Well, guys (and gals) … another project within a project.  Since the front suspension is a Mustang II set-up, the front springs originally had spring insulators at the bottom end.  I’m told that that was for noise suppression more than anything else.  Of course, front spring suppressors are not available anymore so I improvised with a piece of tight fitting heater hose that had to be coaxed into place with some very slippery lubricant and brute strength (courtesy of my son-in-law).

We used our hand-made spring compressor tool to compress the small size Mustang II front springs and slipped a front coil into position.  A regular size spring comprssor is just too big for these smaller size springs.  We found a video on-line on what to do when a regular-size spring compressor won’t work.  I no sooner had the spring in place when I decided that it waasn’t seated well enough to suit me.  It just didn’t look right and closer inspection revealed that it wasn’t seated quite right either.   The angle wasn’t good so I decided to redo it with the spring that didn’t have my improvised ”suppressor” on it yet just to see how it would fit.   It was a much better set-up so there was no real decision to make to remove the heater hose suppressor that I was so proud of a few minutes before.  We did the other side and lowered my now “rolling chassis” (of sorts) to the ground.   I’m getting really stoked now … onward!

 Discovered that a regular size coil-spring compressor doesn’t really work on the smaller size coil-springs used on a Mustang II front suspension set-up.  Found a neat way to do it though on You-Tube .  We’ll try that the next time we tackle the front suspension – ran out of time today to fool around with it further.

But, please note the beautiful coil spring insulator installed nicely at the bottom of the spring in the picture.  Their use is probably not really necessary, but … I’m told that Ford put them on to keep the coil-spring from flying apart during a fatigue failure if that were to happen.  Whether that is true  or not is pretty much a mute point - they aren’t particularly easy to find available anymore so we had to improvise with a section of heater hose.  For you techies: the spring steel measures 0.690″ in diameter.   3/4″ inside diameter (0.750″) hose was too sloppy and a 5/8″ inside diameter (0.625″) would be too tight – right?!  Well, not really; we managed to put the 5/8″ hose on with a little effort (provided by son-in-law Steve) and a little help from a super lubricant with Teflon that I keep around the garage – problem solved!  It’s looks like a factory installation too.  More to come on these bad boys …

Last weekend we did the rear suspension for real (not just a mock-up) and the bolts were brought up to factory torque settings as well.  We also put the tires on all around and sat the car on the ground for the first time in a very long time.   It’s been 20 inches in the air resting on leveled jack stands since we started the build.   The front springs are next to be put in place before rolling the chasis out onto the driveway for a body-on trial fit up.

I will provide a picture or two of the front end set up once it is all in place.

I will also measure the actual drive shaft length that I need at that time because the all aluminum drive shaft I have is a little longer than what the ’33 can handle.  The shaft came out of a Camaro so it is a perfect fit up with the 4L60E overdrive automatic transmission I have but it runs back to an upgraded ’89 Ford Mustang 8.8″ rear end.  I say upgraded because it has new 3:55 gears and axles that I got a while back from Drive Train Specialist (DTS) in Warren, MI.  By the way, those guys were super to deal with as I recall.  More on the drive shaft mini-project later.

 Who would have thought that an LS1 is a steam engine?!  Well, not exactly but when I changed the original intake manifold to the Z-06 variety, I also had to change the vapor (a.k.a., steam) handling system underneath it to help avoid a vapor lock or so I’m told.  I don’t have  a picture of what it looks like underneath the manifold (didn’t think to take one back then – sorry) but you can see (picture on left) where it exits and how I routed it to the radiator  for steam reclamation.  Because it’s not a pressure line, we simply pushed a section of braided stainless steel braided hose onto the vapor hard line and added a fancy red tube seal hose end.  On the other end where it enters the radiator, we got even more fancy with a “AN” to “NPT” connector that is screwed into a threaded port I had added to the radiator when it was built.  The braided stainless hose is connected using another “AN” hose end fitting. 

You will also see some more of our handywork with the radiator hoses. The top end is seen next to braided stainless “steam” hose entry point.  We took two hoses and made one that fits.  We did the same for the bottom hose.  We changed out the 45 degree angled stock thermostat housing for a straight one and made up a hose (from two) to fit it.  It looks pretty good and works even better!  I couldn’t use the stock LS1 thermostat so I switched to an older variety and selected a 195 degree model for starters.  I’ll see how cool the engine runs with the 195 degree unit installed and swap it out later on if need be.

The unwieldy looking braided SS hose under the radiator hose  is one of  transmission cooler lines that we hadn’t cut to size yet.  It’s done now and routed along side the other transmission cooling line and both are now safely insulated and away from the exhaust header.

