USMC 0802

Great progress, Glen. I love the fact that you’re making your car the way YOU want it.

I knew the hand wringers would chime in to clutch their pearls in disbelief and horror

Keep pics coming!

gleninsandiego

Ha ha ha

To begin with, for those new to the build thread, this is not a restore as original car.
The frame has already been modified in a number of places in order to accommodate a 1969 Corvette suspension with
disc brakes all around, plus a 65 parking brake set up.

You can't pull the 69 Muncie on this car without simultaneously removing the bell housing an even doing that it is a miserable job I
have done too many times. Given that, the TKX install would be much worse, most likely necessitating pulling the engine.
Therefore we are modifying the cross member to be removable.

Stev-o

Hi Glen...what a great thread, your attention to detail is to be commended!
And your wife helping out, she is a saint! [highly doubt I could get my wife to help even if I pleaded!]

I have a '70 C3 but have volunteered to help a good friend restore his "Bucket List '63 Project"!!

Here's how she currently sits awaiting silver metallic paint...

Lotsacubes

Been a highly entertaining read Glen. Am I the first to congratulate the teamwork of Glen and Glenda here? Your SWC story seems like a Hallmark movie candidate. All the best. Larry

Stev-o

That's hilarious! Glens life wouldnt work for the plot, he'd have to be a writer that was recently widowed and moved back to his hometown after 20 years to pursue his lifelong dream of restoring a SWC!!
[And no, I dont watch or like Hallmark movies but my wife does]

Lotsacubes

Dude…. You say you don’t watch Hallmark but you know the formula. …… and Glenda was also a recently widowed ex-HS sweetheart. Sorry Glen and Glenda. No more hijacking….. maybe

Gavin65

I absolutely applaud you making this car exactly what you want it to be. No one else matters.

gleninsandiego

I am thinking you men don't know our story, do you?
25 years ago I was a widower with two small boys and Glenda was a widow with two young girls when we got married.
We were not ex HS sweethearts though. LOL

Lotsacubes

^^^^ No idea. The real story is better. Best wishes.

Rescue Rogers

I didnt see if you had checked runout on your bellhousing yet. I never did it with my muncies because it wasnt necessary with all the slop in the input shaft but with the new trannies you need to. SST says its part of their warranty requirements. If you were all ready planning to but havent, its an experience. Lots of mind bending and visual geometry clocking the pilot shims. I bought a bunch of differnet sizes to get ir right
https://shiftsst.com/blog/post/bellhousing-dial-in.html

Fat Mike

Thanks for the update Glen! Hope you like the new transmission!

gleninsandiego

As mentioned above, you need to check the bellhousing runout. In fact, Silver Sport requires the owner report the runout
back to them in order to register the trans. Fortunately for me, the bellhousing was good to go

gleninsandiego

As far as the removable crossmember goes, I was originally looking at using flanges that different people sell that weld on to the crossmember parts.
However they did not clear the floor. I made paper patterns to confirm.




Thus I was impressed with a set up that Current came up with for a 1967 Corvette. Using that as a model, we came up with this.
This is the fabrication phase

Rear view




Side view



Front view

gleninsandiego

Here is the old and the new

gleninsandiego

Test fit

gleninsandiego

Now here is where things started to go sideways.
My rear differential was leaking at the front seal
While the driveshaft was out, the seal was replaced.
However the leak remained.
I hate leaks. LOL.
At this point we suspected the case could be causing problems. I sources a different case.
The diff was pulled and the case replaced





New used case with front support bracket with stiffeners that were not on my original but called for by a factory fix



Painted new case



Guts coming out of old case



Everything put back together and this thing was still leaking
Interestingly, others on the forum were experiencing the same dilemma, which proved for some excellent discussions
on a separate thread.
In our case it was the mating interface between the seal and the case.
A new seal was ordered, and fresh RTV applied



Now things can be put back together
I am liking how nice the removable crossmember looks

gleninsandiego

Here is a video of the car backing out of the shop

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xSWTRDWgjvsPHEXq6

USMC 0802

Love it Glen, it sounds nasty!

What a beautiful car that MUST be driven!!

FLYNAVY30

Good progress Glenn! My motor is coming out for some clean up work and new seals so I'm very much on the fence about whether to tackle the removable cross member or not since its all going to come out as a unit and go back in as one.

leif.anderson93

Glenn,
Always enjoy your "progress" pictures. Looks like it might, finally, be time to get this beast on the road...fingers crossed. I don't know if it makes any difference (and, don't know why it's recommended to do it this way) but the two bolts holding your snubber brace in place were originally installed opposite to each other. Also, one of the bolts had a cotter key and the other had a lock washer. Again, not sure if it makes any difference and I know you're not necessarily looking for factory correctness.
Keep up the great work and progress