1960 chevy parkwood wagon!

[nlped]

Originally Posted by 68basket

Got the axle housing stripped down. The gears and bearings appear to be in god condition so i am going to run them for now. They are 3.08 and will probably get changed out after i drive it a while to better perform with the 700r4 overdrive. Rear end will get all resealed and the disc brakes installed.

Just my .02, but I'd recommend going ahead and putting a lower gear in it now so you don't have to snatch it back out again soon. With a 700r4 a 3.08 gear and that low profile 20" tire, you'll never get to take advantage of the overdrive unless you're runnin' like 90mph . And it's a LOT easier to do the diff/gear swap on a bench vs. under the car. I'd say 3.73's all the way too, assuming a 27" rear tire height...that should put the 700r4 at a happy gearing to pull at highway speeds without lugging or shift out of OD to 3rd all the time.

On another note...Love the strong arms and the floor board repairs. Watching this one makes me want one of these so BAD. Even my wife loves it... That's HUGE!!!

[Advanced Design]

Progress is looking really good. Love this build. What are you using for the air suspension controls?

[fun in dirt]

That's a super cool project...next car we do is gonna be something along those lines...low, long & cushy party wagon!

[68basket]

Originally Posted by nlped

Just my .02, but I'd recommend going ahead and putting a lower gear in it now so you don't have to snatch it back out again soon. With a 700r4 a 3.08 gear and that low profile 20" tire, you'll never get to take advantage of the overdrive unless you're runnin' like 90mph . And it's a LOT easier to do the diff/gear swap on a bench vs. under the car. I'd say 3.73's all the way too, assuming a 27" rear tire height...that should put the 700r4 at a happy gearing to pull at highway speeds without lugging or shift out of OD to 3rd all the time.

On another note...Love the strong arms and the floor board repairs. Watching this one makes me want one of these so BAD. Even my wife loves it... That's HUGE!!!

I was thinking the same thing, but i am running short on funds to be able to do everything this go round. I have done numerous gear sets as i work on cars for a living. It will not be hard work for me to take the car to work and put some gears in it at a later date. I will probably do 3.73 but want to put some miles on it first to see what i think. It is getting 255/35/20 rear tires.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Progress is looking really good. Love this build. What are you using for the air suspension controls?

Car is getting full accuair e-level setup from Travis at properformance. Cant wait.

Originally Posted by fun in dirt

That's a super cool project...next car we do is gonna be something along those lines...low, long & cushy party wagon!

Thanks!

Tonight i got the last floor pan welded in and started laying out how the air management is going to fit. I was going to put it all under the car but didnt like how it was looking. I am liking this layout and just ordered a bracket for the accuair valve and module. I will clean and paint the spare tire well before i mount it all, May line with sound deadening also.

[68basket]

Having a little issue with my rear bag setup. Take a look at the pics and see what you think.

The brackets seem a little off and maybe not the correct height. Its hard to see in pics, but the part of the bracket that sits up in the old spring pocket is not sitting fully in there. The locating bracket coming off the side is stopping the bracket from going fully up to touch where the spring use to touch. It appears that a lot of the weight of the car is going to be resting on that small bracket that is welded on the side.

Has anyone bagged an x-frame car and run into this??

[Advanced Design]

Thinking wrong upper bracket, wrong strong arm or incorrect mount location on the strong arm...assuming rotating the upper bracket makes no difference. Of course, Ride Tech can probably help.

Compressor and tank location looks great.

[HemiChallenger71]

Arms backwards?

Post 74 they look fine but post 80 they dont.

[68basket]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Thinking wrong upper bracket, wrong strong arm or incorrect mount location on the strong arm...assuming rotating the upper bracket makes no difference. Of course, Ride Tech can probably help.

Compressor and tank location looks great.

I think part of my problems here is that the arms are from ridetech but the bags and brackets are not theirs. I think maybe a different upper bracket will be what i need.

Right now i have this problem in to Travis at properformance and waiting to hear back from him. Hoping something can be figured out.

Originally Posted by HemiChallenger71

Arms backwards?

Post 74 they look fine but post 80 they dont.

The arms have not come off the car since post 74 and 80. the arms appear to be exactly the same except strong arm is stamped on opposite sides. It seems that the whole problem is in the upper bracket, it will not sit fully into the upper spring pocket, the locating tab on the side holds it about 1/2'" from going all the way up, and it holds it about 1/2 to the side.

