Time to dig in...softie conversion

[speedo]

But I do need the torsion bar covers. They were plated but not to my specs. Shop wants to see them to see if it was their fault. How could it not be their fault. I paid them to plate them and the result could be better. Can't see how it is my fault. I could be too anal...yeah that could be the problem. After i/we the shop determine the cause of the problem, my guess is the plated stuff (and there are more pieces) that could have been better will need to be sandblasted again. As I have more plating to push through...me thinks I just suck it up and sandblast everything that took a bad plate, along with the new batch and get it ready for plating round 2.
The front suspension needs dust guards, bearings and hubs...brakes will be added after paint. I only need the e-brake for paint.
Here we go...


Mmmm...fresh vented rotors


Installled with the new dust shields


Front is done...long time coming.

[speedo]

The control arms were "renewed" a while back and have been waiting. I jhad wanted to have the spring plates (adjustable) and torsion bar covers all ready to bolt up together. As the spring plates are ready, but the covers are not...I was hesitating addressing the rear suspension altogether. Whatever...I can at least put everything that is ready on the car. Stub axles are nasty...pounds of crud

Much lighter

Control arms installed with new e-brake cable guides, and fresh dust guards


Clean refreshed hardware always looks nice


And these will have to wait till the torsion bar covers come back from the "cleaners"

E-brakes all adjusted...old shoes still have plenty of meat.
This car should be running a 911 trannie. Turns out that it had a 911/01 trannie which I will need down the road for my 2.0 S engine and the 69 S chassis I have yet to acquire. I am instead going to swap out the "push" clutch cable and instead run a "pull" 901 cable and trannie. Updates later this week...Looking for front 21 t-bars.

Speedo

[speedo]

Last go-round with the plater left me with spring plate-torsion bar covers that weren't up to snuff...whatever that means. They are going to do a batch of clear zinc parts for me, and agreed to run the covers through again. I am not a big "player" in their world, so my stuff gets bumped when a bigger better order comes in. I understand, and am ok with that. It is a weird world with a questinable economy and companies need to take care of their better clients first. I decided to go ahead and bolt up the rear suspension to the point where I had to stop. The measured "angle of dangle" from the original spring plates (non-adjustable) was 25 degrees from level. I decided to go back with the original tbars 19mm and 23.9mm vs bumping up to 21mm and 25mm. If anything, going from a hard window to a soft window will remove a little more rigidity...said a different way...the chassis could become slightly more flexible. This will be a street car. Adding more rigid tbars to a softie is like putting ice cubes in your pockets while you walk around on a hot day outside eating an ice cream cone...what's the point. So I neutralized the adjustability on the spring plates...

Found 25 degrees off normal

"Chased" the mounting bolt threads...this is important and deserves a bit of discussion. Over the years I have heard of different approaches to installing new poly bushings. I have heard of shops that "turn" the bushings down to ease installation. I personally don't agree with this. The bushings are sized for a reason. If they seem tight...they are meant to be tight. They will compress with heat and wear with time. "Turning the bushings down" to make installation easier compromises the benefit of the bushing. I use the standard bushing, a slow torque air ratchet and longer bolts. I grease the bushing and tbar cover and inner torsion bar tube liberally with lithium grease. I then position everything carefully and using the air ratchet...slowly draw the new bushing using the torsion bar cover...into the chassis. I sometimes need to swap the bolts out for shorter and shorter bolts, but when the torsion bar covers have seated the bushings...the correct OEM bolts will seat just fine. I have installed the tbars and am waiting for the covers to seat the bushings.

Both sides waiting for the covers.


Ok...my least favorite list of activities recently got added to it the hand scrubbing of the inner fender walls with a heavy rag and laquer thinner. Please add to that list sandblasting of small parts. I built a cabinet years ago that works well...

But it goes slowly when you need to hold the part in one hand while you blast it with the other hand holding the gun...you go through gloves...ask me.

Clean of rust...but dirty from sand.

These parts are from the pedal cluster waiting to be repainted, rebushed and re-assembled.
I am meeting with the painter tomorrow to go over the car... with the tbar covers it is a roller and moveable.

I am going to be running a 901 trannie...this spent time in a dishwasher as well as being hand-scrubbed. Way cleaner... than when I started...but still looks nasty. I will have to replace the clutch cable in the tunnel with a pull cable.

