Allan R

Well the good news is I don't have any rust. Might be worth the effort since I have to run new brake lines in the spring; only they don't require lifting the body.

kitfoxdave

Allen without the rust it should all work out easy... Lifted mine, installed the new fuel lines, new body mount bushings and lowered the body back down and installed hardware... (not tightened yet on the mid and front body mounts...) need to tweek it over to the drivers side about 1/8 of an inch at the front. The fuel lines installed fairly well with the body lifted off, no go with body on... I did not have to remove the rear bumper, just loosened it up and pushed it back. The engine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow! The body mounts i got were the generic rubber ones from summit... I had ordered the poly ones, but they got back ordered... so I cancelled them and got rubber ones... I'll let the next owner worry about it in 40 years...

As to lifting the body off... I used a 2x4 shorter than the space between the frame in the rear and located the bottle jacks right near the the aft fuel tank mounts (my fuel tank is out) in the front I jacked it up using the crossbrace under the floor near the frame. (about 10" inboard of the body mounts) When it was up in the air I inserted a 2x4 across the front body mount locations between the frame and the body to space it all up. I did not climb under it until the body was back on the frame.

kitfoxdave

when you replace the fron to back brake line, the clamp above and just aft of the lower control arm mount is a PITA! if you want to clamp it there again, you pretty much need to raise the body to get the bolt back in! Getting it out was just such a joy!

kitfoxdave

Eddie I spoke with Todd today and cleared up a few issues with the brake install. Once I get it all finished with the modified rotors and pads for the rear I will send him the info and call him. He is knowledgable and seems to want to get the installs corrected! I explained the problem with the external coils making too be a radius to install the exhaust manifold. He was making notes. They are sending me oem style front lines in stainless. I'll post when I get them installed. Fyi the ports and outer configuration of the proportioning valve is the same as the oem front disc. Different internals for 4wheel disc....

Eddie Hansen

Dave I think Todd is a straight shooter and he was great with me, the thing I am most concerned with is the fitting of 15 inch wheels I am planning on using ss2/3s I just don't know or can figure out why your caliper rubbed. That said regarding the front lines I wonder if the bend them with the spring already on the tube? Even if it used a computer bending program it would not make the bends as tight as the factory no spring style.

And for 4 wheel drum to 4 wheel disc I really like the idea of using the stock distribution block, stock lines and an adjustable pov valve

kitfoxdave

I am not sure if the SSII / SSIII 15" wheels are the same configuration as the SSI's where the seam weld of the center attaches the rim. If someone has SSII's and can measure the distance from the inside flange of the rim to the seam weld, and I'll check My SSI's and give a dimension... it may be as simple as that.

kitfoxdave

The Engine is here! I fitted up the transmission this weekend. (checked flexplate runout (.028 TIR) installed torque converter, where are those bolts!

Oh I need to get bolts!

Next timeI am home!

Removing sharp edges from inside torque converter,
Engine and transmission mate up
New front brake lines!

Eddie Hansen

Looks great dave :-) :-) :-) :-)

kitfoxdave

Tried the 15 x 7 SSI wheel (specialty Wheel) on the original front disc brakes and they fit no problem. I got the rear sway bar in place (need to make some shims)
I hope to get some more done (engine and tranny in place?) over the next few days.
Cleaned up the A/C box for the firewall... needs a hole fiberglassed over where the inner fender chafed for many years.... and I am keeping my extra resistor assembly! $145? OUCH!

kitfoxdave

Had a productive day!
Adjusted the length of the brake line from proportioning valve to rear and re installed it.

Bolted the transmission onto the engine, installed the engine mounts...

Fed EX arrived with the new engine mounting bolts. Engine in place this afternoon, tomorrow bolt the transmission mount and driveshaft I hope.

Some Pics...

the hole in the AC box needs attention....

Allan R

Dave - looks good....but aren't you going to spray the VC and t-stat housing too? That engine looks so purty except for the unpainted parts.

Resistor assembly cost you 145?? Wow! I have to get mine rebuilt. The low and med speed resistor wires are toast. Lucky there's a place here in town that rebuilds stuff like this for less than that. If you need a dash switch for the blower LMK, I think I have spares.

re: your sway bar. I'd appreciate some info on that. I tried putting one on my car in the fall but I must have tried installing it the wrong way. When I bolted up one side, the other wouldn't clear the rolled flange on the bottom of the CA. I tried going from the rear and sliding the bar forward but it catches on the rear lower control arm to axle bolt. I have plenty of shims but don't think they'll be needed. How did you install your sway bar? If you have a measurement on it, that would sure help to compare it to the one I have. Thanks.

kitfoxdave

Oh yeah, they are getting painted when I get a chance... probably within the next month. Going to take off the rear bumper and do the brackets next. The wiring harness for the rear should be in soon so I can finish installing the fuel tank...

