[TFoch]

Wow you had all the bells and whistles for back in the 60's.  Cool that most of it still works.  Must have been built right the first time.

[trbomax]

Finally got out of the joint yesterday,after a week of incarceration.Kidneys failed (again),potasiun went crazy (9.5), and the bladder infection from hell.Kindey function was down to 32%,now its back at 65% which is normal for me.

Went down to the shop today and got the insulation unloaded from the trailer,so I can see the car again! Put the retubed tires on the rear and while it was up I checked the rear axel drop out.Turns out it is a 5.59,either a locker or posi.I dont have a chart to read the casting #'s but here they are if anyone else does.As I recall the whole thing was new when I put it in about 63 or 64,and the clean black paint and lack of any scratches or external rust tends to support that idea. My plan now is to just re-gear it to 3.73 or 3.90.If its still raining tomorrow I will get the front tires changed and get it off the trailer,that is if someone show up to help.

[TFoch]

Glad to hear you're out of the "Big House" and doing better.

[themoose]

Like Tom said it's good to hear that your feeling better and back at it .....Now get to work!

Moose

[trbomax]

Finally got out of the joint yesterday,after a week of incarceration.Kidneys failed (again),potasiun went crazy (9.5), and the bladder infection from hell.Kindey function was down to 32%,now its back at 65% which is normal for me.

Went down to the shop today and got the insulation unloaded from the trailer,so I can see the car again! Put the retubed tires on the rear and while it was up I checked the rear axel drop out.Turns out it is a 5.59,either a locker or posi.I dont have a chart to read the casting #'s but here they are if anyone else does.As I recall the whole thing was new when I put it in about 63 or 64,and the clean black paint and lack of any scratches or external rust tends to support that idea. My plan now is to just re-gear it to 3.73 or 3.90.If its still raining tomorrow I will get the front tires changed and get it off the trailer,that is if someone show up to help.

   Got to researching these numbers and what I have is a57 -64 posi case that was built on may 5 1960. Due to the condition of it,I suspect I bought it new as a service part. I say this because of the deep ratio too.That time period I was getting into 1/8 mile so that would make sence.

[TFoch]

   Got to researching these numbers and what I have is a57 -64 posi case that was built on may 5 1960. Due to the condition of it,I suspect I bought it new as a service part. I say this because of the deep ratio too.That time period I was getting into 1/8 mile so that would make sence.


5.59 would definitely be for 1/8 mi or pulling stumps.  I had 4.88s in my 70 Nova on the street and that would rev real quick.  3.73 or 3.90's would work great for you.  Will you have to swap out the guts for the different gears?

[trbomax]

suposedly not since I'm going with a 3.73 -3.90 gear set,numericaly lower would require a ring gear spacer. I figure I can sell the 5.59 set for what a 3.73 will cost.

[trbomax]

 It has made it to the roller stage.Wheels and tires that actually hold air! It's in its "spot" untill I can find time to start on it. I still have to insulate and (sorta" finish the 2 remaining inside walls. It took 2 days to get this far on the front corner so I figure at that rate I should have the remaining 64' long wall done by june.

[TFoch]

Cool to see that car coming back to life after all these years!

[themoose]

trbomax

Well at least the Chevy has a nice place to hibernate until your ready to get going

Moose
 

[trbomax]

 I got tired of working on the shop and decided to do something to the car. I washed the whole thing down rather vigorusly with a car brush and a strong solution of Tide.50 yrs of grundge made it hard to evaluate the finish. As I suspected,the body looks very good.no chips or scratches, and very little overspray. Only 3 - 4 gel coat blisters in the whole body,and they are so amall that no one will see them anyway. So,Ive decided that the paint on the body will be saved! Now the fenders and aprons are a bit different.Lots of overspray and some peeling on the fronts,as well as impact stars and larger gelcoat blisters. There is no saveing the finish on them,but thats ok because I will have to do some heavy recontureing on the inside edges after the frame clip because the clip is almost 8" wider than the 28 frame. Pretty much the same story with the aprons. the rears are not as bad but still a lot of stone bruiseing,so they must be redone. I know there is no way I can match the 65 pontiac color so Ive been thinking and trying to visualize a 2 tone with the fenders and aprons being black.
  The cab area came pretty clean,but all the chrome is shot,more $ going down the toilet!I did notice that the odometer is showing 2700 miles,so thats what I put on it from 64 to 66 when it was put up.I know thats accurate because the gauges were all new when the car was built. There was one battery still in the trunk and it was frozen at some point and all the acid leaked onto the floor. Since its all plastic,no harm done! I cut all the batt cables and used split bolts to splice them together so that only one battery can be used for working purposes. All the cables and a lot of the wireing will get replaced,but luckily the bundle of 40 or so wires thet actuate all the relays (everything is controlled with relays,kinda ahead of the times then) are nice and flexible. I pulled the acess panel to the fuel tank out,had to ues a cutoff wheel on the screws,and decided it has to go.I never did like it under there and if I make up an aluminum tank to go in the rear like the original,I can use that space to relocate the heater,battery,and power relays that are now in the trunk, thus makeing it a useable space. So all the inner structure will be cut out and reconfigured.
  I have a much better sense of direction now and a couple days off the wall insulation project was something I needed. So tomorrow its back to work on the shop!

[EDNY]

What a shop..what a car!  To work on the shop or hotrod...either one is a pleasure I'm sure.

Ed

[trbomax]

 Thanks! Up here in the winter thats all there is to do besides plowing the snow.

[themoose]

Looks like your gaining on it. I really enjoy watching it come together...Keep those pictures coming!

Moose

[TFoch]

That's great that it held up so well since 66!  Only 2700 miles, I'm sure you can't wait to put some more on it.