Front End going in!

So the front end is starting to go in, got the drivers side lower/upper control arms, spring/shock, and spindle installed.  What a pain compressing that spring (thanks for the idea of making my own spring compressor Bob!)!!  Putting a jack under the lower arm and compressing the spring, I was able to get the spindle nuts started, however to get the upper shock bushings and nuts started, I had to put put 500lbs almost directly above the spring hat (200lbs of sand blasting sand and me).

Distributor Installed!

Hopefully I got the timing right!

Transmission

So here is the TH350 transmission I got, with a new coat of paint, all ready to go (soon as my new flexplate comes in).  FYI, there are 153 tooth and 168 tooth flexplates (flywheels), and which one you get depends on the torque converter you have.  In my case below, if you measure from the center of the torque converter to the single larger bolt holes, I get 5-3/8", double that gives me 10-3/4" circle.

There is a good article that explains it here.  Just make sure you get the correct starter that matches up to the correct amount of teeth that you flexplate has as well as which bolt pattern you need on the starter.

All Caught up!

Ok that's all the work i've completed to date, so all caught up now, stay tuned for more updates as I get more done!  I bought a used/rebuild TH-350 transmission from my my other friend today so i'll be putting them together soon hopefully and will be hanging engine to get motor mounts in the car soon hopefully!

Radiator Support/Radiator

So I know I needed to get radiator in so I could keep engine as far forward as possible, so I ordered an aluminum radiator from ebay for a 36 chevy.  It was pretty cheap, it was taller and not as wide as the original one and took some modifying to fit, however as i've learned already from this car, no one makes aftermarket 1936 pontiac stuff, and since the chevys were pretty close and everyone makes parts for them, i'll be modifying most things I buy to fit..   I had to cut the bended piece of steel that goes along the bottom of the support and make a new one that gave me more room for the taller radiator to sit, I also bolted on small brackets below the fenders and welded small brackets on the upper portion that wouldn't be hidden by the radiator.

I then sandblasted the outside and inside of the support, and gave the inside a coat of primer and shiny black paint so i could mount the radiator inside it and hopefully won't have to take it out for a while...

Engine

So I bought this SBC 350 engine from someone on Craigslist, hoping the internals was OK, again I'm hoping to get the car running with some power and if i want to change stuff around later, I can.  Here is the before:

Mounted it on my stand, started ripping it apart:

Cleaned it up, degreased, painted chevy orange, new alum intake, new timing gears and chain, new brass freeze plugs, new short water pump with double pulleys (in case I want to add AC later), here is how it sits now.  Just missing fuel pump, valve covers, distributor.  Not sure which carb i'm going to get but this will let me figure out where in the car the motor mounts need to be welded.

Gas Tank

I couldn't justify spending $300+ on a "chevy" gas tank that would probably be close enough to be the right size, however have the filler neck on the wrong side that I would have to modify anyways, so I built my own out of 16 gauge mild steel.  I'm going to be using the KBS gas tank sealer on the inside since my welds aren't the most perfect looking.  :)

I made a wooden frame out of 2X8's and 2X4's so i could bend the steel around it using ratchet straps, mini sledge, and clamps.  Once I got it where I wanted it, I tacked it with my harbor freight mig.  Had a little bit of a hard time getting the wooden frame out after I was done, had to cut the top and bottom brace, but was able to bang out to the two middle braces.

Most of Chassis primed and rear end

I ended up buying an old 69 firebird (different from the one that came on the chassis) from my friend, blasted it all up, primed it, checked out the guts, gave it a good cleaning and ended up having to have him replace the two pinion bearings.  This was my first time messing around with an automotive rear end, and lucky this one didn't have the c clips, just 4 bolts hold the axles in and was pretty easy to take apart.  The rear end only has 256 gears in it, I would have loved something in the 300+ range, but for now, rather than sinking in another $500 into this part, i'd like to get it on the road now, I can always play with the rear tire size as well as have different gears in it later.

Axles primed and new studs pressed in, finally got the correct diff cover.

I built this two level wooden stand so I wouldn't be killing my back working on the chassis not having a lift and all in my garage.

June 22, 2015 - Chassis dropped off!

Here is what I got delivered on June 22, 2015 from my buddy.  He knew I was itching to get started on it and he figured this would keep me busy for a while.  The rear end he had threw on there temporarily (from his 68 firebird) so that he could roll it around at his shop and also bring it to my house was on loan so I could roll it around.

My plan was to take off the front suspension and go with the mustang ii IFS.  The next day, off came the front suspension and existing crossmember (except for the radiator support portion).

I did a bunch of research and I decided to go with the heidts front crossmember.  Ordered that from heidts.  Ordered it, came quickly, however the guy sent me the wrong year "chevy" crossmember that had too big of a gap to fix so he had to have them make me a new one and ship it to me.  They were really great to deal with, and even though it set me back, they didn't give me any grief.  I used the boxing plats from the first order and welded those in, then took it outside and started sandblasting the frame with my harbor freight $90 blaster.

As you can see I also took the rear end off and returned that to my friend.  I rolled it around on a 4 wheel dolly and picked it up with my backhoe to blast and prime the bottom.