The Hobby

Looking good

2009-06-10T00:23:00.000-04:00

Just sittin' outside looking good.

Swepty got a new windshield!

2009-06-08T13:25:00.001-04:00

Looks great! And now we can drive the truck in the rain!!

Door panels for the Sweptline

2009-06-08T13:22:00.001-04:00

We got in an order of window parts recently for the Swepty. I wanted to replace the felts and cat whiskers around the door windows. I took off the door panels to gain access and decided that while I was in there I'd redo the door panels since some of the dye was coming off.

New trans cooler lines for the truck

2009-06-08T13:17:00.003-04:00

The trans lines were leaking. I decided to replace the. They were cobbled together from scraps. They came out of the trans into a hardline, went to a high pressure hose, back to hard line then to low pressure rubber hose, then back to hardline and into the trans cooler. This was the same for the return line too except one side had a union.

I bent up my own. They do not follow the factory routing as I wanted them out of the way. I bent them to tuck over next to the frame rail. So far so good.

Here's one of the lines. 5/16 hard line. It was difficult to bend without having it collapse. I'm glad I finally bought a bender tool.

There was an annoying and loud ticking noise at highway speed that would get much louder when you got on the gas some. That ticking noise is now gone. I'm guessing it was the high pressure relief in the trans. The old lines had so much back pressure from all the junctions they just didn't function right: very scary.

All is calm on the old vehicle front

2007-12-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

I did install a torque strap (some thick chain from the frame to behind the water pump -- the picture below shows the chain going to the head; I moved it). I should now be able to keep the fan out of the radiator.

Finally!

2007-10-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

We've been without a working truck for about 2 months now. It is a long story that I really don't want to get too far into. The long and the short of it is; I the throttle stuck and I ended up breaking both motor mounts, the trans mount, the radiator and the cooling fan.

It took about 2 months because I just didn't have the time to work on the truck full time. I could order a few parts, then wait on them, then install them, then move on. On more than on occasion, parts I ordered either subsequently broke, or were not right from the get-go. I even got to reuse an old fan I had with a thermostatic clutch. Of course, the thermostatic part of it was broke. We still don't have a fan shroud, but the outside temps finally feel like fall, so, not having a fan shroud should be of little consequence until summer.

One of the biggest problems has been getting the SOB to "cool" properly. Turns out, the truck was cooling just fine. But the old style mechanical voltage regulator built into the fuel gauge that also powers the temp sensor was failing. I finally smoked it trying to fix it. I then hooked up a semiconductor regulator (after much misinformation) and now things are all good.

Yay truck!

Build Day 2

2007-05-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

Not too many pictures from Build Day 2. Much of it was slow and tedious work. But it was still work.

I bent new lines with the new fittings. I then discovered the big fittings I bought also had a bigger ID, so I had to cut the flange off of the old and new lines, salvage the big fitting from the old lines, and then reflange the new lines. Hand bending and hand flanging of the lines, along with the fitting boondoggle took a few hours.

Then it was time to install the new master cylinder. Another boondoggle all to itself. First, you have to use a new master cylinder because the old drum brake MC has a residual valve to keep about 9-10psi on the the line that you don't want with discs. Plus, mine leaked some, so a new MC was a good idea. The push rod and hold down setup are different between the two MC's. So after a few hours of cutting, cussing, and body contortion, I finally got it installed.

And now for the fun part. "Driving it?" you ask. Nope, the tedious job of bleeding the brakes where it seems like no matter how much bleed them the brake feel is still too soft and you need to bleed some more. Finally, at about 8pm I just got tired of messing with it. I put the wheels back on it and dropped it to the ground. I took it for a spin around the block and there needs to be much more bleeding of brakes. But after cleaning everything up, it was after 9pm. I'm done with this until tomorrow.

Build Day 1

2007-05-17T21:45:00.000-04:00

I was really kind of hoping to get the truck back down on tires today, but it just didn't happen. I did make some decent forward progress.

Here's the baking plates that hold the calipers.

I'd taken the hubs off, had the wheel studs pressed out and new ones pressed in (Dodge put left hand studs on the driver side years ago that, today at least, really confuses people). I also cleaned them and all the bearings up. I had to repack the bearings with grease and press in new seals. The AutoZone nearest to me did not have the seals, so I had to go to another AutoZone, and they had the seals, but two different kinds. That's why they look different in the photos, but they should still work.

Of course, the hubs were different too. The one on the right had a smaller cavity for grease and also had a slightly larger diameter due to a lip (that's important later).

Here's the driver side hub on.

The lip on the passenger side hub ended up getting in the way of the rotor when I went to put it on. I had to whip out the angle grinder and make some room.

Here's the rotor on and ready to go.

And now for the caliper and pads.

Finally the new hoses and banjo bolts. But... then we run into the problems.

The original fitting on the hard line running from the distribution block is too big to fit into the new hose.

So I pulled all the hard line for the front brakes and will redo it as soon as I can get hard line and fittings.

Part I - Dissassembly

2007-05-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

This is what we're starting with. A set of 11" drums. Once I took this apart, the drums look pretty good. I might end up trying to sell them.

