I got a fair amount done this week before running into problems. I did complete the brake pedal assembly installation, including the brake light switch. I had some trouble getting the bolts through the firewall straight, but otherwise it was not bad.
Then it was on to the steering chapter. I put together the shafts on my workbench, connecting them with the U-joints, all of which I had painted long ago. Everything seems to fit okay, but the paint makes the fit through the firewall bearing very tight. The bigger problems arose when I realized that I was shorted one of the two bearings that should have come with the kit. That is a special part that I can't just walk into an auto parts or hardware store to buy. I can send away to get one delivered to my local Fastenal store, but that will take a few days, and naturally this happens on a long weekend. Some mail order places sell them for about 6 to 8 bucks, but charge another 6 for shipping. Fastenal is $11, but no shipping.
I also ran into obvious problems when I was loose fitting what I could while dealing with the bearing shortage. My steering shaft does not quite clear the power steering pump and its hoses. It is very close, but I need to get another half inch or so of clearance before I am good to go. I am not sure how I will do that, but I ought to figure out a way without too much trouble. Maybe re-routing the hoses, maybe adjusting the existing pump bracketry and getting a different belt, I am just not sure yet.
I had more tool troubles, too. My old Craftsman drill seems to have given up. Neither battery seems to be charging at all now. (Yes, it is plugged in)! I also had a socket adapter break when I was torqueing one of the bolts to its final tightness. Fortunately, I had a spare one and could continue working. And my garage door got stuck again, this time worse than the first. It turns out that a piece of wood trim had come loose and gotten jammed in the works, causing one of the rollers to jump the track. That got fixed right this time, now that I could see what was going on.
Oh, and kudos go out to NAPA. A long time ago, I had a different garage door problem that required a bolt replacement. I just happened to have one the perfect size on hand in my car parts, so I used that. It was not spare though, and this week I needed it for some of the steering system mounting. Off I went to NAPA and they just let me take one for free. Good thing I was wearing my NAPA hat when I went into the store, I guess. They didn't know me from Adam.
Sorry for no pics. I will double up next week.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Another 2 1/2 Chapters Finished
It was not all gravy, but I managed to find quite a bit of time to work on the car this week and was very productive. I finished the chapters about mounting the cockpit and upper frame.
I did manage to get a rivit in each footbox outside corner, and I got the excess fiberglass trimmed back (about an inch on the driver side, less on the passenger side) to add some more room for feet on both sides. Notice all the dust in the picture. Man, is that stuff itchy and hard to wash off.
And it was particularly hard for me to get my big arm down in the engine compartment to rivit this piece of aluminum (actually, one on each side) that seals the cockpit near the footbox area from the transmission tunnel.
I did have quite a few weird issues, mainly with tools, that required fixing or at least patience. I used my air die grinder to sand off the excess fiberglass, but the compressor could barely keep up. The light on my hanging work light died. My garage door had one of its rollers pop out of its track. I ran down both of my cordless drill batteries and got very frustrated with not being able to work while they SLOWLY recharged. That actually went on for a couple of days before I broke down and bought a new corded drill from Harbor Freight. And OMG, what a huge difference that made. My cordless much not have much of a motor, while the new one really cuts great. I had to drill 4 holes in some thick steel frame members and what was taking about a half an hour and all of my strength with the Craftsman 15.6 Volt drill, the new one took about a minute. I could not believe how much better it cut. Thirty bucks very well spent.
Right now, I am in the middle of working on the brake pedal assembly,
its frame (which will eventually hold the brake master cylinders on the engine side of the firewall),
and the brake light switch. One step that the manual said would be very tough, replacing 6 studs that come from the manufacturer heavily thread-locked, was actually very easy. Here is a picture with one old stud still in place before I removed it.
The next step was drilling the frame for the holes that hold the pedals in place was a huge effort, until I got the new drill. I should finish the brake pedal stuff pretty soon this week. BTW, I have decided to leave the clutch pedal in place but will fasten the pedal to the top of the footbox to keep it out of the way. I am not going to cut the hole in the firewall for that master cylinder though. I figure I can do that easily enough later on if I decide to ditch the automatic transmission for a manual. Then the next step will be to work on the steering system.
I did manage to get a rivit in each footbox outside corner, and I got the excess fiberglass trimmed back (about an inch on the driver side, less on the passenger side) to add some more room for feet on both sides. Notice all the dust in the picture. Man, is that stuff itchy and hard to wash off.
And it was particularly hard for me to get my big arm down in the engine compartment to rivit this piece of aluminum (actually, one on each side) that seals the cockpit near the footbox area from the transmission tunnel.
I did have quite a few weird issues, mainly with tools, that required fixing or at least patience. I used my air die grinder to sand off the excess fiberglass, but the compressor could barely keep up. The light on my hanging work light died. My garage door had one of its rollers pop out of its track. I ran down both of my cordless drill batteries and got very frustrated with not being able to work while they SLOWLY recharged. That actually went on for a couple of days before I broke down and bought a new corded drill from Harbor Freight. And OMG, what a huge difference that made. My cordless much not have much of a motor, while the new one really cuts great. I had to drill 4 holes in some thick steel frame members and what was taking about a half an hour and all of my strength with the Craftsman 15.6 Volt drill, the new one took about a minute. I could not believe how much better it cut. Thirty bucks very well spent.
Right now, I am in the middle of working on the brake pedal assembly,
its frame (which will eventually hold the brake master cylinders on the engine side of the firewall),
and the brake light switch. One step that the manual said would be very tough, replacing 6 studs that come from the manufacturer heavily thread-locked, was actually very easy. Here is a picture with one old stud still in place before I removed it.
The next step was drilling the frame for the holes that hold the pedals in place was a huge effort, until I got the new drill. I should finish the brake pedal stuff pretty soon this week. BTW, I have decided to leave the clutch pedal in place but will fasten the pedal to the top of the footbox to keep it out of the way. I am not going to cut the hole in the firewall for that master cylinder though. I figure I can do that easily enough later on if I decide to ditch the automatic transmission for a manual. Then the next step will be to work on the steering system.
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