TC's T/C wagon....
- Thread starter thrashingcows
- Start date
BootHead
Well-known member
dang, I'm liking that already and adding a chipper shredder type thing at the end.
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Gee they're pretty picky on the inspection thing.
Whats up with the 300? It looks to be a cool cruiser.
That 71 300 donated it's vitals...440/auto and schtuff....to bring the wagon back from the land of derby....:shifty:
But why don't you roll around in the 300 instead and find another motor for the wagon?
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
The 300 is gone but it had issues...more than what showed in the pics...plus I only bought the 300 for the vitals and I had to sell all my other cars, A/B and C's because I have only a single car garage so I had to make a choice on what I wanted to keep.
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Well since I am waiting for the manual vent window cranking mechanism to arriveI thought I would try and weld up the crack in my pass side HP manifold.
I know welding cast is tricky at the best of times but I found a company that sells special welding rods for all kinds of applications. SO I bought their manifold welding kit, which requires no pre-heating or special cooling, just V out the crack and weld.
Click for larger image....
So I'm not a bad stick welder, no formal training other than lots of practice and picking info from professionals heads for years. SO I was fairly confident that things would turn out OK....Well you be the judge....
Click for larger image....
Well I used up the 2 anchoring rods, couldn't get the heat right or the weld to flow, even folowing the instructions from their website. Anway after you use the anchoring rod you go over right back over with a machinable rod...it just kept cooking and blowing holes in the manifold.....
So anyway the end result was what you see....worse than when I started but a lesson learned I guess.
So now I need a new pass side HP manifold....
.....
E-pay here I come....
I know welding cast is tricky at the best of times but I found a company that sells special welding rods for all kinds of applications. SO I bought their manifold welding kit, which requires no pre-heating or special cooling, just V out the crack and weld.
Click for larger image....
So I'm not a bad stick welder, no formal training other than lots of practice and picking info from professionals heads for years. SO I was fairly confident that things would turn out OK....Well you be the judge....
Click for larger image....
Well I used up the 2 anchoring rods, couldn't get the heat right or the weld to flow, even folowing the instructions from their website. Anway after you use the anchoring rod you go over right back over with a machinable rod...it just kept cooking and blowing holes in the manifold.....
So anyway the end result was what you see....worse than when I started but a lesson learned I guess.
So now I need a new pass side HP manifold....
E-pay here I come....
68R/T
I got drunk and swallowed my teeth, now
I could've welded that. :toot:
In fact, I could probably still save what you have. :hmmm:
To fit the 440 in my Volare waGOON I had to extend the drivers side manifold outlet 6" plus change the angle. I cut the flange off and added in a section of mild steel piping, then welded the flange back on. No leaks yet. :huh:
In fact, I could probably still save what you have. :hmmm:
To fit the 440 in my Volare waGOON I had to extend the drivers side manifold outlet 6" plus change the angle. I cut the flange off and added in a section of mild steel piping, then welded the flange back on. No leaks yet. :huh:
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
March 22-23-2008
I finally recieved my replacement vent window crank mechanisms from a friend in AZ...Thanks Chris!! Anyway got them installed over the weekend and working properly so now I'm ready to get the car re-inspected.
My apointment is for thursday morning.....if and when I pass it will be almost 2 years since I brought the car into the country and I'm now finally able to register it...:bravo:
I finally recieved my replacement vent window crank mechanisms from a friend in AZ...Thanks Chris!! Anyway got them installed over the weekend and working properly so now I'm ready to get the car re-inspected.
My apointment is for thursday morning.....if and when I pass it will be almost 2 years since I brought the car into the country and I'm now finally able to register it...:bravo:
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
IT PASSED!!!!!
Well it's registered now properly in our province and Canada, had to pay tax on the car twice...once when I brought it across the US/Canada border and just now AGAIN when I registered it...friggin scam.:doubt:
But I can now get proper permits so I can take it for a good drive on the highway to shake things down.
Next will be the new 2 1/2 inch dual exhaust, then I will redo the front suspension...have the spare set from the parts car 300 so I'll rebuild it and do a one day swap for the front end.
Then the motor comes out to redo and the new Sanden compressor and A/C underhood kit will go back in.
Hope to have it pretty much ready to cruise by summer....will post pics as they are relevant...:giggedy:
Well it's registered now properly in our province and Canada, had to pay tax on the car twice...once when I brought it across the US/Canada border and just now AGAIN when I registered it...friggin scam.:doubt:
But I can now get proper permits so I can take it for a good drive on the highway to shake things down.Next will be the new 2 1/2 inch dual exhaust, then I will redo the front suspension...have the spare set from the parts car 300 so I'll rebuild it and do a one day swap for the front end.