Here's a close up of the suspension. Front leaf springs ride great ....

Got the drums off easy. And found new hardware. Someone rebuilt these not too long ago. It stops well if you are ready to pump the brakes some. I wonder how much of the stuff from the fronts I can use on the back. The backs are really wore out.

Finally, after some cussing and fighting I got the backing plates off. I ruined one bolt that was super stuck. Now I get to find a suspension bolt that isn't something you can go pick up at AutoZone.

Finally cleaned up all the bearings and ran down all the threads I had tools for.

I may start putting it back together tomorrow, but I won't be able to finish it off since I need the bolt.

Stop!

2007-05-11T20:33:00.000-04:00

I'm finally going to get to start the disc brake conversion on the old pickup. I think I'm still missing a few parts, but this is certainly enough to get going.

Still not a '70 Bee

2007-04-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

My 2002 Monte Carlo crushed.

And now for my "new car."

(picture courtesy of Palila)

Updated Ignition Went in on Monday

2007-03-26T01:33:00.000-04:00

Here's a pick of the butt end of the new coil:

Yay Done!

2007-03-06T12:35:00.000-05:00

Here's the view of the driver side header:

If you look close you might be able to see part of the new mini starter. It just doesn't have that same sound as the original gear reduction starter. Kind of sad.

Here's the passenger side header:

Very glad to be done. Here's a picture of two '68's. Both the house and truck were built in '68 (the dog is quite a big younger):

Mild Success

2007-03-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

I got the truck put back together today. I never did find a set of full length headers though. I decided to just bolt the manifold back on. They are not flat and the driver side manifold leaks like crazy, which was the problem I was trying to fix. But, just for fun, here what it looks like back together.

Stopped

2007-03-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

I finally got the intake manifold installed, but was stopped in my tracks by the A/C compressor bracket.

Here's a picture of the intake and valve covers installed. It looks so innocuous with the junky old valve covers.

But, the two big ears sticking off the front of the intake interfere with the A/C bracket. I'm going to take the A/C bracket off today and see what kind of modifications I can make to gain some clerance.

Poor Truck

2007-02-26T23:53:00.000-05:00

Things have not been doing so well with the 'ole truck these days. I've had to make a major change in direction on the path way of modifications. I decided I'd fix an exhaust leak. The leak was where the manifold bolts to the head. Long story short, here's what the head looks like off of the engine with several broken studs.

Here's what the block looked like.

I took the heads to a machine shop. He took out the studs but tore one head down to tell me what kind of shape they were in. Bad shape. Decided to buy new heads rather than throw a bunch of money into old cast iron junk. The boxes arrived today.

Here's the clean deck (nearly clean)

Studs installed

Head Gasket

Heads sitting on the block

Torqued down

I sat the intake manifold on to take a look

I then test fit the intake manifold gasket / bath tub thing before I put the RTV on. Good thing, it was for a B block. The B block is smaller than the RB and it didn't fit. If I would have had the RTV on there I would have had a real mess to clean up. Now I get to spend some more money at AutoZone tomorrow to get the right gasket.

Once I have the right gasket, then I can bolt on the intake, the valve cover gaskets, and carb. Then I can remount the A/C and the alternator, put the belts back on and reattach all the electric. Then I get to test fit the headers. I hope these headers work with the truck. They are Summits cheap headers. I know I'm going to have some trouble, the collector is 3", the reducers are 2.5", and the exhaust line itself is only 2". That means I have to find a way to get from 2.5" down to 2" or from 3" to 2". Not cheap either way. It will also likely be a pain in the rear. Too bad I just had the the exhaust redone too. This would have been part of it.

Live and learn.

Usurped

2007-02-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

The Superbee Blog has been usurped by my "new" '68 Dodge D100 Pickup.

I've been posting about this on my normal blog, but think I'll start posting all the relevant stuff about the truck here.

I had to go to Baton Rouge, LA to get this truck. So far, I love it.

Here's some pictures (these are the ones they sent me before I went to buy it. I'll have my own up here soon):
Front

Passenger Side

Driver Side

Rear

Engine

Interior

Vital Statistics
440ci and 727 from a '68 car w/o HP.
8 3/4 rear - gear set?

Modifications / fixes since purchase
New Holley 750 with working electric choke (The GM Quadrajet w/o a choke had to go)
New tires (BFG's baby)
New exhaust (dual 2" with Dynomax Super Turbos and Superbee tips)
Fixed the leaky passenger side axle seal and installed proper adjuster retainer
New plugs
New air cleaner
Oil change
Refreshed the rear gear oil

Upcoming Fixes
Fix driver side manifold leak
Front Disc Brake conversion
Fix heater
Replace windshield gasket
New side window window felts

Wish list
Headers
Cam
Intake manifold
Eddy heads
Electronic Ignition

More Pictures from Shipping Out the Dash

2006-05-11T10:17:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of the center part, with tic-toc-tac, and the wood grain still attached.

He recommended removing the wood grain from the gauge cluster before shipping.

Here's what things look like from the back side.