My sway bar came from Summit. It seems to fit really well. I do need a couple shims in the two rear locations. (I boxed my control arms as well)

Allan R

Sounds like you're having the same fun at the back of the car I did last year. My new fuel tank is still waiting to go in.

re: the sway bar. What I'm really interested in is how you were able to fit it in. The sway bar on my car is really tight to the control arms and I'll likely need to take out the rear control arm bolts to slide it in there. Any chance you could measure your sway bar from point to point where the bolts go? That would give me a really good comparison. Oh, just thought of something. If your sway bar isn't OEM style (addco/hotchkiss/BMR) it probably has slightly different dimensions. Still, it's worth a shot if you have those numbers.

kitfoxdave

I'll try to get some measurements for you this weekend.

kitfoxdave

Allen in reply to your request about the rear sway bar....The measurement I got across the front bolt location (inside of control arm mounting surface to inside of control arm mounting surface) is 38-1/2 inches (Fairly accurate measurement) at the back location, the bottom of the differential housing is in the way to get an accurate dimension, but approximately 40 inches best I can measure.

When I installed mine, I just slid the sway bar up on top of both control arms and slid it towards the back until it dropped in place... Jiggled it around a little bit to get the bolts in and that was all it took! Really simple!

On the A/C resistor, the ones I have are in good driver condition and was going to change one out, until I saw the Prices online for the part! $145 USD.... so I am hanging onto my driver quality ones and using them!

kitfoxdave

Just a quick update... I got the front and rear directional lights out and sandblasted. Going to work on the lenses this week (I hope!) planning on going LED on these babies!
Has anyone tried the Digi tails kit for the rear brake and directional lights?
I have a repop rear bumper that is about 15 years old... the chrome is starting to get light pits in the surface, some light rust on the inside of the bumper... Long story short, prepped and painted the inside of the front and rear bumper with POR-15. Try to get a few more years out of them.
The Thronton 350 JR manifolds are currently in the oven at 400 degrees... should be done and cooled in a couple more hours....
Hope to bolt them on tomorrow, and get a few more pictures to post!

Allan R

Have you test fitted the T. Jr's? I saw those when they were in development. The initial ones that were released apparently had casting flaws so I'm curious about your take on them. Obviously you like them enough to buy, but I'd really like to hear about how they bolt up or whether they need machining? Looking forward to the pics when you bolt them up.

kitfoxdave

Have not really had the chance to fit them up yet... Hopefully they will just bolt up!
I figured already I would need to probably make heat shields for them...

Tomorrow is another day!

Allan R

Heat shields? I have dual exhaust (block off plate) on my 350 and no heat shields needed. Only thing I have is that stove pipe shroud for the thermac unit on the air cleaner.

kitfoxdave

I thought the shrouds acted as heat shields as well so the engine mounts didn't get cooked!

Allan R

Even when I had single exhaust there was only one shroud on the car - for the stove pipe and that's it. I think the 455 with dual exhaust had heat shields but for the starter?

kitfoxdave

The 72 in my parts car had shrouds both sides, and the 76 in the Convertible had shrouds on both sides... I do have the starter heat shield for the 350 (its been blasted and por-15'd).
The Thornton manifolds seem to fit up very well. no machining issues I can see. There is a slight overlap of the felpro gasket into the flow path, but it is the same way on the heads (both sides)... I am going to trim the gasket opening to fit better.

Allan R

That's really interesting! Glad to hear the T Jr's will fit ok. Love to see the pics of the gasket trim needed and the manifolds installed.

kitfoxdave

I have recieved the "washers" from Fusick for the exhuast manifolds, and bolted them up today with stainless steel bolts. (also got some stainless allthread rod incase I need to make some studs instead of bolts... back to the heat sheild issue...) Did not need to trim the felpro gaskets at all... there is about a 1/16 overlap of the Thornton manifold port on the #1 cylinder location, but the head port is MUCH smaller than that! about 1/8 to 3/16.... All the ports on the Thornton Jr seem to be larger than the head ports. Also managed to do a small fiberglass repair to the A/C box that mounts to the firewall... the wheel well chafed through and made a hole able 1.5 " long x about .5" wide... Should be cured tomorrow! (it will be hidden when everything is back together...)

Also got the Directional light lenses cleaned up and polished. Waiting for the LED lights to get here....

RetroRanger

What are you doing foe LEDs Dave? Form fit replacements or something else

kitfoxdave

this is what I ordered... https://digi-tails.com/1971-72-cutla...light-panels-0 the remainder of the lights are the form fit replacement types.... Probably be a couple months before I can install them and hook them all up... Brand new grandson arriving soon in Germany so I MUST go see him and also make sure the beer is fresh!

oldsguybry

Congratulations .... The beer needs to be fresh AND at room temp too

kitfoxdave

The Thornton 350 JR's are installed. Still need to be final torqued. (used Stainless Bolts on this!)

Removed the old dust shields and caliper support brackets. Installed the new ones from Right Stuff. Hope to get the rest of the front brakes done this weekend.

Pictures or RH manifold attached, left one the pictures are off in the virtual ether somewhere!