Then the motor comes out to redo and the new Sanden compressor and A/C underhood kit will go back in.
Hope to have it pretty much ready to cruise by summer....will post pics as they are relevant...:giggedy:
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Well I have been working a bit on getting the spare front suspension apart and ready for blasting.
Have learned a few things while I've been at it so I thought I would share.
First is the upper control arms. The bushings can be removed quite easily without any fancy tools. The outer washer on the bushings, the large end, is just pressed into the center shaft, so if you clamp the big end into a vice and then twist it will POP off.
With this off you can now use fire, (love to play with fire..
), to heat up the center shaft and then slide it out. Now pry out the rubber bushing and all you have to do is pound the outer shells inwards and then out. I used my buddies plazma cutter on three of them before I discovered this.
So next was the lower control arm bushings. I had my shop press out the center shaft, then I used my dremel and a small cutoff blade to cut mostly through the shell surrounding the center shaft. Cut almost all the way through but not quite, then use a cold chisel to bang down the center of the cut and it cracks and popped off.
The real fun was the outer shell in the lower control arm. I tried the, "weld on a thick washer and pound out the shell" but my little wire feed wouldn't get enough penatration on the metal so it kept comming off after a few hits. The I decided to try and cold chisel my way though, well this worked to about half way down the shell then I couldn't get the chisle to grab any more material. So next I tried heating up the shell to glowing red and trying to pry/bend the shell inwards...nope didn't work either.
So I returned to the old dremel tool. I used some grinding stones to start with but after only a minute or two the stone would explode, I went through three stones before I figured out what was happening. The stones were not made for grinding heavy metal so they were generating too much heat and then exploding. So my solution was to grind for about 10 seconds, then stop the dremel and dip the stone into water, then wait a few seconds, start the dremel and grind for another 10 seconds.....I did this until I ground almost all the way through the outter shell. Then I used a old crappy flat screwdriver and pounded under the shell and it cracked down the middle., then all I had to do was bend both ends inward and the shell slid out....
So after all this I cleaned everything in my new(old) parts washer and discovered that my idea of running a fuel filter to replace the origianl bag style filter was only good for about 10 minutes....So I switched to the original bag filter and it lasted about 15 miutes before clogging up.
Then I decide to run the washer with no filter...Much better!!!
So all my parts are now clean and ready for blasting....then I can paint and reassemble the new front end. Hope to have it ready to bolt in by the end of April. But the new Exhaust comes first.:giggedy:
Have learned a few things while I've been at it so I thought I would share.
First is the upper control arms. The bushings can be removed quite easily without any fancy tools. The outer washer on the bushings, the large end, is just pressed into the center shaft, so if you clamp the big end into a vice and then twist it will POP off.
With this off you can now use fire, (love to play with fire..
So next was the lower control arm bushings. I had my shop press out the center shaft, then I used my dremel and a small cutoff blade to cut mostly through the shell surrounding the center shaft. Cut almost all the way through but not quite, then use a cold chisel to bang down the center of the cut and it cracks and popped off.
The real fun was the outer shell in the lower control arm. I tried the, "weld on a thick washer and pound out the shell" but my little wire feed wouldn't get enough penatration on the metal so it kept comming off after a few hits. The I decided to try and cold chisel my way though, well this worked to about half way down the shell then I couldn't get the chisle to grab any more material. So next I tried heating up the shell to glowing red and trying to pry/bend the shell inwards...nope didn't work either.
So I returned to the old dremel tool. I used some grinding stones to start with but after only a minute or two the stone would explode, I went through three stones before I figured out what was happening. The stones were not made for grinding heavy metal so they were generating too much heat and then exploding. So my solution was to grind for about 10 seconds, then stop the dremel and dip the stone into water, then wait a few seconds, start the dremel and grind for another 10 seconds.....I did this until I ground almost all the way through the outter shell. Then I used a old crappy flat screwdriver and pounded under the shell and it cracked down the middle., then all I had to do was bend both ends inward and the shell slid out....
So after all this I cleaned everything in my new(old) parts washer and discovered that my idea of running a fuel filter to replace the origianl bag style filter was only good for about 10 minutes....So I switched to the original bag filter and it lasted about 15 miutes before clogging up.
So all my parts are now clean and ready for blasting....then I can paint and reassemble the new front end. Hope to have it ready to bolt in by the end of April. But the new Exhaust comes first.:giggedy:
71ChargerRT
Well-known member
Cool
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Well been a while since I updated what's been going on with the wagon.
Well I got my new (used) pass. side HP manifold, remember the crack that didn't weld up so good...
So I removed the old low flows and started to install the new HP manifolds, got the pass side on and then installed the drivers side HP manifold.
