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I took the moonroof off a late 90's Ford Taurus and welded into this '48 project. Worked great when I did it 20-some years ago. I just put it back in and it drags and does not close completely. I've synched the motor according to factory service directions and still does not close. I ordered some Krytox grease for the rubber seal around the glass, which is what Ford recommends.

However, they don't have anything in the service manuals about what to use on the rails themselves. I stopped at my local Ford dealer and the parts guy spent 15 minutes looking in the manuals for me and he couldn't find anything.

Anybody have experience with lubing moonroofs? There are a couple cables that are surrounded by a sheath. I plan on shooting some silicone down those tubes and then putting some silicone on the rails unless I get a better suggestion.

Walt

PS: Having loads of trouble with leaks. Brakes, tranny lines, water pump. Slowly getting them taken care of. I put a new pump on last weekend and I think that is leaking around one of the gaskets. I put a little copper gasket maker on them and maybe I shouldn't have done that. Will probably take it off again this weekend. I can do it an hour or so.

Finally getting to where I can try to start my '95 Lt1-powered '48 Chevy. At first it would not crank, traced that to a bad VATS relay. Then I had no spark, cleaned up the connectors at the optispark distributor and now have spark. I found out the hard way today when I accidentally touched my spark tester while cranking the motor. Got a good shock.

Bought a noid light kit and the injectors are firing. I have the recommended fuel pressure at the fuel rails.

Seems to fire if I spray a little starting fluid in it but I suppose that could be the ether igniting from the compression.

I've read that the tach needs to read over 100 RPM for it to start, which I don't have, but I also read where if I have spark then that's not an issue.

I'm wondering if all the injectors are plugged from sitting for 25 years. Seems to me that if at least a couple of them were squirting it would try to start.

My next step is to take the fuel rails out, stick the injectors in jars and see if any gas is coming out.

Things are so much easier with my carbureted '39. The '95 Camaro's came from the factory with OBD1 computer but OBD2 test connector. I found a OBD1 tester on eBay that will be here next week so I can check to see what codes I may have.

Any Ideas

I'm trying to get this thing ready to start and I'm working on the battery cables now. I located the battery in the trunk. Back 20 years ago when I bought the cable, I got 2 gauge positive. Now I'm not sure that's heavy enough. It's about 13 feet to the starter. What do you guys think? The cable I have seems very heavy but I want this thing to start easily.

I'm trying to find some window garnish moulding clips for my '48. Checs of the 40's has been sold out for a long time. I wish I could remember where I put mine when I took them off.

This is them; https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/dept/Interior/cat/Fasteners.html

I find what looks very similar for tri-5 chevys but they are 9 bucks each and I need 12 of them.

Any ideas?

Walt

I want to upgrade the lights on my '48. I'm looking at what Chevy's of the 40's has and they have an LED kit with glass headlights for $150. Anybody have experience with this or have any better suggestions?

I got my new firewall back from the fabrication shop and they did a great job. I fabricated a piece to mount it in the middle of the stock firewall to keep it from flopping at the bottom. Pic was before I spent several hours getting holes drilled for the stainless button head mounting bolts. Now I have to figure out how to keep it looking nice!

Took apart the grill, sandblasted the pieces and bondoed where needed. They are getting primer on them now in prep for paint.

Been working on finishing up heat shield and underlayment. Putting one front power window in this weekend to see how it works. Man that windshield urethane is expensive. Next up will be putting the wiring in in prep for starting it up.

My wife was away today so I had no other directions to follow so Spent the entire day on the '48. First I finally got my gas filler tube hooked up. The donor Taurus for thew door had a 1 inch filler, but my tank had 1-1/4. I bought a couple mandrel-bent thin wall 1-1/4 els from Performance Tube Bending in California. One of the slipped right over the Taurus filler tube. I welded that on and then used another el and a couple sections of rubber fuel line to tie them together.

Then it was on to my window regulators. Years ago I fabricated a mount for the Z's motors on the 48 regulators and today replaced all the rivets and rollers. Found a good deal on them at H and H reproductions. They sell them for 55-57 but they are all the same. All the early chevy parts places only had the 1/4" rivets and my cars has 5/16. Thes from H and H are perfect.

Then sandblasted my exhaust manifolds and coated them with POR 15 high temp gray. They look great.

Then painted the inside of the front fenders with POR-15 gloss black.

