Previous owner '68

[zicc1835]

all looking real good ..... nice the narrative and pictures illustrate the attention to detail

[raggedjim]

Thanks Zicc! The last couple of days I have spent thinking about scrub-lines and blowouts. Honestly, I have had one blowout in 48 years of driving, and that was my first car that I was given by my dad. I'm pretty sure he bought the tires from a farmer who lived down the road who had deemed them not safe for his tobacco wagon (some of you guys are familiar with tobacco wagon tire quality). Am I just lucky? Well, the internet says there are 11,000 blowouts a year. There are 283,000,000 registered cars on the road and I'm going to assume most of them have 4 tires ( I know! Some deviants have 3 wheeled vehicles but this is some rough numbers to work with). So that's about 1,132,000,000 tires on the road. That's .000009795 of all tires on the road having a blowout. Worrisome...

[raggedjim]

So I started working on a way to change the rear shocks so I could reduce the amount of low hanging items. None of this is new, it's been done before. I'm going to have to get some different shocks but I think it will work. It really opens up the area for mufflers too.

[raggedjim]

Pics of the rear trailing arms now. Would it still scrub if I had a blowout? I'm thinking not because the outer edge of the blown wheel would be the lowest point. If I had an unmounted 5 lug rally I'd throw it on there to find out.




Awww, who am I kidding, I don't worry about scrub-lines at all! I did all this to simplify running mufflers, and stabilize the rearend.

[raggedjim]

This is what I started with.

[MySons68C20]

Beautiful work well done!!

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by MySons68C20

Beautiful work well done!!

Thanks! I struggled with it for a minute or two!

[raggedjim]

Plug wires... what are you gonna do? I'm going to hide them as much as I can. I'm running an hei that looks like an old school points distributor. Hopefully once I get an air cleaner on there it will all blend in.

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Plug wires... what are you gonna do? I'm going to hide them as much as I can. I'm running an hei that looks like an old school points distributor. Hopefully once I get an air cleaner on there it will all blend in.

movin right along now ....and lOOkin GOOD

[raggedjim]

Thanks Zicc. I'm working toward a test start. Then the dreaded body work...

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Thanks Zicc. I'm working toward a test start. Then the dreaded body work...

im way behind in mine haven't done a thing... maybe that dreaded body work will let me keep pace with you.. keep them pictures coming

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

im way behind in mine haven't done a thing... maybe that dreaded body work will let me keep pace with you.. keep them pictures coming

I'm about half tempted to bolt it all together and drive it for a while, but I'm afraid I'd never finish it if I did!

[raggedjim]

Today is the 1 year mark of starting this thread!

A then and now comparison. More to come!

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Today is the 1 year mark of starting this thread!

A then and now comparison. More to come!

Happy New Year

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

Happy New Year

Thanks! I hope you and your family have a great 2025!

[loudchevy]

Roger, you made a ton of progress in a years time. Well done!
Happy New Year

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Roger, you made a ton of progress in a years time. Well done!
Happy New Year

Thanks! Hopefully this year will show some good progress!

[raggedjim]

I kept looking at the engine and the accessory layout. Yeap, it's a passenger car engine and it's a post '73 engine. That put the alternator in the high passengers side. I'd like to say it was a 350hp 350 in a SS Chevelle... nope, it was a 185hp in a 4-door granny car.


I just was NOT feeling it.

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I kept looking at the engine and the accessory layout. Yeap, it's a passenger car engine and it's a post '73 engine. That put the alternator in the high passengers side. I'd like to say it was a 350hp 350 in a SS Chevelle... nope, it was a 185hp in a 4-door granny car.


I just was NOT feeling it.

A properly built MEE-MAW 350 will run a lot better than most folks give them credit. With a stock cam and sorted out carb and distributor, they can have adequate pep!!!

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

A properly built MEE-MAW 350 will run a lot better than most folks give them credit. With a stock cam and sorted out carb and distributor, they can have adequate pep!!!

I'm 63, I like meemaws!

[raggedjim]

So, because I'm cheaper than Aunt Edna, I bought the cheepest low mount alternator brackets off of the jungle site I could find. Kinda surprised, it fit (with a bit of grinding on one of the spacers). Hopefully I won't have radiator hose problems, but I think it's gonna work.

May end up painting them black, I dunno...

[zicc1835]

I like it Aunt Edna Lynn

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

I like it Aunt Edna Lynn

Honey, I knew you would!

[raggedjim]

Well, on a wet and rainy day in Kentucky I worked on mounting my power steering pump. Spent too much time trying to make all kinds of things work and this is where I ended it.

[raggedjim]

Power steering belt will work fine, need a shorter alternator belt. Current belt is 45", I'm thinking 42-43"