Hi to everybody …

First, let me say that yesterday was a major milestone that I have long awaited.  I started this project over three years ago and it has had its ups and downs along the way to say the least but it was all worth it when that LS1 roared to life for the first time since we rebuilt it.  For those who don’t know, I got the engine and transmission from a salvage yard near Philadelphia and had it worked over a little to clean it up for new internals – you know, car guy stuff .  I also had the heads ported a little more and the valves cut back some.  We essentially got it back from the machine shop and porting service in a box (so to speak).  My friend Dave and I washed it down, used assembly lube unsparingly, and re-assembled it to the way GM intended (well, at least if you don’t count the enhancements we made along the way).  I was a little apprehensive but we didn’t have any parts left over, we took our time, and despite its fairly complex nature (after 8 or 9 phone calls to Jim), it fired up and sounded absolutely awesome; I had trouble wiping the smile off my face.  A huge load had been lifted from my shoulders – it runs strong!

A special thank you to everyone who has helped, encouraged, contributed with their time and car parts (including garage space) in some cases and specialized talents in others - I know it seems like a very long time since I started building this dream machine of mine but I really could not have gotten this far without all of you – thank you again!!!  I’ve always maintained that this was a time and money dependent activity – neither of which was in abundance.  That has proven to be true so many times but I won’t be deterred.

Today we celebrate the roar of the engine but there is still so very much to do before it’s really road worthy.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to post a video of our successful engine test before too long. 2012 - ”year of the car”!

Well, I thought we would have that LS1 started up last weekend but a bad solenoid foiled the plan.  I opted to replace it this week with a brand new one guarenteed for life.  So-o-o-o-o, I’l let you know how it goes when we again try it tomorrow.  It’s been exciting to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel and not have it be a train coming the other way.

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012 … this is the year where the rubber meets the road.

It’s been a long time coming but we actually do see some light at the end of the “car building” tunnel and it’s not an oncoming  train.  For all those folks that have wondered what’s been happening or worse, thought that I gave up, be assured that the project is alive and very much still moving forward.

In between, we did take time out to completely remodel a bath room to spa like form and function and included a family room that needed more than an update but didn’t get the complete overhaul treatment that the bathroom did.  They both turned out great but now our attention is turned back on, in earnest, to our LS1Chevy powered  ’33 Ford Vicky.

I promise to upload some pictures to help bring everyone up to date but let me just say, it’s a pretty good feeling to get as close as I am to lighting up that LS1 … finally!  Many trials and tribulations along the way, but it’s a custom built car …  a one off … a one of a kind if you will … so I’ll focus on the positive stuff and call the rest an education.

Here’s hoping that everyone has a very happy and blessed new year … more later.

We thought it would be good idea to revisit the brake situation since we disconnected the lines by the engine when we did the exhaust …

Yes, we did have to make a new bracket but I think we’re actually getting better at fabricating those bad boys.  We’re even getting a little creative – note the holes in the stiffener on the back of the bracket – sexy – eh?!  Well, maybe you had to be there …

 The original brake line came within a half inch of being able to be used again with the new bracket setup.  Oh well …

Gosh – it’s hard to believe that it’s August already; thought I’d be further along with the Vicky by now but so many interuptions too little time … 100+ degree temperatures haven’t helped much either (especially when the garage isn’t air conditioned).

My wife got me a mig welder for my birthday last month; it’s an Eastwood 135 and works pretty well – I like it!  It was one of those sweet surprises that only happens every great once and a while.  My thanks to Dave for lending a hand with his Miller 130 model all these months – couldn’t have gotten this far without his help.

The exhaust has been run on both sides with mufflers that aren’t supposed to resonate very much, if at all, so we’ll see how that goes.  We located the mufflers under the running boards (or at least as much as we could).  The running board supports have been notched slightly over an inch to raise the mufflers for additional ground clearance.  The notched areas were boxed and seal welded.

I had pipes made to run from the collectors to the mufflers.  Dave and I mocked up electrical conduit and I took it to a local custom mandrel bending shop.  Other pipe components in the system were bought as a do-it-yourself kit and pieced together.  I used aluminized pipe this time around so maybe I’ll go to stainless steel when it’s time for a replacement.  I think it looks pretty good.  The outlet end was left intentionally a little long until I see what it looks like with the body on the frame.

Mission accomplished!  The headers now have room to breath…                                                                                           

We cut the frame with the engine still installed.  I originally didn’t think that we could do it that way but it worked just fine.  Afterwards, we pulled the engine and welded in the supporting pieces and boxed the open ends complete with a primer coat to keep it from rusting while we take care of other business.