ABBA - SUNDAY NIGHT - ABBA EVENT - TOUR 2019 ( Part 1 )

After posting the ABBA New Years song, I got hooked on this interview. If you like their music, this interview is priceless.

Abba - Happy New Year

Great music and a beautiful woman...what a way to greet the new year!

Interference Troubleshooting

Before the calendar flips for the final time this year, I really wanted to identify what caused the starter/ manual steering box interference.  So, yesterday I braved a sore back and frigid concrete floors to crawl around under the car to take measurements and seek answers.

I discovered some small things that by themselves wouldn’t have been an issue, but add them together and they were enough to cause at least some of my problem.

First, I had been concerned that the right and left spool mounts were swapped and in some way caused the problem, but I verified they were in the right place, and was able to eliminate that idea.

Then I found one of my mistakes. When I welded the spool brackets into the stock location, because of the large diameter crank pulley on the ’66 engine, I intentionally raised them about 3/8” to provide more clearance between the cross-member and the outer sheave, so the belts would fit. That was a bad decision. Without parts to actually fit check, my guess was an unnecessary mistake, especially when I decided to change pulleys to a later style with fewer sheaves, which would have allowed plenty of clearance without raising the mounts. I could now lower the engine nose about the same distance as I raised it, but would have to that by deepening the mount slots, as re-welding the brackets would be impossible without pulling the engine.

Next, I measured the mount bracket slot locations compared to the stock mount dimensions. Since I did not have stock ’56 mounts to compare, I again relied on measurements, and though their relative spacing was right on, they were both shifted 1/4” toward the driver’s side. I had now found two mistakes that contribute to my problem.

Had I known what clearance issues I might have run into, since I made a custom transmission cross-member, I could have shifted the engine and transmission rearward as much as a half-inch without affecting any other fit problems. That would have taken advantage of the curvature of the starter housing if I had used the stock starter. As usual, hindsight is always 20-20.

These are the only things I’ve found so far, but will check more when the weather improves, or I turn on the heat.

By using a different washer buildup in the spools, I can gain about 1/8” of rearward movement, but that won’t help much, and while I could still shift the engine back a half-inch, it would require moving the shifter bracket on the driveshaft hump, and the shifter pivot shaft. That would be a royal pain, as I’d have to cut welds and then build a new console top plate to accept the revised shifter location.

I have yet to remove the spool bolts, and I’ll do that to see if the slots can be ground out to lower and shift the bolts enough to help without creating other problems

One thing I did find interesting. The big, heavy, stock starter motor provides 1/8” more clearance than the mini-starter, so I’ll probably have it rebuilt and use it. I do sort of miss the unique Mopar starter sound on my truck and Valiant that now carry mini-starters.

A quick fix isn’t obvious, so I'll try the easier things first, but that will have to be put off until next year.

Happy New Year!

If it Won't go, chrome it!

Holiday demands are still getting top priority, but at least my re-chromed parts are done. I picked them up yesterday and the work is beautiful. They were originally going to polish the "stainless" steel parts, but they were too deeply stained, so they had to chrome them. I'm glad they did.

The price was enough to induce cardiac arrest, but the finish is immaculate. The price for seven interior trim pieces was more than I originally paid for either the Belvedere or the Fury parts car!

When compared to the condition of the parts when I got the car, then after sanding and buffing, and finally finished professionally, the difference is amazing!

Christmas Chrysler

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Missed It By That Much!

One of my favorite lines in the Get Smart TV shows was the often used "Missed by that much!", but it wasn't funny being on the Maxwell Smart side of that line yesterday,

The weather was nice, so I attempted to install the steering gear box. No way...it interferes with the new mini-starter by about one-eighth inch. Checking a stock starter against the mini showed the dimension in the offending area was the same.

I didn't have much time to play around, so I loosened the motor mount bolts with hopes the engine would shift enough, but I only picked up a sixteenth, so it looks like I'll have to remove metal from somewhere to gain enough clearance. I suppose the easiest place to grind is in the motor mount cradles.

I don't know what caused the problem, but I think the motor mount pads are off about 1/8" toward the driver's side, and it has a 1/8" tilt that might also be due to mis-located mounts, though it's impossible to get an accurate measurement at this point,

If I had known about the close fit  earlier, it wouldn't be serious issue, but the gear box was in the refurb shop for a couple of months, and then the shaft modification took three months, so now, with more parts installed it becomes that much more difficult and time consuming to resolve.

It's going to be difficult to fire up my enthusiasm to fix it before Christmas.

Steering Box Mods

The good news is that I got a call from the machine shop yesterday telling me that the steering shaft from the Dodge truck had been joined to the '56 steering gear box, and that I could pick it up any time.

The quality of the work is very nice and he charged only $60 for about two hours work. Since he also offered a sincere apology, I think he did it on the cheap for taking three months to get the work done. The guy who had the heart attack was back on light duty, but at least they were catching up on backlogged work.

The bad news is, that I misplaced the mounting bolts and will have to get replacements from the local Fastenal store that won't be open until Monday. It's been really cold for two days, but the forecast is to hit 70F tomorrow and I won't be able to take advantage of the nice day to mount it!

Little Stuff

While I wait for long-delayed parts to arrive, I'm taking care of little things that don't show progress in pictures.

One of the jobs that I've been putting off is joining the console to the dash board. That is now far enough along that I will have to install the actual dash board before I can finish. Next step will be wiring the tach and HVAC control panel to the center console fuse block.

The final trim on the front of the console will go on when the carpet is installed.

Looks like winter has finally arrived in North Texas. It was 79F two days ago, but dropped to the low forties yesterday. With 24F expected tomorrow night, my tomato plants will be done for the year. I still have lots of cherry tomatoes that are probably too green to ripen, but I'll try hanging the vines in the garage and hope I can salvage a few, as they are especially tasty this year.