Allan R

Is that the color they came or did you paint them? Looks like a nice tight install.

kitfoxdave

I painted them with High Temp paint... baked them... etc. They came out really nice looking. Good clearance on the new brake lines as well.
(The ones that first came from Right Stuff would have definately been close!)

kitfoxdave

I unboxed my kit from Digi-tails and started the install of the tail lights...

Prepped and painted the tail light housings and shields.

The old sockets had to be ripped out to install the LED's in this kit.

Below are the Pic's so far of the install... got the boots in and shrunk the tubing over the harnesses... next will be soldering the harnesses together and then heat shrinking over those joints.


Also is the elusive picture of the driverside exhaust manifold...

Allan R

Looking really good. Can't wait to see how the LED's look. Nice job on the pods too!
BTW those Thornton JR's looks better than I thought they would. Have you fired it up yet to hear what it sounds like?

kitfoxdave

HAve yet to get everything hooked up... I only get to work on it a short time every other weekend... except parts I can take with me to work on...
Tomorrow is the spring turkey run in daytona and I need some sheet metal parts... gonna stop by and see if I can find any so I don't have to pay for massive shipping charges...
I also had 2 5ft black snakes slither into my shop yesterday! after my heart started beating again, i decided to get some snake away and spread it around! Project will go on hold for about 2 months, then back at it to get the engine running and the transmission hooked up. Got to blast and paint the water elbow! blast and paint the backup light and license plate light housings... about a billion other things... Front brakes will not take long to finish now. Chipping away at it. CutlassEFI is hopefully going to be here for engine start. (it has been dynoed)

kitfoxdave

lousy weather for Turkey run so back to harage for front brakes... got the front brakes mounted (rotors and calipers...) More Right Stuff fun.... put on the drivers side first, everything went fairly smooth until it was time to install the hub dust cap... Inside diameter hit against the bearing washer! Over to the lathe and turn the ID a bit larger (twice of course!) OK that side is together and put on caliper... ususal struggle but nothing out of the ordinary... Passenger side... Went OK until... the new bearing washer would not fit over the Spindle! file file file...no joy... used the old washer! Again the ID of the dust cap was too small ONE trip to the lathe OK. The Caliper was a bit harder on this side, seems the pads are slightly thick... a bit of wear in they should be OK. Still need to hook up the stainless hoses for the front then bleed them...

and yes I did use a clamp to make sure the pistons were compressed before installing the calipers...

Pics attached...

Allan R

Looks really nice. Any issues taking out the front rad support? I need to take mine out so I can freshen it up. Luckily the battery area has no rust.

The slotted rotors look good. I put a set on my wife's car 3 years ago. Never again. I found the slots filled with brake material very quickly and were very ineffective. Maybe it was just her car, but I don't have faith in those slotted designs anymore. Seems to me they cost more than standard flat rotors too. Hope yours work out well.

kitfoxdave

The core support came out easy once everthing else was out of tbe way.... The drivers side basically fell apart with a gentle tug. The old atf and acetone trick worked great on the passenger side the shims went skittering across the floor. It all needs to be reset anyway with the new mounts. An extra hand or three holding things steady really helps with this! I hope the slotted rotors work well. Don'want to clobber the back end of one of your countrymen next winter!

kitfoxdave

painted the rest of my directional light, backup light and liscense plate light housings...

Got fluid into the brake system as well... Will try to get them bled this weekend...

Getting ready to replace the power steering pump and the alternator prior to putting in the core support.

And the Grandson arrived early... car will be on hold for the month of April!

kitfoxdave

Back from Germany after spending much bonding time with my first grandchild. We would chill after grandma burped him...and I would give him a backrub to "help his digestion" each morning! That's my story and I am sticking to it!
We did visit a few castles and biergartens...
Now I am back, and started working on the Convertible again. Changed out the Fuel pump, and started connecting it up. attached the new wiring harnesses to the firewall plug. Got the power steering pump back together and hanging in place (needs to be tightened down after new hoses are installed) Thanks to Allen who managed to steer me in the right direction (I still missed it in the assy manual!) Thanks to all the folks on here that take an inordinate amount of pictures as they do things, It helps those of us that think we took pictures of EVERYTHING and find out we missed how it goes together.... and Then there is Joe with the wise advice "about don't forget the spacer between the block and the lower bracket" THANKS so much to all of you!

kitfoxdave

The Core support is back in! Used SS bolts so they will withstand battery acid better! Of course the lock nut dropped down the inside of the chassis frame 3 times and had to be fished out... (Magnets do not work on stainless...) The new saddles are installed and the new seals and 4 core radiator are in! Using the A/C parts from the donor car... (Still had a small amount of pressure when I took the system apart.) I'll post pictures later this week.

kitfoxdave

here are some pictures I took this morning... (tropical storm passed yesterday so I figured best to get them done before the mosquitos carry me off!)

Engine with valve covers off

Refurbed core support installed (converted a 71 to a 72)

Valve covers being painted... (the Paint from fusicks takes a LOT of coats to cover anything!) These are about 1/2 done!

Did manage to FINALLY get the Negative cable attached to the engine block where it is supposed to go... One of the MOST aggravating jobs so far!