I packed it all up using an entire role of bubble wrap, plus some stuff I'd been saving up for this purpose.

I used plastic grocery bags as filler. Then I placed the packing slip and instructions on top.

All packed up and ready to go: "must be Italian."

I have received an update. My tic-toc-tac still works, so it will not receive the quartz update. Since the Superbee is a B-body, I can remove the tic-toc-tac without removing the entire dash (like in an e-body) and have it updated if it ever fails. Things are going slowly. I shipped all of this out mid-January and it is already mid-May. I asked the guy to take his time and if anyone came in before me in a big rush, feel free to put my stuff to the side. I want him to take his time and I want it to look perfect when I get it back. My car won't be on the road for another decade, so what's the rush?

The Dash

2006-01-24T12:03:00.000-05:00

The gauge cluster, wood grains, and heater controls shipped out yesterday. I have more "before" pictures than what I'll post here now (just haven't go the next roll of film developed yet).

Better Pictures of the Heater Box

2006-01-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

I promised some better pictures of the heater box months ago.

Dash

2005-12-27T11:35:00.000-05:00

I am in school but still have the itch to work on the Superbee. I have no time to actually do work myself so I've been picking out projects that I can send off to have completed. I am trying to pick out things I would have to send out either way due to a lack of expertise on my part.

The first order of business is the dash (I will likely also do items like bumpers, finish panel, tail lights, and grill inserts as my next projects). I've been doing a considerable amount of research to make sure I get what I want like I want it. There are several places out there that use vinyl overlays or decals to refinish the parts. I'm not a big fan of these methods since I would guess they are more likely to crack and peel. I finally contacted gsdd@ameritech.net in the Chicago area based upon several recommendations. He has the capability to redo the various parts like I feel they should be done.

This is a picture of how my gauges and wood grain look now.

This picture is of the vinyl overlay.

And this is a picture of the wood grain refinished using the original lithograph process.

I know comparing pictures on the internet is like comparing apples and oranges, but I think I will only be satisfied with the original lithograph process for the wood grain (even though it costs more).

Sometime this spring I hope to post some pictures of my restored gauges and wood grain.

By the way, the big round gauge on the far left is called a tic-toc-tac. There is a clock in the center and a tachometer around the outside of the clock. The original clock is run by a wind-up mechanism. Every time the car is started a servo in the clock winds it up! They have the ability to convert these to a quartz movement, but if mine still works I think I'll leave it alone. How neat is that?

Over My Head

2005-05-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

This was the first weekend I've worked on body panels since early March and it wasn't a very successful weekend. I was hoping, having three days for the holiday, I would get a significant amount done. I was wrong. The hood of the car has/had some real problems and that is what I was working on the most.

There used to be a huge dent in the front of the hood that I didn't want to fill with bondo. I cut the bad spot out, we were going to replace it with part of another hood, but we ended up beating the dent out and welding it back. The hood warped like crazy where I welded. I was trying to be careful to keep the heat down but, I guess, not careful enough. Now I've got a warp and a lot of little holes to fill, somehow, where the welds don't exactly meet. I ran out of gas in the welder and that didn't help. I tried flux-core but it just blasts holes in the sheet metal. I tried lead but couldn't get it to stick or wick into the holes.

The hood also had quite a few small holes in the framework on the bottom. One part was really rusted and I ended up having to cut out a 1" X 2" piece and welding in new sheet metal. Some of the little holes I could weld shut. Unfortunately, when trying to weld many of the holes shut I ended up finding out how bad the frame in that area really was. The fact that I ran out of gas though didn't help my efforts in filling holes. I finally just gave up on the hood.

About 1:00pm today I decided I was going to get something done even if it killed me. The two panels on the interior that bolt in right below the quarter windows were an easy target. I was able to strip them and get them in primer with little effort. Too bad most of the rest of the car won't go like those panels. The body is huge and has several issues. The doors are hell. At least I have like 5 years to work on these parts.

Firewall Side

2005-03-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Firewall Side
Originally uploaded by chilort.

Finished the heater box. The motor worked but I had to get a new heater core. I also got the padding and weather stripping to seal up the box from Resto Rick. I sand blasted all of the metal parts and painted it all with high temp stove paint.

I took these pics of the heater box with M's digital and I am not impressed. I have now taken several pics of the box with my real film camera. Hopefully most of the new pictures I add will be real film and scanned.

Interior Side

2005-03-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Interior Side
Originally uploaded by chilort.

Just before going in the bubble wrap.

Heater box and painting rack

2005-03-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

DSCF0004
Originally uploaded by chilort.

This is one of the metal panels off of the heater box. This one has the fan attached to it. I tested the motor using a 14.4v battery from my cord-less drill and it worked great (that saves me a smooth $45 or so). I cleaned the fan itself out in the kitchen sink. I used my roommates sand blaster to clean off the panel then spray painted it with stove paint (should hold up to the heat of the heater box).

The panel is also hanging on my new parts painting rack. Nothing fancy really, just $25 in angle iron and some welding. Now I have a place to hang parts for painting and can get to them from all sides at once -- no more paint, wait, flip, paint, wait, flip, etc.