Family Tradition

[Propwash]

Well.......Suspension is all stripped off. A lot of rusty old junk that took the grand tour of my garbage can.

Didn't get her put all back to together like planned, but you guys know how that goes. The old man and I at least got the New Pitman arm, Idler arm, tie rod ends and sleeves installed. Still waiting on the LCA back from the machine shop with new bushings and also my torsion bars from Just Suspension.

Strut bars were a treat to get out.. Ended up toasting the drivers side. Half of the nut was left on the threads of the bar.

No Biggie...Gave me an excuse to buy the Hotchkis Adjustable Strut Bars i've been eyeballing. They'll allow me to adjust in more postive camber for better stability at high speeds, more strength/support as well as better vertical transition/movement in the LCA's. Waiting on these also

Had some opportunity to knock out other odds and ends while the suspension is at idle...

Got the A-Pillar to cowl transition blended in. Attacked it with metal to metal, then Rage Extreme and last, Evercoat glaze. Pretty fun trying to get the sloap and then the lip for the windshield just right. All hand/block sanded out...

Aslo got the column stripped and painted. Stripped then skuffed down..tossed on a couple coats of PPG 401 Epoxy primer, and then a few coats of Wurth Satin trim paint. After a couple full coat's I went back and gave her a couple dust coats to replicate the textured look.

 

[northerndave]

Nice!

I really do need to spend some time familiarizing myself with the front suspension/steering on these cars.

 

[morbidgoat]

that thing looks horrible. no im just kidding just though i'd type something other than the ever so common and deserved looking good

 

[Propwash]

that thing looks horrible. no im just kidding just though i'd type something other than the ever so common and deserved looking good

LMAO!! Now that's funny right there!

 

[Propwash]

Finally got the LCA's back from the machine shop. Fresh bushings pressed in. Tossed them in the blast booth and then coated with some chassis black.

I installed the rebuilt upper/lower control arms, cam bolts, 1.030" torsion bar, Hotchkis adjustable strut rod, Upper/lower ball joint and lower arm...all new MOOG bushings and bumpers all around. Also got the Right stuff detailing disc brake set up installed on the pass side..

 

[Ron 73]

Propwash you do some fine quality work there, i like to follow along with this as its my favorite car, but had to tell ya this time.. Nice, real nice ride she gonna me man! I told my wife im going to have a 69 again, for some odd reason i cant find the deed to this place! lol

 

[roadrunnerman]

i think i can see the finish line coming closer for you in my crystal ball.How is that metal to metal to use?Do you work it like body filler?

 

[Propwash]

Propwash you do some fine quality work there, i like to follow along with this as its my favorite car, but had to tell ya this time.. Nice, real nice ride she gonna me man! I told my wife im going to have a 69 again, for some odd reason i cant find the deed to this place! lol

Thanks a bunch Ron! I appreciate it. Hopefully we're all looking at your 69' Roadrunner on FBBO someday down the road.

i think i can see the finish line coming closer for you in my crystal ball.How is that metal to metal to use?Do you work it like body filler?

I hope so Roger. I'm ready to stop burning so much cash and start burning gas. I took a week off of work in mid June to dedicate to the Roadrunner. Still shooting for that Jun/Jul/Aug timeframe for body then paint.

Metal to metal isn't too bad. Good suplement for the old leaded in areas like the pillar to cowl. It has a lot of aluminum in it, so the expansion rate is a bit closer to body metal than the typical poly filler's. You don't have to worry quite as much about ghosting. Tough stuff as well. I like to work it down as soon as it is cured enough to do so. If you let it sit overnight or longer, it can become a real chore to shape down. At that point you almost need a body rasp to do any kind of serious shaping.

As far as applying/working it, yes it's like the poly filler's. A bit more dense than regular filler, but still roll's out pretty nice.

 

[roadrunnerman]

so would that be the best to use when i repair my c-pillar on my RR?

