Damn, you’re getting there Mike!
Keep at it brother, it’s coming along nicely and looking great!
What did you do to your G-Body today 2024
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Damn, you’re getting there Mike!
Keep at it brother, it’s coming along nicely and looking great!
Thank you, Donovan, appreciate the kind words! 👍
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Just a minor epilogue and mostly it is some followup shots. At some point in the narrative to follow I will be mentioning tools by their brand names, THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT for any manufacturer or product, just simpler to go with the actual source name or product name instead of the thousand word travelogue.
So yesterday, post shift, I did manage to wander back into the shop. Essentially, though the work could have been left as was, I wanted to take a quick recheck of what I had finished with to see if anything needed some further attention or tweaking. While I did end up fiddling with the lower A pillar, mostly for cosmetic reasons but a little bit for fit and finish, along with some air motor time to further smooth out the plug welds that I had done on an as needed basis, it was nothing critical or major, just nit picking.
I finished off the afternoon by digging out the Anti Rust Primer black and applying multiple coats to the completed assembly from the A Pillar to the door latch pin. After the third or fourth coat the whole thing actually started to look "professional" 😆
Tool Time. For the final fit and finishing, these two were my go to tools to get me where I wanted to be in terms of an installation that I would be happy with.
On the left is my Baxter File Belt Sander. I call it a Finger Sander because the belts are no wider than the fingers of the average adult male; no thumbs or toes need apply. The belts are only 1/2 x 18 inches in overall length; had to get them from 3M in the grits that I wanted as Baxter only offered mixed grit packs. It's compact size and narrow tip allowed me to get into the tight nooks and curves and take down the welds that I had laid in to get them smooth and ready for primer and paint.
On the right is my air motor, an UltraPro tool that I scored back when all I had was my CH portable compressor. For smoothing the rose welds on the rocker panel upper flange, I elected to use a GemTek Trim Kut wheel in 120 gr. These come with a screw in mandrel that fits the chuck on the motor without any problems. Again, size is a factor here and the air motor is compact enough to let me get at the flange face and clean up whatever needed to be visited.
A picture of the Trim Kut wheel, Made in Canada, follows below.
The humorous thing about these wheels is that the plastic backing plates for them used to come lettered in several colors by way of identifying the grit of the wheel you had in your hand. The color choices were green for fine, brown for semi, and black for coarse grit, so of course some bean counter had to whine about the extra cost for the colored lettering, so now the desrciptions are all in black and white. It made being illerate a non issue as long as you weren't color blind into the bargain.
Since I have previously posted several pictures of my door lifting cradle, I will cut to the chase here and show you it in action. The door had been sitting flat on my bike lift and since the cradle rails can be removed, it was simple to slide the door over and onto the cradle and then replace the rail.
Just a detail shot of the one cradle rail dismounted from the base. The value to this is that once you lift the door into position and run in the bolts, you can avoid having to wrestle the cradle and jack out from under the door by just dropping the rail out. Gets you all the room you need with the lift arm on the jack in the full down location.
So now, instead of having to bribe your buddies with beer and tokes, you can do the job of rehanging the door all by yourself. The lift cradle actually has a base plate that can be adjusted for front to back angle once you get the door lifting more or less to where you want it.
At this point I should mention one more tool that came into play. That was my Gear Wrench 11mm metric ratchet combination wrench. Instead of the closed end being merely a twelve point socket, they have actually figured out a way to incorporate an inner collar that ratchets, just like a regular ratchet head would. You do have to flip the tool to change the direction of rotation but easy, peasy , that being. Again, for tight places like the door hinges, the right tool makes the whole process go faster, allows for quicker adjustments to the hinges to correctly align the door, and avoids the frustration of vintage door wrestling; best two mis-alignments out of How Many????
And where this all ends for now; the inner door shell rehung back on the A-Pillar and re-aligned to the latch pin on the B Post. I did have to revisit the door alignment ever so slightly simply because the old alignment was done with the old rocker in place and, Hey, S*** happens. As for why I elected to rehang the door, no time to continue the door work right now and no place to stash an inner door structure that is around 4 feet long and weighs in excess of, I dunno, 60 lbs?? It is just the shell as the motor and window et al have been taken out to make repairs easier to perform but it is still a dead weight and the last time I did a shell and skin marriage I had to use a chain fall and crane to lift the shell and manipulate it into position, then mark it, then lift it again and apply the adhesive, then bring the shell down again and............................you get the drift here. So I put the door shell back where it belongs and let the car store it.
The keen eyed will have also noticed that the rear wheel is back on the rear end and the car has been dropped back on its floor dollies; another great invention for vehicle movement when it doens't run and you only have one warm body to push it around. I will also have to engage in some door shell tweaking and trimming as it was the recipient of a new lower strip of metal to rebuild the bottom flange to which the outer door skin is attached. That strip was only approximated for width so subject to a shave and a haircut to get it to the final dimensions needed.
