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'70 Bee going back to the road after 40 years!

Final assembly from paint is complete! We cut/buffed the paint and installed the stripe....On to the front suspension and steering......

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Been a while since I posted, we worked through the bugs...Sticky window regulators, leaking carb base gasket, erratic timing due to miscommunication between me and my wife, and a leaking steering box. I am happy to say my wife took the bee out on the town and drove her girls to a vineyard for lunch. No issues!

We will replace the front control arm bushings and shocks in the near future to get the car ready for Gatlinburg in the spring!

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The car runs so good now, we decided to do the front suspension. We installed all new upper control arms (with bushings and ball joints), lower control arm bushings, lower ball joints, shocks, and sway bar mounts. This went so well I am ordering a steering linkage kit next!!

(BTW front brake hoses will be changed when the booster and master cylinder get replaced shortly)

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Back on the Bee! We got the Front suspension all replaced and moved on to the steering linkage. All restored and replaced (except steering box $$$). While on the lift we found the gas tank seeping at the seam. So we just replaced everything: tank, sender, insulation, and straps. Should be good to go to the alignment rack this Fri. I got it eyeballed pretty good and took it down to the gas station...No excuse not to start driving it a bit now......

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Been a while since we updated everyone....Car runs great, took her up to Gatlinburg for the Spring Rod Run. It was great cruising around in the mountains! We also made it to a show out on Tybee Island, GA last month. We had planned to take the car on Hot Rod power tour this year, but the steering box sprang a leak (we were very unhappy with the vagueness anyway). We had Steer & Gear out of OH build us a "modern feel" steering box. Took them 8 weeks so we took the Impala on the tour, but we got the box installed last weekend. This is a must do! car drives excellent. Ready for Turkey Rod Run in Daytona. I have attached the video of changing out the box in case your interested.



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The saga continues! Daytona was a huge success for us, just to get there with 3 cars and grow the business was a challenge. My wife has informed me she will be taking the car on Power Tour this year (I see some preliminary dates, but nothing official) as it is closer to us than last year.

The car has performed well, but we really don't drive it much longer than 50-60 miles at a time. We took the Impala last year, which always drove fine for what I drove it around here, we quickly found the fuel injection pump was not ready for 90 degree days and 400 mile trips. We also had a metallic tapping start in the engine that was luckily just a rocker arm. If we're going to be out on the highway for a week in the mid west/south in the summer a few things need addressed.

#1) We have no windshield wipers. The wires on the unit are bare so I am afraid to even turn them on LOL. I want to attempt to rebuild that unit myself.

#2) We have no Ram Air cables to the Air Grabber to close off rain. Easy fix as they are reproduced.

#3) Either the 4 speed or the rear end has an awful howl from bearings. I will be replacing rear axle bearings and leaf spring bushings shortly. As for the 4 speed I want to rebuild it myself. It doesn't look too hard, plus the 20 year old clutch is really spongy.

So there's the issues, we have until mid June it looks like....time to order parts...

Of course we will be filming all of it for the channel....Stay tuned!
 
Been a while since I posted, we worked through the bugs...Sticky window regulators, leaking carb base gasket, erratic timing due to miscommunication between me and my wife, and a leaking steering box. I am happy to say my wife took the bee out on the town and drove her girls to a vineyard for lunch. No issues!

We will replace the front control arm bushings and shocks in the near future to get the car ready for Gatlinburg in the spring!

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Love the Bee. Mind me asking the mfg of your lift, and what's the height from floor to top of the bee as she sits on the lift? I'm interested in getting one, but not sure my garage ceiling will accommodate it.
 
I've never measured to the top of the Bee on the lift, but at its highest level (shown) its still below my 12 foot wall height. At this setting I can walk under it without ducking (I'm 6ft tall). I bought this version of this lift for its bigger/wider size and the 8,000 lb. capacity to be able to lift my Duramax.

FYI, it was $1200 cheaper pre-Covid :screwy:

2+ years of constant use with zero issues other than the 3 "free" drip trays eventually sagging too far to use, but they were about 20 bux to replace.

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I've never measured to the top of the Bee on the lift, but at its highest level (shown) its still below my 12 foot wall height. At this setting I can walk under it without ducking (I'm 6ft tall). I bought this version of this lift for its bigger/wider size and the 8,000 lb. capacity to be able to lift my Duramax.

FYI, it was $1200 cheaper pre-Covid :screwy:

2+ years of constant use with zero issues other than the 3 "free" drip trays eventually sagging too far to use, but they were about 20 bux to replace.

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Thank you for the awesome informative reply, time to get measuring on my end!
 
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