#211
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Nice job Dane.
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#212
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I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted an update on the Rambler. To be 100% honest, I've felt like I've been treading water and not gaining a lot of ground.....however, hopefully you'll see after my updates (I'll break this up in numerous posts) that that fact isn't true.
This first post is related to a slight modification I did to the shifter we will be using. Due to tight chassis and exhaust clearances, I needed to route the shifter cable to the front instead of the rear as it was designed. Stock photo to show the shifter we are using and the orientation of the shifter cable out the rear. Stock photo from the instructions showing how the shifter cable mounts and operates on the transmission. Made some mock up bell cranks out of wood.... Cutting out the bell crank that worked out best. Also note a little hub I machined with some bearings for the bell crank. The bell crank welded to the hub I machined along with a mounting standoff shaft that was also machined. Mounting shaft installed in the transmission case. Forward is the actual shifter input shaft and arm for the transmission. Bell crank installed and attached to the shift arm with an adjustable shaft / heim joints that I made. This shows how I modified the shifter with a mounting bracket going forward for the shifter cable. The shifter does not actually mount to the transmission like that (it's just mocked up, and eventually mounts to the transmission tunnel) Here you can see how the shifter cable now loops around the front. It basically attaches to the transmission pan as per the instructions above, but from the front instead. Pushes / pulls on the bottom of the bell crank, thus transferring the movement to the transmission input arm and shaft.
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Rush too much trying to get to the end when the end is closer when you take your time. Dane |
#213
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Update #2
This post will focus on the fabrication of the firewall A fairly quick and dirty foam buck with some wood formers for the initial shaping of the firewall. A fairly quick and dirty foam buck with some wood formers for the initial shaping of the firewall. This area will need to be filled in with something....hmm The first section of firewall cut out and ready to shape. The drawn "pie cut" was removed and welded back together.....that saved a ton of shrinking time later. First firewall piece shaped and taped into position. First firewall piece shaped and taped into position. Second firewall piece was pretty simple...but I'm just working my way across in workable "chunks". Worked the welds.....you never saw that there were two pieces to make this little corner! Shaping up the center area of the firewall. Starting rolling over the edge for the engine recess area. The engine recess area with the remaining rolled edge to blend into the firewall section. All current pieces welded, planished and cleaned up for now. Set it back onto the car / buck.....all is still fitting as it should. Bent up a toe kick panel for the driver's side of the floor. Fabricated the main firewall piece. Thus connecting the top panels to the toe kick. Welded all those panels together into one piece. Set the front fenders on. Eventually with them and the inner fenders hardly any of this firewall will be seen! Oh well, it's all needed obviously. Mirrored all the work onto the passenger half of the firewall now. Set the complete firewall into place. It's looking really nice in my opinion. View with the front sheet metal set back on again. Added the start of the transmission tunnel. Complete firewall welded and cleaned up. Bending up the rest of the transmission tunnel. Bending up the rest of the transmission tunnel.
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Rush too much trying to get to the end when the end is closer when you take your time. Dane |
#214
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Update #3
Sometimes you have to stop the big stuff and do little tasks that get your motivation back up.....that's what this post is. The square corners on the decklid were irritating me..... So I decided to round them off. (Note, the fit isn't perfect...I was only working on the opening and not the decklid. I'll refine that once the decklid is rebuilt) Jamb corner rounded off. Left original. Right rounded. Not many straight lines on this car, so it only made sense. Both rounded off. Fabricated a tray to recess the license plate & frame into the rear body panel. The tray had to match the curve of the rear body. This is from the top looking down. The tray had to match the curve of the rear body. This is from the side. Cut out the rear body and welded the tray into place. Test fitting the frame and plate (junk plate) Here you can see how I had to bend / shape the plate frame to match the horizontal and vertical curves of the rear body panel. I don't think I ever showed that I fabricated the center section of the rear bumper? If so...here it is again I guess.
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Rush too much trying to get to the end when the end is closer when you take your time. Dane |
#215
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Outstanding improvement Dane!
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Kerry Pinkerton |
#216
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Catchup Update #4
This post will focus on the dash, gauge cluster & steering wheel drop area. Time to start thinking about fitting a steering column. As is....the current angle for fitting a column and having it exit the firewall in a decent location doesn't work. Also I decided the gauge face angle was wrong for viewing (the original gauge was kind of in a pod that moved it out) so I will be modifying this entire area...… Note how much tilt the column has to have for the wheel to be in a comfortable situation while sitting in the seat. Another view of the start of this area before modifying. The first main task was to take the angle out of the gauge mount. You can see how much I decreased it while I am holding up the steering wheel mount in it's original location. Next was to add in a section to drop the steering wheel mount down some. This aided in helping get the column mount angle I wanted, but also because I'm using a bit larger diameter gauge and wanted to have more space between the gauge and column later. Obviously with adding to the column drop, it messes with the "flow" of the area into the existing dash...... Some slicing and dicing in order to get things to line back up was necessary. One half of the gauge / column area welded and cleaned up. All finished and ready to go.....right?!?...... Nope! Now that I have that area correct, I need to move it over to center it on the new seats (we changed the seating and will be having a center console...so need to move out a bit. I think it was like 2-2.5") That entire area cut out and slid over the correct amount in order to center on the seat. With all the tapers of the dash, when I moved it over I obviously have a lot of miss fit joints now! Some welding, shaping up some filler pieces and massaging everything, it all blends and flows together correctly now. Top of dash all welded, cleaned up. Looking much better again. Completed modifications on the dash. Nobody would ever know I messed around so much! (The gauge is just a printed piece of paper) We decided that a "Steer Clear" unit was the best solution for gaining the best column angle as well as best outlet for the steering shaft on the firewall. Now you can see the neutral angle of the tilt on the column at the driving position. Much cleaner looking. Here shows the steering column hub is parallel to the dash / gauge face. Test fitting the actual gauge as well as the custom wheel the customer dropped off. This is a view I could get used to! Here is the Steer Clear unit we used. I forget the drop amount 8" I think? Temporarily mounted to the firewall to locate it. (It will be hidden mounted, with no visual hardware eventually) You can see how the steering shaft and joints fit nicely along the chassis. The Steer Clear unit dropped below the firewall, so I fabricated a couple pieces to enclose it back in. All closed back up again.
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Rush too much trying to get to the end when the end is closer when you take your time. Dane |
#217
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WOW Dane
I really like what you are doing with the Rambler. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and process. Steve
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Steve Hamilton Hamilton Classics Auto Restoration & Metalshaping |
#218
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I sure hope your not going to paint that thing.
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Norm Henderson |
#219
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Nice work! I just checked in on this thread a few days ago hoping there was some news and then this makes it owrh the wait.
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Steve ærugo nunquam dormit |
#220
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Great big update! So glad as have really been missing this build.
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Marcus aka. Gojeep Victoria, Australia http://willyshotrod.com Invention is a combination of brains and materials. The more brains you use, the less materials you need. |
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