Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[loman]

My hats off to you, working in this cold wet weather.

[lavron]

My hats off to you, working in this cold wet weather.

That is why I did not spend too much time out there crawling around on the cold concrete floor but really want to get something done even if it is small.

Back of the Comet has a dusting of snow on the trunk right now but I love seeing the engine/trans in the car (again) even if they are just mock up.

See Ya,
Mike

[pugs65]

Mike she is coming along pretty good. Keep up the hard work, Pugs.

[lavron]

Mike she is coming along pretty good. Keep up the hard work, Pugs.

Thanks Pugs.

I went out today and hooked up the driveshaft, it goes on at ride height but is too tight for my taste especially at full squat, I really can't go all the way down because driveshaft hits the tunnel so it would probably be tighter (maybe too tight) all the way down.

After lying on the cold concrete floor studying it I think the best solution is just to have the shaft shortened 3/4" - 1" I just don't think I can get enough adjustment on the rear to make it work, and I think that would make me feel more comfortable.

I discovered the pumpkin hub sits just a little to the right side because it contacts that side of the tunnel first, I think that is how it is supposed to be and the rear is centered in the car (pretty close) the brackets are welded equal distances from the brake mounting plates. I will just make the tunnel bigger back there and not worry about it (I have to make it taller for the driveshaft to clear anyway), probably won't be able to put the back seat back in ever but I really never intended to.

Anyone have a ballpark figure on how much it will cost to have the aluminum driveshaft cut down and re-balanced? I will probably take to Springfield sometime and take it by Clutch & Driveline Rebuilders to see what they can do.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Wow it was cold today, has been the last few days with on and off snow flurries, but I have a need to do something I had to do two shifts and go in the house between to warm up

You know I value all of you guys opinions and advice, so after mulling it over and going out and staring at it (it always helps) and being a tightwad and not wanting to spend the extra money getting the driveshaft shortened , OK I am going to stop right there, that is only a half truth (not the tightwad thing, I am) one of my goals, as much as possible, was to use "off the shelf parts" stuff easy to replace without having to customize it (you all know this is not 100% so far, but I don't want to add to it) So I was thinking I need to make it fit stock length driveshaft (not that I intend to ever replace it).

So looking at what you guys advised me I decided to move the engine forward and the rear back, sort of split the difference, I had the engine really close to the firewall anyway, so I figured I could deal with an extra +-1/2" in the front of the engine, I was not that tight up there anyway.

If you remember I was complaining when I made the trans mount about having to file the slots, well it worked out for me, I blocked the engine up, removed the motor mounts and shoved the engine and transmission to the fronts of the slots, of course the rear end was just a matter of turning the links out longer.

I started out with this much clearance between the trans and yoke at ride height (about 3/4" )


And now I have this much (about 1 1/2" )


Here is where I am going to have to re-do the motor mount, I think I will just cut off the back plate, bolt it back on the block and re-weld the mount to it further back.


And here is a shot of the transmission coming through the floor, looks fine, I musta had the hole too far forward (and that is my old T5 I have been using for mock-up, that is why it is grungy)


Also, if anyone is curious why I cut such a large hole in the floor for the shifter is I want to have the ability to remove the shifter without dropping the transmission so I am going to make a bolt on cover around the shift lever.

Did not take a picture at the rear, it looks basically the same, there is a little more clearance at the fronts of the tires of course, but they were a little tight up there.

I don't, most likely, have the bars all adjusted properly but they are close enough for now, I will get out there and set some good measuring points and get it all lined back up later. I still need to test full squat but can't right now because the driveshaft hits the floor so I will have to trim some so I can test it.

There was a few benefits from this (besides saving a few bucks) my oil pump now has just a little more clearance from the steering rack and it should be easier to get the speedo cable in the hole with trans moved forward in the mount. It is funny what just a 1/2" will make going both ways)

Anyhow I am plugging away.

See Ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

how is the room in front of engine looking ? you gotta have room for fan to rad ,,,what kinda clutch linkage,,cable? is any of this going to be an issue?....pop

[Lip Ripper]

I thought the same Pop. If I can post the picture I'll show you what I did to correct this in my car. I'll get that up shortly. I had two problems, the driveshaft needed about 9/16 more travel to achieve the one inch mark and two, the locating pins in the Falcon springs are like 7/16 while the locating holes in the 8.8 are 11/16. So I used blocks to offset this and correct the hole sizes. I wanted the ass down a little more anyway.

Edit; file is too big, I'll post it on the FB page.

[lavron]

how is the room in front of engine looking ? you gotta have room for fan to rad ,,,what kinda clutch linkage,,cable? is any of this going to be an issue?....pop

I will have to bolt the water pump back on there to check in front but I think I am ok ( I will drop the stock radiator back down in as well even though I am going a thinner radiator), the clutch is hydraulic so no problem there and I haven't even built the bracket for the slave cylinder yet anyway.

the locating pins in the Falcon springs are like 7/16 while the locating holes in the 8.8 are 11/16. So I used blocks to offset this and correct the hole sizes. I wanted the ass down a little more anyway.

I have the triangulated four link in the rear so it was just a matter of adjusting my links out longer, it really did not make any difference on how the shocks were sitting or the air bags, I just have to recheck the pinion angle and that all the bars are matching as far as length goes.

I am hoping when I get this thing to the alignment shop they can do the final alignment on the rear as well, if they do that sort of thing or if just doing it with a tape measure is good enough.

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

after mulling it over and going out and staring at it (it always helps)
Mike

Usually I stare at the problem for a good while, tell my brain to figure it out and go do something else, doesn't work all the time but sometimes the answer pops outta no where. Same as when I can't remember someone's name,,, pops up at a totally unrelated time but that may be the result of the revolutions I've made around the sun(as Stacey would say)lol.
Happy to see your moving forward regardless of OUTSIDE deters.
Fred

[Lip Ripper]

Fred, I call it beer thinkin.

[lavron]

Usually I stare at the problem for a good while, tell my brain to figure it out and go do something else, doesn't work all the time but sometimes the answer pops outta no where.

Sometimes it helps to stare and then walk away, think about it, go back and stare some more. A few times my wife has caught me doing that with the Comet and asked me what I was doing, I simply cannot explain it to her so I just say "I am standing here looking at it"

It also helps to post up here on the forum and have extra eyes and minds jolt an idea out out of your head or give you one you never had.

See Ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

POP can't tell his brain nothing,,,it has a mind of it's own,,pretty well does what it wants to...….but I have gone to sleep with a problem and woke up in middle of night with the fix..

[Jims65cyclone]

My dad had an old WWII surplus swivel desk chair in his shop. Dirty olive drab with the paint worn off of the front half of both arms. He called it his "thinkin' chair". I'd go out to the shop sometimes and he'd be sitting in that chair, staring at what he was in the process of working on. He could come up with some pretty outside-the-box solutions to fabbing problems. I have that chair now in my basement workshop, and spend a fair amount of time in it when I'm working out a problem. Dad was right. It works pretty good.
Jim

[lavron]

Sometimes I might go out and work an hour on the car (or other projects) and I might spend 45 minutes thinking on it and only 15 minutes getting my hands dirty. That depends on what it is, certainly things I have done before don't take much thinking. I won't count the hours and hours I spend researching things before I start (or part way through sometimes)

Certainly there are times I have worked everything out in my head only to change it completely when I get started

And sometimes the hardest part is finally taking tool in hand and starting because you are afraid of messing something up, I just let that go and decided not to worry about it otherwise nothing was ever going to happen sometimes I will mess up, so what I will just fix it.

See Ya,
Mike

[loman]

Fred, I call it beer thinkin.

I'm going to borrow this phrase.