Tach and AC Controls

Sometimes things actually turn out better than expected, so I’ll bask in contentment before the next “Oh shit” happens.

It was a lot of work, but I think I managed to come up with a design for the Vintage Air controls that looks somewhat like it might belong in a ’55-’56 Plymouth.

There are still a couple of things to tweak before it’s ready to mount, but for now it will go on the shelf until needed.

The slider for the floor shift arrived, so one more item to cross off the list.

I also ordered the right side exhaust manifold without a heat riser. The Chrysler Power intake manifold does not have a crossover passage to help heat the carb, so no need for a riser. The picture looks good, so I hope the part is of high quality.

Part Needed

Does anyone have an extra one of these you don't need? Either the one that says Lights or Heater is fine, as I will change the legend when I have them re-chromed.

I'm replacing the plastic Vintage Air control knobs with the stock style, but one was missing from the Fury and I need a total of four.

Parts I ordered are beginning to arrive, so once again I'll have plenty of small fill-in jobs to keep me going.

Anyone appalled by the rising price of 75-25 inert welding gas? When I began the sheet metal repair a couple of years ago, I filled a bottle for $14. The next one was $17, and the third was $20. It's now been nearly a year since the last refill, but yesterday I paid $39! The welding supply store has changed ownership, but that's ridiculous! Time to look for another supplier.

Cleanup Time

Despite not making a lot of progress on the car build, I sure can make a mess of the workshop! Not only is it messy, but I’ve misplaced several parts and tools, so I decided to clean up, organize a little bit, and see if the lost items show up.  

My upper cabinets still don’t have doors, so the shelves were filthy, but I do have them looking much better after cleaning, disposing of dried-out paint, adhesives, and sealers, and rearranging what was left.  (Question…Will I ever use up all those sample bottles of “Mother’s” detailing products handed out at car shows?)

I also installed a goose-neck light at the workbench and hooked up the Mopar AM, FM, CD player that has been mounted on a panel above the workbench for three years. I now have music, powered by the DC power supply my wife gave me for Christmas two years ago, and adjustable light where I need it for those close-up jobs.

If the parts I ordered for my car don’t arrive in the next couple of days, I’ll attack my bench stock bins. I’ve been squirrelling away small parts and fasteners for more than twenty years and it’s time to purge all the junk that was so important in the last century, but hasn’t been touched since!

Accessory Brackets

It’s ugly, but it’s tacked together. Sometimes it’s easier to modify a mounting bracket from a different car than to create one from scratch. This bracket is from a ’79 Aspen slant six. When done, very little of the original will be saved, but the spacer end has the usual Mopar spacing for the alternator and it bolts to the engine in a way that lets me relocate the alternator to the opposite side. Even after reinforcing, trimming and painting it won’t be pretty, but it should do the job.

The compressor bracket had to be made from scratch, and I have temporarily assembled the pieces and located them on the engine. Now all I need is the compressor so I can verify that everything will clear before I can weld and paint it

I've been tinkering with camera settings and the pictures look a little better.

Rubik's Cube

I was able to sneak into the workshop for a while yesterday so I decided to see what I could do about the belt and pulley combination I'll eventually be faced with. Working with the engine on a stand makes everything a lot more accessible.

The stock setup from the '66 B-body donor car had the huge crankshaft pulley that would have created an interference problem with the '56 frame, so I swapped that pulley for a smaller diameter, two-groove version from a LA engine. However, that created additional belt alignment problems. Add the fact that I'm using an aftermarket Sanden AC compressor on an engine that never came with one....yet another opportunity presents itself!

I  dipped into my stash of pulleys, brackets, spacers and odd-length bolts to see if any combination could be made to fit, but after playing Rubik's cube for an hour, I concluded that I'll have to make custom brackets, modify something from my collection, or buy a complete aftermarket combination that works together. I checked e-bay to see if they might have something I could use, but the prices are ridiculous for used parts. Parts and pieces picked up from multiple auctions, along with multiple overpriced shipping rates would be more expensive than buying a complete set of matched aluminum pulleys from a performance parts supplier.

I think moving the alternator to the other side of the engine would be a better setup. With the battery relocated to the trunk there will be more room on that side. However, that requires a totally custom-shaped mounting bracket for the alternator as there are no holes in the head and water pump to use just spacers and flat plates.

