Frank Frazetta - H.G. the BarbariVan

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I also mounted an old 275/60-15 tires onto one of the slot rims to see how it would fit on the front. It's huge haha. But I drove it around and turned tight both ways and no rubbing. So I'll be searching for a deal on a full set of those.

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Brake jobs, gotta love 'em. The other front brake hose was finally delivered. Replacing it went pretty well. Took the master cylinder cover off to add fluid and bleed the fronts and noticed the rear reservoir was low. Take a look around and found a puddle a couple feet fwd of the rear axle. It's dripping bad. Great! Got a vice grips on it to slow down the leak so I don't have to rebleed the master cylinder.

Another trip to the parts store for brake lines. BTW, the closest parts store is 10 miles away.

Time to go through the other rear brake, which means getting the drum off. This one was a struggle. Heat, spray lube, hammer, crowbars, and repeat. The shoes were not that worn, had to have been replaced because the drum was grooved BAD. To worn to have turned down, so a new drum is on order.

But I still need to get that brake line fixed so I worked at getting the line off the wheel cylinder. It broke but I was able to unthread it. Unfortunately the line I got for that section was too short. So I took a piece of the old line, found another nut and made a short piece but then I need a union, so another trip to the parts store. Now I can put the new line on the axle to wheel cylinder. Unfortunately the brake line has the wrong thread. Why is there a metric thread line for a 3/16 inverted flare brake line? So another trip to the parts store for a line with the correct threads.

After all the running around I finally get the rear brake lines all replaced and the leak is fixed. I even managed to get the bleeder to open and not break off the old wheel cylinder! And finally (there's that word again) I have brake fluid going to all 4 corners and NOT leaking. Still need to replace the right rear but it's functional.

Time for a REAL test drive! I'd like to say it was flawless but you know that's not likely. I have done nothing to the engine other than check the oil level. It starts great, idles great and it is driveable. It sputters/backfires under acceleration. Gotta take it easy on the throttle but eventually it gets up to speed. It rides good on the bald tires and worn shocks. It drove straight, stopped well and no weird noises!

If this was one of those will it run and drive videos I would have lost viewers with how long a simple brake job was taking. Be sure to like and subscribe!

I went to the local junkyard to see if I could find some better seats. No luck there. So I have an excuse to start trawling the other yards in the area. It's been awhile. The 2 seat mounts that I have are both swivels, so that's nice.

So what's next? I don't want to get too deep into this project yet. I have to get back to the cobra. I'll look for tires, seats, flares, better grill, etc. It needs a tune up, oil change, tranny filter change, shocks ( I have those), a little more rust repair, finish pulling old carpet and insulation to get the stink out, get a speaker connected to the radio and see if it works.