The last project of the day was a PIA. I bought this special "space-age" heat blanket at a NSRQA show 15 years ago. Company called Insulshield. The aluminum has what they call a ceramic interior and it just crumbles when I cut it. You have to tape up anyplace you cut and it took me 2 hours to make a small piece for the firewall. I still have to make pieces to go over tranny and down the side up to the seats but once the firewall piece is in place I can start putting the wiring in.

Had to spend January in Florida to keep the wife happy, then a couple other trips slowed me down a little but making great progress overall. Been tidying up a few loose ends, got both rear swing-out windows working, a few little holes patched and bondoed. Having a new stainless firewall made, will post a pic when done. Been working on window regulators and the related parts. I had a grill bar that had a corner piece broke off that I repaired with something called muggy-weld. Came out well. Will start putting wires on the inside of the body soon. I'm sending a pic of the connector that went through the firewall of the donor Camaro. Twenty years ago I had the wiring harness in at one time, but I can't remember if I disconnected the harness at this connector. It looks like it does come apart but I hate to do it if I shouldn't. Any ideas on that? I could try to feed the wires and connectors through the hole this connector fits in but that may not work either. I wish my memory worked better.

More to come.

Trying to figure the best way to attach the electric fans to my aluminum shroud. From what I can tell, I should be OK using stainless elevator bolts if I minimize the amount of "touching" between the 2. I'm thinking I'll use some fuzor glue to hold them which will act as like a gasket between the 2. Any thoughts?

Walt

Got busy and accomplished a few things.

Bent up some aluminum to use as a radiator shroud. I had to buy 2 Hayden 9" puller fans  as it is all I can fit between the radiator and the engine. The shroud is sitting right on the fins now but I may see if I can put some spacers and move it out a little once everything is in place. The stock Z28 had 2 fans so my harness is all set up for both of them. Thinking of gluing some stainless piano bolts to the back side of the aluminum in order to mount the fans.

Had to make my upper radiator hose go around the intake. Found these nice billet connectors on amazon. US made and only 10 bucks.

Bought Z28 tranny cooler lines from Inline Tube. I had to cut and bend them a little at the radiator end but worked out great. The end at the radiator is still crimped and I'll put some fuel injector type clamps on the other end where I put a double flare on the tube.

Mounted the billet specialties mirrors. I like them much better than the old Buick Riveria mirrors I was going to use. Plus they are manual and it's one less thing I have to wire.

Looking for help with running my steering lines.

I put a quick-ratio steering box in my '48 that I got from a late 80's early 90's Firebird. It has the metric type hoses with the o-rings on the fittings. I have new Russell adapters to go from the o-ring to -6 AN fittings. On the 16MM opening the old fitting goes in and out no problem but the new one doesn't want to go in. I ordered a thread chaser but these adapter fittings should work, correct? they appear to be correct. The old fitting spins right in but the new adapter gets stuck after a half a turn.

The pump on my LT has a remote reservoir. The fitting on the pump outlet is 16MM. Does that high-pressure hose go to the 18 or the 16 MM size on the steering box? The old hose I have has 16 on one end and 18 on the other but I don't know which end went where.

I bought a Trail-gear custom hose set with AN fittings and they will work for the high-pressure side but the braided hose that came with it won't fit on the plastic return tube on the reservoir. Any suggestions for an adapter from the high pressure hose to the plastic fitting. Looks to be 5/16.

Lastly, the reservoir fitting for the return line to the pump is 3/8. All it does is supply fluid back to the pump which has a metal fitting the same size. I need a very flexible hose or a couple 90-degree fittings to make the turns. Looking for suggestions there as well. What type of rubber hose is OK to use with power steering fluid?

Thank you

Making some good progress on the 48. Been working on the fuel, AC, Heater and steering lines. Bought a Dorman tool to make it easier to put the fittings on Nylon line. Got the AAC condenser mounted and most of the lines run. Once I figure out where everything is going to fit I'll index the fittings on the AC and heater lines and get them crimped. One of the hardest things is remembering what my plans were when I first did a lot of the planning 20 years ago.

Got the rear swing-out window working on the drivers side. Have to make some minor adjustments to get it perfect once I get doctor's approval to start welding again. That should happen on the 20th.

Enjenjo, you sold me a kit to run wires into my doors many years ago. I can only find one of the rubber things the wires run through. Do you remember who made that so I can try to round up the missing piece?

