My daily driver 67 Coronet wagon

[ckessel]

I dropped off the K frame, lower arms, shafts yesterday to get coated. After I got back I contacted the local yard, non u-pull, to see if they have a truck. They do and it's $150 for the bar. If I factor in two tanks of fuel to the valley and back, $120-$140 w/10-12 mpg, the entry to the yard and the cost of the bar, this is a deal. I already have a rear one. It's the one currently on my 65 that hangs too low due to my moving springs. I know the solution for that dilemma, use a tri five Chebby wagon/Nomad rear bar according to Hellwig.

 

[OneWheelPeel]

I have a 3/4" bar from an 83 Imperial. It is shaped a lot like the 70-71 E body rear bar.

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Frame mounted.

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The 82-92 Camaros and Firebirds came with rear bars between 5/8" to 11/16" and can be adapted to a 66-70 B body with a little work but they are axle hung, not frame mounted. The end links are wide though so they are actually a better fit for E and 71-74 B body cars.
I'm a big fan of finding ways to make junkyard stuff work.

It’s a good approach especially since not every car has the aftermarket support of the b-bodies. I should have tried this when I was trying to do something with my Ranchero.

 

[ckessel]

Last week I picked up the sway bar at the yard. Got it cleaned up and ready for some mods. I picked up my powder coated pieces earlier today. Yukon Gear has a bearing, seals and retainer package to replace missing or damaged oe style retainers. Like mine where the PO put the Green units in. Bearings are US made Timkens. Retainers look very well made. I sourced them off of Amazon. Got the bearings packed and ready for install at a later date. I'm going to do my brake upgrades first. Install the bigger new rotors and new caliper brackets. New pads and Timken bearings there too. Back is getting the 11x2.5's with all new items minus the backing plates. Plates got blasted, sprayed with Ospho, then hit with POR15. When I pull the axles to replace the Green's, I'll switch out the 10's for the 11's on the brakes. New rear brake hose too.

 

[ckessel]

Today I did a little prep work on the wagon to get ready for the upgrades. I put it up in the air to adjust the shifter, wasn't quite getting into park, and figured while its up, hit fasteners with Kroil that will be getting undone soon. Spring u-bolts, spring shackle nuts, front spring hangers, shocks, strut rods, t-bar adjusters, some of the rear brake lines. I'll re-squirt all of those over the next few days while my lift is empty. My neighbor was able to flatten out the C30 sway bar and spread it out a bit to match my FF bar that will go on the 65. Kerndog[ Greg} mentioned wanting to do that on one he got. Good thing my neighbor has a 55 ton press at his work. Took 25 he said. I cut off the ends of the bar where needed to match the FF one, then took the flap wheel to it for rust removal. I set it on a stand, with cardboard under it, and doused it with Ospho. Hence the cardboard under the stand[ it's an acid and we have pavers in front of the house]. Tomorrow I'll do some cuts on the ends to get the general shape needed for the links and then drill the holes in. Good thing I sharpened my 3 sets of bits a couple of weeks ago. Also made sure the new rear brake hose is the right one.

 

[ckessel]

I got the ends of the bar trimmed down, ground and flap wheeled, then drilled the holes for the links. I'm so glad I sharpened up my bits. The ones I used need some touch up but thats ok. I'm going to see about making my frame connectors tomorrow.

 

[Kern Dog]

YES ! That is the kind of stuff I really dig!

 

[ckessel]

Thanks for the reminder about that bar. Once flattened and spread some, courtesy of a 55 ton press, is working out fine. I'll make some copies of the FF bar mounts I have for the 65 to hook it to the K. Getting closer.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Fyi, the way to measure pistons is about 1/4 to 1/2" up from the bottom of the skirt. Pistons taper from bottom to top, with the too being smaller because it gets exposed to the most heat, so it needs more room to expand.
Yse a mic, not a caliper. The caliper will get you in the ballpark but the mic will get you exact. I would get compression up to at LEAST 9.5 to 1 and those pistons are probably .250" down in the hole, so it would take a miracle to get it anywhere near there without boring and new pistons. Jmho. Love your cars.

 

[ckessel]

When it's engine time, I'm going for the -71 pistons. They have a taller compression height. Depending on funds at that time, may spring for some Stealth heads instead of going through the iron units. They'll have way better flow and give me some extra poop out of it. Will go cast pistons, moly rings. Get it cleaned, decked, align honed, bored, honed, cam bearings fitted, balanced. I'll clean and assemble. Already have a bump stick in mind. When it's together, yank out the 2 stroke leaker, swap pieces over and drop it in.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Don't have the block machined without giving the pistons to the machinist. There is no guarantee with cheap pistons that their diameter is what it's supposed to be which leads to too tight or too loose piston to wall clearance. I've built engines professionally for years, and have learned the hard way on more than one occaision.

 

[RJ Squirrel]

Fun to McGyver up yer own parts! Nice looking powder coated stuff too

 

[ckessel]

I'm not going order internals until it gets bored and get final oversize. Currently its .030 but has some ridge and I can see where the rings were moving around at the top and bottom of the stroke dwell.

 

[ckessel]

Today I prepped the areas where the SFC's will go. Need to do a little more in spots. Measured out for material, 2"x.120 wall square. I found that due to floor contour, seat reinforcement units, angle of the t-bar crossmember[ not truly 90*] that I needed to have a 5* kick in the tubing just after the seat reinforcement. Since I don't own a tubing bender or have ready access to one, I gave the rear portions a 5* cut so they would kick up and meet the rear frame rails. After I was happy with the fit, I roughed them up with a hamburger wheel followed by an Acetone wipe down till the paper towels came out clean. From there I got them out of the sun and wind, then put some Ospho on them. Before I weld them in, I'll get some paint on but cut that off about an inch from the ends. Once welded, finish painting. On the rh side, it will be close to the fuel line so I'll wrap that with a wet towel. I'm interested in seeing how the car feels after these are in.

 

[ckessel]

Since I'm flush with green due to my new project, 28 Ford, I did some wealth redistribution. The proper way as opposed to lefty. Ordered up my stuff from Craig, sent him payment an hour ago. Ordered up the Lares box, pump, fitting from the Rock. Those will be here next week. Took a little time earlier before lunch to scuff the sway bar and SFC's, then put a coat of POR15 on. After lunch, I'll clock back in and continue on the 28.

 

[ckessel]

My Lares items from Rockauto showed up today. I opened up the pump and fitting box to find a broken stud. Just got off the net for the return and replacement. Good thing it's not holding me up. The steering box looks fine. Judging by how the stud looks, someone got a little happy cinching it down.

 

[theman440]

What/whos steering box is that?

 

[ckessel]

Lares. Been seeing info pop up on them for awhile. Did some investigating, contacted the company for info on fit/changes/mods etc. The gal I was in contact with on email said that Bouchillon has been using them. Figured good enough for me. As far as how it fits, works etc, I won't know for a few weeks. Have a money making project on my lift right now. Once it's done and gone, the wagon goes on for all the changes. I was initially looking at a Borgeson with BAC's mods and pump but it was almost double the dough. I did get one of his for my 65, but that car is on the back burner till I get my daily driver squared away. Check in the brakes/steering/suspension section on the forum. There was some info going back and forth on the 11043 version on their box.
Lares 11043 fast ratio questions

 

[Jarven1977]

I like your approach to this, not throwing money away and figure out smart ways to get what you want. Very interresting to see.

 

[ckessel]

Thank you for that Jarven. My budget is limited, so I want to use it as wisely as possible.