RBrid

Thanks Freddy - you're showing some terrific paint job in the Paint/Body section. That black '76 looks great.

Thanks Roger - Yep, things go slow when you're a picky rookie like me. You're doing some awesome work too on your '69. Good job on that birdcage & zinc chromate. A baby step everyday will get us there.


My menu du jour:

Spread yolks to please SBG:


Spread arms to please me:

SB64

Hey Rbird nice front suspension. I might be jumping ahead or missed it but whats your plan for the rear, oh might be off set trailing arms. BIG tires I assume. Will the front A-arms change the ride height?

SuperBuickGuy

pretty yolks, nice a arms too

RBrid

For the rear, I have VanSteel's single offset trailing arms and SpeedDirect's SharkBite kit:
.

Both front and rear have coil-over-shocks so I'll lower both front and rear that way. I'll have wide wheels - shooting for around 10" in front and 12" in the rear, with flares. I wanted 16" diameter wheels but apparently you can't find wide tires for those anymore
I'll also get the entry level Wilwood brake system.

Now I know many of you would not have picked the SharkBite rear kit. Richard454 says it's good looking like a trophy wife. mrvette mentions poor performance in reviews... I like the height adjustability and the look.

phat87

Keep them posts comin' man! Awesome job.

I'm just in your back yard over in Victoria. There is a fellow in Chehalis Jerry McAdams that is a great source for used parts if you need 'em.

His contact info is 360 269 1711. I bought a center cluster and stock radio from him VERY nice! like new.

RBrid

Thanks Phat - I appreciate that! Good to know local folks like Jerry, especially for parts that are no longer produced.

SB64

Like it all RBird, It will be interesting to see what YOU think of the shark bite system. What will be the exterior color, sorry for all the question but inquiring minds like to know stuff.
R

RBrid

Hey Roger - My current plan is to emulate this vintage race car:







This car is my inspiration. I like it a lot. It's the original Gulf livery from 1967.
Honestly, what do you guys think?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

SB64

Real nice Rbird, looks like a real deep blue, with the orange or red. Pretty slick.
R

SuperBuickGuy

I think you're a funny guy who drives a moostang.

RBrid

Yes, I can & do drive it everyday. It's a reliable car.


OK, pictures are good for you. I know you want them. You know you want them. So here you go:

Grinding grade 8 bolts for the rear spindle holders, for the shark bite suspension:








Prep'ing the rear differential housing for a rebuild:

#1 - before sandblasting:


#2 - after sandblasting:


#3 - with epoxy primer:


#4 - with top coat:

The differential is now at a local shop for a complete rebuild. All new parts except for the gears.

Shiny new parts. Got the D8-4 kit. Maybe I should have gotten the D8-6 for the front:


Got a new gas strainer:


and installed the tank:




Started to work on the front wheels assembly:


...and measured one rotor run-out.

Luckily it's around 0.001" so I'm not going to add any shim for this one. Hopefully I did this right. Passenger side comes next...

Oh, and if you're curious about my u-joint troubles from last month. The reason why I could not fit the second clip is because a mean bearing pin had escaped and had fallen to the bottom of the cap. I pressed out the u-joint and replaced it with another one. Everything's cool now.

Thanks for taking a peek.

SB64

Hi Rbird what a nice job of cleaning all the parts and showing all of us how nice things can look with a little time and effort. Great job
Roger

RBrid

Thanks Roger - I appreciate that. Today I measured the run-out of the front passenger rotor. I'm not as lucky this time. The low-point high-point delta at the outer edge of the rotor turned out to be 0.006". I'm going to order SS shim washers. I'm thinking one stud with a 0.003" shim surrounded by two studs with a 0.001" shim should do the trick. We'll see ...

RBrid

A few more baby steps were made:

Got the SS shims for the rotor run-out correction. For the front passenger side, after testing many configurations to correct a .006" run-out, I settled with .001" .003" .002" & .001" shims at 4 lug studs. That gave me a final run-out of .001" - not bad.

Then I picked shims for the end-play of the rear spindles, using SBG's set-up tool:




I ended up with .001" end-play on one side and .002" on the other side.

Next I installed both front coil-overs:


And finally the driver side spindle/hub:
Somehow I could not compress the 550lbs springs by hand.






Next baby step: Install passenger side spindle/hub.

Thanks for taking a peek

RBrid

New Year. New Parts. New Pictures.

First new Wilwood D4s in the front:


Then a sway bar:


Finally a Steeroids rack'n pinion (test fitted only):






Other progress:

Sprayed the trailing arms with the same paint as the chassis:


Got the differential back from the repair shop. New everything except for the 3.55 gears:




It'll be installed next.

That's all folks! Thanks for taking a peek

RBrid

A little Sunday morning update:

I installed the shiny differential:


Replaced the polyurethane bushings that came with the Van Steel trailing arms with stock rubber bushings:


Then I filed the SS sleeves flush with the large washers:

The SS shims will contact a flat surface now.

Decided the re-measure the end-play of the spindles. I had picked 2 shims for 0.001" and 0.002" end-plays a few weeks ago. I wasn't comfortable with the side where I had measured 0.001".


The new measurement showed 0 end-play so I decided to shave off 0.004" from the next shim, on Emeril cloth:

That gave me an end-play of about 0.003". Fine.

Started to assemble the whole thing. First glued the little hand brake retainers with RTV:


They're part of a new SS set:

I put anti-seize on the star wheel threads and pin.

Punched in the new bolts:


Bolted the spindle holder, caliper bracket and dust shield together:


Then came the hand brake apparatus:


The messy grease job:




Here's the new spindle with the spindle installation tool:


Setting up the tool with the flange:


And pulling the spindle in, little by little:


It turned out that a good way to torque the nut was to install the whole thing onto the spare wheel:


The result for the driver side:



Looking reasonably good.

I'm working on the passenger side now.

Thanks for taking a peek

SB64

Nice job RBird. All of the work you are doing looks great and a nice choice of mods. This car should really be a joy to drive , especially the handling aspect. Good Work!
Roger

RBrid

Thanks Roger. You're giving me wings with your words of encouragement and by always calling me RBird

SB64

OOPPSS! I mean RBrid, how's that. I finally got it right. Boy getting old is getting screwier by the day.
R

SuperBuickGuy

He can see you're flighty all the way across the country... wow, I only figured those in Kansas would be able to see it