It's been a long time. I joined this forum probably 20 years ago, and glad to see some of the same names, like enjenjo and WZ JUNK. I started building this crazy custom '48 Chevy sedan in 1997 and then kids, career, military deployments, etc. got in the way. I'm back at it now and want to get this thing done.

It started as a 2-dr sedan. I chopped the top 2" in the front, none in the back. Then I had a coupe sitting here so I took the doors from it and grafted the sloped B pillars on. Rather than slant the windshield post or the rear window I decided to cut the car in half and shorten the body. A LOT of welding. Rounded all the sharp corners, pie-cut the hood 3/4". Put a moon-roof from a ford taurus in because my wife wanted it.

Put a front clip from '87 Grand Prix, rear suspension is from the '95 Z28 donor car that also provided the LT1 and tranny, steering column and brake booster.

Built the pictured dash and center console.  The dash includes the modified center chrome piece. The console was built around an Old Trofeo box. Hundreds of hours getting that all squared away.

Now it's time to get all the little things done so I can get paint on it. I don't like the mirrors on it now (guys on here tried to talk me out of them) so I just ordered some Billet Specialties round mirrors.

I'll be looking for advice and hints just like the old days if y'all don't mind.

Walt

So I think I have my cooling problem solved. I bought a Cooling Components shroud and fan along with their 2-speed relay. I took my Walker radiator to a local shop and had it flushed and they repaired a couple leaks. Put it all back in and the shroud looks and works great.

However, I now think my temp gauge sending unit is bad. The engine warms up fine, but when it gets to about 200 the needle starts fluctuating wildly and then just pegs all the way over to the max. The fan runs and cycles off like it's cooling fine, but the gauge stays pegged.

I checked the lead to the sending unit and it was clean and tight. Sound like a bad sending unit?

Walt

Hi Everyone,

Been a few years since I've posted. Old-timers may remember the 48 Chevy custom street rod I've been building for 17 years now. Hope to get started back on it this year. Work keep getting in the way.

Other than that, I need a new cooling system for my 39 Chevy with 350 and auto tranny. The radiator in it is a Walker I bought in 1990. It works fine as long as the air temp is under 80 degrees. Much over that and I over heat. Always has. I have a shroud and electric fan and I know it pulls a lot of air through.

Thinking of putting in an aluminum radiator. Any suggestions on make, etc? I looked on the Griffin web site and theirs with shroud and fans is $1500. A little more than I'd like to spend but will spend what I need in order to have the thing work. I'd like to drive it a bit more this year.

Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Walt

OK, so oldtimers here know I have been working on my 48 Chevy for many, many years. I should finish it before getting involved in something else. When the 48 is finished, I want to re-do my '39 Chevy sedan.

I started thinking that a Ford Taurus SHO motor might make a unique powerplant. I don't have any idea about whether it would fit, etc. I started looking around and there a quite a few of them on Ebay at what I think are reasonable prices. I need something soon to replace the 2001 Dodge Stratus that my son drives. I figure I can get a nice SHO and let him drive it for a couple years until I want to use the drive train.

Anybody know any info that can help with this decision?

Hey guys,
I can't remember the last time I posted. I have been on the road for my company most of the last 2 years, but now I'm home and ready to get back working on my car. I also retired from the National Guard this week after 32 years so I'll have at least one more weekend a month to work. I've been busy getting caught up on my home projects so I can spend the winter on the car.

One of the things I'd like to do before winter is paint my garage floor. I've painted the walls, bought a nice new tool box, put up new shelves, and now I want to make the floor look nice.

I'm thinking about using a PPG product called Amerloc. It's a solvent-based 2-part epoxy. They tell me it's very good. They also tell me I should scarify the floor before painting it. I can rent the machine for $200 or pay a guy $450 to do that for me. I'm concerned about the floor being slippery after painting, since with all the snow we get here the floor is wet most of the time in the winter.

Can you guys give me any advice on floor prep, etc?

Thanks in advance

Walt

Hi guys,

It's prolly been a year since I last visited. My job is keeping me far too busy and away from home far too much. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll have to spend some time reading posts and catch up.

I have been working on upgrading my garage in preparation for doing some work on the car this winter. I have 3 of the walls painted, some cabinets put up on the walls and I will paint the floor with Rustoleum epoxy paint soon.

