The SN65 project car

Thenemesis said:

hey bob, wont the tire kick dirt and water ALLLL over that filter?

Click to expand...

Hi TN,

Nope, we are going to shield the filter against any such eventuality.

67dude said:

The video is awesome

Click to expand...

Hi 67,

Thanks for the "props". I knew that those 2,750 photos would come in handy one day.

We will finish the video when we actually get some shots of the "moving" vehical.

1320stang said:

Bob, did you look into my possible solution you were asking about?

Click to expand...

Hi Larry,

Yes we did. We found that there was some leeway in the lower radiator hose and that if we slid that connection in the direction we needed for clarance, the thermostate housing cleared the swaybar by a safe margin. We are going to let it set for a few days and see if it stays put or sags back toward the sway bar. It looks "acceptable" right now. We are going to live with it as is for a while while we consider sway bar and plumbing modifications to make the installation look a bit more "organized"

Hi All,

Two steps forward, one step back.... :-(

Yesterday, I wanted to help make some headway on the bodywork. I decided that the best place for me to concentrate my efforts was on the front valance. I had already cut the ductwork for the vents. All I had to do was fit them up to the inside of the valance, tack them up, and then wait for Wayne to weld the seam. Simple right? Well after I did the final fit up and tacked them in place, I decided, what the hell, I can weld the seam. After all, I know how to weld. It can't be that hard. That was my big mistake. I followed all the proper procedures and after about 30 minutes I had everything welded up. I then started to examine my work and found that the piece had warped at the end of the passenger side vent. I didn't think it was that bad, but after Wayne looked it over, we decided that we should order a new valance and do it over again....



I was so depressed. I thought I was helping out and, when all was said and done, all I ended up doing was creating more work. :-( On the other hand, my little excursion into the realm of Wayne's world has been a revelation. There is more to properly crafting steel than a basic understanding of the proper procedure. Also, just because you can weld, does not mean that you have the "touch" required to weld these thin sheet metal panels. I guess I will limit my welding to heavier brackets and structural items until I develop a lighter "touch" with the welder.

On the plus side, it does serve as a nice "mock up" of the final piece. When in position on the front of the car, it shows us what the finished panel will look like. It is going to look killer. Also, it has revealed a slight interference with the ductwork and the heat exchanger plumbing. We are going to resolve the interference issue by relocating the fittings on the exchanger from the front of the unit to the sides.

On another note, Wayne did get the front window pillars painted last night so that I can start on the final dash assembly. I will be working hard on this aspect of the build while I leave the bodywork in the hands of the experts.



It is now after lunch and I have been working on the dash assembly all morning. The defroster vents gave me a bit of a fit, but (after a bit of trimming) I was able to get the ducts installed and aligned. We should now be able to run the defrosters as we drive around the Chicago area this winter.




Catch ya'll l8r

Stang2Man said:

I used to work in a custom metal fab shop. and I loved it when people came in that were "Certified" welders and would take our welding tests, 16ga was the thickest steel we used most of the time, and most of what we used was 20ga. Watching some of these guys try to weld it was hilarious to say the least, they would start by cranking the heat up, and the speed of the gun. And then blame all the warpage on the machine, hehe.
It takes time and alot of practice, and I'm sure with your craftmanship it wouldn't take that long to get the hang of welding sheet metal on the car, just practice on a ricerburner for a little bit, you'll get the hang of it.

Click to expand...

Hi S2M,

There is a rice rocket in the shop right now, but I don't think Wayne wants me practicing on any of the customers rides.

Hi 66,

Actually, the deck is going to be a Kenwood double dim with built in DVD and GPS. I hope that does not put me into the rice burner catagory.

Hi All,

This weekend while I worked on the car, Wayne was involved on a new project. A customer brought in a 70 Camaro that he wants built into a ground pounding, earth shaking, 504 cubic inch big block beast. I could not help but listened to him and his son talk to Wayne. And while he says his intentions are only to do a bit of cruising and joy ridding and maybe hit the local car show circuit, I cannot help but feel that he has no good intentions toward all my faithful Ford brethren. And, even though it is a (cough) Chevy, it is going to be one beautiful ride when finished.

So, while Wayne was busy with a paying customer, I worked on modifying the pony door panels. I needed to remove the raised areas that interfered with the ends of the dash and also, I needed to remove the entire ribbed center section. While, on the surface, this sounds like a relatively easy project, It ended up taking most of the morning. And, I still have to fit the panels up one more time to check the clearance. Also, since I am not using any of the chrome trim, the edges have to be ground to a nice consistent lip all the way around the panel and then I need to radius all the edges (they currently come to a sharp edge). When I am done, they will go off to the upholstery shop where they will be covered in the same leather that was used on the dash panels. The center section will end up with a padded insert. The only hole in the panel will be for the standard Mustang door pull.





I also spent time mounting the two 6 volt batteries. I picked batteries that were gel filled and mountable in any position. Originally, we were going to hang them in the trunk from the cross member that runs the width of the car just in front of the deck lid. This proved to be a poor location. The batteries are quite heavy and we felt the area had to much flex. If we mounted the batteries there, there was a strong possibility that the weight would pull that area of the car down so that the body no longer lined up with the deck lid. After much consideration we decided to mount them under the internal cross bracing where the rear seats used to be.



Well, enough for now. It is time to get back to work.

Catch ya'll l8r

Bob