'66 Sunbeam Minx Project - F20C/6sp/4-link/Discs...

[Frizzle Fry]

Dana 44 Rear

Here

and here

more here

here

and here

[Frizzle Fry]

Seats: DONE!

In the spirit of keeping everything as difficult and time consuming as possible on this build, I decided I must maintain the option of bolting in the original seats. This, along with some 17" steelies with the original hubcaps, will by the optional OG mode I may don from time to time.

Here's the OG DS (too flat for my driving style but classy/cool)


To keep the bolt-in-ability of the OG seats I had to use the offset mounting surface offered by this central platform. Both the problem and part of the solution shown here. That's one of the original rails that would mount on the platform. I set the inner rails down/back due to the narrower new seats:


The new seats as delivered lacked in the lower kick-back department; the seat-bottoms were too level. I reclined the bases to within a milliradian of what felt correct via butt-gauge (insert related jokes here).




Test position:








For the outer tracks I used the Procar provided pieces (with requisite mods of course).




Outer platform fab:






Test fit and level:




Outer mounts tacked after leveling seat:


Built up:








Inner:

On to the passenger's side

Now I run into this: The Procar tracks are not side-specific. So the slide lever would normally be on the left side for both seats. This would not work with my set-up since I needed the low-profile Minx inner rails:


Fortunately it was only a matter of adding the lever-arm to the right track.

But... If I was going to be cutting/welding lever-arms I might as well optimize their positions, right..?

Here's where the slide lever was positioned from Procar:


Cut/weld lever arm in new position:




Result; a much more natural reach:


Same drill on PS as DS for the rest, except with more tin-foil:












Final position:

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

I reclined the bases to within a milliradian of what felt correct via butt-gauge (insert related jokes here).

Your butt-gauge better have good resolution and repeatability if you want to measure to milliradians! How often is it calibrated?

(Sorry I had to make some technical humor. Nerd out )

[mcbassin]

Excellent work on the seat mods. I love the attention to details most people will never see.

[Graeme_B]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Excellent work on the seat mods. I love the attention to details most people will never see.

Totally agree, however the many followers of this build do get to see via FF's photos and explanation. It’s the detail and precision that draws us back!
Still in awe of you skills. Thanks for the continuing updates FF.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Awesome work mounting the seats!

I've used those same tracks before in a Nova. One thing we did was to swap the original adjuster release cross wire out for a piece of 1/8" welding rod bent to fit the hooks. Won't stretch over time like the original wire that came with our set. Maybe yours came with something more substantial but ours were just thin wire. Gives the adjuster lever a much more positive feel too.

Another thing you can add that no one will ever see, but it make the car much better to live in.

Thanks man I actually used the lower profile Minx pieces for the inner-rails and they are passive: no detents. This is how the OG seats were mounted and worked fine. So no cross connection required.

Originally Posted by Graeme_B

Totally agree, however the many followers of this build do get to see via FF's photos and explanation. It’s the detail and precision that draws us back!
Still in awe of you skills. Thanks for the continuing updates FF.

Thanks Graeme_B. You're right that the documentation of the work is where the unseen is seen. It definitely plays a role in pushing the quality up. There was a time (over ten years ago) when I didn't post my work because I didn't want anyone to "steal my ideas." That was very mis-guided thinking. We are far better off sharing and bouncing ideas back-and-forth than working in a bubble.

Philosophy class dismissed

You guys will not believe what comes next. Here's a large clue:

[watahyahknow]

realy good idea wrapping the tinfoil over the foam rubber

i once had some work done on the rail of a seat and a small weldslag dropped on the foam and melted into the foam on the back of it
we doused it with water and figured it was out but when mountin the seat it started smoking again and we had to hurry and get te seat back out so we could turn it over and put more water over it , we also cut out the slag this time it allready got burrowed 4,5 inches deep intoo the foam
if we hadnt noticed it it prolly wouldve burned the car and the garage it was in

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks guys. I have to admit that the tin foil idea came about only after a hot slug started to bore its way into the first seat. I quickly turned it over and it fell out while still hot. Necessity is the mother of all invention!

[theastronaut]

Awesome work mounting the seats!

I've used those same tracks before in a Nova. One thing we did was to swap the original adjuster release cross wire out for a piece of 1/8" welding rod bent to fit the hooks. Won't stretch over time like the original wire that came with our set. Maybe yours came with something more substantial but ours were just thin wire. Gives the adjuster lever a much more positive feel too.