I'm looking for suggestions for tool chests. I don't need Snap-on quality, but I do want drawer slides with bearings. I saw a set yesterday at Lowes (Kobalt brand) that seemed like good quality, plus I get my 10% military discount there. Haven't looked at Sears yet but will keep my eyes open for a good sale. How about the Harbor Freight stuff? I saw some on-line with free shipping that looked decent. I'd like to keep the cost under a grand.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Walt

So I finished up with my borrowed Lincoln SP 125 welder. Man, I love that thing. Got the new brackets for my bumper brackets all welded in solid. I took it back to my friend and then went to the gas staion. My '95 Saturn SL1 (love this little car) wouldn't start. When I turned the key, al I got was a huming sound which I assume is the fuel pump. Luckily it is a standard, and luckily I was parked where I could get it rolling.

I got it home and checked my battery cables at the battery and they were a little loose. I had recently put a new battery in and must not have tightened them enough. Tried to start and still no good. So I crawled underneath and taped the starter with a hammer and then it started right up. I have started it again a few times and all is well. Is it possible that the por battery cable connections caused the solenoid to get stuck, and by tapping it that it is OK now, or should I pony up the $150 bucks and a few skinned knuckles and replace it now?

Thanks

Walt

It's been over 20 years since I installed springs on a GM front end. I'm in the process of putting my '87 Grand Prix front clip back together, and I worked on the springs a little yesterday, but had to quit for dinner.

I have a good internal spring compressor, and I can crank it down enough so I can get the sring in place, but I still lack a good 4 inches from being able to install the spindle. Maybe I just need to crank down the compressor some more, but when I do that the threaded rod of the compressor hits the shock tower. I thought about using my floor jack under the lower arm to try and raise it up, but a little "danger" flag was waving in my head. When taking a spring out, I always put a safety chain around the pring and arm, and I suppose I could do that before trying to jack the arm up. I decided to wait and ask you guys for advice.

Thansk in advance

Walt

As I mentioned the other day when I could not remember if the rubber ring went on top or bottom of the front springs on my '87 GP clip, I should not have waited so many years between disassembly and reassembly.

Today I went out to put the springs in, and quickly discovered that my outside spring compressors will not work on this car. So this week I'll round up an internal style compressor.

I figured I would bolt the upper ball joints on so I would at least make some progress. Now, I think they bolt in from the bottom side of the A-arm, but I just can't remember, and I have no car I can look at to see for sure. To me, it wouldn't make sense to bolt them on top of the A-arm, since then the only thing holding it would be the bolts, and if they broke it would be bad news. Can somebody verify that for me?

Thanks,

Walt

I got my motor back in the car yesterday. Now I want to get the front suspension back together. I bought new springs for the '87 Grand Prix clip, and I have two rubber rings that came off when I took the front end apart 8 years ago. I can't remember whether they go on top or on the bottom. My recollection is that they go on top, but I want to make sure. I could easily be wrong.

It feels good to make some progress, although I keep finding parts missing. I wish I had done a better job of marking things when I disassembled. Then today I was told I will be working in Rhode Island for the next 6 months. At least I get to come home on the weekends.

Thanks for any info

Walt

Hey guys. I have been missing for about 8 months while my company had me running all over the place. I have not touched my car since January, but now I am ready to get going again. My goal was to have it on the road this year, but work has to come before play.

Sometime soon I want to start upgrading my tools. I really need new sockets. All of mine were recieved as a Xmas gift from my dad back in 1975. They are Craftsman, and many of the sockets are illegible, especially at my age.

I'd like to get Snap-on, but really can't afford them. Any suggestions for a good quality set of sockets?

Thanks

Walt

I was hurrying (I usually get introuble when I do that) a few weeks ago and pulled my relatively new Hitachi jig saw off my bench when I caught my foot in the cord. I broke the foot. I had a friend weld it and I re-tapped the attachment screw hole but it won't stay tight now. So, I'm looking for a new one. Lowes has a Dewalt 5 amp unit for $100. I saw an 18V cordless model at Northern Tool

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200329665_200329665


for $60 without battery. That would an extra $40. I like the Bosch units, and Lowes has a corded model for about $130. I'm starting on my interior panels and seat mounts, a lot of which I cut out of plywood and plastic sheets. A jig saw makes the curves much easier to cut. DeWalt has a 18V cordless, but I really can't justify $360 for it.

Any experience with any of the above?

Thanks

Walt

On the days when it is above 20 degrees here in the frozen north I try to go out and work on the car. I've been able to get all of the grill mounting brackets modified and the original mounting holes filled and the bumper mounting brackets tacked in place. Since I subframed the car that involved a lot of work. I also got the inner fender panels modified to fit.

