Roadster pickup from leftovers.

[donsrods]

Today's project was to get the rear wishbone mounts made and welded on. Sometimes an easy task doesn't end up so easy, and Dan sure put in a lot of work today to get this job done.

What complicated it was that the Speedway wishbones were a couple of inches too long to tuck neatly in front of the kickup. I would have had to extend the frame out a couple of inches more to use them as is, and that would have looked disproportionate, I think. So what we did was shorten the wishbones by two inches.

We could have just hacked two inches off the ends and ordered new bungs to weld in, but that would take another week from Speedway, so we cut out the welds and salvaged the original bungs. Dan got those welded back in place and now the wishbones are 2 inches shorter. The mounts set inboard a little so the tie rod ends tuck up nice and tight to the frame. I should have no interferance with the steering arm this way.

We also removed all the leaves from the front spring except for the main leaf, to get an idea where the car should sit when the engine and body are on it. This week I will order my tie rod from Speedway, bolt some hubs onto the spindles, put the tires and wheels on, and then install the engine and body temporarily to see how everything is fitting.

Here are some pictures of what we got done today.

Don

 

[hotrod preacher]

attention to details such as shortening a radius rod to tuck neatly up to the frame....that's what makes your work great!

[cl[cl[cl[cl

will be looking for more updates....[P

 

[donsrods]

Thanks Preacher, but I fought hard when Dan suggested we cut and shorten those bones. He felt they would look better and tuck under better if they were shorter and I really didn't feel like cutting up a brand new set of wishbones with all the related work. He finally convinced me it was the only way to get them right, and now that I look at the difference it made I have to agree with him. It also gives me more adjustment on the tie rod ends as they only have to be screwed in half way now, whereas they had to be screwed in almost all the way without the shortening.

Don

 

[ratrodz]

usually the kid wants to take the easy way out. looks like you taught him well.

 

[donsrods]

I don't know about that, I think he takes that part of him from his Mom. I sometimes tend to go with "close enough for Government work" when doing something, but he sweats details that I don't even see. I guess that is why his car is better than mine.

Don

 

[ronnysplymouth]

Thanks for sharing Don.......I will be watching with great interest

 

[donsrods]

No, thank you for looking, Ronnie.

Tonight I got a chance to bolt the transmission adapter onto the motor and temporarily bolt on the TH350 transmission. I've never seen the two bolted together so that was pretty neat. The adapter fits perfectly, everything lines up like it should.

Then I installed the body back on the frame and moved the engine back until I had good clearance between the distributor and firewall. I moved it un and down until I got the intake to be perfectly flat, and positioned so that I have good oil pan clearance.

It still was an inch higher in the front than I wanted so I removed the very top leaf from the spring and it settled down 1/2 inch more. Once I put the rest of the stuff on the engine and body it should drop down more, maybe even to the point where I have to reinstall that one leaf.

One thing that I might change is running the radiator in the bed. After I got stuff mocked up I realized I would have room for a pretty good sized one in the regular position, and it would eliminate a lot of work and cooling lines. Plus, it would give me the entire bed for a fuel tank and battery, plus some actual storage for tools, etc. I'm not 100% sure yet, just thinking.

Here are some pictures from tonight.

Don


This is the adapter plate that comes with the Bendtsens setup. Fit like a glove.

And here is the transmission bolted up to the plate.

I put the body back on to check engine position.

And a couple of different angles.

 

[zzrodder]

Jeez, I must have been snoozing, I just realized it's 371, thought it was a newer 455 style. I salute you sir, for a fine engine choice. [cl
The crank adaptor must have a long spacer on it to mate to the torque converter, I guess?? Does this setup use the original starter and flexplate or?[S
As always, fine work, can't wait to see more.

 

[donsrods]

Well, thank you. Actually it is a 394 (406 now) but same basic engine as the 371.

The Bendtsens kit is very complete, except for starter. You are right, there is a long spacer that moves the flexplate back as far as it was in the stock position with that goofy torque convertor Olds used back then. I think it uses the original starter, but I will have to turn mine upside down as I have a bellhousing adapter to move the starter to the right side for steering box clearance.

Here is everything you get in the kit. I am impressed with the quality of it.

Don

 

[Old Iron]

Jeez, I must have been snoozing, I just realized it's 371, thought it was a newer 455 style. I salute you sir, for a fine engine choice. [cl
The crank adaptor must have a long spacer on it to mate to the torque converter, I guess?? Does this setup use the original starter and flexplate or?[S
As always, fine work, can't wait to see more.

Thanks Don, for answering that and the pics, I had the same question

Jim

 

[donsrods]

You're welcome. Until the adapter came I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to work, but once you see it then it becomes clear. That big round spacer is the key, it moved the flex plate back to the original position so the starter is in alignment. Then that triangular plate bolts to the back of that and the convertor bolts on that plate. It even comes with all the special ARP bolts and the instructions are very clear.

