Island Girl
Well-Known Member
If you don't mind taking a little trip to the Caribbean for it . . I'll pencil you in
And yes, I hope to run the wheels, or at least a few sets of tires, off of it.
The excitement is building
- Thread starter Island Girl
- Start date
If you don't mind taking a little trip to the Caribbean for it . . I'll pencil you in
And yes, I hope to run the wheels, or at least a few sets of tires, off of it.
old round fart
Well-Known Member
Thought of another fix! Move the headlight bracket 1/2” to gat new metal and make new holes!
Indycars
Well-Known Member
What does it cost for a place to stay that's walking to distance to the beach for a week?If you don't mind taking a little trip to the Caribbean for it . . I'll pencil you in
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
Until probably sometime next year, there just aren't any at any price . . . .
There are so many people here from off-island involved with the ongoing rebuilding after the cat 5 hurricanes almost 2 years ago, and trying to get the refinery restarted, that rents have gone stratospheric, plus the fact that a lot of resorts are still rebuilding and not back open yet. Some are publicly targeting Christmas time, but it will most likely be closer to Easter.
The refinery built a man camp with modular units, probably houses a thousand, probably more, to be able to get workers.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
Little Sunday Update . . . .
Well . . . .
After a day of hard work in the hot summer sun yesterday, while the mind was willing, the body just wasn't quite up for another one today.
So I did the next best thing . . . took the vette for a spin, and then installed the Lokar shifter and gear position indicator hardware on my 700R4 trans.
These things look easy, especially when you watch the manufacturer's video, but never seem to go quite as easily for me on my hardware.
It may be that TCI uses its own, rather than a stock, shift and detent setup, but the shifter had about 0.400" more lineal movement than my trans arm does, so the shifter detent positions did not match up to the transmission's, and it didn't tick into each gear.
Top solve that problem, I ended up bending the shifter arm more out to the left side, which moved it higher and closer to its axis of rotation, therefore lessening it's lineal travel distance. It also served to move the shift rod out away from the trans case and gave good clearance for the lockup clutch's electrical connector.
With everything shifting properly, I opened the Lokar shift indicator kit, which has LEDs to indicate P-R-N-OD-3_2-1 and is comprised of a cable driven sensor that's wired to a "magic" decoding box.
The sensor cable attaches to the trans shift arm and effectively operates a potentiometer thru an arc as the trans is shifted thru the gear selections.
The decoder translates the voltage at each position and lights the appropriate LED.
It also has the capability to provide a park and neutral safety lockout and also a backup lights circuit.
A physical switch on the shifter takes care of the start lockout, but I do need a reverse lights actuation system, and I like the LED display of what gear I'm in.
Since I have the unusually thick Moroso, steel lined blue silicone pan gasket, it screwed with the clearances of the sensor bracket and I had to make a shim from some 1/4" flat aluminum, but aside from paying attention to the little details, it went together fine . . . .
I'll have a go at calibrating it either during the week, or next weekend, and once it's just right, I'll final trim the cable length, which I left slightly long in case I needed to make a little adjustment.
Well . . . .
After a day of hard work in the hot summer sun yesterday, while the mind was willing, the body just wasn't quite up for another one today.
So I did the next best thing . . . took the vette for a spin, and then installed the Lokar shifter and gear position indicator hardware on my 700R4 trans.
These things look easy, especially when you watch the manufacturer's video, but never seem to go quite as easily for me on my hardware.
It may be that TCI uses its own, rather than a stock, shift and detent setup, but the shifter had about 0.400" more lineal movement than my trans arm does, so the shifter detent positions did not match up to the transmission's, and it didn't tick into each gear.
Top solve that problem, I ended up bending the shifter arm more out to the left side, which moved it higher and closer to its axis of rotation, therefore lessening it's lineal travel distance. It also served to move the shift rod out away from the trans case and gave good clearance for the lockup clutch's electrical connector.
With everything shifting properly, I opened the Lokar shift indicator kit, which has LEDs to indicate P-R-N-OD-3_2-1 and is comprised of a cable driven sensor that's wired to a "magic" decoding box.
The sensor cable attaches to the trans shift arm and effectively operates a potentiometer thru an arc as the trans is shifted thru the gear selections.
