I haven't exactly stalled out on this project, I've been busy with other things - like I've completely remodeled a bathroom, and boy howdy is that a lot of work! It's still not completely done, I have some hardware still coming - towel bars and such, but at least it's functional again...... The interior repairs are all done on the RG, my floor patch is welded and sealed up, painted and a few coats of undercoat have been sprayed on. I also painted the parts that I cut on and welded on, and painted the bare metal bits that I built to mount the seats with Edd's favorite - satin black. I've decided I'm going to remove the rear seatbelts as I've never had anyone back there and probably never will and they just get in the way. Usually I leave them down in the companion bins, but as I've removed one of those to get clearance for the seat there's no place for them. While I've been in there I also have cleaned everything - it wasn't exactly dirty, just very dusty. I've also fixed the rattle in the heater with new foam, and it's ready to go back in. We'll have a few warmish days this week so I'll be trying to get everything cleaned and painted while the weather is good, by Xmas day it will be getting cold again and stay that way till spring. You can't really paint when it's 30 degrees out and winter will be here in force by the New Year. So a few pics and maybe this week I can get it mostly back together - the engine and trans are done and ready to go back in. I need to reinstall all the interior bits I took out including all the sound deadening and carpet bits. I also need to clean the rest of the engine compartment from all the oil residue the old engine threw out and change the torn tie rod boots. Then I'll clean the subframe all up (also coated in oil residue) and rebuild the front calipers and replace the rotors. THEN I can mount the engine in it and put it back in the car again. I have ordered a new exhaust system for it, this one is not exactly past it but I figured now is a good time. The Play Mini muffler must have burned out some of its packing as it's gotten pretty noisy so I'm going with a standard RC40 system with both mufflers - since I've been doing all this work to make the car a better highway cruiser I think a quieter exhaust will be a worthy investment in my sanity for the drive to Wytheville in April. I'll give it a good test run first by driving the 4 hours to Dan's shop so he can fix the damage to the fender that happened this past summer on our trip to Blackhawk Farms....that should be a good shakedown run.
Work continues..... I took advantage of the almost 70* temps to tear down and clean the front calipers - I knew they needed rebuilding but have managed to put it off..... When I got them split and the pistons out it was clear just how bad they were! The chrome was peeling off the pistons and they were stuck but good. It surprised me that the pads weren't worn worse - at least on one side - but they were pretty even. I have all new stainless-steel pistons, new seal kits, hoses and all the washers and assorted hardware to completely make them like new again. I also have a new set of rotors to go on. Today I got as far as cleaning them thoroughly, wire brushing them and a couple coats of paint..... Once the brakes are all done all I have left to do to the subframe is clean it and maybe touch up some paint here and there, then it's ready to have to motor put in and installed in the car. I also need to go ahead and put the interior all back together - I only have one more part I need to find - and I know I have one - and that's a drop bracket for the steering column. I don't usually use these but being able to move the seats back means it might be more comfortable with one - who knows? I'll probably wind up taking it back off again.....
Why does it seem to take so much longer to put things back together than to take them apart? Interior going back together.....
Interior is all done, except for the seats. I'm going to hold off on those till the motor is in and buttoned up in case I have to get under the dash for some reason. The heater is in, accelerator, all the wiring is buttoned up, all the hoses back in place and so on. I had to reseal one of the side covers for the trans as it had a small drip, so that's done. Next clean up the subframe and drop the motor in it, then it's ready to go in the car. Still lots to do but progress.....
Got a little more done.... Undecided about installing starter, alternator and some other bits before putting it in the car, I know the factory put them in with the carb, radiator and everything already bolted on, but I like having some extra room to maneuver it around as it goes in.
The combination of the scissor lift and the hydraulic lift table make putting aa subby/engine back in from below a whole lot easier! She's in and bolted down, now all I have to do is hook up everything, install the exhaust, radiator, shifter, intake, starter, alternator, wiring, cables and linkages. The temp is still holding at about 50* in the shop with the heater running even tho it will be in the single digits later today - it's 12 right now. after tonight when it goes down to zero or lower I probably won't be able to work out there tomorrow, but it's supposed to be in the 40's again by Tuesday.
I've done it with a cherry picker, but on these late model cars with the big brake booster you either have to remove that or tilt the engine at a crazy angle to get it in/out. this was it's a fairly easy procedure, especially when working by myself. The only downside is having to disconnect a brake line and drain brake fluid, and there are a few more things to unhook before the subby can come down.
I was wondering the same thing. Maybe to make the leaks easier to see. I always painted LBC engines black to hide those leaks. Man Minidave sure has a lot of energy!
The color choice (more of a cream than white) is because I was tired of all the usual colors - red, black, mowog green, yellow etc and I didn't want something weird like purple or orange. I also wanted it to go OK with the green car.....and my engines don't leak!
Your engines don't leak. Better put some oil in them. I'm sure your builds are of a higher quality than mine ever were.
It's not hard to make them dry with the quality and variety of sealers available today. Plus clean parts and good gaskets do the trick. Now 10K later I'll bet some of the seals will have had it, but all you can do is clean things up and put new ones in again.