62Jeff

I'm anxious to see the whole car painted, any target timeframe for that? Weeks, months?

MrPbody

whadaya mean? it's already painted :


No real deadlines here Jeff, but I suspect it will be a wile before any fresh paint hits the gun. I'd make a wild guess at something like 2-3 months.
no work for a few days now however: Irony of ironies. I took Jennifer to the hospital yesterday for another, more minor, surgery. in the 3-4 hours I was in the waiting room I apparently picked up a flu bug. she's feeling fine, and now I'm sick. . it IS true, however, that hospitals are where all the bugs are.

Russ

Zoomin

Russ, feeling better by now, I hope?

MrPbody

Compared to what?

I did force myself to go out to the shop today for the first time in a week. I installed an oil pres sensor and a water temp sender……. and looked at it a lot . getting better, but just still really wiped out and wimpy. I did go pick up my new Dakota Digital VHX gauge setup today also. looks nice.

Are we having fun yet?

Russ

MrPbody

It's not a lot, but I did feel enough better today to get a little done on the car. I pulled off the wire harness and did a final continuity test on every wire, and verified each ones destination. it all checked out, so I wrapped it up and put the split loom on, then re-installed it onto the motor. I also picked up a couple fuel fittings that I needed, so perhaps I can get the fuel system plumbed in the next few days. it won't take too much after that to make some noise.

TD-Machines

That is very impressive work, kudos to you.

MrPbody

Thanks TD

Still movin' slow, but I got a couple more things done on it today. installed the brake master cylinder with metering block and hooked up the lines. also installed the power steering hoses. I had planned to do fuel line plumbing today, but I got sidetracked on the radiator and fans. I was curious if the 02 Camaro setup was going to work out, so I set the core support in place and set the radiator assembly in for a look-see. It's actually surprisingly tight, but I think I can wiggle and tweak here and there and squeeze it in. there were some nubs molded onto the side tanks that hit my core support on the left side:


and the battery box will need to be shifted over and up to make room for the condenser hoses to come through. but my biggest concern at the moment is to get the radiator neck down low enough so the hood will close:


with the nubs removed from the plastic side tanks, the radiator sets in much better, but I still plan to bury it another 3/4" - 1" into the core support for added clearance at the steering box. this will allow me to lower the whole radiator/fans enough to get the filler neck down where it needs to be…………….. I hope.

Zoomin

Not enough room to run the hoses under the battery box?

How will you secure the radiator to the support? (although I doo like the sophistication the massive C clamp provides )

Looking good Russ!

MrPbody

Might be able to route the hoses under, but I could use some room there anyway when I bury the radiator into the core support. I'll figure it out as I go, as always

The stock radiator has 3 different styles of support pads for the 4 corners. right lower is a donut on a peg. left lower is an odd molded rubber affair. then the two molded top pads that I don't know what they sit on (ordered but not received them yet). I expect to attach a "shelf" onto the lower core support for the lower pads to rest in, and not sure about the top yet…… what???? you thought I knew what I was doing?... I'm just wingin' it man.

MrPbody

A fun day in the shop today in a continuation of setting up the radiator. I needed to move the radiator and fan assembly forward enough so the lower left corner would clear the steering box. this would allow the radiator assy to be lowered down, so the radiator cap would clear the hood. after considerable puzzlement, I've figured out a suitable solution. the oem 59 radiator had been attached to the core support via three bolts on either side. this area was raised about 5/8" above the surrounding core support,


and was keeping the Camaro radiator from going forward far enough. I wanted to retain the three mounting points, as they can be used to attach the AC condenser, plus that sheetmetal would help keep air from bypassing the new radiator. my solution was to cut an equal size piece out of each raised section, on either side, then reverse them side for side and front to back and weld them into their new homes. in other words, they now protrude towards the front of the car, instead of the rear.


also notice, above, that the radiator cap is now an inch or so lower, and should clear the hood with no problem, and that the lower edge of the core is now down even with the upper edge of the opening in the core support, as it should be.


I've ordered new rubber oem Camaro cushions to support the new system, and they should arrive tomorrow or the next day. now that the radiator can sit where it needs to, retaining it there will be no biggie [knocks on wood]

Zoomin

Ah - so you do know what you're doing!!

MrPbody

Oh absolutely. I had it planned that way all the time.

HarryG86

Russ,
Just sent you a PM.
Harry

MrPbody

Two days in a row with progress. it's been a wile since that's happened.. I started out by mounting up the condenser. because it's mounting surface is now 1 1/8" further forward, it would have hit the hood release. so I flattened the supplied mounting brackets, which had been offset by about 7/8", and ended up with just enough room to put everything back right with the world again. after measuring for the condenser hard lines several times, and scratching my head for a wile, I've determined that Vintage air screwed up on what is advertised as a 59-60 chevy specific kit. because the hard lines are uhh ….. hard, there really is no leeway in the location of the hole needed in the core support. unfortunately, the hole ends up about 1" above the bottom of the battery box.


as with so many other things one runs into on a build like this……it can be fixed. I'll modify a (new) oem battery tray so it sits higher, and set it up to use a modern (shorter) side post battery.
I also got the flex (evaporator) lines preassembled and cut to length, and dropped those off at the rod shop up the road for him to crimp the ends on for me.