Then I started on the hood. I bent strip to fill the center depression. I bent it just enough so that the hood will have a peak equal to the one on the cowl. I am going to keep the hood ornament, so I took the filler strip far enough forward so the ornament fit right.

Then I removed the side moulding and welded the mounting strip in place.

I realized that the radiator support I had in place was not strong enough, so I am having a new one made. I will weld that in place and then bolt everything back together, put the hood back on and latch it, and then pie-cut it. I'm thinking 1/2 - 1 inch will look good. I have a couple articles I saved over the years that explain how to do it pretty well. I don't want to take a lot out. Just enough to make people wonder if it was done.

Still shooting for a fall drive if I can keep the work going, and if the cold weather cooperates.

Walt

I'm just about done fabbing all the new mounting points for my modified grill. The front bumper is going to be chromed, and I'm trying to decide what to do with the grill bars.

I'm not sure if I want a lot of chrome on the car other than the bumpers. I'm thinking I'll leave the rest of the grill black like the car. I can either paint them or get them powder coated. Any benefits to either? For prep, I'm thinking just sandblast? Or maybe even just scuff up with 600 grit?

Also may consider a chrome appearing powder coat. The guys who are doing my powder coating are high on the color. I may have then do 1 piece and see how it looks. Kind of defeats my all black idea, but I have an extra piece I can try it on.

I also broke a small piece off the end of my top section. I may try that low-heat weld rod and see if I can fix it, O/W I'll look for a new pice on ebay.

Walt

So I got these great Saab seats from a 9-3 Convertible. I'm all set to get them in the car, but I can't get them to work. Here's the problem.

The seats have a control module in them. This module has as an input a signal from the "I-bus". This signal tells the seat module that either the key is turned on or that the door is open. That signal is required for the seats to work. I traded a dozen donuts for the wiring diagrams at the dealer. It's amazing what a dozen donuts will do. The service manager has been very helpful, but he can't tell me how to bypass this signal. I know I can just cut into the harness on the other side of the module, but I would like to avoid that. If I can get the module to work I can take advantage of the memory function of the seats.

I was hoping that the I-bus signal was simply a 12V signal, but I guess it is a 8-byte computer signal of some sort.

I thought about getting the module that sends the I-bus signal, but I guess that is all tied in to the door switches, body computer, etc.

Any thoughts?

Walt

We are in the middle of a big Northeaster snow storm here. So, I took advantage and spent the weekend in the garage. Finally made some worthwhile progress.

Finished modifying the inner fender panels to fit my subframe. I still have a little welding to complete them, and of course the finish and paint prep, but that will wait until warmer weather.

Got the brake lines all done, and the fuel lines up to where they will mount on the inner fender. I need to get the engine back in before wrapping that up.

Got my grill and bumper in place. I'm trying to mount it all to make a little different look. I raised the bumper up and eliminated one big grill bar. Then I put a long grill bar up near the top, so that it extends out under the headlight. Now I have to ask my welder buddy if he can weld spring steel. I want to use rear bumper brackets on my front bumper, and need to weld a tan on the end in order to get the bolts to line up.

Then I got my window mouldings chopped. The fronts were easy, since that was just a normal chop. The rears took a little longer since in addition to the chop I shortened the body.

Then I ground the welds down on my radiator support that I modified by sectioning it 3" so it would clear my idler arm and pitman arm.

Whew.

I can see a very dim light now. My goal is to be just like Bob, get my picture in a rag. Congrats, Bob. Do I hjave to get gray hair to be in a magazine?

Walt

I've decided to use my stock hood latch on the '48. I have to find or make the "hook" piece since mine is broke, but that's doable. I was thinking I'll just get a choke cable at the farm and tractor place and mount it up under the dash to release the latch. Was wondering if you guys have something else you like to use for this purpose?

Walt

I'd been looking for some seats for the '48. I had been looking at Chevy Silverado truck seats, since I wanted integrated seat belts. I won't drive a car with them, and it can be a pain to get shoulder belts mounted and then they get in the way.

I put out a query on the web, and ended up buying a complete interior (all seats and center console) from a 2004 Saab convertible. I found them in Mobile, AL. They are leather, full power both sides with power lumbar and are heated. The best part is they are a perfect color for my car, so I don't have to recover them. And, I think they are the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in.

