There's even a brief video:
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Today actually started with an enjoyable hour in Phil Oles' shop. He has a good supply of larger metal stock, and his larger machines can handle it. The project was to make some "ram extensions" for my new 12-ton press. Here I am deeply concentrating on my work:
The task on that lathe was to make some precise recesses that match the ram on my press. Three different sizes of drill bit, and then a one-inch end mill to create a flat pocket.
When done, I had a set ranging from 3/4" tall to 3" tall. The steel shaft in the photo matches the size of the ram on my press.
As detailed in Part 11a, the breakthrough on the brakes was an early-morning phone call from Cor Engelen. He had noticed that the bolts holding the brake backing plate were reversed - that was the cause of the interference I was experiencing. The heads of the bolts are low-profile designs to clear that hub on the brake drum:
Because I've gotten so good at ripping those brakes apart, it was quick work to take everything apart and reverse the nuts and bolts. Except... on the passenger side, there was one bolt that didn't match - it was just a standard Whitworth bolt. I searched the box of bolts I got from prior owner Mark, looking for that last low-profile bolt, and didn't find it. So, I introduced Mr. Bolt to Mr. Lathe, and made it match. Here's a before-and-after.
Of course, after it was all assembled and buttoned up, I found the other original one. Oh well. As you'll read soon, I'll have it back apart again anyway.
In replacing the brake drums, I got to use one of my new ram extensions to re-seat the bearings. Much better than the way I was doing it before, which involved a socket, a block of aluminum, and a deep hope that it didn't fall apart while trying to press.
After I had all the brakes back together and adjusted, I started bleeding the brakes. Troy Nace showed up, and helped. Then it was time to install the brand-new ball joints onto the brand-new steering rack, and align the front end. I'll take it to a real alignment rack soon, but for now I used a shade-tree technique. I clamped long levels to the brake drums, and then measured the distance between them at two spots around 3 feet apart. I adjusted the tie rods until the two measurements matched. I must have gotten it pretty close, because the car seems to drive fine.
Notice that we moved the jack stands from the frame to under the A-arms for this exercise, so that the car would be weighted as if it was on the ground.
After that, it was just a few more details, and off we went! It was a beautiful afternoon, cool but sunny, and since I have the transmission tunnel out right now (more on that in my next post), the exhaust system functioned as a very toasty heater. Lots of folks on the street exclaimed at the sight of an old "race car" on the street.
That will probably be its only real drive until spring. Lots of work still to do, with the top priority going to the planned upgrade to front disc brakes. The brakes right now are truly abysmal. I understand why former owner (and racer) Steve Fox told me that he sold the car because the brakes were so bad. I'm going to fix that, using Cor Engelen's design for front disc brakes.
But still! A pleasurable drive, and a great start! Many thanks to Troy for his help in reassembling the suspension. He got to be the passenger on the first drive!
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