65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[62c30]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I bought the LR pan from AutoKrafters ($119.95) and it was a very good fit. Wish I had bought the others from them. Decided later on to get quarters from C2C and popped for the remaining pans at the same time. Unfortunately, I found them to be unusable. I hope to salvage some of the quarter panels when I get to that point, but they made the stuff from 22 gauge it looks like. Super flimsy and the floor pan shapes weren't anything like the originals.

Well that's not good, I put c2c trunk drop offs on my 64 and they fit very good. I guess I'll buy the autokrafters for my floor whenever I get back on it.

[Vic1947]

When I bought the car, a pair of trunk drop offs came with it but I don't know who made them. They have sort of the same finish as the C2C parts so they might be from them also. If you want to try the C2C pans, I have both front toe boards and floor pans as well as the RR pan. You can have them all if you want. I also have the trunk floor that I cut out that's in very good condition. You don't live very far from us if you wanted to come get them. I have a bunch of other parts in storage I won't be using if you're into scavenger hunts. PM me if you're interested.

[mongocanfly]

Looking really good Vic..!!..
Hate to hear about the bum leg..hopes it's healing...
I feel that "old" thing coming every morning..!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looking really good Vic..!!..
Hate to hear about the bum leg..hopes it's healing...
I feel that "old" thing coming every morning..!!

X2 on the "old" thing, Greg. The leg seems to be improving - at least it isn't all swollen like at the start. I'm going to be optimistic and say it's in the rearview mirror - hopefully.

[TotallyHucked]

This is a cool project, don't see many '65 Fairlanes being built at all. We do parts for '66-71s at work (AMD) but nothing further back. I'll definitely stay tuned into this one

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by TotallyHucked

This is a cool project, don't see many '65 Fairlanes being built at all. We do parts for '66-71s at work (AMD) but nothing further back. I'll definitely stay tuned into this one

Thanks for checking in! I'll warn you though, I've been slowing down a lot over the last year or two, so I don't refresh the thread as much as I'd like. But when I have a bit of progress, I try to post a few photos. I bought inner and outer wheel wells for a 66-67 Fairlane from AMD. I know they aren't a direct fit, but I'm hoping I can slice and dice them to make them work.

[bevis1]

Doing some mighty pretty work there amigo.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by bevis1

Doing some mighty pretty work there amigo.

Garcias senior Reek. Hope yer doing well.

[TotallyHucked]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks for checking in! I'll warn you though, I've been slowing down a lot over the last year or two, so I don't refresh the thread as much as I'd like. But when I have a bit of progress, I try to post a few photos. I bought inner and outer wheel wells for a 66-67 Fairlane from AMD. I know they aren't a direct fit, but I'm hoping I can slice and dice them to make them work.

I don't blame ya a bit, it's a big project! Still though, hope you can keep at it and we won't see it on Hagerty's Barn Find Hunter in 20yrs still not finished

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by TotallyHucked

I don't blame ya a bit, it's a big project! Still though, hope you can keep at it and we won't see it on Hagerty's Barn Find Hunter in 20yrs still not finished

If it does show up on Hagerty's Barn Finds it will probably be with my mummified remains in it somewhere.

More sheetmetal work - made stand offs for the gas tank and started work on the access panel for the fuel pump/lines. In order to put the fuel filler in attached to the tank, I'll machine a split ring that screws to the trunk floor and the filler assembly. Couldn't figure out any other way to do it since it's too close quarters to get at the hose clamps once the tank is in place.

[62c30]

How low will it sit? It looks taller than the stock tank but with sitting a lot higher it's probably close to the stock tank?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by 62c30

How low will it sit? It looks taller than the stock tank but with sitting a lot higher it's probably close to the stock tank?

Great observation. I'm already mulling over how to re-engineer it. After getting it all in place I used a square to estimate where the bottom of the tank would land. The way it is now, the tank bottom would be about 2" below the lower edge of the rear bumper. Not a look I can tolerate. So, what that means is the tank will need to sit higher between the frame rails. It appears there's no way to have a flat floor in the trunk with the Blazer EFI tank. I don't want it to look like a fuel cell strapped to the trunk floor, but it's gotta come up.

[jaros44sr]

Victor, don't know if this will help but I had my tank modified to give me a little more clearance on top, about 2 inches, BTW, my tank was new, so no fumes

I've been watching since CRLS, always enjoyed reading your threads, keep at it

20191002_093933 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Victor, don't know if this will help but I had my tank modified to give me a little more clearance on top, about 2 inches, BTW, my tank was new, so no fumes. I've been watching since CRLS, always enjoyed reading your threads, keep at it.

Thanks, Jim! Your tank mod looks really clean. I'm not sure I can do the same with mine due to the configuration of the pump and fuel gauge sender but it's certainly worth considering. At present, I'm doing what I should have done from the outset and mocking up the tank in its approximate location. Looking at what I need to do to mount it and where the trunk floor will land. As Roseann Roseanna Danna used to say, "It's always something!"

[SCOTI]

Hang the bumper if possible & visually verify things @ ride height to get a better feel for the package.

Also.... blacking out the lower half of the tank works wonders for minimizing/hiding things in plain sight.

[mongocanfly]

Im with Scoti, things disappear when painted black..
I'm sure whatever you do it'll be topnotch..!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Im with Scoti, things disappear when painted black.. I'm sure whatever you do it'll be topnotch..!!!

Thanks, Greg! Awhile back, I picked up a couple of cases of 3M professional grade rubberized undercoat. It dries black and has a nice texture, so I'll apply it to the tank once it's ready for the final installation. I brought the rear bumper home and put it up in place and with the tank in the new location, it looks like it will be okay. Between moving it up and coating it black, it won't be nearly as obvious as it was before.

