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OK, now were in business....figured out I can still upload photos from my phone. As you can see, the above described process in photos... This was still sketchy as hell, but about as safe as I could figure. If these ever come out again, its only going to be in order to replace them with significantly shorter F40/41 springs.
Steering rack refurb. Those that saw my other post on the condition of my "manual" rack and pinion as delivered from Speed Direct, know that I was not pleased with the condition of the rack and pinion as it arrived. The Steeroids kit is top notch. The junk yard, remanufactured rack and pinion was not. Obviously, this is a power R&P case that was remanufactured with manual R&P guts, but the aesthetics were less than sufficient, so I stripped it, repainted it with POR15 silver, and then sourced proper plugs to replace the cut and bent over power steering lines.
Stripped....
Wire wheeled....
POR15 metal prep....
Painted up with proper plugs and caps, waiting to be installed...
Finally got some time to finish putting the front together....although I apparently neglected to order caliper mounting bolts....so those will have to wait until next week.
Also got the manual rack and pinion installed. Im considering going with a custom length Ididit steering column for two reasons. By ordering it with a shaft thats 2-3 inches shorter than stock, I could increase the length on the intermediate shaft and drastically reduce the angles on the universal joints. Additionally, the Ididit column puts the steering wheel another inch and a half closer to the dash which would buy me much needed room. The catch is that you commit to an aftermarket steering wheel at that point because the bolt pattern matches that of many european steering wheels. If you add the adapter for the stock wheel configuration, you actually loose an inch of room....things to consider...
Last big news....the Wife’s new ride finally arrived. Shes done well for herself over the past few years and when it came time to replace her 10 year old Mini Cooper, I was able to talk her into splurging a little and getting something that was a little less frugal and a little more fun than she might otherwise buy. Needless, to say, she loves it....a little tech-heavy for my taste, but as long as shes happy! The only issue is, she now has the fastest car in the family....
I still think the angle of the u-joints will be fine without going to an after market column. Pasted below is a shot of my set up. Also, I picked up more room by swapping out to a C3 steering wheel (it has 1" less "dish" than a C2 wheel). I had that wheel wrapped in leather by Chuck Pelton - love the look and the feel.
Last big news....the Wife’s new ride finally arrived. Shes done well for herself over the past few years and when it came time to replace her 10 year old Mini Cooper, I was able to talk her into splurging a little and getting something that was a little less frugal and a little more fun than she might otherwise buy. Needless, to say, she loves it....a little tech-heavy for my taste, but as long as shes happy! The only issue is, she now has the fastest car in the family....:
I see a problem. My cars take up all three garage bays and my wife has to park outside (so does my truck, but she doesn’t care about that). Every time the temperature drops below say 60 degrees (we are in south Texas), she gets cold and starts complaining about not having a garage space. You get snow, have a beautiful wife with a fancy new car, and an unavailable to her garage space. That is a recipe for..um...discussion. Best of luck my friend!
Oh, and when Andrea met me I had a four car garage and seven cars that filled them. My Mercedes stayed outside through the harsh Pennsylvania winters. We had an understanding that she would never park in the garage. A man has to have priorities.
I still think the angle of the u-joints will be fine without going to an after market column. Pasted below is a shot of my set up. Also, I picked up more room by swapping out to a C3 steering wheel (it has 1" less "dish" than a C2 wheel). I had that wheel wrapped in leather by Chuck Pelton - love the look and the feel.
Wow, that wheel turned out really nicely! Do you happen to have the contact info for the person you had wrap it?
I see a problem. My cars take up all three garage bays and my wife has to park outside (so does my truck, but she doesn’t care about that). Every time the temperature drops below say 60 degrees (we are in south Texas), she gets cold and starts complaining about not having a garage space. You get snow, have a beautiful wife with a fancy new car, and an unavailable to her garage space. That is a recipe for..um...discussion. Best of luck my friend!
Oh, and when Andrea met me I had a four car garage and seven cars that filled them. My Mercedes stayed outside through the harsh Pennsylvania winters. We had an understanding that she would never park in the garage. A man has to have priorities.
Same problem.....1 car garage, and 4 "relatively" nice cars. Her new toy lives in the driveway, my 4Runner sits on the street, and I rotate the Vette and the Suburban between the garage and my storage unit, depending on which one I'm working on at the time. I'm contractually required to detail her car at least once a month...which is largely self induced because I can't stand to look at nice cars that are gross. She specifically ordered the BMW with heated wheel, heated seats, and neck blowers to combat the lack of garage space....and so that she can cruise around with the top down this time of year and still be comfortable.
Fortunately, our house in Austin has a 900 sq. ft. garage which will provide ample space for the two classics, along with her car and hopefully a nice little workshop and bar area....just have to make it through another 4 years in Virginia....
So this car has had a "clunk" from the rear ever since I brought it home. I had investigated the source, and everything lines up with TSB #1069...
So I ordered the parts from Van Steel to install the later reinforced bracket, along with new hardware and new rubber bushings. In the garage today, I quickly realized this would be no small task as you either need to drop the entire differential due to the length of the bolts, or do as the racers did back in the day, and drill two access holes in the rear fiberglass tub (not inclined to do that).
Still going backwards...for the full story, see here https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...sing-here.html but the bottom line is, the front Wilwood D8 calipers don't fit. The spindle/hub/dust shield/caliper bracket/rotor/steering arm are all OEM replacements. The only aftermarket part is the D8 caliper, which is a bolt on replacement for the original. Dan at Van Steel has been very helpful in trouble shooting, but neither one of us can figure out what's wrong.
Update time.....we have brakes!!! As it turned out, my issue was a combo of $hitty repop caliper brackets, along with the stick-on backing plates that Wilwood ships on all of their pads. Once I removed the backing plats, and got a set or original caliper brackets off Ebay, everything lined up perfectly. A good lesson in OEM parts.....if you're going to use "original" parts, make the effort to find "original parts"!!
Next up, plumbing the brake system. I'm using a Baer 15/16 master cylinder for my manual brake system. I've used this MC on two previous builds and love the set up. I even bought an additional cap that I drilled out and fitted with a -6 fitting so that I can use my motive power bleeder when it comes time to bleed the brakes. In the pics below, I'm using the Baer tool to ensure that I have the proper spacing/preload on the master cylinder pushrod. It bolted right up with minimal adjustment to the factory pushrod.
For the brake line, I'm using NiCop tubing and stainless steel -3 (37 degree flare) fittings. The NiCop line is very easy to work with, and corrosion resistant/proof. I did the brakes on my '72 Suburban with the same stuff 5 years ago, and they don't show a hint of corrosion after 20K miles. The basic set up is two stainless flex lines coated in an abrasive resistant black coating coming from the master cylinder. I fabricated a bracket that mounts to the frame, using an already existent hole with a nutsert, for two bulkhead fittings. The line going to the rear brakes is the factory line that was just cut and flared to accept the -3 fitting. The line going to the font is all new. The split for the left and right side uses the original bolt hole, with a new stainless "T" fitting and new lines. I split the ling in the middle going to the passenger side in order to facilitate tight bends and a clean install. The rear brake calipers have similar stainless lines to the master, going through grommets in the trailing arms.
Hay Navy, glad you got yours brakes working. You project is coming together really cool. BTW are you stationed at NNS or NAS Oceana? I grew up in the Indian River area and very familiar with both bases.
Earl
10-28-2018, 12:05 PM
