Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[bigdan]

Mike -

A big ball of slag between the cup and the tip will short circuit somewhat and cause all sorts of issues. It'll probably sound odd also.

Keep it up -

Dan

[lavron]

A big ball of slag between the cup and the tip will short circuit somewhat and cause all sorts of issues.

It is better now, probably from having to weld some stuff under the car.

I got the e-brake basically done today, it will still need some adjusting to get everything evened up and I think there is a point of failure on it that will have to be addressed. I built a new bracket to support the front cable mount and spring, it welds to the left rear torque box and the floor, plus it is heavier steel than before.


Got it all welded in and hooked everything up, the only issue I see right now is the cable connector on the end of the front cable where I cut off the ball, I broke the bolt off while tightening it up so I can't verify it is tight enough, I have another but there is no way to remove this one without cutting it it off now.


Both brakes pull now but the right one seems to pull a bit harder than the left, I might be able to adjust the shoes to take care of that or adjust the right cable mount anchor to get even pull on both.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Yesterday I had a few minutes so I pulled the brake handle/lever off inside the car and removed my console base so I can get the hole cut for the shifter and finish making brackets, etc on it so I can reinstall it.

Also I have been researching my ignition system and ordered the coil, ICM, and a couple of pigtails for the coil, just so it is recorded here is a short list of what I am using the part numbers;

Motorcraft DuraSpark1 small cap distributor (This is a 6cyl list. of course, everything else on the list is universal works with 6 or 8 makes no difference) a DS2 distributor will work to, it is only the triggering device.
Standard Motor Products - LX301 Ignition Control Module (ICM) $21
Standard Motor Products - DR37 (DR-37) Ignition Coil $25
Standard Motor Products - HP4595 & HP4605 Ignition Coil Connectors $16

I will say this once and never mention it again (to aid those that might need to look for similar parts in the future) but the Standard Motor Products items fit '88-'89 S10 Pickup and the ICM is for '78 Camaro 350.

I had looked at other coils but I know this one will work with the ICM and if I need a replacement on the road it should not be too difficult to get at a parts store almost anyplace.

The one thing not listed is the relay, I will try and post a wiring diagram when I get this little project started it will be a little different because the coil has 4 connectors, I am going to mount everything together in one unit and mount it under the dash and run a long coil cable to the distributor, I may look and see if I could make/buy some sort of bulkhead connector to go through the firewall so the wire would be easy to change.

EDIT; Found one https://www.amazon.com/MSD-8211-Firewal ... B00029JKGE

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Today is the one year mark since I pushed the Comet into the shed to start the rebuild.

My goal when I started was to have it mechanically sound and drivable by the 1st of June 2019, I did not make that goal obviously some things took a bit longer than expected and certainly I can't beat myself up too much on the pace I have been working alone on this.

As everyone knows I have not farmed too much out on this project (machine shop work on engine so far) and I have built a lot of parts from scratch. I have had a mix of new and used parts but mostly stuff I have had to refurbish before I installed them, all that takes more time than just getting a new part and slapping it on. Anyway that is my "excuse" for not hitting my goal

Looking back I have accomplished quite a lot considering I am not doing run of the mill stuff, the suspension and steering is completely replaced on the car except re-mounting the front sway bar, mounts are all built for the transmission and engine, brake system is nearly completely replaced and finished (90%), rust in the floors has been repaired (torque boxes 50% done), T5 and clutch are ready and certainly many small things have been addressed.

Major goals for this year are getting the motor together (block currently at machine shop), getting the car flipped up so I can clean-up/finalize any welding under the car and get the floor painted on bottom, finish up the brakes, building the wiring harness and installed, install fuel system and cooling system and finally install the engine and get it running. Those are not in a particular order except where required, there a certainly many little things that will have to happen along the way (or I have forgotten to include) and the biggest goal is to have this car driving this year.

I know that leaves a lot of stuff like body work, paint and interior and if I can get the rest done I will work on those as well (or there is time to work on those in with the rest)

So onward into the next year, hopefully I can get moving quicker here soon (trying to finish up a house project right now)



See Ya,
Mike

[Jims65cyclone]

Mike, I think you've accomplished a tremendous amount this year, particularly considering the amount of custom fabrication you've put into the car. I'm confident that, at your rate, you'll have a driveable car by PF next year. I'm curious, though. You said you plan on "getting the car flipped up so I can clean-up/finalize any welding under the car and get the floor painted on bottom". Are you planning to rotisserie the car? Can you even do that with all the suspension you've already installed?

Jim

[lavron]

Are you planning to rotisserie the car? Can you even do that with all the suspension you've already installed?

Some sort of rotisserie, I am leaning toward something in wood like the tip up ones that are out on the internet because I intend to flip it up, clean-up and check my welds and redo any I need to (or supplement them) paint the bottom and flip it back down. I might flip it up do one side and then turn the "rockers" around and flip it the other way so I never have to weld overhead/upside down.

I would remove all the suspension before rolling it up, and probably the windshield and rear glass because they are going to have to come out anyway for new rubber, I would like to leave my doors attached if I can. All the suspension is fairly easy to remove and reinstall and needs to be out of the way.

The only other things I might do while it is up is run stuff like the fuel & brake lines but that is not entirely necessary.

I just would be more confident and do a better job if it was tipped up where I could work easier, really if i could lift it up to 45 degrees or so is all I would need, 90 might make it easier however.

See Ya,
Mike

[Jims65cyclone]

I am leaning toward something in wood like the tip up ones that are out on the internet

Got any links to that?

Jim

[lavron]

Got any links to that?

