Lokar Shifter Installed

Lokar Shifter installed, looks and works pretty cool.

Started working on Seat Brackets

Because of the Honda seats I got, the brackets on the seats were at like a 45 degree angle, so this is how I'm going to attack it in the car.  Here is front bracket:

I marked out where the holes needed to be drilled on that 1.5" piece of flatstock, drilled holes, put bolts and nuts on and tack welded the heads of bolts on the back.  I then put that piece on the seats and sat the angle iron under it and clamped them together.  I then tacked this in a bunch of places to hold it.  I'll fully weld it when I take it out of the car when the seats aren't attached.

The back was a little trickier, the middle brackets aren't curved at a 45, degree angle, they are just aiming down and are a bit higher then the rest.  I had to build a little shelf for them to sit on.  I built the shelf and welded the nuts on the inside this time so i can just screw the bolts in.

Just need to finish a couple of 4" flat stock on the end brackets on the back of the seats, going to set them up just like I did the front.  Then I can weld everything solid, and then figure out how I'm going to attach them to the floor.

I also got the steering wheel and steering column installed.

Transmission Cooler as well as a couple of rotted body panels

So I installed the transmission cooler the other day and attached it to my lines, I also installed the kickdown cable so I could kill up my transmission with fluid.  I also ordered my steering rod and ujoints so that I can install my steering column.  Lastly I got the gas tank in its position with the filler neck coming out the hole in the fender so that I can mount the gas tank permanently, just need to make my custom gas tank straps (have it hanging on wires temporarily).

First Engine Start, painted inside trunk and ran transmission cooler lines

Ok so the first engine start was tonight.  Thanks Peter for the help today, we couldn't get it going, guess the gas was too far away or didn't let it try long enough.  I put a 12" hose right from the fuel pump into the gallon jug and it started up in no time.

Turned out my timing was way off, I had to move the vacuum advanced all the way ahead in order to get it to run.  I'm going to move all the plug wires tomorrow over counter clockwise one position, then put the vacuum advanced back to where it is supposed to be.

Last night, I painted the inside of the trunk and some of the inside trunk walls with POR15, came out great.

THe last thing I did the other night was bend and run my transmission cooler lines.  What a pain bending and running them and then attaching them to the transmission.  Had a heck of a time getting the fittings lined up.

Update for Today/Yesterday

So I ran the 3/8 galv fuel line yesterday, left a space in the middle for the fuel filter and made all my bends, came out pretty good.  I ran it inside the right frame rail.  I also set the battery in place.

Then I went to set the body on the frame to see how everything I had been planning was going to match up.  That's when I had my first "Oh Shit!" moment.   The firewall fit perfectly and I couldn't have gotten the distributor any closer if I wanted to.  However the rear of the body wouldn't go down the last 2"...  As you can see in the last two pictures below, the body is resting on my rear top shock crossmember that I had made.  I put it inside the frame, not knowing or thinking that the body would drop down right there.

So after checking everything out I had two options, take the cross member out or cut the body.  I went with option 2.  The Crossmember and top of the shocks will be under the rear seat, I guess they don't call it a rumble seat for nothing!

After making those cuts the body fell right down.  So I went to Lowes today and got a piece of sheet metal to make a cover that can be removed in case I need to replace those shocks in the future.  Cut the piece of steel and bent a small piece that is shaped the same angle as the edges in the middle for a support so it will hold it at that shape and give it some rigidity (even though the seat won't actually be sitting on it), just over it.

Bottom of Body Painted

So I got the bottom of the body painted with POR15 today as well as rear wheel wells.  Came out good, I made a big mess all over the place, however I didn't get any on me, I wore two pairs of gloves (which was a good thing).  If this stuff dries on you there is nothing that will get it off unless you scrape the skin away.

I made such a big mess, I didn't even bother cleaning the can/cover, I ended up using about 2/3 of the can, so I just put the cap on tight and pounded it closed.  I'm sure the top is welded to the can right now, but when I'm ready to paint the inside of the trunk, i'll just drill a few holes in the top with self tapping screws, one for pouring and one for air.

Will post more pictures of what else I did today tomorrow.

Guess I didn't put the primer on thick enough...

So woke up this morning and went out to check out how my primer did last night and this is what I found...

The rust mark around the roof area still shows where I hadn't really sprayed since I was goign to be blasting off the black anyways, however the little surface rust that formed on one entire side on top of the primer.  Guess I didn't spray thick enough, so off to the auto parts store, got another quart of primer and hardener, good thing I got 8 more bags of sand yesterday.

I blasted off all of the rust and all of the rest of the black from the roof and gave the entire car another coat of gray epoxy primer.  After I let it cook in the sun for a few hours, I then moved it inside the garage.  We'll see if the "Dew" can get it in there!