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I have been working on modifying and cleaning up the fox body spindles for the suspension swap..... I had to cut the factory caliper mounting ears and drill/tap the mounting holes for the Willwood front brake swap..... I also got them bead blasted, I'll get some paint on them tomorrow.....
It really wasn't in my plans for today but is a nuisance the need to be addressed, so I took the time to strip at least most of the paint off the entire front section..... I intentionally stayed away from the firewall a few inches because I already painted it..... Just need to get the loose stuff off later and blend the areas close to the firewall..... Tomorrow I will have to strip the towers, then I can get on the reinstall them.....
You are one pickey bastard and we appreciate it. Lots of us are very tired of seeing home buil hacked up POS projects that are unsafe and simply just junk that won't last longer than a year or so of real world driving. Some people are just too lazy to do a good reliable build that will be fast and quick and not over the top high dollar cars.
That engine bay is going to look fantastic when you are done!
Andrew
I sure hope so, and thanks Andrew.....
Originally Posted by aknovaman
You are one pickey bastard and we appreciate it. Lots of us are very tired of seeing home buil hacked up POS projects that are unsafe and simply just junk that won't last longer than a year or so of real world driving. Some people are just too lazy to do a good reliable build that will be fast and quick and not over the top high dollar cars.
Rant complete.
Yes I am at times and thanks.....
Originally Posted by S10xGN
Frank,
Nice job, to get metal that clean would have taken me a couple weeks! What did you use to do the stripping?
Thanks..... I just use Klean Strip from the Home Depot, some small wooden handle wire brushes, lacquer thinner a scraper and some rags.....
I put a cote of stripper, let it work - scrape off the wrinkled stuff - put a second cote of stripper, lit it work - brush the area down good with a wire brush - then wet a rag down with lacquer thinner and wipe it down(I am very generous with the thinner and it will trash a lot of rags - must keep the rags good and wet) - Some areas may take a third cote if the stuff is caked on.....
Today's progress got cut short..... Now I can say I have blood, sweat and beers in the project..... I have gotten little nicks and cut working on it previously, but now I actually did some damage.... I did still manage to get the top of the towers disassembled..... I also did strip them, but it was a little ackward doing that while only using one hand.....
First here is the damage to the palm of my left hand(I tried slot it using a spot weld drill).....
Here is the disassemble process for the towers and one of the towers stripped.....
I too have drilled my hand. I cannot recommend it.
I have done that once or twice in the past..... But trust me on the this, doing it with a spot weld drill is something you really don't want to try.....
Parts are looking goo Frank, the hand, not so much.
Hope it heals up quickly so you can keep making good progress on the Comet.
Thanks..... Good so far, at work today I had to drop a K-member and change the oil pan gasket on a 64 Jaguar Mark II..... I had it bandaged and wore a rubber glove with a mechanics glove over that.....
Back at it today..... Got the driver side tower and area around it on the aprons cleaned up the rest of the way..... Clamped the tower in the position I want it, then drill it and put 4 sheet metal screws in it to hold it in a repeatable position..... I marked it up inside and out and cut the top out of it, then removed it and cut it to size..... I also filled all the unnecessary holes in, made and installed filler pieces in the upper outside corners.....After that I reinstalled it with the screws and stuck the piece 4" wide 1/8" thick material I am going to use for a filler between the frame and tower..... I bent and fitted the 4" filler piece to fit properly under the tower and tacked it in place, just need to make the a piece to fit from the filler to the pocket in the tower at 45 degrees.....
Here's the tower cleaned up, clamped in place and screws installed.....
Here's the tower removed and cut down with holes filled, filler pieces made and tacked in at the upper outside corners.....
Here it is with the notch in the bottom of the pocket.....
Here the tower is screwed back in with the 4" stock in place underneath it.....
Here it is with the 4" filler piece bent and tacked in place.....
Welded the 4" filler band to the chassis this morning..... I also made the angled filler piece and tacked it in place..... After that I cleaned up around the tower opening on the pass side..... I got most of the holes filled in the pass side tower and cleaned it up so it will be ready to install nest week.....
Here is what the driver side is looking like right now.....
and here the pass side apron and tower area cleaned up and ready to be mocked up.....
This week I decided I needed to get started on the engine wiring harness, I am using the Holley valve covers which mount the coils directly to the cover which make the stock coil harnesses look like ****..... In the evenings I brake down the factory coil harnesses so I could save the coil connectors(I already have the proper terminals to rewire these)..... Last night I got the coil connectors rewired with 24" of wire on them(need to get them on motor so I can figure out how I want to route them).....
This morning I went to the shop and got the passenger side tower caught up to the driver side.....
Here are coil connectors.....
Here is the progress today.....
Here is an earlier pic of the engine compartment along with one from today to give an idea of how much room is being gained.....
06-04-2015, 08:07 PM