I switched gears and got on the mill/lathe and machined the split ring for the fuel filler assembly. The tank goes up from the bottom and the filler will have to be attached prior to that as there's no way to access the clamps in the space available. I'll have a 3.25"D hole in the floor that the filler goes up thru. Then with it in place, I'll slip the split ring around it and screw the filler assembly to it. Then, I'll bolt the 4.25"D ring to the floor which will unitize the whole shebang.

[Vic1947]

One other little machining project I finished the other day was the shifter handle. I'd ordered one thru eBay but it was defective so I had to return it and get my $$ back. After looking at it, I told myself, "If you weren't so lazy, you'd just build what you need." So that's what I did. I picked up a piece of stainless flat bar from Metal by the Foot that was anything but flat or dimensionally correct. By the time it was flat and square, it was a ghost of its former self. However, it was plenty sturdy and would work if I could outlast it. It fought a good fight but I won in the end.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Greg! Awhile back, I picked up a couple of cases of 3M professional grade rubberized undercoat. It dries black and has a nice texture, so I'll apply it to the tank once it's ready for the final installation. I brought the rear bumper home and put it up in place and with the tank in the new location, it looks like it will be okay. Between moving it up and coating it black, it won't be nearly as obvious as it was before.

I switched gears and got on the mill/lathe and machined the split ring for the fuel filler assembly. The tank goes up from the bottom and the filler will have to be attached prior to that as there's no way to access the clamps in the space available. I'll have a 3.25"D hole in the floor that the filler goes up thru. Then with it in place, I'll slip the split ring around it and screw the filler assembly to it. Then, I'll bolt the 4.25"D ring to the floor which will unitize the whole shebang.

Trying to figure out your setup on the bridge port, carrasole...
Does the device have threaded holes for the clamps
Where did you buy it
Great work so far, keep on keeping on

[mongocanfly]

Very slick..!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Very slick..!

Agree 1000%.

[Rickysnickers]

Well done. However, I had to laugh at the "if you weren't so lazy" comment. Kind of an ironic thing for you to say since you are rebuilding a car, . Hope you can see the humor in my post

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Well done. However, I had to laugh at the "if you weren't so lazy" comment. Kind of an ironic thing for you to say since you are rebuilding a car, . Hope you can see the humor in my post

Well, the lazy comment refers to how I first look around to see if I can buy a part I need rather than just making it like I did when I was a lot younger. I have a buddy that swears it takes three times as long and twice as much money to build something instead of buying it and I think he's onto something. The thing about working on these old cars is that we often are forced into fabricating parts because there's nothing out there that will satisfy the vision in our minds.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Trying to figure out your setup on the bridge port, carrasole...
Does the device have threaded holes for the clamps
Where did you buy it
Great work so far, keep on keeping on

The device I'm using is a 6" precision rotary table from Yuasa (HV-6). I bought it many years ago at a machine tool company that was going out of business. They're still available from companies like Penn Tool but have gotten pricier over time. You can find less expensive versions, but they aren't the same quality. Mine is relatively small compared to what you would find in a commercial machine shop, but I mostly use it for trinkets. It has T-slots in the table that accept T-nuts you can position wherever you need. I have a selection of different length studs that can be used to fixture material of varying thicknesses. Due to its small size, clamping down the material can be challenging.

On this particular piece, I sawed two pieces of 1" thick aluminum and then milled one long edge on each piece. I then clamped the two pieces together and spot welded them in two places such that the welds would be removed once all the holes were drilled and/or threaded. Since I had a square piece and needed it to be round, I drilled a hole in the center to locate it using a pin on the rotary table. After clamping it on two sides, I used a roughing mill to cut the circle I needed. It took several passes and I had to skip over the clamps. When that operation was finished, I removed the part and used the lathe to finish the outer diameter. From there, I went back to the rotary table and set up again to do the hole patterns. The dial on the wheel is marked in fractions of a degree so it's extremely accurate. With the part centered, I moved the mill table out half the diameter of the bolt circle and began cranking the wheel to give me 60 degrees between holes. Once all the holes were done, I removed the piece again and went back to the lathe. I needed a 2.1" hole in the center, so I used a 2" hole saw chucked up in the tailstock to rough it in. This operation removed the spot welds, but the part was clamped tightly so it couldn't move. I finished the inner hole with a boring tool, faced the part and chamfered the corners. Because this is a manual process, it took me a little over a day and a half to complete. But I ended up with exactly what I needed for nothing more than some extra material I had on hand and my labor.

This is why I've tended to buy equipment when faced with the choice of doing it myself or farming it out to a shop. If you use the tools even a few times, you're ahead of the game.

.

[jaros44sr]

Thanks Vic for the detailed information, I couldn't figure out how the T nuts held, but now I see the slots

Speaking of used machinery, I bought my Bridge port from the original owner, he bought it in 1950 and built the 2 phase converter which i am still using,we have single phase in our area

I'll look into the company's you suggested, I don't want to buy Chinese, as quality is important with tolerances

Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail

Car is looking great

[Vic1947]

You're welcome, Jim. I wish I had the space for a 9x40 Bridgeport. Had to leave mine behind when we moved to KC from Houston. I also had to use a phase converter with the one I had. Hope you find a nice rotary table that doesn't break the bank. They sure come in handy at times - especially if you're doing bolt circles. I know the Machinist's Handbook has coordinates for doing them, but man, is it tedious.