New project!

[Mexican Kerry]

Just ordered a new Centerforce billet flywheel and a poly bushing kit for the car. Would have been a lot simpler if I just rebuilt the rear end but I had to swap in the Muncie. She snowballed on me! After I started tearing into it I kept finding things I wanted to change or upgrade.

Ignorance is bliss boys and girls.

Old flywheel: lot of heat checking and some of them are pretty bad, radiating into the hub. Out with the old cast iron, in with the new billet.



Also swapping out the old cast bellhousing for a used Lakewood unit with block protector. Bought it with the Muncie, hope it fits without hacking out the floorpan. Time will tell.

[Jonwoos]

nice upgrades

[Mexican Kerry]

Rear end is back in the car, fit perfect. I even ordered it with the right bolt pattern for my precious chrome reverse wheels (small victories). McLeod clutch and misc stuff arrived today but I really can't start bolting things back together til the flywheel shows up.

New brakes are Ford to fit the Ford style rear, old e brake cable doesn't work. Larger diameter keeper than the Ford so either drill out backing plate to make do or order new Ford e brake setup. not afraid of drilling, just don't like putting old stuff back in. I'm only putting new parts on this car if I take something old off.

Except the transmission. Maybe. Looks like I may be buying some new Supercase parts soon. The Muncie was looking good at first but it looks like it has some wear that will need addressing. The counter shaft has worn the case enough that it is protruding about 1/16" proud of the housing.

Old Chevy guys swear that there is only one or two people out there that can fix this properly with aluminum weld and machining to reproduce the original contour. I think they are wrong, I'm going to try something my dad suggested. Its a tapered shaft that rides in the front face of the gear box, wear causes it to move forward and protrude. I'm going to grind off the end of the shaft that protrudes and re assemble it. He says it worked on his M21 that is in his 67 Chevelle so I'm gonna try it.

Worst case is it doesn't work and I have to replace the case with a better/new one for a couple hundred bucks.

Bolting it to the bellhousing forces the shaft back, resulting in a potential leak area (the fit is the only seal).

[Mexican Kerry]

Cal Tracs arrived today. Rear end back out of the car, leaf springs out, fighting with rusty bolts and new aluminum bushings.

Ordered new shocks and some pinion angle shims tonight. Wife unhappy.

[Mexican Kerry]

New SFI Centerforce flywheel is in, Mcleod clutch is in. Lakewood bellhousing is in but looks like I have to pull it for more mods. Doesn't have a provision for bolting clutch linkage to it like the original cast b/h but I fabbed a bracket today to take care of that. Current problem is that the original b/h mounts for the car (original setup is front engine mounts and b/h mounts) don't work with the Lakewood and I need to fab some brackets to match up and need b/h out to bolt them on. Lakewood makes them for a tri 5 but doesn't sell em separate. Got a diagram from a site that gives dimensions so make em myself I guess.

By the time I get it back on the road I'll have taken everything apart at least 3 times.

Two other hurdles I'm working on are: clutch linkage from pedal to fork, and b/h alignment to crank. I haven't done this kind of thing before and I don't want to get it wrong.

Short week working on the car this time around, heading to Austin on Thursday and want to get this shit sorted out.

[Mexican Kerry]

Nothing good to report. Austin sucked, should have stayed home to work on the car (and save a pile of money). Lakewood b/h back out and in scrap bin, using old cast one for now. Car still isn't back on the road, getting frustrated.

[rustynuts]

Welcome back MK. Your absence was commented on several times.

Sorry your trip sucker though.

[Jonwoos]

What is wrong with the B/H?

[Mexican Kerry]

Engine is still set up with front mounts so have to use b/h mounts as well. Lakewood is a "universal fit" so translate to "doesn't fit."

[Jonwoos]

Oh, ok. I understand now

[Mexican Kerry]

Car is in the shop for the winter now, tearing into it again.

Pulled the front end off to do a bunch of stuff. Tilt front, tunnel ram, fenderwell headers, etc. Might even get to the straight axle this winter, not sure.

Waiting on parts so started bolting the front back together for the tilt. Originally wanted fibreglass but using the old steel parts now just because I've already got them and they aren't in great shape anyway.



For shits I stacked up the parts to get a preview of what it looks like. Needs a little cowl mod to get the scoop to fit, but might try carb spacers first to get the height and clearance I need before I start cutting more sheetmetal.



