[cerial]

The great thing about drums is if you match the Inside diameter and width you can often bolt replacment on even if you need to drill, elongate holes, or machine a bore.

I would start with the hub bore then the diameter then width knowing holes can be drilled easily enough as most drums align via the hub.

After a few hours searching you may find a modern drum that can fit with minior machine work.

On the springs/cables you may find modern replacments. But generally unless its broke it will often just need a good cleaning.

 

[Lightspeed Mike]

I wanted a tube notcher for a while. Cheap ones aren't good, good ones aren't cheap. Went through my odds and ends pile and found a pieces of 1.375" shaft and 3" X .250" wall tube. $10 for bearing that would make the 2 work together. A "V" block from a machine shop exercise and some other scraps. A little lathe time and fired up the welder. Even painted it.

 

[cerial]

Played around with the metro a bit. Getting a bit closer to driving this pile.

 

[cozwurth]

I just finished up rotating tires on the commuter hon-duh, and swapped out the front shocks on my truck. I installed some Belltech nitro drop shocks when I finished up the drop several years ago. They faded quickly, and have gotten to be pretty mushy. Not many miles on them, but have been on there for about 6-7 years. I picked up a pair of Max Trac shocks from Summit. There were no reviews, so I hope they will work well. Not sure if it translates directly, but the main shaft is larger diameter. Short test drive over some nearby railroad tracks says they are a big improvement. But then, they're new, so... time will tell.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

 

[cerial]

Finished up my big 3 upgrade on the metro. I added a few additional chassis to engine grounds then completly eliminated the factory 8 gauge main ground with a 4 gauge. Flipped my battery around for better access and ran a positive post to keep the harness as factory as possible.

Ran wiring for my heated seats and radio memory. Checked that all my wipers, heater, etc all worked. Spent a hour playing with a disconnected heater cable while the engine ran to check my coolant/fan working. Fans good heater cables fixed.

Installed my fixed interior piece and taillight then checked all my lights were good and lug nuts tight it was time for a test drive.

Spun my new tires on the dirt part of my driveway that does a U and heard a few distinctive clicks. Went up and down the road a few times to seat my brakes.

Came back to the house and went to put the top up only to find it impossible to latch.

Ok so I ordered a new soft top w cables etc and a set of cv axles w new nuts(rock) then coated all the top screws with a healthy dose of pentrating while things are being shipped.

Everything on this pile is designed to be worked on. These are probally the easiest cv axles I will ever replace.

 

[cozwurth]

I FINALLY got around to getting a gas setup for my wirefeed welder and ditched the flux-core wire. I ended up having to replace the liner in my lead, and use a smaller tip since I went to a .023 size wire. Wow! What a difference! I'm still no pro welder by any stretch of the imagination, but I was able to butt weld two sections of thin, dirty exhaust tubing. Not beautiful, but it's solid, and doesn't look like big bird poop. More like small bird poop in places... Ha! Much easier to fill in any blow-thru, too. I was able to do it with the flux core before, but it was much more difficult, and it was ugly. I should have done this a LONG time ago. More practice will be on the agenda very soon.

 

[cozwurth]

Oh yeah... Longer test drive in the truck with the new Max Trac shocks. It rides much better now. The ride is more firm, the mush is gone. Feels much better out on the road. Now to see if they last.

 

[cerial]

Ever seen a 90's miata convertable or any other 90's convertible without a roll bar wheels up? Its not pretty.



While I can mailorder a miata roll bar thats safe. No one offers a roll bar for a metro convertable and there are several threads that say there is no way to put the convertable top down with one.



Yea. So I went to Menards and picked up some 1 3/4"×7' dowels($15) and started playing around.


Lots of back and forth adjusting checking then adjusting some more. I probally had the top up and down 40 times today.

Gue is drying currently.

The rollbar tucks inside the softtops frame making it quite tall. But I did need to have the thing angled at 30 degrees. As much coverage as I could provide and still have an inch away from the hardware as it tilts.

I have a few wanted ads out to have some one with better equipment and more experence then me have bend some 1.75x120 wall mild steel dom. They can simply use the angles based off this mock up piece. I of course have plenty of triangulation and gusseting planned straights and notching no bends. I may have enough 1.75x.120 around to do that. But if I need to buy new stuff I will run .95 wall. That will be plenty for the triangulation in this 1800lb 55hp commuter.

 

[cozwurth]

Oh yeah... Longer test drive in the truck with the new Max Trac shocks. It rides much better now. The ride is more firm, the mush is gone. Feels much better out on the road. Now to see if they last.

After a longer drive, I'm thinking that the rear shocks are about done, too. Also belltech nitro drops. Harder to tell with them since I have a set of air bag helpers installed. I'll have to do a little digging to see how many miles they've been on there.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

 

[cerial]

Picked up some DOM and dropped the 12' piece off at a 4x4 race shop with the mock up piece. Set up my notcher but could not find my angle finder so hit Harbor for another one. Played around with the car and have a very good idea where the x brace plates will end up. Changed the angle so the x brace will hit the main cross brace inside the trunk area instead of in front of it. which will require me to make some kind of partition. But it lands on the "frame" rails vs just the floor for a stronger setup.

