WOO HOO!
My latest parts order arrived today....well almost everything......
I'm essentially rebuilding the entire front end, and had ordered a complete front suspension rebuild kit (sans springs and strut rods.......) and the steering rebuild kit. The only thing missing from my order is the two lower control arms. They are on back order!
I'm waiting to order the springs and strut rods until I have the old schtuff off the car.
While I have it all apart I am going to clean the front frame, engine side walls, shock towers etc., and POR-15 the whole thing in addition to doing the "Shelby drop"!
That should keep me occupied until July!
I'm also going to replace the spindles, and upgrade the front brakes to disc!
After the front end is done it will be time to tackle the rear.....new springs, and an 8" rear with either 3.50 0r 3.55:1 gears
I haven't posted here yet....mostly because I've been pretty doggone busy. Just when I was getting into a pretty easy routine; my job changed! I'm finally out of the office and back out in the field!
On the other hand; I've ended up with more overtime because I'm not passing off the "after 4:00PM" jobs to other people so I can sit at what was my desk and take calls! So, it's back to the other half of the vicious circle; more money, less time to use it on projects
However, I did in fact manage to get the tilt-steering unit rebuilt on the Generic Rice-Eating Chevy Not more lose, up-and-down, side-to-side slop in the wheel/column. High-beam switch (you pull back on the turn-signal lever) works every time, the cruise-control wiring is all cleaned up (was a bit frayed); life is great!
Also good that I got it done TODAY; as I ended up taking 1/2NK down to the DMV and she got her license to pilot her 2950lb missile solo! Which means I have to give up the red S10 "Son of Generic Chevy Truck" starting TOMORROW. Whew! Oh, by the way; 87gn and Oboe.... there was some talk of hunting you guys down when she's up in your respective neighborhoods. So, if you see a teenaged blonde driving an S10, nice red/silver paint job over bondo covering ten years of life in Michigan; be prepared. People over in SoCal should be relieved that she doesn't really like to cross the Colorado River. And Cheapie should be relieved that Deanna spends most of her time on the East Coast!
Also, I'm working with my daughter Jessie (1/2's li'l sister) on resto-modding a 20-year-old R/C Trainer Airplane. Getting some serious wing upgrades, a new engine (twin ball-bearings on the crank gives it a blistering 1.3HP, which is pretty good for 1/4 CID), and new Monokote (sort of like "skin and paint"). It already has a new radio set including ball-bearing servos. When it's done, it'll be something like a 393W-powered '66 coupe with an AOD, 9" rear, four-wheel discs, TCP suspension and Viper finish (and my savings should be about shot!). Kinda fun; and so far we've managed to keep it well hidden at Jessie's Science Club classroom at school The next one will be something for the old Dawg; looking at an electric-powered GWS "SlowStick" with a bumped-up motor, lightweight receiver, and Lithium Polymer batteries......should be able to drag up a Nikon digicam and UHF video transmitter and fairly well haul a$$ for about 300 bucks (less camera) which is less than the restomd project is costing.
Yeah, Spring Fever's going to be expensive for me too!
I had a (semi-)productive day........After pulling the front rims and tires off, I removed the outer shock tower covers and shocks, borrowed a spring compressor and pulled both coil springs then started on removing the rest of the front suspension.
I got as far as unbolting the passenger side upper A arm and removing the brake line when I ran into problems......
When the factory installed the suspension, they inserted the lower A arm bolt facing forward, THEN installed the cross member, so now I have to drop the cross member to get the lower A arm off......except the nuts for the cross member bolts are inside the frame and the just spin!
So I decided to separate the upper A arm and spindle from the lower and the tie rod end.......Murphy really dislikes me......I'm whacking on the pickle forks and they ain't budging!
So I gave them another good soaking with WD-40 and will try again tomorrow after I get home from work.
Not to worry, I have been taking plenty of pictures, I just haven't had time to resize them for posting................