On that note:
Happy Labor Day to ALL. If you still can, and can still afford the stuff, have a couple of COLD Ones and enjoy the warmth; since I don't guzzle any more both by choice and necessity.
CopperNick
So yesterday, post shift, I did manage to wander back into the shop. Essentially, though the work could have been left as was, I wanted to take a quick recheck of what I had finished with to see if anything needed some further attention or tweaking. While I did end up fiddling with the lower A pillar, mostly for cosmetic reasons but a little bit for fit and finish, along with some air motor time to further smooth out the plug welds that I had done on an as needed basis, it was nothing critical or major, just nit picking.
I finished off the afternoon by digging out the Anti Rust Primer black and applying multiple coats to the completed assembly from the A Pillar to the door latch pin. After the third or fourth coat the whole thing actually started to look "professional" 😆
Tool Time. For the final fit and finishing, these two were my go to tools to get me where I wanted to be in terms of an installation that I would be happy with.
On the left is my Baxter File Belt Sander. I call it a Finger Sander because the belts are no wider than the fingers of the average adult male; no thumbs or toes need apply. The belts are only 1/2 x 18 inches in overall length; had to get them from 3M in the grits that I wanted as Baxter only offered mixed grit packs. It's compact size and narrow tip allowed me to get into the tight nooks and curves and take down the welds that I had laid in to get them smooth and ready for primer and paint.
On the right is my air motor, an UltraPro tool that I scored back when all I had was my CH portable compressor. For smoothing the rose welds on the rocker panel upper flange, I elected to use a GemTek Trim Kut wheel in 120 gr. These come with a screw in mandrel that fits the chuck on the motor without any problems. Again, size is a factor here and the air motor is compact enough to let me get at the flange face and clean up whatever needed to be visited.
A picture of the Trim Kut wheel, Made in Canada, follows below.
The humorous thing about these wheels is that the plastic backing plates for them used to come lettered in several colors by way of identifying the grit of the wheel you had in your hand. The color choices were green for fine, brown for semi, and black for coarse grit, so of course some bean counter had to whine about the extra cost for the colored lettering, so now the desrciptions are all in black and white. It made being illerate a non issue as long as you weren't color blind into the bargain.
Since I have previously posted several pictures of my door lifting cradle, I will cut to the chase here and show you it in action. The door had been sitting flat on my bike lift and since the cradle rails can be removed, it was simple to slide the door over and onto the cradle and then replace the rail.
Just a detail shot of the one cradle rail dismounted from the base. The value to this is that once you lift the door into position and run in the bolts, you can avoid having to wrestle the cradle and jack out from under the door by just dropping the rail out. Gets you all the room you need with the lift arm on the jack in the full down location.
So now, instead of having to bribe your buddies with beer and tokes, you can do the job of rehanging the door all by yourself. The lift cradle actually has a base plate that can be adjusted for front to back angle once you get the door lifting more or less to where you want it.
At this point I should mention one more tool that came into play. That was my Gear Wrench 11mm metric ratchet combination wrench. Instead of the closed end being merely a twelve point socket, they have actually figured out a way to incorporate an inner collar that ratchets, just like a regular ratchet head would. You do have to flip the tool to change the direction of rotation but easy, peasy , that being. Again, for tight places like the door hinges, the right tool makes the whole process go faster, allows for quicker adjustments to the hinges to correctly align the door, and avoids the frustration of vintage door wrestling; best two mis-alignments out of How Many????
And where this all ends for now; the inner door shell rehung back on the A-Pillar and re-aligned to the latch pin on the B Post. I did have to revisit the door alignment ever so slightly simply because the old alignment was done with the old rocker in place and, Hey, S*** happens. As for why I elected to rehang the door, no time to continue the door work right now and no place to stash an inner door structure that is around 4 feet long and weighs in excess of, I dunno, 60 lbs?? It is just the shell as the motor and window et al have been taken out to make repairs easier to perform but it is still a dead weight and the last time I did a shell and skin marriage I had to use a chain fall and crane to lift the shell and manipulate it into position, then mark it, then lift it again and apply the adhesive, then bring the shell down again and............................you get the drift here. So I put the door shell back where it belongs and let the car store it.
The keen eyed will have also noticed that the rear wheel is back on the rear end and the car has been dropped back on its floor dollies; another great invention for vehicle movement when it doens't run and you only have one warm body to push it around. I will also have to engage in some door shell tweaking and trimming as it was the recipient of a new lower strip of metal to rebuild the bottom flange to which the outer door skin is attached. That strip was only approximated for width so subject to a shave and a haircut to get it to the final dimensions needed.
On that note:
Happy Labor Day to ALL. If you still can, and can still afford the stuff, have a couple of COLD Ones and enjoy the warmth; since I don't guzzle any more both by choice and necessity.
