1970 Oldsmobile 442ish Cutlass

[Heiny57]

We need a popcorn eating emoji. I’m following along. 

[Der Bugmeister]

We need a popcorn eating emoji. I’m following along. 

   Thanks, Heiny!

Took the day "off" yesterday and replaced the starter and carb in my '71.  What a night and day difference in that car!  The old starter was drawing way too many amps when cranking, and the old quadrajet was in poor shape.  I installed an Edelbrock 1406 (650 cfm) that I had until I have time to rebuild the Qjet.  Really woke that 350 up.

[Der Bugmeister]

FINALLY!!!!

Picked up my heads yesterday and took all the engine parts down to the machine shop today.  A major step closer, although I'm not sure quite what the timeline is for the build.  That's fine though, as the longer they have it the more time I have to get the chassis together!

Also picked up my hydroboost braking system from Hydratech.

Haven't had a lot of time this past month as I run a car show which we held last weekend...but now I should have more time to get onto with the grunt work of cleaning and prepping.

[jabberwoki]

Those hydro boost systems are the shit.

[Der Bugmeister]

Those hydro boost systems are the shit.

Friend has one in his '64 Lemans and swears by it, which is why I chose this particular system.  Plus it lets me use the valve covers I wanted :-D

[Der Bugmeister]

Knowing the engine has a good chance of going together sooner rather than later has got me motivated somewhat!  I'd been hoping to sell my '73 Super Beetle (it's a 30,000 original mile, rust free car but that's another story) but it's still hanging around so I decided it can spend some time outside.  The frame is on my lift now and I just finished going through the parts pile distributing most of what needs to go on.  I love working with new parts 

I need to go through assorted fasteners and brackets, clean and paint them before reusing them (brake line clamps, etc).  I don't have my fuel line yet - going with 1/2" line to support the bigger carb and pump.

The last couple of days was a fight with the differential - I had to pull the axles to install the backing plates I forgot to give the diff builder, and one axle just didn't want to get back in place.  I've never done axles before so bit of learning curve...it wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be.  Anyhow, after a bunch of attempts and frustration I got them both done (one was easy, one was a major beotch!

Next is pressing bushings into the lower control arms...I think (hope) that will go quickly then bolting up the suspension.

I did take a couple photos, but there really wasn't anything to see in them so I'll have to deprive you of that for now.  Well, ok...here's a photo of the Bug lol

[Der Bugmeister]

What a clusterf!

I wasn't happy with the end play in the axles...they're tapered bearings and the movement was between 1/16th and 1/8th of an inch...so I kept messing with them, talked with the guy I got all the parts from and it seems that the bearings were installed backwards.  The incorrect orientation prevents things from tightening up the way they should, so looks like it's back to the builder to get this sorted out.  I'm glad we discovered this now and not once the car was on the road!

[jabberwoki]

No doubt that's a great save.

[Heiny57]

That is a little setback, but it’s better to fix it now before real damage is done.

[goodfellow]

Good catch Clay! Better now than later when it potentially grenades. 

[Der Bugmeister]

That is a little setback, but it’s better to fix it now before real damage is done.

Most definitely!  The guy who assembled it will be fixing the bearings for me on Monday.  He's got a good reputation and came recommended by people I trust so I think this was just one of those "shit happens" things.

I removed the old bushings from the differential ears last night, and installed the new urethane ones that came with the control arms.  Used the drill method to remove the rubber and inner sleeve, pounded the crap out of the outer bushing with bfh and cold chisel, made very short work of that.  I'm about halfway through setting up all the rear control arms, etc.

Also had a go at replacing the bushings on the front lower control arms, and what a mess I made of that.  The first one (oval shaped) went in without drama.  The second one (round) must have been off line and, although I should have known better, I used an impact driver to run it in.  With a great "pop", it settled in place but not before distorting the metal of the control arm around the bushing.  That was really disappointing because it's a nice, clean, good looking control arm.  Tried my luck on the other control arm, started with the oval bushing because it worked on the first one, but this time I used a hand wrench for better control.  This time the bushing got crooked too and started crushing the control arm - I had a socket on one side to prevent that, but looks like I should have had two.  Anyhow, stopped and backed it out before any damage (hopefully) was done.

Rather than potentially making a bad situation worse, I dropped the control arms and bushings off at the shop that will be doing the front end alignment down the road and hopefully they'll be able to undo my heavy handed damage tomorrow and deliver me a working pair of control arms with bushings installed.

Talk about embarrassing.  I was really tempted to bury them in the back forty late at night, buy replacements or tubulars and not speak a word of it to anyone!

[goodfellow]

Talk about embarrassing.  I was really tempted to bury them in the back forty late at night, buy replacements or tubulars and not speak a word of it to anyone!

Nothing to feel embarrassed about. We've all been there at one point or another when working on old car suspensions.

[Der Bugmeister]

Nothing to feel embarrassed about. We've all been there at one point or another when working on old car suspensions.

Thanks, Ray.  I have the kind of personality where I expect to succeed at whatever I try, and am not happy with myself if I don't.  That can lead to procrastination if I'm not sure I'll be able to do something on the first try.  Kind of frustrating, but it is what it is!

Anyhow, I'll have the repaired/completed control arms back tomorrow or Tuesday and will be able to move forward there.  In the meantime I had to take a few other parts down to the machine shop as they're working on my engine now.  They were doing some stuff to the block yesterday, today they had the crank in this contraption.  All the measuring/setup and machining should be done some time next week then on to assembly.  Nice to see them moving forward!

With a little luck (and a little cooperation from the parts) I should have a rolling chassis ready to drop the engine into when it comes home.

[Heiny57]

Progress!   

[Der Bugmeister]

Progress!   

Indeed!

I bought a UMI Performance package for the rear end - tubular control arms, frame braces, sway bar and stock height springs.  I've been fighting them the past three days trying to get the springs in and still be able to align all the bolt holes which is not as easy as it sounds.  The geometry of all those parts means things have to be in the right place, at the right time, for the right result.  And I was losing this battle too, starting to feel a bit defeated.

BUT

I went back out there tonight, applied a bit more force compressing the springs and managed to get everything working in sync.  Victory!  I haven't tightened anything down yet, will snug them all up tomorrow but no torquing until the full body weight is back on the suspension.

The orange cargo straps held the springs back and everything in alignment so I could remove a few bolts to deal with some things I had forgotten to take care of earlier (applying some lube, reversing one lower control arm...). 

Still waiting for the front lower control arms - their tech went home early, sick, today and they're closed on Monday so they said the arms would be on the bench first thing Tuesday.    Still plenty of other tasks for me to keep busy with but I'm looking forward to being able to set the frame on wheels.