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Some updates over the weekend.
Sadly.... still no engine delivery yet.
Added my hood brackets today to the core support, I can adjust placement once the hood is in the fitting stage.
Sent my steering column out for rebuild to Brian Trick. My Cutlass was originally a column shift with a bench seat and is now a dual gate console. Brian will convert the column for that.
I had a Tilton mini starter on the shelf that I sent out for rebuild. Another part used up and out of my way!
The floor is 90% done now with the thermal and deadener.
I adjusted the frame to body alignment, focusing the front position as near perfect as possible and letting the rear float. It's all tied down now to proper torque specs.
Question out there for the guys that have repainted the Maroon surround on the Cutlass S emblem. Any tips on doing this and what paint was used?
My emblems are in great condition, the background on the S needs freshening.
One Cutlass emblem is original to the car, the other is a replacement. Can you tell which is which?
Re: fasteners - You saved a bundle of money. Occasionally I need a bolt and go to Ace hardware and get totally ripped off. Most items cost them pennies. I have some new S emblems I didn't use if your interested, half price. From Parts Place.
Steve
Re: fasteners - You saved a bundle of money. Occasionally I need a bolt and go to Ace hardware and get totally ripped off. Most items cost them pennies. I have some new S emblems I didn't use if your interested, half price. From Parts Place.
Steve
Hi Steve, I might consider that. Can you send me a couple of close pics? Thanks!
I think I would add a few coats of Gloss Clear to protect that paint for the future.
Re: fasteners - You saved a bundle of money. Occasionally I need a bolt and go to Ace hardware and get totally ripped off. Most items cost them pennies. I have some new S emblems I didn't use if your interested, half price. From Parts Place.
Steve
one thing I found that worked very well is the vibratory part cleaner and the green pyramid abrasive and some simple green diluted followed by a bolt brush and a parkerizing (phosphate )
I have the Vibe Bowl, the green media, Simple Green and the Phosphate solution in the shop!
I didn't think the media would get into the nooks and crannies of the fastener threads. Clearly, it works good!
Will have to give that a try. I have better than a 1 gallon bucket full of fasteners yet to do. Will save some work!
How long do you let the vibe bowl run? What dilution mix with the Simple Green? How much do you put in bowl (pint/quart/other?).
Those came out nice after phosphate! Thanks for sharing!
Rock tumblers apparently work well too. I have one in the shop but need to get it going to find out for sure.
I've thought the same thing...
In the late 80's, a company I worked for (automotive metal stamper) used portable concrete mixers with media to deburr a lot of parts quickly. It was hokey but it worked!
Had a big magnet to fish the parts out of the media.One body manning about four machines each on a timer.
Hi Eddie, I tried out the vibe bowl with a heavy dose of Simple Green, fresh media and about 4 hours of run time. It did a fairly good job of clean up, I'll be running them through the bead blaster tonight anyway. It didn't do as clean of a job on the threads as I would have liked but will certainly reduce my overall time to clean them up.
Today's work included the bolt clean up above as well as disassembly of the intermediate steering shaft, restoring the parts and putting it back together. The clip on the rubber boot is a PITA! I suppose there is a custom tool for that as the clip doesn't have the hooks to grab onto it with pliers in order to expand it. Finally got it, after probably fiddling with it over an half hour. Truly a test of patience!
Hi Eddie, I tried out the vibe bowl with a heavy dose of Simple Green, fresh media and about 4 hours of run time. It did a fairly good job of clean up, I'll be running them through the bead blaster tonight anyway. It didn't do as clean of a job on the threads as I would have liked but will certainly reduce my overall time to clean them up.
I also used a thread wizard and it is pretty inexpensive seems hokey but it does work
I have the Vibe Bowl, the green media, Simple Green and the Phosphate solution in the shop!
I didn't think the media would get into the nooks and crannies of the fastener threads. Clearly, it works good!
Will have to give that a try. I have better than a 1 gallon bucket full of fasteners yet to do. Will save some work!
How long do you let the vibe bowl run? What dilution mix with the Simple Green? How much do you put in bowl (pint/quart/other?).