CopperNick
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Drag wheels on and air shocks since mine where clapped and was riding a bit Carolina squated
Fixed the inside door handle on the passenger side
Went to work on modifying the '58-'64 B body control arm bumper to replace my frame mounted rear end snubber. And back to the drawling board. The rubber is too wide for the bolt heads. If it was a 1/2" narrower it could of worked.
Headers were cooking the plastic factory steering shaft cover for awhile. I trimmed a piece off it but just made it worse and turned the grease into oil basically making a mess.
I cut the plastic down to just cover the rag joint on box end, and covered shaft with some heat shield sleeving.
Next time I have engine out I might have headers ceramic coated. Though next time it has to come out it might be time to revert back to Olds powered, something like the last pic, (local car meet gem) but for sure EFI...no carbs for me ever again lol unless it's my lawnmower. 😂
I cut the plastic down to just cover the rag joint on box end, and covered shaft with some heat shield sleeving.
Next time I have engine out I might have headers ceramic coated. Though next time it has to come out it might be time to revert back to Olds powered, something like the last pic, (local car meet gem) but for sure EFI...no carbs for me ever again lol unless it's my lawnmower. 😂
So yesterday over at the Shop thread it was Sort the Shop Sunday in the intent of identifying and consolidating the parts and components that belong to the M/C project and moving them into a common container that I could then park inside the cabin of the Monte to make them easier to find if/as needed. The dirty details are posted over on the site I mentioned but, yesterday evening, a subsequential thought commended itself to my attention; namely, what about the Junk in the Trunk. Trunk? You know, that first place you throw all those initial parts that get removed as you start a project, or the new parts that you bought for use during the re-assembly, and then forgot what you have in there;; practical example in this case was a pair of upper and lower radiator hoses with the tags still on them; couldn't begin to remember when I bought them but there they were, so one less item to have to visit the store for.
So today became Junk in the Trunk Day. Set up a chipboard wood panel on a pair of collapsible sawhorses and moved all the "stuff" on the top of the trunk out of the way, then laid a large square of cardboard on the floor and proceeded to empty out the trunk of most of its contents. As I laid them out on the floor, each item got listed on a piece cardboard, description and quantity, and boxes of items were opened and sorted through to list what was in them. Obvious stuff, like the spare tire, got noted and left where was.
Then it all got systematically returned back into the trunk and the list went into the tote box that rests in the cabin and holds all the parts that I worked through yesterday. For those who understand, inventory taking and stock control is a Class One MPITA. But, if you don't want to end up with a dozen or so of a bracket that you thought you needed only it was the other side and you couldn't remember which side it was and whether or not you had scored one at the last swap meet, well ..........................😴
The other aspect is that periodic stock checks let you refresh your memory and assign values and keep/lose notes to items for which there is no longer any need. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Murphy's Law and the part that you just sold being guaranteed to become the part that all of a sudden you have an urgent need, for on a Saturday night, at 11 PM, in the pouring rain, on the side of the road, with your wife screaming in your ear about going home to mother) (Hey, that that bit just might not be so bad, hmmm?)
Finally this stock check gives me an opportunity to wrap and bag the door card components for the drivers door as well as the door gaskets for both doors, and move the driver's remote mirror out of the trunk and downstairs to be with the others on the radial saw deck. For the stuff from on the trunk lid, probably another tote box as it is body work supplies and therefore needed for the work to be done on the S-10 pickup box. (And that is another thread for elsewhere altogether.)
Nick
So today became Junk in the Trunk Day. Set up a chipboard wood panel on a pair of collapsible sawhorses and moved all the "stuff" on the top of the trunk out of the way, then laid a large square of cardboard on the floor and proceeded to empty out the trunk of most of its contents. As I laid them out on the floor, each item got listed on a piece cardboard, description and quantity, and boxes of items were opened and sorted through to list what was in them. Obvious stuff, like the spare tire, got noted and left where was.
Then it all got systematically returned back into the trunk and the list went into the tote box that rests in the cabin and holds all the parts that I worked through yesterday. For those who understand, inventory taking and stock control is a Class One MPITA. But, if you don't want to end up with a dozen or so of a bracket that you thought you needed only it was the other side and you couldn't remember which side it was and whether or not you had scored one at the last swap meet, well ..........................😴
The other aspect is that periodic stock checks let you refresh your memory and assign values and keep/lose notes to items for which there is no longer any need. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Murphy's Law and the part that you just sold being guaranteed to become the part that all of a sudden you have an urgent need, for on a Saturday night, at 11 PM, in the pouring rain, on the side of the road, with your wife screaming in your ear about going home to mother) (Hey, that that bit just might not be so bad, hmmm?)
Finally this stock check gives me an opportunity to wrap and bag the door card components for the drivers door as well as the door gaskets for both doors, and move the driver's remote mirror out of the trunk and downstairs to be with the others on the radial saw deck. For the stuff from on the trunk lid, probably another tote box as it is body work supplies and therefore needed for the work to be done on the S-10 pickup box. (And that is another thread for elsewhere altogether.)
Nick
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