That will also allow placing the AC compressor on the same side as the hoses. Less interference and access issues and it would look better not having the hoses and wiring cross over the front of the engine.

Whatever I do, I hope I can find enough belt clearance to eliminate an idler pulley. The stock one fits only one way on the water pump, and the press-fit bearing sounds pretty rough, so everything would have to be new.

Summer Doldrums

With summer finally here, I suppose my rebuild can be described as officially being in the summer doldrums. There are just too many yard projects and household type interruptions to make it worth my time to start a big enough project to show any progress. Yesterday was flower bed weeding and grass removal, this morning it was grocery shopping, and tomorrow is three hours of lawn cutting and trimming.

The weather has been cooperating and I should have moved the car outside so I can prep the body for paint, but by the time I finish more pressing duties it’s late morning and too hot to start a job out in the sun. I know I said it before, but getting old sucks!

I received the small sheet of 20 ga. stainless steel I'm going to use to make console trim. Now if I can find some stainless steel molding that looks right, I can work on the console between bigger jobs. I've found the right shape, but not the right size. I might have to make that too.

Maybe next week will see more progress.

Final Console Mockup

It took a few changes, but the console design is final...pending a fit check of the transmission bracket's effect on linkage clearance. The bracket has been ordered and should arrive by the end of the week.

After playing with camera settings, I'm pretty much convinced it sucks. The color is terrible and can't even be fixed with Photoshop.  Before the Sony had problems, it took decent pictures except they were occasionally blurry. The Canon pictures are grainy and blurry.

New Camera Test

My cheap Sony camera is beyond repair, so I replaced it with a cheap Canon. This first picture is awfully fuzzy, so I guess I'll try some different settings to see if the quality can be improved. If that doesn't work, I'll have to see if I can learn to operate my wife's little GoPro.

The photo shows the console structure where it meets and attaches to the dash and the transmission hump. You can also see the battery cable routing from the trunk to the firewall feed-thru via a plastic conduit.

The Best Laid Plans....

When the weather began to gradually improve a couple of weeks ago, I was certain I would have lots of time to play with the Plymouth, but there is always something to ruin plans.

The first was dealing with a leak from the kitchen ceiling. It showed up after a 70 mph windstorm with driving rain and large hail. I got a roofer to come out, but with more rain due, the best he could do was seal one area where it looked like water had blown under the eaves. That didn't work as the next rain left a puddle on the floor, so I had the insurance adjuster come out and check for hail damage. He couldn't find any, but he documented the water damage and hail damage to my vinyl fencing. Now I'm waiting for paperwork from the insurance company so the roofer can get to work.

Throw in a bad back that's still not feeling great, doctor and dentist appointments, a couple of long airport trips to Dallas, a backlog of rain delayed landscape jobs, and my car work has been relegated to the back burner again. I tried to get a landscaper out for the heavier, time-consuming jobs, but I guess the wet weather has put them behind too, so I had to do it alone.

I did manage to get a couple of afternoons to work on wiring and console design, but when I went to take photos, my camera died. It's several years old, so I guess it's time to get another one.

Showers are predicted again this weekend, but after that a summer high pressure system is expected to settle over us for several weeks. That usually means hot and dry, with calm mornings when I should be able to roll the car outside and spray and sand the final primer coats. It would be nice to have the body painted so I can begin glass installation and interior work. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

I really need to accomplish some bigger projects to recharge my enthusiasm.

Gary Goers Rubber Parts

Progress is back to slow speed with household chores taking priority. I'm still working on console designs to consider, and have cut a few sheet metal pieces to mock up, but nothing to show.

I did receive the rebuilt brake pedal from Gary Goers and was pleased to find he was able to cast it in black to match my accelerator pedal. The original gray would have been okay, but the matching color looks better. The surface texture is slightly rougher than the OEM part, but no one will ever notice.
Once again he completed my order in about two weeks.

He also sent new dust boots for the tie rod ends. The ancient, high-mileage parts furnished with China-built steering kit will have to be replaced before I get the car on the road. They were a year old and the mileage was about 75 ft. from the side of the garage all the way to the inside, so they lasted about what was expected. Two of the four Chinese parts are broken, but I'll replace all of them.