Father & son having fun

Well, the full force of summer has hit Houston but work is still progressing.  This weekend Brandon and I stripped the engine down to the bare essentials.  Basically, I wanted to do a trial run on the installation to see how everything was going to line up. Brandon here, today me and my dad bolted the transmition to the engine then we installed it to the frame.  The combined engine transmission assembly weighed a lot...I estimate 1.5 tons. We had to adjust the engine to align the mounting bolts so, I used a 2x4 board to make subtle movements. Before we installed the engine, we stripped the engine of accessories and manifolds.  I used the impact wrench which made stripping the engine so much easier.  We had to keep changing sockets to fit the different bolts.  When we were finished, we jumped into the pool since we were so hot. Once the engine was cleaned, we did a coarse assembly of the bell housing ...

Took a little time off this week and only ordered the materials to install the fuel line and other miscellaneous items.  Earlier this week, the new transmission arrived but the order was missing a number of items.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to spend some of my spare time calling Hurst Driveline again.  To their credit, they did resolve the situation promptly.  I'd like to say it was minor miss but they forgot to send the bell housing, flywheel, pressure plate and clutch. Brandon should be back from his summer vacation next week and we can move forward with the frame assembly.  He was concerned that I had built the rolling frame for the body without him. We are quickly closing in on working the body which means we need to pick a color.  I thought I had the color decided but doubt was introduced when my wife and I saw a red one at a car show. 

This weekend was intentionally slow to enjoy the holiday weekend.  Spent some time building up a dolly to make more of a mess outside rather than in the garage.  A good amount of cleaning is needed underneath the body and this dolly will help reduce the buildup of debris in the garage. Still need to get some boards to fully support the front clip Recently, I added both a soda and sandblaster to my arsenal of tools to support this restoration.  Unfortunately, the air compressor couldn't handle the demand so another compressor was procured to meet the demand...what ever you budget for a project such as this, just double it to be safe.  I implored my neighbor to help me with his truck, to get the compressor, but this didn't take much persuasion at all (he lives with his wife and three daughters and always enjoys an outing).  Actually, I think he is eyeing it up for when the project is over since he asked what my plans are when I'm finis...