Just thought I’d follow-up with the finished product.
If you look a back at the original post (http://wp.me/pKHNM-sS) you can catch up on this mini project.
After a few more hour of sanding with 220 and 600 grit and Purple Metal Polish (applied with the 600 grit and polishing wheel for my Dremel) you can see the results as compared with the original code aluminum pieces.
New Heim Joint
Now I won’t be able use the entire kit from Summit Racing but I will install this as the replacement for the old stock tension bracket.
Citroen DS had the first volume production of cars with caliper/disc brakes in 1955. Although production was on the light side that
year but picked up in 1956.
What wasn’t 100% correct and why:
– 1949 Crosley – yes it had attempted to use disc brakes on all four wheels. They used Goodyear/Hawley and used aircraft calipers.
These were not designed for the stop and go traffic. After 6 months all the Goodyear/Hawley brakes were removed and replaced with the standard drum brakes. Although they are often considered the first American car to sport disc brakes even if the production run only lasted a few months.
Crosley Disc Brake Set Up
– Some might say that the 1902 Lanchester in England was the first, however the disc was thin copper and didn’t fare well.
1902 Lanchester's Disc Brake
– The 1949 Chrysler Imperial had a disc brake option, but it did not function like a disc brake system with a pair of disc pressing against in the inside of a drum.
– There were a couple more manufacturers in the mix
Jensen (often considered the first) used four wheel disc brakes on there 1956 Deluxe, but not until Oct of that year and
production was only 50 some cars.
Austin-Healey used Dunlap disc brake on it’s 100 but it was a limited production race care where as Jensen was a street car.
Jaguar equipped their Le Mans winner in 1953, but again not a production car.
Triumph use Girling and Dunlop disc brake set ups in 1955, but mainly as tests (during the same Le Mans where Jaguar won). Girling impressed them the most, but it wasn’t until late 1956 that they began producing road cars with disc brakes.
The most American cars on the list are Honda Accord and Element at 80% and 85% respectively, the Ford Explorer at 85% (90% for the 2010 model year) and the Dodge Grand Caravan at 82%.
As I start gathering the different parts for all the new mods for my ’70 Mustang one thing I’m sure of is that I want a little more ‘bling” under the hood. I think the Ford blue engine paint with the brushed nickel look of the current intake need something to offset that color scheme. I’d like to do most of the brackets for the power steering, alternator, and ac compressor all in chrome. However that’s not going to be possible, if I rely on aftermarket/stock suppliers, as most of my brackets are custom-made. (That’s what you get when you keep the 6 cylinder components when you do a conversion to an 8 cylinder.) So I’m going to make do with what I can find and the rest will remain iron.
Now with the cost of all this mods looming on the horizon and having less than the average budget, I’m trying to upgrade at least the tension portions of the Alternator, A/C and the power steering to chrome. My goal is to replace them with heim joints w/adjustable rods between them. These are not inexpensive and often require some modification.
So in the pursuit of this end I purchased a kit from Summit Racing for my alternator. This was an all aluminum kit and only advertised as being for a ‘stock” 302 engine. So going in I knew that it might not work at all. This turned out to be correct except for the heim joints and the threaded aluminum rod.
So I going to use those for the tension rod for the alternator. However, it wasn’t chrome and had a very heavy coding to make it look like brushed nickel. The goal for this pieces was to polish it up and see how “bling” like it could look. This would be a series of repeated sanding, buffing and polishing.
I used my Dremel, sanding disks and buffing and polishing wheel, 200 and 600 grit sand paper and Purple Metal polish, cotton rag (ok..fine it was an old t-shirt) and a vice.
Dremel buffing while and 160 grit sanding disc
Now the 160 grit disk might have been a bit much but the coating was pretty tough and the disc made quick work but did leave a few marks on the test sample that might have causes a bit more work with the lighter grits.
This is actually purple in color and gritty like rubbing compound.
In short the process started with hitting the test piece (one of the stock bracket parts that wouldn’t fit) with the 160 grit disk via the Dremel. Next I ran the 220 grit sandpaper (by hand) over the aluminum and then the 600 grit and then with the buffing/polishing wheel via the Dremel with a coating of the Purple metal polish. I switched it up by using some metal polish with the 600 grit sandpaper.
It took a lot of elbow grease and a couple of hours. Here is what the test piece looks like. You can see the aluminum w/coating and polished portion.
Chrome? Absolutely as shining as chrome.
Now there are some in perfections in the aluminum and if not being careful with the sanding you can leave gouges but generally you can get this type of shine and it looks very close to chrome without the cost, just some elbow grease.
Next will be the polishing of the actual rod that will connect the two heim joints (they are already polished steel). (I’ve already started, but you won’t see it until it complete.)