However, I do have to clean them up a little. Any opinions on the best stuff to use? I was looking at htis stuff on egay. These seats have no big cracks, but they do have the normal cracking that occurs.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JAGUAR-X-type-S-type-Vanden-Plas-XJ6-XJS-XK8-leather_W0QQitemZ180186913394QQihZ008QQcategoryZ33701QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I was just reading the posts about all the progress some of you guys are making. I feel like I am doing just the opposite. Lately it seems like I am getting further behind.

I got a press to do my control arm bushings. Got the lower bushings and ball joints in fine. Started on the upper arms and mangled the first bushing. Ordered a new one and when it comes in I will take them somewhere to get them done.

I mounted my proportioning valve on the frame where I thought it would work and then started to bend up the brake lines. Seems like my lines need to go right where my steering column needs to be. Luckily I noticed before I got too far into it. Now I think I'll mount the valve on the inner fender panel which will also keep things away from the exhaust manifold.

Before I can mount the valve, I need to put the fenders and inner panels back on the car and try to get them lined up without the doors on the car. I suppose I better put at least one door on so I can line the fender up with the fender extension on the door.

I bought the g-body frame spec chart that Wayne suggested. Seems I need to move my upper control arm mounts about 3/4" out. So I took off the ram from my engine hoist, but it won't work on its side. Now I'll try to round up a porta-power unit to use.

Isn't anything ever going to be easy?

Walt

First, I hate front wheel drive cars. And who ever heard of putting a water pump behind a timing belt anyway.

My Stratus has 102K miles so I figured I'd change the timing belt. Might as well do the water pump too while I'm at it.

All is going well until I put my new belt on. I'm getting the timing marks on each cam sprocket lined up straight across and my crankshaft mark pointing to the mark on th oil pump. As soon as I get the tensioner on, my crank mark is to the right of the oil pump mark and the cam marks are off. I know the tensioner will move the cam when I put it on, but I can't seem to get everything just right. I thought I had it one time and started the car up. It ran fine but started hard, so I took it off and started all over.

Any of you guys know the secret to getting this right?

Thanks

Walt

I've built a few small blcok chevy's but this is my first FI engine. I know there are also a few differences in the block and heads. Any of you guys know the answers to these questions?

I bought a new rear main seal. the factory manual says I need a special tool to press it in place. Can I just tap it in carefully, or should I hunt down the tool?

Can a FI throttle body be taken apart and rebuilt? I'd like to either powder-coat or paint mine. It looks like it should come right apart, but hate to do it if that will screw it up somehow.

How can prime it with oil before starting? It has been sitting for 8 years. I've always used a torn-down distributor and a drill, but that won't work in this engine. My bone-yard friend told me he has heard about a way to force oil through an oil-galley plug using compressed air. Seems like it should work. Maybe build a pressure tank and use a fitting like used on tranny cooler lines?

Thanks

Walt

Is it possible to install my g-body control arm bushings and lower ball joints at home using a bench vise?

I took my arms to a friends shop over two weeks ago, and still not done. I really want to get this frame wrapped up and the body back on top. I don't know if I can generate enough force in my vise. Anybody ever done this?

Thanks

Walt

A few weeks ago someone asked me to let him know if I saw the HVLP detail gun on sale at HF. It is now on sale for $40. Not as good as the $27 I saw a few months back, but still a good price.

Also, I highly recommend the 7" variable speed polisher/sander on sale for $20. I have had mine for 5 months and it has seen a lot of use. I paid $30 for mine and it was well worth it.

Wal
t

Whiale I am getting my frame put back toheter I took the time to take the tranny and engine apart and out the engine on a stand. I want to make things look better, but not to the point where I have to clean the thing all the time. I'd rather drive than clean.

Anything you guys like for improving the appearance of the aluminum tranny case? I was thinking maybe gray Zerorust or POR-15, or just clean it the best I can and leave alone?

As for the engine, I am carefully taking all the wiring, injectors, sensors, etc off. There is a lot of stuff on an LT1. I'm taking pictures and labeling everything. I may take the intake off so I can paint or powder coat it, and maybe polish the ribs on top of the manifold. Debating whether to paint or polish the water pump, alternator and alternator brackets. My wife wants to use those fuel rail covers than vettes have on the LT1.

I figured on just cleaning the aluminum heads where they show, and cleaning and painting the block black. I'll take the valve covers off and paint, unless they clean up good enough to just leave em as they are.

I bought some POR hi-temp gray paint for the manifolds. I am going to remove the factory heat shield from them so that paint will show.