Another thing you can add that no one will ever see, but it make the car much better to live in.

[Kristian j]

You guys will not believe what comes next. Here's a large clue:

Good Lord, now he is starting to cut away the whole body!!! (and turn the Minx into a GMC model?)

[Graeme_B]

Holy Heck!! That stuffs up the "sleeper image"

[Frizzle Fry]

That front right corner had some bondo work that always bugged me. The bumper alignment was off and there was cracking starting to show. The painter I'm working with wants the car stripped to bare metal. So I did some exploratory probing and found that a previous repair had taken serious liberty with body filler there. I have to hand it to them; they had some sculpting skills.

So I've removed the damaged area and have a good section from the spare Minx I parted to replace it with. Why not replace parts one at a time? Because it's all welded together with extremely inaccessible pinch-welds. This was the best approach.

[Kristian j]

What a cute little house next to the car!
And the car!! A perfecly good Minx turned inte a wreck :-(

Mr Minx fanatic.

[Graeme_B]

Whew! thats a relief. Had visions of some weird front end being "blended" in.

[Kristian j]

Originally Posted by Graeme_B

Whew! thats a relief. Had visions of some weird front end being "blended" in.

Now we can all relax and enjoy the magnificent work!

[Frizzle Fry]

You guys didn't want me to graft on a Taurus nose? What's wrong with you..?



How about this one ...no?


Just because you can, doesn't mean you should:

[watahyahknow]

over here they used to craft mercedes type grilles on the old vw beetles made them look like an greek guy from the side

[67ChevyRedneck]

The nose isn't all that different that one of these babies!



I know they're fiberglass, but you can make anything out of metal. Smooth out the lower piece that sticks out so the fender wraps around the front, incorporate the vette grille and headlights and make your own bumperettes... sexy!

But I'm glad it's just rust repair, I want to see this thing actually get done, mostly because I want to see that damn Tahoe get done!!!

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

But I'm glad it's just rust repair...

It's actually not rust repair; more of a collision repair. More accurately a botched previous repair repair...

[Kristian j]

When you did take that front end away, I suppose you noticed the "shelf" at the end of the wing, just below the windshield. The serious rost spot on that body. Mud and gore stay there and the front wing rust from the inside. I usually put an inner ving on my cars to solve that problem. But maybe you live in a dry climate.

[Frizzle Fry]

Here's the extent of the previous bondo job:

Originally Posted by Kristian j

When you did take that front end away, I suppose you noticed the "shelf" at the end of the wing, just below the windshield. The serious rost spot on that body. Mud and gore stay there and the front wing rust from the inside. I usually put an inner ving on my cars to solve that problem. But maybe you live in a dry climate.

This is the spot you are talking about. It had a rubber seal/dam riveted in place that I removed:


This area has haunted me ever since I discovered it. I knew it would be a nightmare to clean/seal. Well, I spent a good 5hrs cleaning and sealing the inside of this fender, including that area. The extra access afforded by the removed fender section forced me to do it now.

Here you can also see the fender rolling I had done previously vs. the new un-rolled section:


Same with the inside of the donor section (zinc primer on the joint edges)


But first, how I determined where to cut the donor part:








Free at last. This pic was actually taken to show the spot welds that had to be drilled out with a spot weld bit:


Test fit, trim, fit, trim, fit, trim, fit, trim...


Inverted fender roll:














Test fit grille:


So the fun part is done

[65Pickup]

Wow your insane, hard to believe you don't do that for a living!!! Very impressive, and a great save.

[watahyahknow]

my father used to own a corvette like that in the 60"s same colour too , he had to sell it after my sister got born and my mother got tired of having two kids on her lap

if he kept/stored it he prolly couldve bought a house from the salesprice

[mcbassin]

Awesome work on the fender section and re-fit! very insightful to say the least.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by 65Pickup

Wow your insane, hard to believe you don't do that for a living!!! Very impressive, and a great save.

Thanks man I think a lot of the pros would usually do a lap joint.

Originally Posted by Kristian j

Found this photo taken 10 years ago in my garage
Recognice the car?

Looks vaguely familiar Car was not fully stripped down and survived the rotisserie? Shows how rigid these unibody's are.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome work on the fender section and re-fit! very insightful to say the least.

Thanks bud!