Projekt Hoopty update -- transmission and doors

The transmission is done, the engine is almost in racing trim and the MSD box has a 9800 RPM limiter chip in it. Life is good.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to last fall's thread about how to make fine-tuning adjustments to the hinge plates, since I printed and used some of that advice.
On the CMC, there's enough play in the hinge plates to loosen the screws all at the same time and lift the door. It worked like a champ.
The real pain was putting my door sills back into the chassis!
Anyway, we're that much closer.
More later today. Enjoy the photos.

Cool! Nice job on that transaxle!

Hey Cory -

Call it a hunch, but I bet you don't have any problems finding a good 'ground' for any of your electric components!

COOL progress, bro, I enjoy the updates and hope you're out terrorizing the roads around DC real soon!

Peace - Out!

Thanks for reading, fellas! I thought I was boring people to sleep -- but I like reading feedback. I guess it's kind of validation for the decisions I make as I go, but it's appreciated. Y'all's comments and encouragement are invaluable.

Since I've got a little more time now than I did this morning, there are a few lessons I learned yesterday. My first one has to do with the tranny; there are five different transmissions involved in the one that's going to get used. Last night, most of the pieces from the four I thought I needed had been identified, cleaned and separated into piles, but I was still missing one little piece for the driver's side axle. It was the locking axle washer that sits on the outside of the universal joint on that end, and I didn't have one. Everything else was there, but that had gone missing somewhere.

I had to go hunting through the different transmissions in the bone pile, and none had what I was looking for -- so I had to 'phone a friend.'

The lesson I learned from that was the value of Zip-Loc baggies and the mighty Sharpie marker. I should have used them. I also realized that a transmission as bastardized as this one, with five years' worth of parts, probably needs to be written up pretty quickly in case something breaks. I can't count on just any mechanic to know by sight what The Wrench was thinking when he put it together.

Another lesson is not to use a grinder or wire wheel to remove old seal and gasket material. I did in a couple spots, and it shows in the overall finish of my brake mounts. I used a razor blade for most of the surfaces I had to clean, but I cut a corner on the brake bits. I regret doing that, but it's too late now.

On a painting note, I used a satin finish paint on my axle tubes and painted them in the great outdoors. It was windy and humid on that day, and the paint now looks like I had initially done it with a flat paint. Would have done it differently, given a second shot at the title. I'm not repainting it now, but I may hit it with something before May of next year. We'll see how it wears.

We are on target to have the engine and transaxle in the car by tonight, and we'll be pushing the starter button tomorrow for the first trip around the block.

Video Cory.......we'll need an action packed video!

I can't drive for another week after having the spinal surgey, wish I could cruise down for the maiden voyage!

~Alan

Alan, I'll make the drive UP. No worries; old Navy buddy in Camp Hill wants to see her, too. I'm not afraid of a little cold.

Cory - looks AWESOME! Love the consistent bead roll through the aluminum especially on the door interior. Ties the project together nicely. Sorry I didn't get out this week to see the Hoopty, the only free day I had was Tuesday afternoon and that disappeared rather abruptly...

Hoping you fire it up today and drive it my friend! Have FUN!
angela

"Love the consistent bead roll through the aluminum especially on the door interior"

Cory,

I could sure use a pair of those bead-rolled alumunim door panels myself. Could you hook me up with the folks who did them for you/where you bought them/etc., or maybe act as a go-between and make the process a bit easier (for ME not you . . . )?

Lemme know, OK ?!?!

Thanks !

TC

TC, this is the cool part -- I get to say "I made those."
When do you need them by?

Cory, in the first post you mention a 9800rpm chip in the MSD box. Is that a mis-type? Seems pretty darn high, I'm thinking you ment 5800 or 6800?

Your project is very special and quite the one of a kind. WOW.

I don't know how many times I can say I'm amazed at your car, but count this as another. Wow! So which magazines want to write about it so far? :-)

"I get to say "I made those." "

WOW ! Just beautiful ! ! I didn't know that all of the small detail work was yours.

