Wow. It's been a tough couple of weeks here at the end to get the motor rebuilt and finish up the hundreds of tiny details. But the car went on it's maiden run yesterday and today I actually went out cruising for a good part of the afternnoon, including a little run around town with the wife.
Here's a quickie video we shot late this afternoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0TozBdjFL4
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Photo # 1 & # 2 - I also created a dust boot for the emergency brake handle as shown in these two pictures. The trim plate as the electrical cover for a dimmer switch. It was pre cut to exactly the right size and shape.
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Photo # 1 - To create a shifter boot I sewed together four pieces of material cut to the size and shape I wanted. This shot shows the boot inside out to give you a better idea how it is put together.
Photo # 2 - For a trim plate to hold the boot in place I came up with this. It's a common electrical switch cover cut out to the size I needed to allow for the shifter mechanism. I then painted the plate with the same paint I used to match the head rest pods and the rear window molding.
Photo # 3 - Here's a shot of the finished boot and trim plate installed.
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Photo # 1 - I previously showed the weatherization used around the top and sides of the door windows. But I needed something along the bottom edge of the window glass to prevent rain from running down the glass and getting inside the door cavity. This is what I came up with. It is common, hardware store rubber weatherization stripping. Normally, you tear this stuff apart and use just one "tube" at a time, but I left the tubes attached to each other and applied them both to the outside framing which runs along the window opening.
Photo # 2 - Here you can see the strip installed (arrow).
Photo # 3 - I then installed 3/8" closed cell weatherstrip (also commonly found at any hardware store) on the inside of the window to keep the glass snugged up against the outside weather strip.
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While waiting for the machine shop to get the basics done on my new motor I am trying to finish up as many of the remaining miscellaneous items on the car as possible.
Photo # 1 - I installed a 3" peep mirror on the driver's side. I tossed out the unsightly clip type mounting bracket and opted to drill the mounting bolt right through the door edging. This makes the mirror more secure and a little cleaner mount.
Photo # 2 - I upholstered the wood tonneau I had previously built. I used 1/4" closed cell foam under the fabric cover. The latch handle, BTW, is a simple Stanley garage door item - nice, chromed, and MUCH less expensive than the handles you'll find in the hot rod catalogs.
Photo # 3 - When I got the car totally together and the clutch operating, I discovered I needed a better pedal ratio in order to operate the clutch more comfortably. But when I reconfigured the pedal, I went a little overboard and ended up with a very easy to operate clutch...but with too little "throw" to fully disengage the clutch disk. To remedy the situation, I got a new Wilwood master cylinder with a larger bore and longer cylinder than the Mazda master I had been using. This is a shot of the new master being bled. The Wilwood now operated the clutch quite well.
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All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:43 AM.
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