[mikeferg75]

Lookin good!

[Fritter]

Love all the details you post on this thread, good stuff and good progress!!

[speedo]

These were the cause of a bummer of a delay...

Finally got them back from the plater. That's the good news. Bad news is that the calipers got screwed up again. The plater also lost one of the caliper halves...starting to lose my patience with this plater. I explained that all the calipers were two pieces and it made no sense that I would bring them 8 pieces for them to screw up the first time...have them sandblasted and only bring 7 pieces back to get replated. While I was arguing with the large woman who swore I had only brought 7 pieces...and I was about to concede, because she was a bit loud and probably could have taken me out, a short hispanic dude came running out with the half of the caliper held up in the air all excited. Seems it never got plated, but as the other 7 pieces need to get replated...at least it found it's way back to the "herd". So I can now complete the assembly of the rear suspension. Fresh bushings get drawn into the body...

Complete the assembly with the control arm.



While the brake calipers are still in limbo...I have a refreshed e-brake, so the rear wheels get to go back on. Can't remember how long it has been, but the "last half" of the car is now a roller. Clean fresh suspension looks nice...at least temporarily.

[speedo]

Tore it all apart and bagged it a while ago. While the sandblaster was fired up, it got cleaned up.

And painted...little too early for Christmas ornaments

If you place a strong magnet in the middle of all these parts....shazam a fresh pedal cluster with new bushings


Rear of the car is ready to go...I decided to stay with stock tbars, so the front 19mms are cleaned and painted and ready to go back in.

And installed waiting for the adjuster

That will get installed tomorrow. Meanwhile...the newly replated latch hardware looks nice.


Tomorrow she becomes a roller...need to get the painter up here to look at the car, and take it away.

[Duckworth]

"...starting to lose my patience with this plater....While I was arguing with the large woman who swore I had only brought 7 pieces...and I was about to concede, because she was a bit loud and probably could have taken me out..."


rollin'


Your restos are super. Maybe a few pics of the plating shop...?



____________

[Macroni]

Lars.... when did you become such a neat freak......

[IndyShark]

Very cool project. Thanks for sharing!

[speedo]

I would like to make this thing a roller so he can see how ready... I am. Not sure how ready he is. He shoots paint on the side. Wife just had preemie twins. Add that to a three year old and youve got grounds for desertion. We'll see if he makes it up today.
Adjusters all happy.

And done.

Yay...wheels on...she's a roller.

Nice thing about going through the suspension and brakes, is you can set things up tight. Those little annoying maintenance things...like adjusting the e-brake are a piece of cake...and it is nice and tight. Someday...when I actually get my calipers back from the plater, the rest of the hardware, lines and brakes will be added. For the painter, all I need is a solid e-brake.
Boxed up the car getting optimistic about moving it to get painted.

I will let the painter strip the doors, hood and lid. Still looking for a 69-73 rear decklid grill.


Hmmm mid-day and no painter...not a good sign. Well regardless, she's ready to get loaded up. Last week I send a pair of 15x7s and a pair of deep 6 fuchs to Al Reed to get refinished. After talking with Al, I decided to go 15x7s all around. I found a local source for another pair of 15x7s yesterday, so they will head off tomorrow to join their brothers, and the pair of deep sixes will be up for sale shortly. If you need a pair, let me know.

Speedo

[speedo]

The gas tank came in a trade. It had been dipped, but not sealed soon enough so the inside and outside became somewhat "lightly patina'd". The inside will be done second. First round takes care of the exterior. Beautiful...eh? Usually undercoating either comes right off, or doesn't want to come off. If it really doesn't want to come off, and there is no bubbling underneath...I leave it. In this case, there was some of both. The dipping removed some that was loose, but also left some damaged undercoating that needs to be wire brushed back to good material. Before...

During...

And after...looks so good I hate to cover it up again with undercoating.

Give it a couple good days to set up and I will complete the exterior.
This on the other hand is trouble.

I went at it with a wire brush on my grinder to get down to the copper coating. Paint, oil mixed with dirt and of course asphalt...were what I was going after. Well, well. What have we here. Not just pinholes, these are perforations. I don't get how this thing held oil! Maybe the paint and asphalt and grime did a good job...I just shouldn't have removed it!