By the time the condenser stuff was done, the radiator lower rubber mounts had arrived so I began fabrication of the support system for those. it wasn't too hard, just a bit time consuming to fabricate parts and weld them in place. the drivers side is a rubber "cup" affair that cradles the tank, and the passenger side is the more familiar pin and donut affair. the top cushions won't be in for a couple more days, but the bottom is now finished.


Is the steering box close?….. oh ya.. but it clears now. and that's all that matters .

MrPbody

I figure any day that involves welding on a gas tank, and the shop is still standing at the end of the day, it's been a good day..….. today was a good day.

The day began by dropping the fuel tank and draining the remaining fuel. after removing the sender unit, I swabbed a towel, attached to a stiff wire, around inside the tank to pick up any remaining liquid fuel. once it was visibly dry I put the outlet of my shop vac into the sender unit opening and let it vent out the fill tube for 10 minutes or so until all traces of fumes were removed. wile the venting was taking place I laid out a suitable location for a sump, which I had fabricated earlier, and drilled a series of drain holes in the tank inside that area.




The sump, which measures 4"x8"x1 1/2" deep, was then welded on over the drilled area and given the "bubble test" with a dish soap and water mix, wile putting a few pounds of air pressure in through the new fuel outlet. any remaining pin holes were re-welded and re-tested.



I've used a similar setup on previous cars with very good success. No starvation issues, by adding the sump, and easy/inexpensive with an inline fuel pump. I'll use a Walbro fuel pump, and the 98 Corvette pressure regulator/filter that many others have proven to work well on the LS motors.
The fuel sender unit will remain, and the old pick up tube gets used as the return line BTW.

The tank won't go back in for a couple weeks however, as I may as well weld in a patch panel in the trunk, above where the tank mounts, to repair a 4" area of swiss cheese (rust). I've already ordered the patch panel, but it won't be here until early next week. that's ok, as I have other things to keep me busy on the car until then

Zoomin

That's a pretty suave idea there with the sump. Nicel work, Russ

MrPbody

Thanks Zoom.

Not a real exciting day today. I did play with the fuel system plumbing a little bit however. mostly I just laid under the car contemplating the time/space continuum , but I did figure out how I want the fuel system set up as long as I was under there anyway . I found a good spot for the pressure regulator on top of the trans cross member bracket on the frame. that bracket even has a suitable hole in it already, to bolt it down with. the stock 5/16" fuel line is right there as well, and will be utilized as the return line back to the tank. I've run a new 3/8" line next to the old one for the pressure feed line. the in-line fuel pump is being mounted on an existing small cross member, located between the fuel tank and rear axle. I've found that the trick to making an inline pump quiet is to isolate it from the frame, so I fabricated a mount from a piece of 3" plastic drain pipe that I split down one side. the split allows it to be opened up enough to place a piece of 1/2" high density foam between it and the pump. a simple steel bracket was then bent up and bolted to the pipe to mount the whole mess to the crossmember with.



Maybe tomorrow I'll get it bolted to the car

Russ

Kerrmudgeon

I tend to nod off when I do that Russ....ZZZZZZzzzzzz...

I hope you both are feeling well after all the health woes.

MrPbody

zzzz…. huu? oh ya…. me to

Jennifer is doing pretty well now. in fact she plans to go back to work tomorrow to see if she can handle that yet. I'm back also, except for a slight lingering cough. but I'm getting much better also. Thanks.


The fuel pump did find it's way to it's new home today. in fact everything in the fuel system from the fuel rail to the tank is now finished. I'm waiting for the trunk patch panel to arrive, and get installed, before replacing the tank, but it's all ready to plug in and go now.


Here is the fuel filter/pressure regulator, set up on top of the crossmember frame stub. that worked out real well there also.


I hear my top radiator rubbers are in now, so I guess I'll get back on that tomorrow wile I'm waiting for the patch panels. still plenty to do.

TDW

Hey Russ! Just wanted to pop in and say I'm still watching and enjoying seeing you engineer another project.

Glad you and the wife are both on the upswing, life's tough enough when you feel good Hope the trend continues!

Great work on the radiator, and everything else for the matter. Nice being able to see a craftsman come up with a plan and put it into action.

A little "sidetrack" here, has nothing what-so-ever to do with your build, but caught my attention and qualifies as "footnote worthy" to me.....what am I talking about......was watching some old tv shows the other day one of which was Route#66...don't know if you're familiar with it or not, or if you are/were, if you remember it...about two guys who cruise around the country, going from town to town, picking up work as they go. They drive what I believe to be a 62'Vette, given to "Todd" (one of the characters) by his late father, and this particular episode, (season1 episode7, I think), had them arriving in Grants Pass OR where they picked up work on a hops farm, I think. Antagonist was named Ted,(much to my dismay!), so a couple different coincidences akin to your situation, mainly the 62' and being in Grants Pass. Anyway, like I said, just useless trivia, but I found it amusing, so thought I'd share the experience. Hope you don't mind my taking up space in your build with useless banter. I think the episode was called "Three Sides".

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled build by one of the greats, Russ!

HAGO!