Brock B Coupe build

I've heard that the KYB gas shocks are way too hard, but he basic KYBs I had on mine were fine.  Unfortunately I can't remember what they were called.

Brock B posted:

OUCH.....! The KYBs at $35 each sound way better with a can of chevy orange! 😂 And maybe a wing decal......

Plastikote by Valspar T-31 Bright Orange is an EXACT match according to Koni. It's what I used to refresh a set of NOS Konis that were all scratched up. and got replacement old-school 1970s stickers on ebay.....

The koni shocks I am running are not coil over. The torsion bars are plenty strong enough to handle the weight of my Speedster even with the Suby engine with the correct adjustment. The car is very stable now and cruises at 90 plus mph with no issues or control problems. I am very impressed with how my car drives and handles. The Gas adjust shocks were horrible. The regular KYB's may be fine, I have no experience with them.

I did have KYB GR2 on the front of my old Spyder and really liked them, more than the black COFAP shocks that came with them.

Greg Leach sent me those NOS Koni shocks. They'd been on his shelf since probably 1996, and are date-coded 1973. I have them on the softest setting in my very light Spyder.

CV shafts re booted and greased.....

Your progress and work are amazing. Thanks for posting the build.

I can just see Brock's shop:

Work, work, work and then, suddenly his dog barks and........  

There's the UPS/Amazon/FedEx guy!!  Brock brightens up like it's Christmas, the dog is jumping up and down, the UPS/Amazon/FedEx guy doesn't know what to think and just drops off his packages, but Brock now has parts for the next step in his build.

This is probably an almost daily occurrence about now........

Jimmy V, Thanks!

Gordon, pretty much except no dogs......

Does that mean that you have to do the barking?

Lane, no but the jumping up n down maybe.

Got a piece of stainless for the window frames. Not as high of grade as i wanted but it was free and big enough. 

Let us know how easy it is to work...

Gordon Nichols posted:

Let us know how easy it is to work...

Now THAT is funny! Stainless is great, unless you need to cut it or drill through it!

I can't wait to see how Brock does this !  I think I'm gonna learn something.

Carry on Brock !.................Bruce

Free stainless is the bomb (I got some free with my house). But I, too, am curious as to how this bit of sheet/plate could be transformed into a viable automotive trim piece via home shop tools.

I had enough trouble just making a simple V shape that'll be almost imperceptible on the back of the firewall. 

Well the concept is simple, easy to work or not $750 for a set of frames would cut into my engine parts deeply amd i can't  make engine parts!

Cutting the curved parts from a flat sheet should  fairly easy. The window channel ,made from already existing 90deg bends will the be welded to the back side and the rubber installed. Now the tight curve of the qw frame will not be so easy to add channel to but i have an idea.

It all my not work out but im going to try it and if its not perfect so be it..........

Well i did get some done on the pedals...

Aaaannnnnddddd i ended up with a fake Nardi wheel from ebay, i rolled the dice on it used at $150 ttd. It has a real horn button but the wheel has no serial number. It has the look i want and its going in a kit car so i will keep It. 

Depends what size you want 

400mm.  420mm.  390mm

thick or thin rim

Nice pedals some make them look like 914 pedals 

VSP on line sells that faux Nardi wheels , the quality is VG and a 1/3 of the cost of a Nardi.

Pedals are closer, should be done today.

Full speed ahead, Brock! 

Pedals done! Crappy pic , that stainless flairs bad on camera!

Flaring or not, it looks good from here.

Shortened the clutch cable with a modified harbor freight cable collett. Works great!

Have you ever had the wing nut move out to the point where you had no clutch?   I did, I now have a plastic locking nut after the wing nut.  Just saying. 

Brock B posted:

Shortened the clutch cable with a modified harbor freight cable collett. Works great!

I can't tell from your pic here what length you have, but there is a longer version of that actuator arm that the cable pulls on and it really eases up on the clutch pedal pressure if that is important to you. A Jack Crosby piece of advice that I took years ago and it's well worth it. 

Yes, David---It's an actuator arm from a bus.

After having my cheap pot metal Chinese garbage wing nut disintegrate at Carlisle two years ago, I got some good machined German ones and put two of them on the the threaded rod for insurance and if I or someone else needs one, I always have a spare.

Back in the day when a we purchased a new product or part we assumed that when we removed it from the box it would work.  Fast forward to the Chinese stuff ...Opening up a box the first thing we look for is loose parts, broken pieces , thread cut, shake the part to see if anything is loose inside of it. Then compare both the removed part and the new one for size, fit and finish ...all this and it's still a 60/41 shot that the part will not function as intended or it will self destruct in the first week or 100 miles whichever come first. Proof today:  I bought 180- 220 & 320 grit sandpaper from ACE Hardware and you guessed it once in the garage I noticed Made in Chinese and true to form it is junk. 

Ray, thanks great idea!

David, i have no idea what arm it is but right now its super easy. The arm i made on the pedal where the cable hooks up is longer than the stocker to.

Jack, my wing nut seems to be a good one amd bites into the arm well.

Alan, yeah i have been telling all my friends for years that just because its new doesn't mean its worth a damn!

7am July 4th......cut out the engine bay ,you know what that means! Time for a body drop on! I expect to have to do a half round cut for the bellhousing as it goes on.

Ray:  One of the local guys (recent VS Speedster) had the wing nut back off.  I went to his place to help and figured out what was going on, so he went out the next day and found a regular nut with the same pitch and installed it as a lock nut against the wingnut as you did.  No problems since, and I've added the same locknut to my car since.  Easy, cheap insurance.

My story is on my way down from Vancouver to Seattle I was suddenly aware of no clutch on I5 going 70 MPH again at 10pm... I pulled over to a safe spot and a very kind County Mounty helped me out and protected my son and I.  

We tightened the nut which needed a pair of pliers as it was not a wing nut and he had a par of plyers I had no tools in my car at the time  

We went to a 24 hour walmart and got a real 10mm key ... for a more permanent fix.  

The next day I did the nylon nut on top. 

BTW, it makes you feel like a wing nut when you see that back off. duh. 

Not bad.......

Looking good!  

Huge milestone there, Brock. Congrats !

Starting to look like a car, Brock. 

Huzzah!

Thanks again guys!