Clean up the harness and some new loom and I should be all set.


Any suggestions?
Walt

My battery is mounted in the trunk. I bought a kit from Summit with cables etc. The kit came with a short section of black cable for the ground. My original plan was to run that cable from my battery box to a stud welded through my rear crossmember. From comments I have seen here I'm not sure that is the way to go. I started thinking that if that stud got some mud or corrosion on it, I might lose conductivity.

In the engine bay I have a cable from my common bus to the frame, engine, and body.

What do you guys do? I checked on #2 welding cable and at $2.75 a foot it will cost more to run a cable all the way to the front, but I don't want to have problems down the road.

Walt

I need to get replacement bolts for my control arms. I called my local Chevy dealer, and they have to order them, which means I have to go there first, pay for them, then wait and then go back to get them when they come in. I'd rather just order them and get them. Anybody know of a source? I checked a couple on-line Chevy parts places but could not drill down to those bolts.

I figure I can go to my fastener supplier for the bolts that go throught he bushings in the lower arms, but they would not have the bolts that go through the upper shaft and then the frame.

Thanks

Walt

After 10 years I finally have some paint on my car. Last weekend I got the frame and components all done with my new favorite paint, Zerorust. www.zerorust.com. I really like the stuff. Easier towork with than POR-15 and cheaper too. POR15 still has its uses, but most of the time I am using Zerorust.

Then today I painted the A-pillar part of the cowl, the door bottoms and the a-pillar door jamb. Now I can put the doors back on and start running wires. I painted the black (GM Onyx Black) using my cheap HF gun. It came out just like glass. I am thinking about buying a better gun if I decide to paint the whole car myself, but for the $40 I paid for the HF gun it does a great job. Of course, maybe it's my painting skills that make it work good.  

Any, it feels good to start seeing a little flicker at the end of the tunnel.

Walt

I'm looking for advice on the order of doing things. Here's where I stand.

My frame is painted. The body has epoxy primer and 3-4 coats of polyester primer on top of that. It is getting colder here in NY, so time is running short to do bodywork. Next week I plan on puting the frame back together, then sitting the body on it for the last time.

I still need to align the front fenders and the hood. The door gaps all all set. I was thinking I would paint the bottoms of the doors and the A-pillar at the door and the cowl. Then I can hang the doors for the last time.

I would like to work on the wiring and interior during the cold winter months, then finish the bodywork in the spring. However, that would mean getting sanding dust all over the interior of the car. The interior pieces would come back out before doing any bodywork, but not the wiring. I'm also not sure at what point I should put in the sound-proofing material.

Am I over-complicating this? What order do you guys do all these things? My preference would be to get all of the body block-sanded and ready for paint before doing the wiring, but I don't have the luxury of a big, heated shop.

Thanks for any input,

Walt

Headed to the local U-pull-it yard today. Found an 80's Trans-AM. It had the biggest sway bar I have ever seen. Measures 1.4". I snagged it for $8. Not sure if I want one that big, but couldn't pass it up. I also grabbed the steering box from it. The door codes lists the FE0 suspension package. I would assume this car has the 12.7:1 close ratio-box. I don't know why they would put a huge honkin sway bar without it.  Cost for the box, $21 including the core charge.

I also grabbed a 1-1/4" sway bar from another car in case I decide the huge one is too big.

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to the boneyard without losing some blood. I lost a nice piece of skin today. Lucky for me that chicks dig scars  

Walt

I wrote a while back about the high estimate I got from Advance Plating to do my new shorty bumpers I made out of two full bumpers. I called them up and said $1100 was more than I wanted to spend. They knocked off $100 so I gave the go-ahead. I got them back and they are just beautiful. The pics do not do them justice. My wife wants to cover them with plastic when I put them on the car. They look like a piece of jewelry. Now I have to get to work and make sure the body is perfect. These bumpers will look great against the black of the body.

Walt

Sorry to hog the board. I'm just trying to wrap up my suspension.

I found a board where a guy stated that a Camaro front sway bar is a bolt-in for the G-body front bar. He said to grab one from a Z28 or IROC.

Is that right? Seems too easy. I'm thinking of a big bar since my'48 is more top-heavy than the Grand Prix clip donor.

Thanks

Walt

I finally found an on-line coil spring chart. Check this out

http://bbb-carb.com/moog_Coil_Springs.htm

I copied and pasted it into a spreadsheet and can sort it to make things easier.