The decoder translates the voltage at each position and lights the appropriate LED.
It also has the capability to provide a park and neutral safety lockout and also a backup lights circuit.
A physical switch on the shifter takes care of the start lockout, but I do need a reverse lights actuation system, and I like the LED display of what gear I'm in.
Since I have the unusually thick Moroso, steel lined blue silicone pan gasket, it screwed with the clearances of the sensor bracket and I had to make a shim from some 1/4" flat aluminum, but aside from paying attention to the little details, it went together fine . . . .
I'll have a go at calibrating it either during the week, or next weekend, and once it's just right, I'll final trim the cable length, which I left slightly long in case I needed to make a little adjustment.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
My McMaster order came today, so I finished up rethreading the panhard rod to the proper depth so that I can have the proper range of adjustment with the relocated tab on the new rear end housing.
New, good quality drill bit and sharp new taps, (both RH & LH) made it a pretty simple task.
Just got to mask it off and match up some paint . . . . and it's good to go . . .
New, good quality drill bit and sharp new taps, (both RH & LH) made it a pretty simple task.
Just got to mask it off and match up some paint . . . . and it's good to go . . .
Indycars
Well-Known Member
I've been thinking that painting the frame and suspension that matches off the shelf Rust-Oleum,Just got to mask it off and match up some paint . . . . and it's good to go . . .
DupiColor Or Krylon paint makes it much easier to make mods years later to ones frame. We
would all would love to have that perfect shinny frame, but what happens next year when you
need to make that modification. I guess it comes down to do you want a show car or a driver ???
What are you girls/guys doing for this conundrum ???
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
I chose a readily available DuPont color. It should be sprayable with the little Preval units, so for small areas that don't show a lot, I should get by OK.
If the one auto paint supply place on the island can match the color, they could even put it in a rattle can for quick easy touch ups in unseen areas.
Years down the road though, I would think even Rustoleum or Krylon or the like would be hard to match after years of weather and sun.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
They've been around for a long time . . . .
I used one for the first time back in the early 70's and thought it was nice to use any color I might want to, and not just be limited to rattle can colors when I didn't have a compressor or the space to really paint in.
Over the years, it turns out to be quick and handy for small areas and touch ups.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
It's been a longggg week at work, and I still had to go in early this morning for a few hours.
By the time I got home it was nap time . . . us sexy seniors need our beauty rest.
Anyway, I still made a little progress on the front end setup after I got up.
I was able to slot the holes in the shock mount brackets and I did put a shim between the frame rail side and the bracket. I used some 1-1/2" aluminum angle so that I would have a flat surface below where the bracket mounts to anchor the forward extension of the radiator mounting rail.
I can now thread the all the bolts completely in and out by hand and the brackets feel secure and solid.
I also need to adjust a little in the cutouts for the brackets in the grill shell, since they encroach by another 1/8" now.
I'll get to the rad mounting tomorrow, but I have a plan that I think will work nicely.
Usually the Spirit kits mount the rad right on the inboard tabs with the 1/2" hole, and the headlight risers mount on the outboard side of the frame rail at the same place.
For most grill shells, that works out OK, as the shell mounts to the rad and sits between the frame rails.
For my '34 style grill, that slopes so far forward and down, it won't mount back far enough that it will cover the whole rad thickness with the rad in the usual location, so I have to move the rad forward a couple inches or so from where the tabs are to have it completely under the grill shell.
To that end, I'll make a rail for each side, from the 1-1/2" angle stock, that secures to the tab, and extends forward, almost to the front cross tube, and then can secure with a short piece of threaded rod and stop nuts, to the flat surface of the angle that shims each shock mount bracket to the frame rail.
The radiator will secure to the rails with its 10-24 stainless carriage bolts and nylocs, and once that's in, I can work out what kind of brackets I want to use to mount the grill shell to the rad.
I also got a couple coats of self etching primer on the bare end of the panhard rod, and a coat of "close enough" blue. . . . Will add another coat of blue tomorrow, and hopefully some clear by next weekend.
By the time I got home it was nap time . . . us sexy seniors need our beauty rest.
Anyway, I still made a little progress on the front end setup after I got up.
