a little bit of give and take when the column gets installed.



I am going to wait until the column is done to mount the bearing, but it will go something like this.



As I mentioned before, I am going to use a 1.5" ID steel collar to attach the upper column tube to the Toyota motor.



The OD of the collar is exactly the same as the OD of column tube. I figured it was going to be a challenge butt welding that collar to the end of the tube. Now, if I only had a little lathe!!!



I used my angle grinder with the thin wizwheelofdeath and "machined" a step in the collar. The tolerances for this sort of thing don't exactly have to be to the .00001". Turned out pretty nice!



There is a little bit of a tapper in the step, but it fits really nicely inside the column tube. I figured this will be much easier to weld, since I won't have to worry about blowing through the thin wall of the column tube. A couple of taps with the hammer and that sleeve will fit perfectly inside the column tube.



Tomorrow I should make some more progress. The second column will be here, hopefully around 11:00am. The weather should be good too, with only a 30% chance of rain.

To do list:

1. Measure and cut the upper column tube.
2. Weld collar to tube.
3. Figure out what to do for the upper steering shaft.
4. Decide if I am going to add an extra mounting tab for the motor on the pedal box.

That should keep me plenty busy tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Andrew

G Atsma

I am a HUGE fan of "improving the situation". This should feel a LOT more solid and confidence-inspiring.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

The plan is to actually "machine" another collar so it fits snugly inside the tube and put it about 2" from the tube at the bottom. I will then drill another hole opposite from where the current set screw is located and drill through the tube of the Toyota gear. That way I can run a total of 4 screws to attach the upper column to the Toyota motor assembly. The through screws will keep the tube and motor from rotating separately, much more so than the set screws. That's the plan at least....

Andrew

G Atsma

I am starting to see electric power steering as the wave of the future in both new cars and in the hobby where hydraulic P/S might be hard to do.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

This seems appropriate for a lot of vehicles, especially when doing Gen V swaps, since the stock accessory drives don't have power steering pumps. There is a company making kits for many popular, older GM platforms. But honestly, this is totally DIY worthy. The parts are readily available and cheap. No sense is spending $1000 for a "kit." I am maybe $150 into it so far, give or take. I am also going to make it speed sensing by interfacing the Toyota ECU with the Holley Dominator.

Andrew

G Atsma

Any time you can put the P/S unit in the column and hook up a few wires, I'm in! lol No hydraulic hoses to route, leak, or blow. Yep I'm sold....