 

[Propwash]

As far as any kind of C-Pillar work, try to replace any missing/rotten/damaged metal with the fresh metal and welding. For leveling back out the C-Pillar to quarter seam, metal to metal will work well for you. Some folks go the Duraglass route and seem to have good luck, but metal to metal has never done me wrong in that area.

You've been getting any time to work on your bird lately, or still hitting the road pretty hard?

 

[roadrunnerman]

i think that's what i will do then.I use duraglass for a lot of things,but i want to make sure things are solid.got rid of one of my vehicle(R.I.P.) to make room to put another in its place in storage.now i've got one truck in front half of garage and the RR in back half of garage with room to work all around them both.

 

[roadrunnerman]

put some photos up from a local cruise in the gen discussion(memorial weekend cruise).

 

[Propwash]

Should work good for ya Roger. Stuff's a bit pricey, but then again you usually get what you pay for. I hear you on having room. Having decent space to work is priceless! What car did you send down the road? Charger sell?

 

[roadrunnerman]

no,i ended up getting rid of the van.the doors were so bad on it, the floor was going away,the motor needed rebuilt along with the tranny.I couldn't spending booh-koo bucks on something that wasn't going to return in resale,so i decided to let it go.

 

[Propwash]

Ahhhhhh. Yeah vans are a tough market to pull any serious profit out of. Up here anyways.

Cruise pic's were aresome!! Real nice mix of cars!

 

[Propwash]

Today started off good, but rapidly took a flying shot to hell in a hand basket...

Went to install the driver side torsion bar and when I tried to slide it in to the LCA, no way was it going in. Turned out the machine shop must of have used the Torsion bar socket for mate up, with too small of a guide while pressing out the old bushing. Well, they managed to mushroom in the socket opening........Yeah......Pissed!! I removed the LCA and strut rod and proceeded to reshape the opening with triangle and flat wedge precision file for the next couple hours. Got her to go, but not a happy camper!!

The 1.030" bars I installed really do make the factory torsion bars look like a pair of flimsy drumsticks....

On to the next headache....."Right Stuff Detailing" Disc brake conversion kit.

After dealing with the first hurdle, on to the next I guess.

When I bought the kit from Right Stuff detailing, I explained the factory power drum set up I had..."Our kits will bolt right in place of that." Yeah........not so much. I recieved my kit and quickly noticed that no way in creation would their supplied booster/linkage would fit. Called back...another guy told me "This kit will not work with a factory power drum car, but just use your old booster." Hmmmm. Did my research and no way will a drum power booster work with a power disc set up. I'd be going through the windshield..Long story short, I made a mad effort and came up with a factory Bendix power booster for a front disc set up in a 69' Roadrunner/GTX.....Not fun, but I found one.


Anyways, on to the meat and potato's of todays calamities.. After practicing my sailor lingo and talking a bunch about damnation after the torsion bar parade, I installed the upper control arm, cam bolts, upper ball joint, new disc spindle, lower ball joint. Had her all torqued and cotter keyed up, packed and fitted the new bearing's and grease seal in the rotor and proceeded to push on to the spindle.. Got her on 3/4 down the spindle and would not go any further..... Starting to boil again.....

Bad/wrong bearing I thought?? Popped out the grease seal and inner bearing. Tried to slide the bearing down the spindle..3/4 Down and that's it. Went back over to the assembled passenger side, pulled off the caliper and rotor. Cross checked the stamped bearing part #'s on the inner bearings..The same! Slid on the inner bearing on the pass. side that didn't work on the drivers side...Slid all the way down.

Holy Smokes!! Disassembled all that I just assembled on the drivers side (ripped the upper ball joint boot with the pickle fork..GRRrrrr!!)..More wasted time..Took some measurements with the dial caliper on the spindle's.....


Passenger side that fits both bearings 1.472"


Driver side Spindle..........1.476" Nice quality control!!! Clowns!!!

