62 Belvedere 318 poly granny cruiser (one day i hope)

[icetech]

Yeah, The first photo was my 65 Belvedere. I left 'um off too.
Same as you,lazy as I forgot to install them before the rotors and stuff went on.
Said I'll put them on next time I take things apart. That was 16 years ago...

haha i'm just not a fan of how they look...

 

[icetech]

Moved the calipers to the front.. much better.. I will say i like working on drum brakes WAY more.. or gm style pin brakes...
BTW.. thought i would be smart and just pop the ball joints and move the whole assemblies to the other side.. til i looked down and also moved the steering in front of the rotor took it all apart anyway...

 

[icetech]

A little progress... getting the motor together, moving sooo slowly Hope to start the trans in the next week or so..

 

[icetech]

So.. this car sat for 45 years without being moved a inch... the trans has had me more stressed than anything, i was afraid of rust on drums or stuff dried up and stuck together...but nope... thing is like new inside, even passed the air gun test on the clutch packs.. Almost wish i had just regasketed it and ran it but since it's apart i'm gonna call A&A and see what upgrades he suggests..
Wish i had a local performance trans place..

 

[ckessel]

Better safe than sorry.

 

[icetech]

K.. Trans kit is here from A&A, need to figure what fluid i'm gonna run.. and order a tf2 kit (i really should order stuff well before i need it)

Still no pushrods from smith bros.. but not a giant rush.. need to get a converter also...

 

[icetech]

K... soo.. busy day.. Ordered a FTI 9.5" converter today.. 3200 stall (approx of course) and am going next weekend to drive 6 hours each way to pick up a '65 727 for the tailshaft hate long drives...

 

[icetech]

Soo... did a 12 hour round trip to pick up a '65 727 so i can now get a normal driveshaft (anyone have a spare 727 yoke?) And new axles showed up from DrDiff which are pretty beefy.. I need to see if i can modify my backing plates now, if not i will find some.. The 4.57s are gonna be ridiculous tilt hey make me hate the car and i swap to 3.23s

 

[icetech]

Alright. quick update... not a ton done this week.. prepping trans parts, then ordering more parts.. then more parts that i didn't know i needed..
FTI 9.5" converter is on order probably 10 days out still..
Rockers are on the motor and shimmed, smith bros push rods in.. Need to lash the valves which i plan to do tonight..
Also moving the axle back 1", got hangers from mancini.. The rear shackles on these cars are on a stupid angle or ESPO made the rear section too short.. the shackles at this point line up perfect with the spring and won't swing at all. Hoping 1" will fix that (will post a before and after pic).. I think @dvw posted about the rear shackle issue in the past and it's real..

That's bout it.. i hate how slow i'm going but i'm not rushing anything...

P.S. i am 100% fucked for seats though.. the person that was going to do them flaked and i don't even have the springs/frames anymore (i knew it would happen) so.. probably will buy some cheap **** buckets which really is what i wanted to avoid..

 

[icetech]

K.. got a bit done in a hour last night.. Moved my axle back 1", drilled holes in my oil filter plate and primed the engine.. 68PSI with a drill.. took forever to oil the top end, couldn't find the right spot to turn the crank.. almost panicking Pulled the rocker hold downs where the oil comes up, found the spot and flooded the top end nicely So.. intake today.. dist drive.. a few other small things..
One thing i will prolly do is drop to 30w oil.. that 20-50 puts a stupid amount of pressure on the oil drive shaft..

A couple of pics, first one shows the angle of the rear shackle with the weight of the car on the springs for 4 months... there is no way that wouldn't bind up on extension.. Second pic is after adding 1".. the silver is what 1 drop of antiseize does do your life Shackle is almost straight up and down now.. plus the wheel fits better in the opening. I have 17.5" from the wheel lip now, i think i could run a 30" not sure on width.. i have almost 6" backspace to the spring.. not sure how much of a gap from that to the rim should be, guessing bout 1" will research.

 

[ckessel]

I believe you are correct on the shackle angle.

 

[icetech]

New piston for one of the clutch packs showed up..and new converter.. i think i have everything to put the motor in now.. except valve cover gaskets and a ton of little stuffs...

 

[icetech]

Trans all together finally, did a TF2 shift kit, a bit stressful drilling into the valve body Might actually put the engine in on sunday.. Still need to order a radiator, and find a starter.. tons of little ****.

Steering box and drag link is all out.. gonna put it in after just to have some more room.. Really hoping the headers clear the power steering..

P.S. and a 727 yoke.. i keep forgetting bout that.. and will need a driveshaft made.. sooo still some work to do

 

[ckessel]

I'm sure you are aware but the car need to be on its wheels or on stands under the diff when you measure for the shaft. Find out from the shaft maker how and where they want it measured. Not all are the same. End up with the right thing just different routes getting there.

 

[icetech]

I'm sure you are aware but the car need to be on its wheels or on stands under the diff when you measure for the shaft. Find out from the shaft maker how and where they want it measured. Not all are the same. End up with the right thing just different routes getting there.

yeah, i keep jackstands on the axle not the frame while i'm working out of habit Not sure who i will have do a driveshaft yet... not planning ahead is why i take soo long

 

[icetech]

K... some progress! got my sister to come over on saturday night (******* mosquitos! no idea what's going on in michigan but i have never seen mosquitos like this.. especially this late in the year) Motor is in... headers fit great (so far) I haven't put the steering box in yet though.. will get to that this week.. I can't believe how much room a LA has in these cars, plus the sparkplugs are soooo easy to get to
Ordered a ECP radiator this morning.. going to have CCI make a driveshaft after i measure for it tonight... soo getting closer.

Still no seats Hopeing DVWs kid still has his laying around...

Only semi big job is sorting the wiring and cleaning all those old connections..
P.S. Need to order a starter, not sure what to get yet.. i could swear someone mentioned that a mid 90's manual trans truck had the smallest.. i need to research a bit...

P.P.S. getting heater core hoses on will be a bitch.. they point straight at the back of my valve cover...

Tons of room behind the engine also..

 

[icetech]

Soo.. ordered this yesterday and it's here... looks damn good... new trans lines showed up also.. Main thing left is getting a driveshaft made which i will measure for tonight if i feel like it..

Also.. didn't know bout the power steering mount differences on the older setup I'm gonna have to make a mount...

 

[icetech]

Went to CCI this morning and got my driveshaft, all spicer parts and the welds are perfection.. really happy. Going to clear coat it and leave it plain steel looking.. too pretty to paint

And i love a company that opens at 6am... soo nice to get things done early.

 

[ckessel]

Shafted first thing in the morning!

 

[icetech]

Couple of things done last week... Got the ministarter to fit, i had bought a set of NOS dougs headers from a sell here and he didn't bother to mention that they are 50 years old and never used cause one of the pipes went right into the starter... cut em up and fixed that (the angle in the pic looks worse than it is) Also got throttle and kickdown installed.. ended up buying a Lokar knock off kit which actually worked out decently, would be nice to have gotten directions though

Driveshaft is in.. pretty much need to get wiring in and pick up a battery so i can hear if this thing will even run..
(bout 3/8" between the tub and the starter

The zip tie is temp..