Those came out nice after phosphate! Thanks for sharing!
sorry missed your questions I leave the bowl running with a load for as long as I’m in the shop could be 8 hours and if they aren’t clean I leave them in and let it go again , I pull the good looking ones and run through bolt brush then toss into a separate bucket with some evapo rust till I get to do phosphate , I bought a Bain Marie from a restaurant store on line with two compartments , they are not very expensive and are stainless steel trays that and a candy thermometeR I’m guessing I put a cup of simple green and three cups of water in with the pyramid abrasive
Last edited by Eddie Hansen; Feb 20, 2022 at 06:20 PM.
Doing fasteners again. A couple of boxes complete with more on the way.
Oil filter adaptor, choices... I wouldn't mind adding and oil cooler using the diesel unit.
Nice work on the intermediate steering shaft.
The column looks awesome.
A few questions if I may.
Any tricks to remove the intermediate steering shaft pin?
Did you put a new boot on?
What grease did you use?
I have a hydraulic press, one of the HF units. After I disassembled everything and cleaned it, i added some clean grease to the pin, put in the press and supporting both sides of the bar, pressed it till near flush. I then used a roll pin to push the pin all the way out. The roll clip that holds the seal is a real PITA, it doesn't have the upturns as most clips of this style normally have. I got the Seal from Inline Tube, I might have used their eBay store for that. Once those parts are on, then I used the same method of installing the pin using the press. I used my calipers to measure the pin sides to get a near perfect insertion distance. After all the parts were cleaned, painted, etc. It was probably an hour to put it all together. The roll clip I fiddled and fussed with for over an half hour. The grease is a standard red I have in a can on the shelf. I'll take a picture yet tonight for you. The ring clip isn't particularly easy to install either but easier than the roll clip. There are several YouTube videos on the subject, I watched several of those so I understood what I was getting myself into as I've never taken one of those apart before. You should examine the shaft to verify it hasn't been in a collision. There are a pair of molded plastic pins that will shear allowing the shaft to collapse. Just verify no looseness between the two ends of the shaft and the plastic pins are still there and undamaged.
Nice work on the intermediate steering shaft.
The column looks awesome.
A few questions if I may.
Any tricks to remove the intermediate steering shaft pin?
Did you put a new boot on?
What grease did you use?
I freshened up the S emblems.
Think they turned out good. I will put a few coats of gloss clear over the whole part, hopefully, will keep nice for a long time.
I refurbed my S emblem, I picked up the Cutlass emblem from OPGI. The quality was outstanding. I'm going to order another as it is significantly better than the "good" ones I had.
So the drama on my short block SBO continues. The machinist has missed the 15th date he has given me yesterday. The engine was released to him on March 10th of 2021. Yes, you read that right, we have reached the year mark. A short block assembly, Balanced and Blueprinted. A new date of Monday, 21st has been set. Will see if he meets that date. He wants more money to boot, that will be a difficult discussion! Some very poor pics he sent to me yesterday (somewhat nonsensical)....
Maybe I’m out of touch I had my motor built a long time ago, but a whole year? Has COVID caused that much backlog in supply chain? Or has everything gone effing nuts? I read delays in interiors a year wait , quite a few posts with machine shop issues etc, I had my engine done by Hansen racing in middlesex nj , he is an olds and Pontiac guy great to work with goes the extra mile even when not asked and the motor ran flawlessly on the run stand, motor was done way ahead of when I planned.
are machinists that busy now? Are parts that hard to get? I remember all the stories about body shop jail but the new trend seems to be engine is locked up at the machinists
Was Michigan in a non-essentail shut down at any point? Meaning were buinesses deemed non-essential required to close for any legth of time? This could have lead to a back log of orders that should have been finised long before now compounding the timeline for your motor as well. If no shut down like this occured, and the shop has not been waiting on parts, I would agree that is a pretty rediculous timeline. Also, is it just me or does it look like the pistons were installed dry (no oil on the cylinder walls/ rings)?
For your hood pin brackets, will you keep the center hood latch on your core support and new hood or will you rely solely on the hood pins to latch the hood?