I was able to slot the holes in the shock mount brackets and I did put a shim between the frame rail side and the bracket. I used some 1-1/2" aluminum angle so that I would have a flat surface below where the bracket mounts to anchor the forward extension of the radiator mounting rail.
I can now thread the all the bolts completely in and out by hand and the brackets feel secure and solid.
I also need to adjust a little in the cutouts for the brackets in the grill shell, since they encroach by another 1/8" now.
I'll get to the rad mounting tomorrow, but I have a plan that I think will work nicely.
Usually the Spirit kits mount the rad right on the inboard tabs with the 1/2" hole, and the headlight risers mount on the outboard side of the frame rail at the same place.
For most grill shells, that works out OK, as the shell mounts to the rad and sits between the frame rails.
For my '34 style grill, that slopes so far forward and down, it won't mount back far enough that it will cover the whole rad thickness with the rad in the usual location, so I have to move the rad forward a couple inches or so from where the tabs are to have it completely under the grill shell.
To that end, I'll make a rail for each side, from the 1-1/2" angle stock, that secures to the tab, and extends forward, almost to the front cross tube, and then can secure with a short piece of threaded rod and stop nuts, to the flat surface of the angle that shims each shock mount bracket to the frame rail.
The radiator will secure to the rails with its 10-24 stainless carriage bolts and nylocs, and once that's in, I can work out what kind of brackets I want to use to mount the grill shell to the rad.
I also got a couple coats of self etching primer on the bare end of the panhard rod, and a coat of "close enough" blue. . . . Will add another coat of blue tomorrow, and hopefully some clear by next weekend.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
Was going to keep it on the QT until they got here, but you having mentioned "breathing fire", . . . . . I went and ordered a set of Sanderson Zoomies with the shiny ceramic finish last week.
There's about a 3 week lead time, and then shipping will take a while, so early next month should feel like Christmas . . . . and my homely little 632 can really come out of her shell.
Island Girl
Well-Known Member
Sunday Update . . . .
Been a long day in the hot sun, but much was accomplished.
Some of my plan was genius, some not so much . . . Started early with a run to the hardware store where I saw some items that gave me ideas that would have been cool, but were ultimately overkill and there wasn't enough space to work them in.. . . oh well, more material in stock for another project . . .
Went with 2" angle for the rad mounting rails and it works out nicely.
Had to resize the flanges on the grill shell a little so that it can be tweaked into place with the shock mounts and shocks all tightened in place . . . used to have to have 1 shock mount removed to get the grill shell situated, and then install the shock mount . . .
With the rad in place, there's no way to reach the bolt heads to do that.
The rad moved forward from the usual Spirit position almost 2-1/2" and now sits completely up under the grill shell by about 1/2" to 3/4" and really looks nice.
The headlight brackets now mount in the usual position for a Spirit car, . . right up forward to the thru-frame brake line fittings outboard of the stock rad mount tabs.
Tweaking on the '34 grill shell to make it work with regular hydraulic shocks has been a slow and tedious process, but I think it's finally dialed in now.
Next weekend, I'll work out how to mount the grill shell to the rad, as it's quite heavy and wants to cantilever forward and downwards.
Been a long day in the hot sun, but much was accomplished.
Some of my plan was genius, some not so much . . . Started early with a run to the hardware store where I saw some items that gave me ideas that would have been cool, but were ultimately overkill and there wasn't enough space to work them in.. . . oh well, more material in stock for another project . . .
Went with 2" angle for the rad mounting rails and it works out nicely.
Had to resize the flanges on the grill shell a little so that it can be tweaked into place with the shock mounts and shocks all tightened in place . . . used to have to have 1 shock mount removed to get the grill shell situated, and then install the shock mount . . .
With the rad in place, there's no way to reach the bolt heads to do that.
The rad moved forward from the usual Spirit position almost 2-1/2" and now sits completely up under the grill shell by about 1/2" to 3/4" and really looks nice.
The headlight brackets now mount in the usual position for a Spirit car, . . right up forward to the thru-frame brake line fittings outboard of the stock rad mount tabs.
Tweaking on the '34 grill shell to make it work with regular hydraulic shocks has been a slow and tedious process, but I think it's finally dialed in now.
Next weekend, I'll work out how to mount the grill shell to the rad, as it's quite heavy and wants to cantilever forward and downwards.