Anyway, I'm trying to choose between the 5409 and 5401. Both have the same load height, but the 5409 has a higher spring rate. As I understand it, the higher spring rate should keep it from compressing as much as the lower spring rate. However, most likely means a stiffer ride.

I'm leaning toward the 5409, since I don't have a lot of room for upward movement of the rear axle.

Do I understand the chart correctly?

Walt

While I have my frame all apart I was thinking I'd replace the shaft that goes through the bushings on the upper control arms. I called my parts place, and the guy says they are $100 list each, but he can sell them to me for $59. There is a note that says the MOOG part fixes a problem with the camber that exists with the factory parts. Anybody ever hear of that? I don't mind spending the $$ to fix a handling problem if there really is one.

Walt

Now that my frame is all set, I am getting ready to paint it and put it back together. I remember seeing somewhere how to tell the "better" steering box that was used on the Monte Carlo and clones. Mine is a '87.

Anybody know how to tell? And more importantly, what is the difference between them and is it worthwhile to get the "better" one?

Walt

After an all-day thrash yesterday, my frame is fixed. We cut the front clip off just in front of the cowl mounting point. I had a piece of tubing that fit right inside the '48's frame. We welded that in and then put more boxing plates on the outside. I set the front clip so that the passenger frame horn was level, leveled it side to side, and then pulled it down with all-thread so that the lower control arms were even with the crossmember. Measured everything about 15 times and then welded it all solid.  We were off on the fornt left to right back measurement by 1/16", but I decided that wasn't worth worrying about. The wheelbase is exactly 144.5" on each side. The frame just looks better now. Before, the front frame horn was kicked up quite a bit. I know that wasn't right. Plus, my tranny crossmember was only about 3.5 inches from the road, and I think that would have just a bit too low.

Now, if I can just get the lower control arm bolts out. Is there a secret to that? I'm thinking I will just cut them with my sawzall and use new ones.

Thanks for all the tips with this project. I'm glad I decided to fix it.

Walt

Some of you may remember that last year I posted about my wheelbase being too short on my sub-framed '48 Chevy. Here's a link to that thread.

http://www.roddingroundtable.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5035&highlight=


I have finally decided to fix it now while the body is off the frame. I'm looking for some info.

Can anybody answer these questions? I am using a '87 Grand Prix front clip.

What should I use as a reference point? It looks like the zerk fitting on the upper ball joint is at the wheel centerline. Or maybe the shock mount? I have all-thread in place of the shock now.

I used the all-thread to set the crossmember at ride height, but have since loosened the nuts. What should the distance from the ground to the crossmember be?

Should the front frame horns be level? I think that is the way they were when I cut the clip off.

Anybody have a post-war Chevy and can provide me with a good measurement to use for the distance from the ground to a reference point on the frame at the cowl? I can use the clearance from the ground to one of the body mounting points. I want the car to be low, but not so low that I scrape all the time. I know Bob K's car sits right. Hopefully he will see this.

I'm not sure how I screwed this up in the first place, but I want it to be right. The body is coming out great, and I want everything to be correct.

Anything else I need to know? The stock wheelbase was 116", I cut 2-3/16 out of the body. I wanted to end up with a wheelbase of 114 -1/2 but only have 113".

Thanks

Walt

I was looking for a way to flip the bodu of my '48, and you guys advised against rolling it on its side. So, after seeing the article in Rodder's Digest about the use of engine stands for flipping a frame, I decided to try it for the body.

I took an old stand I had that I didn't really like and  midified it. We extended the legs to make it wider. Then we made a new upright that was taller and did not have the 5 degree upeard angle. Then we fabricated a couple heavy duty pieces to bolt to the inside of the body.

I made a piece of angle iron ro bolt across the firewall using existing holes. Then I used my engine hoist to pick it up.

It works great. I am able to flip it with no help.

No here's the cause my my swearing. I had stripped some of the old undercoating from the wheel wells using a air needle scaler. Worked great. However, on the underside, it will not touch it. So I tried burning it off. Works, but leaves a messy residue. Now I am trying to spray it with oven cleaner and let it sit for a while. At the rate I am going it will take days to strip it.

Any sugeestion?

Walt

Has anybody used the high temp paints that POR15 sells? I need to order some regular POR15 to coat the inside door bottoms on the '48, and I was thinking about getting either the factory gray or the silver to use on my cast iron exhaust manifolds.

Thanks

Walt