As I get ready to start the new round of mods for my 1970 Mustang Coupe, I’m reminded of a couple of issues that came up when I was assisting a fellow Mustang owner doing a trans – transplant.
The first tip is partially dependent on what stage you are in of your restoration.
He has already finished most of the interior when the a transmission he wanted to add became affordable, it was a good deal…saving some $$$$.
He had decided to do the swap and add a short shifter. This of course requires the removal the bezel and the current 3 speed shift lever, which is easily done from inside the car.
Bezel and Boot
In the course of removing those two parts, he found that the opening cut in the new carpet was not going to allow the access necessary. An attempt to ‘widen’ it was successful but left a bit of a jagged slit. Additionally, while removing one of the screws it snagged the carpet and pulled a few loops out. Can you guess what the tip is? Yeah…remove the carpet and if possible make the swap before you put new carpet in.
One other quick tip is to apply a little silicone spray to the shifter to help slide the boot off..oh…yeah…removing the shift knob before the boot is a good idea…..DON”T ASK!!!!!
So I left a couple of photos out of the last post. But I wanted to show (IMHO) a couple stars of the show and one of the strange one.
I covered the Galaxies and 500’s, however, here are a couple more: (Come..on..you would be able to pick just one or two either!!!)
(In no particular order)
Crown Victorian (before the exploding gas tanks and cop lights)
Oh..the Chrome!!
Did I mention the Chrome?
Just look at that smile..I mean bumper!!!
Not really comparable to the Crown Vic – this Starliner was, although not original, very nicely done.
Ford Starliner with a little custom work.
Oh..check out the intake setup on that Starliner!!!!
OK.. I know at least one of my readers will like this next car.
It is a 1965 Ford Mustang Station Wagon. Originally a concept created by William Sibo (designer for Ford Motor Company). He actually built this car from the original drawings. Car is currently owned by Ken Berger. The car now has a 429, rack and pinion steering C-6 auto trans, coil over suspension and power brakes, A/C and stereo system.
No Middle Road - Hate it or Love it.
There you go!
I can’t get past the that rear end….but this helps:
From square boxes to sloping roof lines to coke bottle shapes, car lines have evolved. Sometimes they just went way wrong.
I’ve had my fair share of cars and their shapes and lines were polar opposites. My 1966 Imapla (my first car) was long and sleek, my next car was a Dodge Dart boxy but with a good roof line. Oh but it got worse, my first nearly new car was ….wait for it…..a Ford Granada. Yes…boxy…maybe a little roof line, but it got me around.
After that a series of car including a ’70 Chevelle (you know those great lines), a European Ford Escort (while stationed overseas) and a 83 Camaro (that had great lines on that one). I owned one more Granada and a VW Rabbit (diesel) and two Toyota Celicas ( like the lies of those), a couple pickups and my two Vettes and my Mustang. They spanned decades and many different design lines.
Some of the worse, in my opinion, were some of the best-selling and some that go for huge money now that they are classic muscle cars.
The absolute worse were the pumpkin or watermelon seed cars (that’s my coinage).
Here’s an example: 1996 Chevy Impala
A far cry from my 1966 Impala’s lines
1966 Chevy Impala
Now, I was looking at the lines of my ’70 Mustang and I’d have to say compared to the ’70 Dodge Super Bee the lines (and include the graphics, moldings and even panel seams) the Mustangs lines are much cleaner.
Here is an outlined image of the Dodge:
Dodge
I tried to be fair with my hand drawn lines. The flow of the graphic and their awkward end as they go to the relatively square door make it almost look like the designers said..”OH Crap!!! We forgot the door!!” The fenders have nice lines, as do the quarter panels, but in total it isn’t smooth. HOLD ON, before any of you Mopar folks get all worked up, I’d own a Dodge Super Bee, in a heart beat, especially if someone parked it out side my house and tossed me the keys…and I drive that 383 like I stole it!!!
Now look at the lines of my ’70 Mustang…(are you sick of seeing it yet?)
70 Mustang lines
Just the forward edge (hinged) of the door being shaped it a big plus in my opinion. The sloping of the roof-line into the trunk is another smooth difference, and keep in mind this is just the coupe, not the fast back for the sports back, relatively speaking my Mustang is rather square compared to it siblings, the Mach I and Boss models. Compare the side window openings. The Dodge is very angular, the Mustang’s has a smoother flow.
I could go on and on, we could talk about the 70’s Volares or the even move into the 80’s and talk about the Ford Fairmonts or Chryslers K-Car (I can hear Bill now!!!) but let me hear from you. What do you have to say about car lines, past or present?
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