I'll double check to make sure that the Speedster inner panels are the same dimensions as the coupe and get back, OK? Probably are, but . . .

I wouldn't need them until you finished them. I'm on YOUR time.

Thanks ! And REALLY sweet work ! ! ! More impressed than I already was.

(Phew ! ! ! ! Anyone think that I over did it with that whole "butter him up" deal? Man, the things that I'll do for a pair of aluminum door panels . . . I gotta tell ya.)

Hey Cory,

I just checked and the coupe door panels they're pretty much the same size as the Speedster panels. About 1/4 taller at the top, no doubt to accomodate the upper door pad and inner window squeegie thingy, but pretty much the same.

Probably use the patterns that you used to make yours. Just let me know when you get them done, I'll send you some money and you send me some door panels and it's Merry Christmas all around ! !

Thanks for this! It's really cool of you.

TC

Thanks, guys.

Angela, it's a shame we couldn't get you out to the shop last week, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities. Good stuff happening there (more on that below).

TC, the doors WERE the templates. The Wrench took one of the footwell panels on as a teaching project; he was going to move on to welding up the transmission brace (or something) that day, and wanted to teach me how to do the panels. After a shaky start on the right kick panel up front, I figured it out pretty quickly. It's somewhere between artsy-crafty and fabrication. I'm happy to say I'm comfortable with it now.

I used cardboard, traced it with a Sharpie from the outside surface, subtracted 1/3 of an inch and measured twice to cut once. The holes for the rivets, with one exception (pass. door) are all the same distance in from the edge and decreasing halves apart.
I measured the outermost rivet, then the centerpoint (whole, minus one inch total, find center, measure half, measure half, measure half. The holes all look proportionately far apart). Every bead-rolled line is two inches in from the outside edge, with corners marked from the bottom of a spray-paint can to make them consistently round.
I'd need to ask you to trace the outer door of the coupe the same way, then I can do the rest. They were cut with a jigsaw and cleaned up with a fiberglass cookie on a pneumatic whizzer. Each rivet hole was chased with a .5" drill bit to de-burr; I have all that.
If you can trace one of your doors onto a piece of posterboard, roll it up and send it to me, I'll have you some door skins as soon as I'm done with the Hoopty. Make sure to mark where the window-winders and door handles go.
You're second in line for sheet metal, behind the guy who gave me the flanges for my header. I'll be making that Monday. Butter me up some more, and you'll move in front of Linus.

On a related note, we hit the starter button tonight. Everything works. We have to pull the tranny, engine, brake lines and so on out again tomorrow to correct the torsion for weight and piles, but everything worked as it should have. The important things are figured out; it's all details now.
Next on the docket are the fuel line from the rear firewall back, including the pressure-fitting "T" connection/splitter and the surrounds for the engine compartment.
We're making those out of Lexan. When I put some photos up in the next day or so, you'll understand why. I really want people to be able to see what we've accomplished.

(Especially you guys.)

Oh, and Dale ...

Here are the photos from yesterday's efforts.

Tranny: The transmission case that came from the boneyard a couple weeks ago is from a '66 swing setup. The engine degreaser and lots of elbow grease cleaned it up enough to primer and paint in a semi-gloss black. The Wrench decided to grind the ribs with his dye-grinder, and I decided to continue the orange theme with all the little accessory bits and pieces. The transmission was installed already when I got to the garage yesterday, but it has to come loose again for torsion adjustments. I think the decision on grinding the ribs was a good one, and something I'll do for myself in the future if this one needs to be replaced for some reason. (Four words on the gears -- oh-eighty-nine fourth.)

Engine: The carbs are only mocked, I've not got any cables hooked up and the fuel lines stop at the firewall, but the engine turned over with the starter as the motive force. Today, The Wrench will be putting the pushrods and rocker arms in and connecting the controls. He'll also be cleaning out and linking the carbs -- which have been sitting idle for a couple years -- before bolting them on. We put them on last night to see if the cage for the engine compartment needed to have its skins attached to the inside or the outside of the framework.