Here's a pic how far the bearing makes it down the spindle :

Also forgot to mention, their supplied proportioning valve looks like something you would win playing the "pick the rubber ducky" game at the fair, the direction's don't state hardly any torque value's as well as having pix/graphic's that came from the early Atari days, and a couple of the castle nuts on each side sit 1/4" up further than the hole for the cotter key once tightened (including the main spindle nut-used my factory nut/cap off the drums)

I apologize for the rant. Just one of those days fella's.

All the parts I have bought from fellow car guys have pretty much lead to generally a positive ordeal in the end. It's a nice feeling to have inside knowing that most car guys are pretty damn honest, level headed folks.

As far as the parts I have bought from businesses, at least 50% have lead to issues at one point or another. Are people just lazy? Don't Give a ****? Just Dense/Dumb? All?
I tell you what guys, you can probably tell, but i'm starting to get at the end of my rope with dealing with vendor's..I'm walking around like a grumpy old cynic that's pissed at the world, and that's not me!!!


Needless to say, "Right Stuff Detailing" will be catching a piece of hell come Tuesday when I call. I can honestly say my patience has run out with these folks. I honestly pray tomorrows work on the bird brings a bit more joy than todays nightmare's

 

[Finallygotmine]

Ahh yes, another well documented episode in the creation of your masterpiece. Not that I can cheer you up Prop, but look at it all in the whole, You have done marvelous work on your own, you can't expect others to have the same work ethic and capabilities as yourself. The journey will be full of repeated disappointments. Especially, from those who are being paid. I know you were just venting but, "practicing my sailor lingo"?? holy christ, I almost fell off my chair. LOL Propwash=word wizzard And you thought the bolting on of parts was going to be easy....PFFT. ;-)

Have a great rest of the weekend Prop.

Daryn

 

[Propwash]

Thanks for the kind words Daryn. You're 100% right. Like you were saying, I pretty much expect the best from myself any time I'm touching the car. I can hope, but I guess I can't expect perfection from everyone else. Best medicine, take it as a learning leason.

I guess the silver lining is that i'm putting fresh part's back on the car instead of tearing old garbage off.

Glad you enjoy the colorful wording. A little humor always brightens thing up.



Whopping 87F out today. Whewww!! Pretty sweltering for us northern boys...got some work done never the less. Ground down the welds and cleaned up all the jams, getting ready for some expoxy primer......

Shot the roof in some 2K Primer and tossed on some guide coat.. Ready for body.......

Also started priming in the engine bay as well as seam sealed under the firewall to cowl lip as well as the firewall to inner fender junction.

 

[usedgoalie4rent]

WOW!!!!
You are an artist.
Your metal work is far beyond what mere mortals can achieve.
It took me two days just to get through reading your thread.
For the most part I didn't want to stop. Just to much info to walk away from. I don't think I understand all of it just yet.
All of you bringing dead cars back to life in your spare time.
OMG that's so sweet.

I hope receive the rest of my basket case tomorrow. I will do inventory and post some pics then. I will need help to know what's missing I'm sure. With info and advice I might even drive it one day. Looking forward to reading/seeing your body and paint progress. WOW YOUR CAR ROCKS!!!

 

[Propwash]

Thanks for taking time to read through the novel on the 69' usedgoalie4rent...LOL. Also, thanks for the compliment's. Appreciate it.

This isn't the first wreck I brought back and I can tell you one of the greatest feelings is taking a car people have tossed as "too far gone" or "too much work", and eventually being able to turn that key and put rubber to pavement.

Just like the other guys on here with the great major rebuilds/resurrections, I enjoy the challenge of it all. The other outstanding rebuild threads on here have definitely gave and are giving me inspiration to keep rolling on mine. I think it's great we can all learn from each other and put these awesome cars back on the road.

I look forward to seeing your project and having you join the ranks of the Rustbelt Resurrection gang.

Take Care

-Prop