What did you do to your car today?

[71ProjectJunk]

Weather was amazing for January so I took it out for a drive. Off to go get it checked on a frame rack this week. I want to make sure it is straight before I fool with a roll bar or paint.

View attachment 59274

The frame may or may not be straight, but it seems that you need an alignment ASAP

 

[DSwan]

Replacing the upper ball joint boots on my new ball joints. They were ripped when lifting the car without bracing the upper control arm to the frame. Once fixed I'll know better - I cut two pieces of 1" square tubing to 7" to fit the space between the upper control arm and the frame, and it basically falls out when the car is lowered. It seems to do the trick.

 

[Bentworker]

The frame may or may not be straight, but it seems that you need an alignment ASAP

It is just a wee bit of camber...

I used eccentric eliminators, and misplaced the other ones in the set. Ordered up a new fancy set of eccentric eliminators and will dial it back a bit from full send. I am probably around -2 degrees camber right now and -1 would be more street friendly.

 

[tony-muscle]

It is just a wee bit of camber...

I used eccentric eliminators, and misplaced the other ones in the set. Ordered up a new fancy set of eccentric eliminators and will dial it back a bit from full send. I am probably around -2 degrees camber right now and -1 would be more street friendly.

Which ones are you getting?

 

[DannyBoy78]

About to finish up wiring my dual electric fans to my Holley EFI system. Then look into buying Vintage Air to replace my worn out A/C system on my 73

 

[Bentworker]

Which ones are you getting?

 

[jpaz]

Replacing the upper ball joint boots on my new ball joints. They were ripped when lifting the car without bracing the upper control arm to the frame. Once fixed I'll know better - I cut two pieces of 1" square tubing to 7" to fit the space between the upper control arm and the frame, and it basically falls out when the car is lowered. It seems to do the trick.

How did you replace the boots and what did you use to replace them? I have the same problem.

 

[DSwan]

I ordered replacement ball joint dust boots off of eBay, seller was pidob79. They have a variety of sizes, after measuring the shaft on the ball joint with a caliper I bought the ones that were 15mm x 34mm and 28mm tall. They're a universal silicone dust boot that should be better than the cheap rubber that ripped do easily. You'll have to remove the cotter key and nut from the ball joint and separate it from the spindle with a ball joint tool to get the old boot off and new one on. The new ones don't use a retainer ring but should be okay as a friction fit. Hope this helps.

 

[jpaz]

Thanks for the info!

 

[vintageman]

The frame may or may not be straight, but it seems that you need an alignment ASAP

Not sure why you would say this, he only said he was going to check to make sure he was straight. How did you determined he needed it ASAP, maybe I have not read all of these posts but just wondering. Thanks for the response as it may prove beneficial when I get mine on the road this spring. Thanks.

Tom

 

[Kilgon]

Finally got my new Holley Hyperspark distributor yesterday. Had to replace the steel gear with a bronze one. Hopefully I will get it install on Tuesday. I have already made up a curve table to load into my Sniper. Can't wait to see how the car runs.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Finally got my new Holley Hyperspark distributor yesterday. Had to replace the steel gear with a bronze one. Hopefully I will get it install on Tuesday. I have already made up a curve table to load into my Sniper. Can't wait to see how the car runs.

View attachment 59402

You running a roller cam?

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Finally got my new Holley Hyperspark distributor yesterday. Had to replace the steel gear with a bronze one. Hopefully I will get it install on Tuesday. I have already made up a curve table to load into my Sniper. Can't wait to see how the car runs.

View attachment 59402

Do you have a brand preference with your bronze gear regarding durability?

 

[jdomke1]

After more than two months of delays and wrong parts, I finally got my bell housing attached. I then realized when you buy engine mounts it only includes the engine side, not the frame side. I didn’t even see an option for both. After fretting thinking I had chucked the old ones I found them in my bucket of Simple Green. Man I love that stuff. I’ve got a parts washer with 50/50 and my 5-gal bucket at full strength. I had an a/c bracket painted the wrong shade of ford blue in there too. Paint striped to metal and brackets nice and clean. All I had to do was shoot some rust dissolver on them and painted them chassis black. A few hours later I had the engine mounted. That cleared out some space from me storing these things for several months. I now need to hunt down all the other parts so I can get it ready to turn over and start.
I did have one little issue. I was mounting my lift plate to the intake manifold and forgot the nuts on three of the four studs. I must have been distracted but I’m thankful for Grade 8 bolts. As I took off the 3rd bolt from the engine stand the plate snapped off my intake and the engine was holding with just one bolt from the stand. All of my work was about to be destroyed. I must have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to find bolts to install my normal lift chains. I finally got it and that one bolts was a miracle. One bolt holding 400 lbs hanging from an engine stand. Now I need to get the broken stud off my intake. I think that’s pretty minor considering how it could have turned out.

 

[kcmash]

Do you have a brand preference with your bronze gear regarding durability?

I am confused on this. I just updated to a roller cam and everything says I MUST use a steel gear. When are you supposed to use a bronze gear over a steel?. And as a follow on, I took a magnet to my gear to verify it is steel. Is that ok to use on a new cam?

Kcmash

 

[Kilgon]

Do you have a brand preference with your bronze gear regarding durability?

I have used MSD gears. The original that was on the Duraspark distributor when I got the car was shot. I spoke to a friend of mine who races, and he told me MSD brand would handle anything I could dish out provided it's installed right. I would imagine any of the top brands will work fine. Below is a picture of what was on the Duraspark when I got the car. A little out of focus but the teeth are worn bad. Good thing I caught when I did.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I am confused on this. I just updated to a roller cam and everything says I MUST use a steel gear. When are you supposed to use a bronze gear over a steel?. And as a follow on, I took a magnet to my gear to verify it is steel. Is that ok to use on a new cam?

Kcmash

Billet solid roller=bronze or MELONIZED steel gear
Hydraulic roller and some non Billet steel solid rollers =steel gears. Go to the comp cams web site gear article. It can be a bit confusing.
Chris
PS-ive been running Solid rollers for 25+ years

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I have used MSD gears. The original that was on the Duraspark distributor when I got the car was shot. I spoke to a friend of mine who races, and he told me MSD brand would handle anything I could dish out provided it's installed right. I would imagine any of the top brands will work fine. Below is a picture of what was on the Duraspark when I got the car. A little out of focus but the teeth are worn bad. Good thing I caught when I did.

View attachment 59483

Yep, you got that gear just in time!

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I have used MSD gears. The original that was on the Duraspark distributor when I got the car was shot. I spoke to a friend of mine who races, and he told me MSD brand would handle anything I could dish out provided it's installed right. I would imagine any of the top brands will work fine. Below is a picture of what was on the Duraspark when I got the car. A little out of focus but the teeth are worn bad. Good thing I caught when I did.

View attachment 59483

Looks like the gear is too low on the shaft, the bottom gear face is grinding into the block boss

 

[Kilgon]

Looks like the gear is too low on the shaft, the bottom gear face is grinding into the block boss

Yes, I noticed that. I tried to get a good look at the cam gear and block and everything looked ok. Some marring on the boss but nothing to be concerned about. I made sure that the new gear was spaced right and have checked it several times since I replaced it.
I will also do several checks on the Hyperspark after I install it.