Generator: Like all the other bits made of steel, this guy needed a covering of some kind of paint. This got a polyurethane clearcoat. Hope it works. If not, I'll be upgradign to a self-regulating alternator in the spring anyway. This guy just looks old-school -- and I like it for the simplicity. My voltage regulator will be mounted on the black piece of my fan shroud where the oil cooler slots in.

Starter: I wanted to keep as many of the bright metal parts in their original finish, so this guy got to stay aluminum for the front half, while the steel rear got the orange treatment. This starter is from a 60s-era car, but was in good enough shape for me to use it. The teeth on the gear are in phenominal shape for their age, and it's cosmetically fine for what I need. (Cost me five bucks; probably the least expensive component so far. I'm counting my stars for all the charitable donations I've gotten -- many of them from you guys here.)

Rotor: I went a little nuts. These guys sat out in the weather for the majority of the summer. From the end of May until August or September, the rotors collected rust like it was their job. I cleaned the rears up yesterday and painted them with engine paint to match the rest of the axle setup. The precise shade of color is "Gimmethatcan," and can be found at any car parts joint -- for the indescriminate resto-on-the-go person. They came out okay, but more importantly, they're better protected now than they had been. FYI, the overspray from the engine enamel didn't come off with Brak-Kleen, but came right off with Gum-Out carb cleaner.

Center cap: I had to do some sort of preservation effort for the press-fitted centers of the Wide-Five spacers, since they're ferrous metal. I primered and painted them and used the axle as a lathe, a razor to trim it into a perfect circle and a cotton rag to polish afterward. I think they look good, especially since my crank pulley is aluminum with the same treatment for the spacer and nut in the middle. I like consistency. (Read as: I might be a little retentive.)

The fan got a very simple coat of semi-gloss black, while the nut and washer in the middle got a spray-paint job of the same zinc paint I've used for everything else.
Eventually, I'll be taking those nuts and bolts off and chroming them, but for right now ... well ... this is good enough. The budget is about tapped; I'd like to have a little money left to put gas into this thing when it's done.

PHEEENOMENAL Cory! You go buddy! By the way, it's not "anal retentive" when you're hanging out with German guys, its "astute attention to detail." (Steve's German and explained that to me).

angela

Lane, I haven't heard from anybody yet. I don't know when to expect them, so I'm probably going to take our Pennsylvania brethren up on their offer of introductions. I'm not going to rush into the paint booth just to make a magazine, though.
I'm still in the clear on my budget, barely, and I don't want to mortgage what's left of my soul for the sake of some powder blue and marigold paint. I don't owe anybody anything for the current status; not one red cent. I'm very excited about that. As goes the adage, "They said it couldn't be done!"
(Below is the answer to your question from last week -- when do I sleep? I can thank one of my esteemed colleagues for snapping this while I was taking a Sunday siesta this very afternoon. I think I need a vacation from my off-time!)

Dale, thanks for the compliments!
On the MSD thing -- the box came with a few chips in it. One was a 3000 rpm chip that you're probably supposed to use when you're running the engine up on its initial setup, a 5000 rpm chip for street driving (I suppose) and the 6,000 rpm chip that was in it before I decided to stick this current guy in.
I think it would be pretty dumb of me to spend all this time and energy on this thing and leave the 9,800 guy in there, but I'm sure the car can comfortably pull two-thirds of that off. I'm a little scared, but I have The Wrench whispering in my ear that it's the best non-turbo race car he's ever built. It's like having the devil on your shoulder.
I'll hang onto the 9,800 guy for race day or for fun at the track (like the shots of Gordon's Pearl at Watkins Glen), but it will probably cruise more often on the 6,000 one so I don't do anything stupid.
I'm looking at the 0:89 fourth and doing a little head-math. If 2,300 rpm in an overdrive fourth gear is good for 65 mph, doubling that to 4,600 rpm ought to bring 130. If 3,000 rpm is pushing it a little for a highway, say 75 mph, I ought to top out in the 150 mph range with a 6,000 rpm limiter.
I don't want to contemplate what would happen at 9,800 rpm. I think that would be escape velocity.