Not really, there are a lot of pictures and a few plans out there, here is a link similar to what I am talking about, I am thinking I would make double sided now so I could roll either way without removing it.
http://ace240z.com/rollover.html

You can Google for "tip over jig" or "rolltiseire" (yes with roll at the beginning) even "redneck rotisserie" a lot of youtube videos as well showing people actually using them.

I am sure I will over engineer it but really don't want to weld anything up and I am only going to do this one time (most likely) so don't want to waste too much time building a one use item, I surely can't live long enough to do another car as long as this one has taken

Here are the plans from one style from the internet (not mine) and certainly the measurements are not right for anything but a '93 Mustang.


If I actually do this (you never know, plans change) I will post measurements/plans for a Comet.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

I am going to put this here so I can find it later, I got some of my ignition parts today so I set them up together and made this little sudo wiring diagram/photo (I have not removed the big plug from the distributor yet).


Everything in the picture, except the distributor, cost about $70. I did just see where I bought the distributor several months/year ago and paid $150 (more than I remembered) but it is a new (NOS) part even if I did have to do a small repair on it.

I still have a cap and rotor on the way and the ICM heatsink and firewall passthrough for the coil wire so pretty much I have everything except the relay.

I was looking today and I think I will make a mount for all of it on the transmission hump behind the console I am building (which I did work on a little today, no picts however) my concern is making sure everything will miss the A/C unit that I don't have yet so I am making some guesses and trying to avoid that area.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Had some errands to run today and work to do on my house project but got some done on the Comet, I worked some more on the console base and I is getting close to being ready to weld in.


This part is actually what will be under the console (inside) I am going to try and build the rest out of fiberglass mostly.

The green thing you can see in the middle is a bubble level, probably in practice it will be pretty useless but thought if I could get the car set-up on a level surface I could adjust the level to zero then when I add weight (like gas or passengers) I could adjust it back to level. I am going to put springs under each of the 3 screws. I decided to recess the level into the console base so it would not stick up too high and that was a bit of a challenge, I had to bend the round part out of a strip of metal by wrapping it around a 4" sewer pipe and then welding the joint, then I cut the round bottom with the angle grinder (a sort of hacked out circle) and ground it round with the bench grinder, then I welded the bottom to the ring, the hard part was cutting the round hole to fit it in, I used the jigsaw but toward the front it laps a angle iron that is going down to the tunnel so I had to hack it out with angle grinder and then I welded it in and just filled the hacked parts with weld and ground it all smooth

Tomorrow I am going to put the mockup transmission up there just to make sure everything fits ok (as near as I can with no motor), make up some sort of mount for the air controller box and weld it to the floor.

I need to find some sort of a trim ring to fit around the level, I wish I had a lathe I would just make one (wonder about a fuel filler ring, could even have a pop open door so you couldn't see the level) oh well there is a lot of stuff left to make or come up with solutions too, I am sure I will figure it out.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Tomorrow I am going to put the mockup transmission up there just to make sure everything fits ok (as near as I can with no motor), make up some sort of mount for the air controller box and weld it to the floor.

Ok so that didn't happen today I had a dentist appointment this morning and then ran and got a couple of pieces of trim for the house, plus yesterday the UPS driver ran his truck in the ditch on my driveway and I had to fix the drive where him and the tow truck guy tore it up extracting him, he was a new guy, a kid, I may not see him again for a while I think he was going too fast.

I did find my trim ring for the bubble level today, I think, will show you more when I get a chance to work on it, hopefully tomorrow but I have to run more errands and it is going to be in the 90s, but that has never stopped me before

See Ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

consider it as a workout....just look at all the money your saveing on memberships at a GYM.....

[lavron]

consider it as a workout

I will tell you what a workout is, trying to get that T5 up in there when the car is too low (or I am too fat) to get under the transmission to push it up into place I do have the console base mostly done just need to mock everything up before I weld it in, hopefully this week I will come up with a way to hoist that transmission up in there, I think I will make some sort of cradle for the floor jack to hold it steady so I can get it lifted high enough to get the rear crossmember bolted in and a jack stand under the front of it.

You may have figured out (or maybe no one cares ) that I have been posting a few things about electrical stuff, might be thinking I am working on my harness, well not exactly, I am trying to get together all the pigtails and plugs to start wiring it all together. So yesterday I decided to get out my Volvo dual fan relay so I could find the plugs for it (going to do a Contour fan) and I cannot find it, frustrating thing is I had it looking at it about a month or so ago but I have no idea what I did with it, I have looked the last couple of days, dug through mounds and boxes of all the likely and un-likely places it might be, can't find it, I am so determined to find it I did the only thing I knew that guarantees it I ordered another one. I have a plan to come out on top of this, while the one I have (had) is new, I ordered a used one that has the pigtails attached to it so when the current one pops up in the next couple of days I can use the pigtails off of the one coming and use the new one and save the other for a spare

Going to keep on keeping on, looking for 3G alternator pigtails now, at least I have not bought the wiring or the alternator for that little project yet

See Ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

for yrs ,muscle was the only way me and little brother knew,,,we didn't tip the scales a 100lbs,,,,couple of bumper jacks and a concrete block or 2 if we were lucky,,,,we didn't have nuttin to work with,,,but the want to....wonder we didn't knock the car over and it flattened us like the last pile of dog do do you stepped in

[bigdan]

I feel your pain, Lavron. I rolled under my 65 several times with my TKO on my chest then bench pressed it into position - no fun. In the end, I found a way to cheat . Since the glass was out, I ran my cherry picker in from the side and dropped a strap through the tunnel. Also, take a couple of bolts and cut the heads off for guides while you're lining everything up on your back. Good luck!

Dan