I'll tell you one thing, getting rid of the original cast iron dual path transmission sure lowered the weight of the whole thing a bunch. I swear it must have weighed 250 pounds and was huge dimensionally. I was also worried about the cost of having it freshened up and any on the road repairs when I was away from home. Most transmission shops would probably look at it and go "HUH???" A TH350 can be fixed anywhere and since I had this one built by Jackson Racing Transmissions it should shift a lot firmer too.

Don

 

[Gregster]

very impressive , I have enjoyed reading the thread so far.

 

[zzrodder]

Thanks for the pics of the adaptor, real nice stuff, I'm thinking of getting one from Bendtsens to mate a Chevy trans to a Packard straight 8 that I have lurking in the shed. I know what you mean about those original trannys, first swap I did was a 324 Olds into a 55 Chev pu, those old cast iron Hydros weighed a ton, I almost got squashed trying to lift one in plus lining up the converter housing to the flywheel with 30 or so bolts - arrrggghh! Found an old Speed Gems bellhousing and flywheel/clutch and put a Muncie 4spd. on it, problem solved. Actually, Bendtsen bought the old Speed Gem name and some patterns and produces a standard bellhousing for the Olds just like the old one.

 

[donsrods]

Thank you guys.

I think you will be happy with that adapter from Bendtsens. Bob, the owner, is a little difficult some days, but nice as pie on other days. I have called when he was pretty rude, and the next time it is like we are long lost friends. I think he resents being dragged away from the shop to answer questions, but he does make good stuff. You could be right about the Speed Gems thing.

I got a little more done tonight. Don was at the shop and helped me drag the 8 inch rear out of his storage building. We bolted the slicks on and slid it under the car for a trial fit. Much better !! The S10 was too narrow but the 8 incher is just right, espeically with the reversed offset wheels I have the slicks mounted on. Now it looks proportional.

I also got my front spindles and steering arms installed and as I thought, the steering arms allow the tie rod to pass right under the wishbones with plenty of clearance. We also measured the length of the tie rod I need and luckily it is a standard 48 inch one that Speedway carries in stock. Tomorrow I will place an order for that, plus the 1/4 inch spacers I need to shim the wishbones to the axle, and a few other parts.

I also got the rear height dialed in where it will sit. With this progress I am looking pretty good regarding my goal to have a roller by the end of August.

Here are a few pictures from tonight.

Don

 

[RAT IHC]

Great progress so far! I'm working towards a roller before the end of August as well....only its taken me a lot longer than you to get to this point! I guess experience counts for something after all!

Keep up the good work...I always learn something new while following your builds.

-Troy

 

[donsrods]

Thank you, Troy, but the reason this one is coming together as quickly as it is mainly is because my Son had the body done as an almost done car at one point. All we had to do was build a frame to fit it. I've also had the motor built and sitting there for a few years, and lots of the parts were in my stash.

The fastest we ever built one was my Son Don's T bucket.....it took 88 days, and that was painted and upholstered. But what made that one go so fast was that he literally ordered every part he needed and had a huge pile of parts just sitting there. I don't know how he thought of everything, but all we had to do was walk over to the pile and pick up the next part and get it installed. That saved so much time. Doing that did cause his credit cards to catch fire a few times though.

Good luck on getting yours rolling.

Don

 

[donsrods]

I now have 1/2 of a roller. I went over tonight and dug out some 46 Ford brake drums with hubs and got them installed on the spindles. Then I bolted on the front wheels and tires, and installed an old tie rod I had laying around, to keep the wheels from flopping when I put the weight of the car on them. The tie rod clears the wishbones by a good inches, which makes my life a lot easier...........no bending of the steering arms needed.

This morning I placed an order with Speedway for a new tie rod, some spindle nuts, wishbone to axle spacers, and misc other parts. Those should be here Tuesday. Now I can concentrate on getting the rear axle installed. I have most of the parts I need, like the coilovers and 4 bar setup. I need to order some rod ends for the 4 bars because Dan had previously taken the stainless ones off and used them on his car. I also found out my tread is 56 inches on the front and back now, with the new, wider 8 inch rear. That should help a lot both appearance wise and handling wise.

If things keep going like this I might actually have the car rolling by my deadline at the end of the month. Here are some pictures from tonight.

Don

 

[Old Iron]

I really like the way this ride sits and looks.
Don, you know what they say about the purest form of flattery
I want my 31 coupe to have this similar look But, not exactly gotta be a little different ya know

Jim

 

[Todd]

What a recycler. When it's all done you can look at Don and say "look what you threw away".

Nice job!

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. I think Dan has already realized how many parts I scored. The other night we were sitting looking at the car and he said "I've got to stop being so generous !" I told him when I die he is going to get them all back anyway. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Don