I may or may not have the kit spacer on the right carb here, I was drinking some whisky while assembling. Needs to be a little bit higher if I want to avoid cutting the cowl for clearance. Here you can see where the cowl interferes with the scoop seating properly.



I may try a couple of taller carb spacers before I cut the cowl out. 2" should do it. Pretty cheap test vs hacking out the body. Not sure if it will help or hurt the performance of it but worth a shot. All for that damn gasser scoop. This nostalgia thing is a real pain in the ass!

Waiting on a set of mid mounts for the motor, and a set of Hooker fenderwell headers. The wife is going to kill me!

[Marcus]

That's going to be pretty awesome.

[Wyldman]

Nice concept!

Good luck with the new parts, and when your wife finds out, will you leave it to me in your will?

Crush, kill, mangle, maim, destroy.

[Mexican Kerry]

Fenders and grill are all bolted up with a tube framework tacked together now. Needs more reinforcing but its square and it fits the body well now. Did some adjusting and got the gaps evened out, it fits better than before I started. Leaving the hood off until the hinges are finished, I need the access for now. After I'm satisfied that it tilts smoothly, I'll take it off the car again and do the final fit and bolt the hood to the fenders and add more tubing for support.

My tacks are sketchy but its tough welding upside down while they are on the car.

[Mexican Kerry]

I'm going to have to lop off the ends of the frame rails so the nose can clear as it rotates forward. I'm using a two part pivot with a camming link that will raise the hood up slightly as it comes forward, then the whole assembly will tilt. It has to move forward from the doors/cowl in order for the bottom edges of the fenders to avoid hitting the doors as it tilts. Kinda winging it, not sure if it will work yet.

Then some over-travel straps, and the latch to keep er down on the highway.

[Mexican Kerry]

Ok slight revision. Not a camming link, went with a simpler setup. Bear with me, this is strictly rough and tough because I wanted to get the geometry right before wasting time making it pretty. There's a lot of temporary spacers (read plate washers) but it works.

If you look at the pics really fast you can see the motion.

[rustynuts]

That looks great MK!

[Mexican Kerry]

Thanks pal! Its coming together slowly. After I get the new headers on I can do my final bracing to keep the back corners of the fenders rigid. Don't want to put em on yet cause guaranteed they will interfere. Murphy's law.

[Mexican Kerry]

Finally got back in the shop for a bit last night, put on one of the headers and ran out of time. The driver's side is a pain, I have to remove the new clutch linkage from the pedal all the way to the fork (I spent hours setting it up this summer). Oh well, I had it apart so many times it shouldn't be too bad to do it once more. I hope.

Also made some stops for the tilt so it stays open by itself, but they are a bit shaky. Gonna have to beef things up. I should actually paint the headers before I put them on, they are sprayed black but it looks like they didn't do a good job, there are bare areas that are already rusty on the surface. The first one fit great though.

[PDM]

Digging that tilt design.

Motor Trend just did a comparison of a dual plane and a tunnel ram. If you can tolerate the tv show junk, the dyno results are interesting. https://youtu.be/-XjDq2DcZk0

[Mexican Kerry]

Thanks!

Yeah there is still debate about using a tunnel ram on a street car. Lots say no way, I'll play around with it and make up my own mind.

[PDM]

Funny thing is, the folks whining about a tunnel ram are running bigs and littles on the street too.

[Mexican Kerry]

Got the driver side header on, ended up leaving the clutch linkage alone. If you're not familiar with a 55, the assembly comes out through the firewall and threads between the primaries of the header as it goes down and back to the clutch. I really didn't want to mess with it cause I lucked out and got it just right the last time I set it up.

I unbolted the header and cut a section out of the flange, then it dropped out underneath the car. Done. The new one bolted up with lots of clearance for the steering box and alternator. They aren't symmetrical, the driver side sweeps back and then is more straight down than the passenger side. Kinda goofy but supposedly that's how all the Hookers fit. At least it clears everything.

The old one is probably junk now, but might weld the flange back up in case someone wants it.

Also got the heads cleaned up and tunnel ram base torqued down. Distributor next and then finish the intake and carbs, hopefully get that done this weekend.

[Marcus]

I feel like I need to drive this.

[PDM]

Is the front end closed or just propped in place? The fitment looks good