OK, so I just bought the '93 Chev conversion van for the 350 TBI/4L60E. I called a builder buddy to get his input on swapping the TBI for a carb, and he said, "Why on earth would you change it? Just use the whole harness like you've done before, and don't worry about it. You'll have everything you need, and it'll be WAY nicer to drive." Of course, he's right.
Now I have to decide whether to use the vans front susp. and rear axle. I'd made up my mind I wanted a dually, but given the extra unsprung weight and increased fuel consumption, maybe the vans rear and front end would be a better idea. Not to mention it'll drive WAY better than it would with duals and one ton front, or the original straight axles, my other option.
So, now I have plenty of parts to pick from, and I can decide the best way to go this fall when I tear into it!
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roll bar mounts, the rest of the sheet metal, and garage clutter...
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Another haitus from working on the car, mainly due to the fact that 2 weeks ago I impaled my right wrist on a scrap of sheet metal while working on it, injuring the nerve, nicking the artery and causing general mayhem. I'm more or less healed up, and today, got back at it.
I finished up blasting the body and all the bits. My driveway looks like a beach, but the body looks GREAT! I got all the little final welding tasks done on the body, and made some mounts on the frame for the 6 point roll cage that's going in the car. That'll be fabbed by a local wizard who builds tubular Corvette and high dollar street rod frames, as I don't have a tubing bender nor the talent to make it.
Now I HAVE to get everything primed. No bare metal here in Michigan, stuff turns orange overnight inside the garage! I don't care how they do it in California, stuff has to get painted here. I'll dust a coat of epoxy primer on everything, and it'll be OK. The underside of the body will be painted with truck bed liner, I'll roll it on, and caulk all the seams with body caulk. Like it'll be waterproof anyway...
The engine is all back together too, and the trans on, just waiting for a decision for the color. I'm thinking gold, flathead green or black with gold accents. The car will be Olive green, so a green motor might not stand out enough. Red is a possibility too, but I want it to look old, and that might not look "right".
Brian
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After a 4 month pause, while I finished up the restoration of our '46 Spartan Manor trailer, I finally got to work again on the '36 "Fordillac".
Yesterday, I got about 75% of the body shell sandblasted, had to quit as I used up all the ceramic nozzels I had. It was getting dark anyway! It looks GREAT as "body in white", as opposed to scabby rust, the remains of the original paint and weld scars. Totally changed the way the tub looks. I have it setting on my utility trailer so as to be able to move it in and out of the shop, and it makes a great work table.
Today I rebuilt both front springs from the '35 Dodge front end that's going under the car. One spring had a busted leaf, which probably explains why it sagged so with the engine and trans in the car. I stole some leaves from the Fords original front end, which is in the scrap pile, and replace the busted one with a similar length Ford leaf, and in the other, I trimmed a longer leaf to the same length, so each spring has one (heavier) Ford leaf in the same spot in the spring pack. Should stiffen up the front end just fine.
I'd post photos, but my wife has both cameras on vacation with her, so I'll put some up of last weekends trip to the Tin Can tourists Spring Meet, with the '46 Manor and '51 Pontiac Tin Woody. We were rewarded for all our hard work with "Best in Show Combination, a nice bonus for all the time spent away from the roadster project!
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The Diamond T is setting in the driveway. It's amazing to this Michingan boy how nice western sheetmetal can be. There's a little cancer in the running board filler panels below the cab, but no big deal. Everything else is intact, even the paint on the frame rails.
It was repainted once decades ago, there's old lettering on the door that I may try to expose with some ultra fine paper on a block. I did lightly polish the drivers door and fender, it's going to stay as is. No painting, no rechroming. It's too cool just as it sets.
A neighbor who collects MOPARS has an '89 Cummins and 727 from a pickup I'm going to measure, but I'm fairly certain this won't fit under the 201's stubby hood. Meanwhile, I squirted some ATF in the plug holes, and am letting it set awhile and we'll see if it turn over and start.
Between selling the flatbed off it to another guy who wants to build a trailer to haul his Bobcat on, and selling the massive, 5/8" thick, 12x3 aluminum channel bumpers for scrap, I should have enough to buy steel to build the bed or a set of 'glass repo rear fenders, or both, depending on what scrap aluminum is now!
The dirty little guy with his foot on the running board is me, after buffing our '46 Spartan trailer. Messy work, that.
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