Sheets & Giggles

bob w said:

Your chassis looks very safe and your attention to detail is going to make it one impressive rig when done. Hope I get to see it this summer.

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Thanks Bob. I hope you get to see it this summer to. Really looking forward to Meltdown this year. Dave and Paul will be down with the Scout and the Prefect as well.

Skip said:

Thank you, Sir. I did pony up the extra cash for the new race legal model switch with the alternator cutout posts on it.

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Looks like you're a step ahead of me Skip.

sc5080 said:

Looks like you're a step ahead of me Skip.

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Not quite. My switch is sitting in a parts bin on the shelf over my workbench.

Making a little headway .. finished the brake lines, mounted a transmission cooler, and built and installed a tray to hold all the electrics (relays, rpm switch, tach converter, etc.) I also made up plates and fittings for the cooling system. No pics of that yet though. Doesn't look like much but its getting there.

One step at a time will get er dun [cl
Keep at it [

Feels good to get some of the bigger lumps installed. Starting to look more like a car now.

I didn't give much thought to filling the transmission earlier in the build so here is a picture of what I had to do. Not really happy with the flexible dipstick but the only other solution would have me removing the body and floor every time I wanted to check the transmission oil level. Had to make the mounting bracket because the one it came with had the dipstick tube hitting the valve cover.

I should have the new ring and pinion coming this week and have that installed before next weekend. Then I can measure and order the driveshaft. I'll be trying to get the wiring and cooling system done this week as well.

Body goes out for repaint next weekend. Hopefully this guy will do a better job than the first guy.

Cool progress, I must have missed something on the paint[S

DozerII said:

Cool progress, I must have missed something on the paint[S

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The defects didn't show in pictures but the right side has a very uneven coat and is "blotchy" for lack of a better term. Also, I was never happy about the gray on the turtle deck.

The plan now is for tangerine orange basecoat with gold pearl in the clear. The tonneau cover will get some texture and be done in black to try simulate a fabric cover. We'll see how that works out.

The best part is that the body shop and painter are doing the job at no charge to me - just some signage "paint by .." when I show the car.

Water fill and expansion tank made thanks to my buddy Jeff at Custom Rad here in Winnipeg.

Looks like it's coming along! That's too bad the original paint job wasn't satisfactory, here's hoping the second try is better, and the price is definitely right!

And a little more progress. Wiring is completed. Thanks to Saxxon for the shielding for the tach wires. Rear end has new gears - 3.70 ratio - and is installed. Axles are in and the brakes are on. Measurement is made to get a chrome moly driveshaft made.

They are doing some night racing at Meltdown but I heard they won't let you run unless you have headlights so I wired some in. Tried mounting them over the front tank guard .. made it look like a frog. Tried mounting them under the tank guard .. I think better. What do you think? I know that "altereds don't have headlights" but I want to be able to participate in the night racing.

Getting so close now that I can taste it.

Underneath was the right choice for the lights IMHO

Under looks better!

DozerII said:

Underneath was the right choice for the lights IMHO

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Agreed. Over wasn't really all that bad, but... yea, under.

Lookin' good!

Nice, neat job on the wiring. Under is better. No doubt about you being ready for the Meltdown. 'Spose I hafta put light on the dragster.

What a great project! [cl]

under

Under is much nicer. and you can't see them in the pictures but the Altered Coupe in the show thread i put up had head lights, rectangular but down low, i guess to get street plates [S

Had to fix a slight miscalculation. All through the setup, mockup and fabrication I was operating under what turned out to be the illusion that my shift lever was installed facing down on the transmission. When I went to hook up the shifter I discovered that the shifter required the lever to be facing up in order to select the correct gear. Unfortunately that interfered with the floor. I had to modify the B&M shift lever to minimize its size and then cut a hole in the floor to create clearance for the lever and shift cable. Shifter is working fine now but I will have to make up a cover plate for the floor. Oh well, could be worse .. at first I thought I would have to change the shift lever linkage in the transmission but the hole spacing turned out to be close enough to work OK.

bought some new wheels 15x10 for the rear and 15x4 1/2 for the front. I think these will be a little racier than the rally copies I have on there.