I could weld them up, or cut out the bad steel and weld in patches...or not. This is too compromised. Take off the useable stuff and move on.


I found that I had another candidate back on the shelf...in much better condition to start with.

A little dirty, but after some time with the pressure washer, and the wire brush, we'll be able to clean it up. After some elbow grease...

Much better. Degrease, prep and POR 15 comes next.

Anybody wants a free "holey" oil tank to play with let me know or it goes to recycling.

Speedo

[CCM911]

This is really impressive. Did you have the gas tank chromed, or is that the natural metal? Maybe instead of a coating, you could spray it with Clear Coat? Seems a shame to hide that nice work.

[callard]

Looks like black POR15 to me.

[speedo]

When I get plating back...sometimes the collars that locate the springs are intact, and sometimes not. This is an example of how the thin collars degrade over time.

A lot of people don't realize that this collar has degraded over the last 30-40 years and can cause some alighnment latch issues.
The replacement options are 1) a complete new latch piece (OEM or aftermarket), or 2) a VW or 356 collar which comes with a replacement "kit". The 69-73 cars have two different diameter "male" shafts/catches. after making too many calls to find out that most of the repro collars are coming out of China, and you need to buy a "rebuild kit" I decided to look on my own to see if there was an alternative. Voila...the inserts for modern-day office chair casters are my choice....at least as an economical starting point.
So working with the rear latch first...I use a die grinder to recess the pin into the retainer


Done....

Now to short size it for the latch

So here are the new components..and assembled

[speedo]

The front latch assembly is a larger diameter shaft than the rear. The challenge will be to ream out the fitting to accept the larger shaft. I think there is enough material, but we will see. The vertical mill called back into action.

This will work with the larger male shaft

Assembly time...let's see if everything goes back together.

They look great and now are an alternative to simply replacing the entire mechanism due to a failed/decomposed collar.


These were the last of the caster plugs in the local hardware store specialty bin...so I am going to hoard them. If someone needs manufacture info...I will try to help.

Speedo

[DaddyGlenn]

nicely done!

[speedo]

Not sure if he was as impressed with me as I was with him. Nice guy, but used to insurance work (aren't they all) and taping a car to paint. Didn't mind that I would bring the car to him in parts, and also didn't care that I would leave the car with him for 6 weeks to work on it at leisure. Seems like a long time, but I have a lot of stuuf to do to be ready for when the car comes back. Also allows me to monitor progress...however slow it is...and make sure each step of the way meets my approval. I feel like I am in "chore mode"...nothing really big to do, just menial somewhat boring tasks. Oil tank all cleaned back up and two good coats of POR 15.

Hated to undercoat the gas tank, as the finish was so nice, but it needed it.


This turned out to be a bunyon. I gave nice sandblasted license panel to another car. Knew I had extras and this one look ok. At closer glance...some issues surfaced.

This side appears to be the worst

This side almost worst

And if two license blate bracket holes ar good, then four must be twice as good.

[speedo]

I learned another early body repair "trick of the trade" today...if it is rusty and perforated...don't cut out the bad steel, just braze a piece of steel behind the perforated area, and coat with bondo as needed on the outside. The combo of brazing rod and bondo neutralize the rust...it's a chemical reaction thing.
Yuck.

This has got to go...


Fortunately...the "almost" side is solid...rough but solid.

Back to the drivers side. Panel is already trimmed back to good steel. I start to trim the replacement

Fit...

tacked

welded with old mounting flange trimmed and added

And finished

The rest of the questionable areas get taken down to good steel and treated.
Tomorrow, the cleanest 901 I have ever seen...trannie that is

Speedo

[merbesfield]

Speedo, what type media are you using before Zinc plating? I blasted some parts prior to plating and when they came back you could clearly see the blasting texture vs. the nice smooth factory finish. My plater said I should not blast if I don't want to see that. He said he does not want grease but rust will come off when he dips in acid to remove original plating finish. Unfortunately, some of the parts were not done well and had to be redone. But they did not give me a hard time and admitted they were poor. They did want the caliper halves blasted though. The only part of plating I don't like is if they lose a part too bad. But the business is massive and I am just happy to have access. When you see the huge crates of parts they plate every day it is easy to see how stuff gets lost.