Thanks for looking and your help!

[68basket]

http://bcfab.blogspot.com/2012/07/19...uspension.html

If you look at the install on this 64 you can see that the rear upper bracket fits all the way up into the spring pocket, and the locating tab may be longer, allowing the mount to center in the spring pocket. Maybe i should try a pair of these brackets...

[68basket]

Just heard from Travis, He is sending some pics of my setup to the makers of the brackets to find a solution. Will be waiting to hear back from them.

Well i have plenty of other stuff to do to the car while the bracket situation gets figured out.

[lolife99]

Talk to members way2lo2 or crawdadfox.
They both have bagged many x-frame cars,...

[crawdadfox]

Sent you a PM.

[68basket]

Got it fixed thanks to crawdadfox and Travis.

I found out i did not have the hole in the upper spring pocket in the correct location. Drilled a new hole in the center of the pocket.

Also the manufacture of the bracket said there is a variance in frames and i needed to cut and re weld the locating tab. Wasnt super excited to cut up new brackets but went ahead and a little while later it all looks better. You can see from the pics i had to move the tab 1/2-3/4" to allow the bracket to seat fully up into the spring pocket. Oh well, the spring sits much nicer now.

Also picked up my driveshaft today. Had to have the front shaft re tubed, and new cpp carrier support and slip style rear shaft.

[crawdadfox]

Cool deal...now hurry up! I never get tired of looking at the old 58-64 Chevys dropped over a nice big set of wheels.

[68basket]

Originally Posted by crawdadfox

Cool deal...now hurry up! I never get tired of looking at the old 58-64 Chevys dropped over a nice big set of wheels.

LOL, i know. Me too.

This one still has a way to go, engine is on a stand, trans sitting under the stairs. no interior in it..... the list goes on.

I do have a Goal to drive up to indy where some of my friends live for the motorama 1962 on feb 13-15 even if it has interior in it or not!!

[Hickup pickup]

I just had the same problem with my 59 Elcamino. Seems this is a common problem as I was forewarned by a buddy with a wagon, you'd think the manufactures would solve this problem by locating the tab further down and including a simple spacer for the higher tab requirement.

[68basket]

Originally Posted by Hickup pickup

I just had the same problem with my 59 Elcamino. Seems this is a common problem as I was forewarned by a buddy with a wagon, you'd think the manufactures would solve this problem by locating the tab further down and including a simple spacer for the higher tab requirement.

wow thought maybe i had an oddball or something? i have a feeling its the 59-60s only, and maybe only wagons and elcos? Oh well, looks like we did exactly the same thing to fix them.

[68basket]

Took a few weeks off cause i got sick, then i had 2 of my apartments i had to turn over. now they are done i am back at it. Got the floors seam sealed and coated with hammerite. Hope it holds up well enough. Installed the firewall insulation pad. Kevin rebuilt my column and it looks great!! My youngest son loves opening all the boxes i get!!

[68basket]

Got that sweet column installed, and the unisteer linkage all hooked up. Installed the power brake booster and got the brake lines finished. Started installing the american autowire harness. SO far i am very happy with the harness kit.

[Zoomin]

Lovin it, keep up the good work!

[TBONE1964]

Subscribed

I am curious to see what you do with the gauge cluster. Will you have an air gauge in the cluster?

Looks very nice so far. Keep up the good work.

Take care,
Tom

[68basket]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Lovin it, keep up the good work!

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by TBONE1964

Subscribed

I am curious to see what you do with the gauge cluster. Will you have an air gauge in the cluster?

Looks very nice so far. Keep up the good work.

Take care,
Tom

Thanks for taking a look.

Honestly i had not thought about an air pressure gauge yet. But now that you bring it up, i believe dakota digital does make an add on module fir displaying air pressure in one of the digital displays on the cluster. I will have to look into it.

One last pic for the evening. STarted setting up the accuair stuff and running the air lines into the spare tire well.

[68basket]

Kept my oldest son up past his bed time to help me install the tanks and compressors!! He also went with me over to one of my apartment buildings to cut up a tree that fell in the crazy wind we had here today. Its always a fun time when he wants to be involved in the car build. He loved helping out with the wiring harness install i started yesterday because he could read all the directions to me!!

[nlped]

Those are going to be the best times spent building this bada$$ wagon. I love when my daughter helps work on any of my projects.

[KevsClassics]

I'm really lovin it all, The car, the column install, the unisteer and especially the kids involvment.