Views from Below

I picked up the driveshaft from the shop where it was being shortened, but as usual something had to go wrong. They had installed the slip yoke on the back end of the shaft after I had carefully explained to them about how it was supposed to go on the damper end. They fixed it in a few minutes, but it was  annoying, especially when the technician commented that Ford driveshafts with dampers had them on the differential end, as if Chrysler did it wrong.

I didn't like the shape of the lower radiator hose when it was installed, so I visited O'Reilly's and picked out one that looked like it would be a better fit. It's still not perfect, but looks better than the one specified in their computer, and it's not a universal fit flexible hose. Couldn't get a clear photo.

This morning I routed and hooked up the Lokar kickdown cable, but will have to wait for a helper to operate the accelerator when I make the adjustments.

I created an adjustable shift rod by combining parts of two different rods. It works okay, but now I regret having changed to a lighter detent spring in the transmission when I was originally trying to adapt the pushbutton controls to the '66 transmission. If it proves to be a problem, I'll take the car into the transmission shop to take care of swapping back to the stock spring. I just don't want to mess with it myself.

More from Down Under (the car)

Once the car was off the jack stands and all the weight sitting on the suspension, I re-measured the driveshaft space and decided I needed to shorten the shaft 1-3/4". I found a local truck repair shop that will do the work, and was told it wouldn't take more than a day or two once the Spicer U-joints I specified arrive. Should be sometime next week.

The transmission was next. I installed the speed sensor and made up a cable for it and the neutral start switch. However, the transmission shop didn't replace the neutral switch and I discovered that the  nut won't come off. It just spins, so apparently the threads are stripped at the terminal base and I can't see if the bad threads are on the terminal or the nut. Even grabbing the nut and pulling as I try to re-engage the threads doesn't work, so I guess I'll have to order a new switch..
As usual, nothing is as simple as you might expect. Apparently Chrysler changed switch designs in '67, and my transmission is a '66 so I have to order the $65 single terminal version instead of the $13 three terminal part used on later transmissions. Oh well!

The rod connecting the console shifter to the transmission shift arm is my next opportunity. I dug through a box of shift and throttle rods and found a combination of parts that should work, but I'll have to cut and weld two rods together and that looks doable.

I got the neoprene flaps pop-riveted to the shields and mounted to the inner fenders. Not sure they will be needed on blacktop roads in fair weather, but they are installed anyway.

Still playing around with the emergency brake cables, and discovered another problem to resolve if I can find the patience to work on it! I think I'll play around with my wheel alignment tool first and forget the damn e-brakes for a while!

Beneath the Belly of the Beast!

While waiting for parts to arrive, and the car is still sitting on jack stands, I’ve been working on some tasks that require crawling under the car. My age and arthritis really show up when I work on my back!
First thing I did was search through my driveshaft collection to find the closest to my needs. The one from the ’66 B-body that donated the engine and transmission looked like the best option. I removed the old U-joints and after a couple hours of scraping off decades of mud and grease it looked quite nice.

The way the car sits, it appears I’ll have to shorten the shaft by 1” to 1-1/2”, but to get an accurate dimension I’ll have to set the car on the floor so the suspension is loaded when I measure.  I haven’t found a nearby shop to cut the shaft yet, as the one we had locally moved or went out of business. I hope I don't have to send it out.

The small splash shields that fit at the bottom of the inner fenders were next. One side was missing on the project car and one on the Fury donor, but fortunately I ended up with a matched pair. The donor car part was badly rusted, but it served as a pattern to make a new one. Today I finished cleaning and painting both and now they need to dry before I can make new neoprene flaps to replace the damaged and missing rubberized-fabric originals.

I’m still working on the intermediate e-brake cable and really want to finish that pain-in-the ass job! Maybe next weekend.

Here’s a blurry picture of the fans and shroud installed. Once again, my crappy camera went out of focus by itself so I’ll have to play with settings until I can get some better-quality shots.

Ooops!

Finally got a chance to troubleshoot the parking brakes problem of the lever in the wheel not moving enough to apply the brakes. I was the dummy and should have caught it while putting the parts together. Since I didn't have the cables at the time, I failed to check the lever movement to see if it moved the shoe. It seems that the park brake struts were for 10" brakes, not the 11" ones I needed. New struts on order. Shame on me!

Got the radiator and fans installed and the transmission lines attached. Pictures later.

Back-burner News

The car has indeed been on the back burner for a couple of weeks. Between weather, visitors, dog-sitting, home repairs and honey-do’s, I’ve not accomplished much restoring.

It’s funny how the smallest things can be the most annoying and time consuming to resolve. I wanted to terminate the transmission cooler lines at the radiator and needed two tubing nuts since the Champion aluminum radiator has male connections. I had the male version and thought it would be simple to find the others at any auto parts store, but no one locally stocked any for 5/16” tubing.

O’Reilly found four in one of their stores in Oklahoma City, and the counter guy here said he would order them and that it would take two days. Two days later, I went to pick them up, and though the request had been sent, the parts were never packed for shipment, so the local store re-ordered them for overnight shipment. Two days later, their computer showed them on a truck that was due in a couple of hours.  They didn’t show up on that truck, so the store located four more in a different city and ordered from them. Two days later, the parts from both sources arrived.

It took over a week to get my parts, and I made four twenty-mile round trips! If I had ordered online, they would have cost half the price O’Reilly charged, plus they would have arrived on about the same day and I wouldn’t have had to drive eighty miles. The result is that the local store knows I’m not happy with them and they now have a twenty-year supply of Mopar-only 5/16” tube nuts!

I did finish fabricating a shroud for the two SPAL fans, and here’s a picture of the parts getting a fit check. They clear, but not by much. The info I found said a shroud was probably necessary with two nine -inch fans and suggested at least a half-inch spacing from the fins to permit drawing from a larger area. I still have to do  little trimming and then paint it.

Still having a problem with the parking brake. For some unknown reason, the park brake levers inside the wheels will not move the required distance to apply the shoe. They make a click when they get to a certain point, so apparently they are hitting something inside and not visible. All the brake parts in the wheels were obtained and installed individually, so something is installed incorrectly, or I have a wrong part. I'll have to disassemble and check everything. Oh well, one step forward and two steps back!