Lot's of pics, lot's of progress.

I will save the play by play here because it would be a lengthy one. Basically yesterday we did the chop. I don't know why or even if it was a good idea to do it that day but it just needed to be done to move forward. With a bit of tape, the Metabo and Sawz-all we got to work. We supported the body (sort of), began measuring (not really), then started cutting (assaulting) the body. Oh and, we shortened John's dash and started on that as well in the midst of the chop.

New fuel lines!

It was time to let the cheezy red fuel lines go and step up to a more finished look. I got in touch with Dickster again (who I got the carbs from on the bucket build) and got some line & fittings from him today - and wasting no time I got them setup tonight. I must add that I love working with aluminum line, it is very forgiving and easy to work with. Thanks again Dick!

Broken dipstick

The dipstick that was in the engine was cracked at the base and started to break in half - then once provoked it completely separated, luckily I was able to get the leftover piece out with a pair of vice grips and a replacement showed up today from Summit.

New distributor cap & rotor

Out with the red, in with the blue. I also tossed on a vac advance cover while I was in there.

Trans cooler and disty

Small update but an update none the less. I put the distributor back in and routed the wires then moved on to the trans cooler. I made a bracket to mount on the inside of the frame that will also serve as a runner for power, brake and fuel lines once I make mounting blocks for them. The kickdown and dipstick was also installed during this time.

Fuel feed line

I just don't have the patience for line bending, or any measurement that I can't do with a stick so John spent some time on Tuesday fabbing up my feed line to the mechanical pump. The regulator fittings had to be moved around and I still need to get the reg to carb lines done but this looks like a great start - thanks again John.

Just a few engine bits...

The carbs and other misc items were put on last night, thanks to the arrival of some parts from Summit which should keep me going the rest of the week.

Transmission crossmember complete

Finished up the crossmember yesterday, painted and drilled the mounting holes. The trans is now secure and the whole chassis can be moved around as one unit.

Transmission crossmember build

Last night I built the transmission crossmember, there was a flat crossmember there before that I used as the center section. I had an idea of what I wanted but like so many things before I wasn't totally sure until I started building.

I attached the straight crossmember to the trans, spaced it out to put in an isolator then cut some angle iron for the hangers. Once the hangers were set in place I tacked the square tube to them and the crossmember. After removing the mocked assembly I finished up by trimming the crossbar and capping the joint where the 2 drop bars meet.

I need to drill holes to attach to the frame, then some grinding and painting before it's fully installed.

Down on all fours, engine in

Rear end is on, front end is complete. I need to make the trans crossmember and its rolling again.

The front suspension is on!

Assembly time is always a good time for me, instead of staring at the same bare frame for weeks on end it's time to put things back together and the real work starts to begin again. There is a TON of work ahead, but it will be gratifying at the end of each day now since progress will be visible at each turn.

This weekend expect to see it sitting on all fours again and the engine in place. The next fab points are transmission crossmember, front shocks, headlights stands, radiator and grille.

A little bit of machining

The spring perches were just a touch undersized for the new bushings and shackles and after determining that we had enough meat there to hog them out, I brought them over to Matt in the machine shop for some quick cutting.

Dissassembly and painting

Of frame and suspension components











Oh and I couldn't forget that in-between texts, John was a huge help on disassembly - which is what he does best, no not texting I mean taking things apart. Say hi to (insert female here) for me.