Now I had picked up a 70-73 C-body 383/440 HP manifold so time ago, love the look of the manifold with the raised rims down the side, but when I installed it on the wagon it just didn't look right in the engine bay. I sis a lot of soul searching so to speak and I finally decided that I wouldn't be happy with the 70-73 HP manifold so I am going to get a proper 68/69 HP manifold for the drivers side and install that instead.
So since I decided to wait and get another HP manifold I could no longer get my new exhaust installed. SInce it will probably be a couple weeks until the new manifold shows up I decided to rebuild the front end in the wagon while I wait.
Well I got my new (used) pass. side HP manifold, remember the crack that didn't weld up so good...
Now I had picked up a 70-73 C-body 383/440 HP manifold so time ago, love the look of the manifold with the raised rims down the side, but when I installed it on the wagon it just didn't look right in the engine bay. I sis a lot of soul searching so to speak and I finally decided that I wouldn't be happy with the 70-73 HP manifold so I am going to get a proper 68/69 HP manifold for the drivers side and install that instead.
So since I decided to wait and get another HP manifold I could no longer get my new exhaust installed. SInce it will probably be a couple weeks until the new manifold shows up I decided to rebuild the front end in the wagon while I wait.
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
So I pulled the front end...I borrowed a front end removal tool kit from Crappy Tire..worked great and made disassembly quick and painless. As well as the torsion bar removal tool from a buddy....
Click for larger image...
Since the exhaust and front end were off I figured I'd have lots of room to install the 71 disc/drum brake prop. valve for the old drum/drum set-up, since I'll be installing the 73 disc set-up.
I found out that the drum/drum set-up is very different to the disc drum, brake line feed that is. So I had to cut the ends off each line and install different fittings then re-flare the ends and then hand bend the lines into the right ports on the prop. valve. Looks like hell but it will work for now. I'll order new brake lines later this year.
So since that is done I could move on up to the front end reassembly.
I got the front end mostly installed, but was having a problem installing the bushings into the brackets on the sway bar. Advice from board members led me to drill through the spot welds and then cut down between the seam with the sawsall and make a piece that can be bolted in...works great now!!
Click for larger image...
So I installed the center links and bushings and hung the sway bar in place but there seemed to be a problem.....the sway bar ends were not in the right place by each of the strut rods??
Now I used the front end components from the 71 300 and just assumed that the sway bars, like most of the other pieces, would be the same...we'll I was wrong...
Seems the original 68 sway bar is a bit shorter and has a slightly different bend to the ends than the 71 300 style. So I am also assuming then that the strut rods would have been a different length as well as the torsion bars, So I guess there are a few components in the front ends that are different in slabsides and fusey C-bodies....
I also found out through questions on this board and others the difference in the inner and outer tie rod ends. The inner tie rod is the LH thread and the outer tie rod is the RH thread. Not that it really matters but I'm a little obsesive about these kind of details so I wanted it to be right.
So I have a few things left to do on the front end but will get to them in the next week or so.
Here's were what the front end looks like so far...
Click for larger image...
Click for larger image...
Since the exhaust and front end were off I figured I'd have lots of room to install the 71 disc/drum brake prop. valve for the old drum/drum set-up, since I'll be installing the 73 disc set-up.
I found out that the drum/drum set-up is very different to the disc drum, brake line feed that is. So I had to cut the ends off each line and install different fittings then re-flare the ends and then hand bend the lines into the right ports on the prop. valve. Looks like hell but it will work for now. I'll order new brake lines later this year.
So since that is done I could move on up to the front end reassembly.
I got the front end mostly installed, but was having a problem installing the bushings into the brackets on the sway bar. Advice from board members led me to drill through the spot welds and then cut down between the seam with the sawsall and make a piece that can be bolted in...works great now!!
Click for larger image...
So I installed the center links and bushings and hung the sway bar in place but there seemed to be a problem.....the sway bar ends were not in the right place by each of the strut rods??
Now I used the front end components from the 71 300 and just assumed that the sway bars, like most of the other pieces, would be the same...we'll I was wrong...
Seems the original 68 sway bar is a bit shorter and has a slightly different bend to the ends than the 71 300 style. So I am also assuming then that the strut rods would have been a different length as well as the torsion bars, So I guess there are a few components in the front ends that are different in slabsides and fusey C-bodies....
I also found out through questions on this board and others the difference in the inner and outer tie rod ends. The inner tie rod is the LH thread and the outer tie rod is the RH thread. Not that it really matters but I'm a little obsesive about these kind of details so I wanted it to be right.
So I have a few things left to do on the front end but will get to them in the next week or so.
Here's were what the front end looks like so far...
Click for larger image...