Angela, thanks again.
This thing has more details in it than it should. As I'm getting done with the brakes, Jim looks at me and says, "Hey, Genius. You realize there are two more rotors up there, right?" and gestures to the front tires. It took a couple hours to do the rears, and now I have to make the front ones look the same. I WAS trying to have this thing done soon. ...

Hi Cory,

Don't save that 9800 chip for the track - that's maybe where you're most likely to miss a shift, and do your engine no good at all.

I think you'd do well to find out the absolute rev limit for your engine, and swap your 9800 chip for that

Jon, just for kicks I had a look on the old ebay, and it looks like they've got module chips for days all selling for around the $30 mark.
I'll break the engine in first, then take your advice. Every contact surface in there is essentially new, so I'll be careful with it until at least the third weekend in May of '07.
I have a sneaking suspicion that safe limit's going to be in the 7,000 - 8,000 rpm range.

Update as of 11:15 EST: The Wrench called to report success in a few more areas.

The fuel line from the firewall back has now been fabricated out of the braided stainless line, a blue and red annodized "T" fitting and some clever placement. The oil cooler now has the same kind of braided line in an appropriate diameter with the oil temp gauge installed on a stalk for ease of visual reference, and the spark plug wires have been modified for my specific length requirements.

The carbs have been cleaned and appear to be in good order, pending adjustments. They're ready to go, according to the update. My brakes have been pressurized and bled and my emergency brake has been connected to its sending and receiving ends. My throttle and clutch cables are shortened to their appropriate lengths, waiting to be connected on the linkage and arm, respectively.

First thing in the morning, I'll be off to hunt down a hex-bar linkage for the Dells, some Lexan for the engine compartment and I need hypoid gear and engine oil also.

Then I'll settle down for the cleaning and painting of the front rotor assemblies. When that's done, I'll be working on the brace for the front hinge assembly (now with gussets welded into it to keep it from sagging over time) and the wiring for the running, brake and turn signal lights. By this time tomorrow, I should again have a complete car.

Can anybody remember me posting about where I was going to put my registration papers? Seems like I put them someplace 'safe.' ...

They're around here somewhere ...

Dammit. Stupid Alzheimer's.

Sick....!
I hope to meet up with you and your car one day. Way cool.

Bill, that would be fine by me. My wife, Teresa, will have the wheel for most of the driveable year. She's planning to take it to the Carlisle Kit, Import and Replica Nationals in Carlisle, PA, this May. That's what we're about, you know ... DRIVING these things. Come prepared to have a blast, and you'll leave with a giant sh*t-eating grin on your face -- and you'll have had the best possible car-guy weekend imaginable. There will probably be close to 40 Speedsters there, and at least three Spyders.
I'm absolutely certain that everyone going this year would love to meet you and see your car. There's a thread, in the Events section, about how to sign up for the show. In the next couple months, that thread will likely be really active.
I'll be home from Africa in November.

The car did get completed, BTW. That was a loooong time ago, those pictures. It was operational in November of 2006, but it wasn't finished until after the summer of 2007. Here's a better idea of how it wound up, along with some of the other cars on the East Coast:

Cory wrote, by remote control from somewhere "over there": "The car did get completed, BTW"

What a lot of Baloney.......

The truth is that Cory's car, and a whole lot of others on here, will NEVER be completed. They're like a perpetual "work in progress". You just do a little more on them every season!!!

gn

....Ain't that the TRUTH!

Gordon - didn't you mean to say that CORY was a 'work-in-progress'?!!

No doubt Teresa thinks so ;-)

Right on, Bill.

Jim! I'm shocked!
Lane, how could you?

Two words for YOU, Mr. Nichols --
"Tow," and "Truck."
;)

Yup...I'm coming up on 90,000 miles.

Time for a spare Cam Positioning sensor for the truck!

(Don't leave home without it!)

gn