Yankee Express RestoMod Project

[Brandy]

a plus-plus, win-win situation
great the heads were repaired & hold

He had to do it twice...

 

[oldbee]

Lol, I was going to remind you to put rings on those pistons ; but I see you have them.

 

[Brandy]

Lol, I was going to remind you to put rings on those pistons ; but I see you have them.

What I need to remember is to insert the all of the oil galley plugs...and not forget to check the installed height of the valve springs....lol.

 

[Brandy]

So today I sat down with the 67 Coronet shifter mechanism and my home made Pistol grip handle and thought about how to mate the two together. I dismantled the 67 shifter to see just exactly what the guts looked like inside the handle tube. Interesting design. After considering several designs that left a lot to be desired as far as functionality and appearance went, I came to the conclusion that I would have to make another pistol grip handle with different bends in it. Of a different length as well. This way I can utilize sections of the 67 handle tube and the entire cable/ slide mechanism and spring. I'll be able to actuate it by looping my little finger under a small lever and lifting it the 1/4" or so to slide the lever from park to reverse. The lever being mounted on the side of the pistol grip handle directly under the bottom of the handle. Lift up the rear section and it pushes down the release cable and park latch. In a few days when It's less freezing cold I'll see what's up by making the handle and sectioning the 67 tube the cable rides in. Stay tuned.

 

[Brandy]

Here's a drawing...

 

[Brandy]

.......and here's the result. Perfect. The handle will be painted in Chassis Black and the whiteish tube will also be black so it wont show up as much. The rubber shift boot covers 2/3 of the handle anyway. I used an old Audi lock knob as a push button that I will push with the heel of my hand as I hold the shift handle to release the Park to Reverse change. It's spring loaded at the bottom so it snaps right back up. The new Pistol grip is cut and shaped out of a hunk of left over 2x10 yellow pine. Stained Provincial and coated with Varathane Urethane semi gloss clear. I'm happy with the result! It came out exactly as I drew it on paper except the trigger lever didn't seem necessary and the knob is hidden by the handle pretty much.

 

[Brandy]

The handle....

 

[Budnicks]

looks pretty good there Ghost

 

[Brandy]

Going to try JB weld to fasten that lower chrome tube to the handle. It was soldered to the handle before..

 

[Brandy]

There was a LOT of futzing around to make that chrome sleeve with the slot for the reverse release tooth to both slide up and down and for the handle with sleeve to move forward and back through the gears without A. getting hung up, and B, not catching against the teeth or the body of the mount bracket. It took a few iterations of assembly and disassembly to figure out where to cut the chrome handle tube and not end up with the white plastic part hanging out on either end. One chance to get it right! I spent an hour grinding off little by little on the cylinder to make it smaller in diameter, the teeth on the inside to make them fractionally thinner and take off rough edges, and the pounding away on various parts to straighten and or bend them until it all works smoothly together. But, it's done except for paint and JB Weld.
Always fun to fabricate!

 

[Brandy]

All painted and assembled and lubed. Works perfectly and looks great!

Pulled out the Heat & A/C unit from the Audi and cleaned it off, inspected for problems and found two doors that were broken and a crack in a plastic housing that can be remedied with JB Weld. I'll look on line for the two doors used. Should be cheap.
I have my eye on a 2000 Audi A6 ( Same interior and dash) that has A/C and everything works so I can pull 100% of the harness and ECU's and the A/C compressor hoses and all. Decided to install A/C and Heat.

 

[Brandy]

I think I'll cut half of that push knob off. Sticks out to much...

 

[Brandy]

Well, I got some color on her today. Just enough to get the front end back under it so I can wheel it outside and use the garage to paint doors and hood and deck lid and small parts. I made a mistake of using a couple of different colors of primer. So parts are darker in spots but no worries because the close out panels will cover it all. THEY will be gray primer...lol. Lots of sparkle under the lights...

 

[Brandy]

Took the dash body off of the aluminum frame so I can think about spraying it, the dash, black.

 

[Brandy]

Well, I got some color on her today. Just enough to get the front end back under it so I can wheel it outside and use the garage to paint doors and hood and deck lid and small parts. I made a mistake of using a couple of different colors of primer. So parts are darker in spots but no worries because the close out panels will cover it all. THEY will be gray primer...lol. Lots of sparkle under the lights...

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Well, here's the thing....I have TBI. That's my excuse. I used reducer instead of activator. lol. Damn it. So, yeah, I noticed that I wasn't getting any positive comments on this paint. You all were trying to be polite. I get that, and thank you. That got me to wondering what was so bad..... Figured it out. I need to get it all in one color of primer,, grey, and....use the right products. Also think i had the wrong tip in the gun...and maybe also the wrong pressure...lol. So, I will redo and prepare better for the next go 'round...when it should look 100% better...hopefully..

 

[HawkRod]

Well, here's the thing....I have TBI. That's my excuse. I used reducer instead of activator. lol. Damn it. So, yeah, I noticed that I wasn't getting any positive comments on this paint. You all were trying to be polite. I get that, and thank you. That got me to wondering what was so bad..... Figured it out. I need to get it all in one color of primer,, grey, and....use the right products. Also think i had the wrong tip in the gun...and maybe also the wrong pressure...lol. So, I will redo and prepare better for the next go 'round...when it should look 100% better...hopefully..

It's hard to see in the pictures. Regardless, you are out there doing stuff and learning. In my view, that's what the car hobby is all about! Trust me, none of my cars are going to challenge the quality of a Kindig built car, but I don't care.

Rock on!!!

 

[moparedtn]

It's hard to see in the pictures. Regardless, you are out there doing stuff and learning. In my view, that's what the car hobby is all about! Trust me, none of my cars are going to challenge the quality of a Kindig built car, but I don't care.

Rock on!!!

Amen!
I'm marveling at not only the gumption to be doing all that thinking outside the box,
but the creativity to actually pull it off.

 

[Brandy]

I got out the inner fender close out panels and sanded them down and got primer on them.....

 

[Budnicks]

Looks nice Ghost

 

[Brandy]

My pal Rick, who lives just up the road, finally got his '74 Charger bodywork done and had it painted in High Impact Green. Haven't seen it yet but he says it's wild...should resemble this one...