Main hoop should be ready by the weekend so I can finalize things. X brace and cross brace tubing with some gusset material sitting ready to be cut down.

The main hoop is 1.75 120 which is plenty for a 1800lb pile. But the rest I wanted in 1.75x .95 at 1.679 per foot (which is stronger and lighter then 1.5 x.120 at 1.769). But when I got there they did not have any .95.

120 is 2.089 and .95 is 1.679 per foot. 13 feet of it ends up being 5.33lbs heavier. 2 5' and 1 4' section bought below. Not happy about the added weight. But also not going to wait another week or two to get .95 here.

 

[cerial]

Unscrewed my soft top and threw it over the windshield to avoid grinding out the rivets holding the cables in place.

Set the roll bar in place roughly and have started playing with angles.

Should be plenty strong and give the rear visibility I planned for.

But, to put the angled x brace where I want it(very solid area) shown where the quarter is

I will need to notch the unibody cross brace. This will be seen so I need to be careful not to take to much out. Still bracing it after and can clean it up. But the tighter I can make it the stronger it will be.

More playing around then anything tonight. Just get the gears grinding and come up with a plan.

 

[123pugsy]

Hood buck coming along.

 

[cerial]

Pulled the seats, trim, made up some 1/8" plates, and grinded the bottom of bar for the correct angle on the metro.

2 top plates with a support plate below them then a door gusset. Going to have 6 2x3 to 3x3 top plates with side gusset plates overall.

Need to pull everything out and prep of course before tacking then final welding the hoop and side (door) gussets.

Blower on the 87 (squarebody) was weak Saturday morning. The truck does lots of sitting. Still no mice nest in the heating ductwork when I blew them out.
Installed a new blower, why not oil change, fixed a issue with the sagging drivers floor, and tested the block heater(it is gas). Thing has 2 batteries being a former plow truck. But still nice to have a block heater(coolant) when wind chills get into the negatives.

 

[drive til its broke]

How is everyone doing? I have been rather busy but. Found a little something. 1968 Dart VIN. starting L023. Going to be a few years before I dig it out. Already in my name. 273 Miles sat in a trailer from 1970 to 1979 when it was put in a garage. Yellow with a flat black hood. Has a couple small scratches from stuff being piled up on it. I feel like I just stole it. I hardly paid anything for it. The current owner thinks it is a waste of space.

 

[123pugsy]

Nice score.
Any pics?

 

[drive til its broke]

Nice score.
Any pics?

Only saw it for a total of like 10-15 minutes. I ran a little late to work. And in all honesty I don't want anyone recognizing the place it is at. It will be a bit before I dig it out. Saw the over all shape VIN milage and a couple papers. I could not get to the bank to withdraw fast enough. Once the title was in my hand I had to rush to work. Then get it under my name. Other than cobwebs and dust it was clean. When he told me how much I looked at him in disbelief. But he was serious about it. I gave him an 200 more than he was asking for. I kind of have a photo of a small portion. Only had to wipe a bunch of dust away. I thought that it is the best part. This is after brightening it.

 

[cerial]

Not getting enough flow out of the heater vents in the 87 squarebody (yard /backup truck) that spends most of its time sitting. I move it once a month but usually just around the yard or a 20 mile round trip to the store.

Replaced the blower with little airflow improvment despite it being much more powerful.

Tore the heater box out and think I found the issue. Note the truck did not stink and even this mess only had a few ounces of droppings and nothing dead.

Cleaned that all up(gloves and mask) and deleted the vacume diaphragms so it is just a defrost heater now. Blew and vacumed everything out before reinstalling the simple box. I retained the blend door so I can still block off the heater in the summer. But the fresh air, vents, and floor are all deleted. Lots of gorillia tape tape and simply moving a few clips around will keep the doors closed. But I hooked up the diaphragms to avoid a potential vacume leak.

 

[496CHEVY3100]

Merry Christmas to everyone,havent been here for a while,,onlything i am working on this week is trying to stay warm.

 

[496CHEVY3100]

How is everyone doing? I have been rather busy but. Found a little something. 1968 Dart VIN. starting L023. Going to be a few years before I dig it out. Already in my name. 273 Miles sat in a trailer from 1970 to 1979 when it was put in a garage. Yellow with a flat black hood. Has a couple small scratches from stuff being piled up on it. I feel like I just stole it. I hardly paid anything for it. The current owner thinks it is a waste of space.

I hope you build it back to Super Stock specs that is what VIN shows,,the low miles are 1/4 mile at a time..if picture will post this is how it was delivered to the dealer in 68 mRace preped ,buyer had to paint it ,

 

[496CHEVY3100]

I hope you build it back to Super Stock specs that is what VIN shows,,the low miles are 1/4 mile at a time..if picture will post this is how it was delivered to the dealer in 68 mRace preped ,buyer had to paint it ,

Pictures are reversed,,the primer car is as delivered.