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The door screws are flathead; everything else is hex head or carriage bolt. I would guess 25 hours but that is just a wild guess- nobody is paying me so I don't keep track.

More work done. Found a local welder to fix the crack in my exhaust manifold and a local metal shop bent up a patch panel for my engine cross-member.

Now that the body is off, I've started stripping the frame. Pulled the motor, trans, and driveline after work today. Tomorrow I'll probably start the welding process- before the frame is sandblasted, I have to repair the rust in the engine cross-member and running board mounts. The guy who is sandblasting it also wants the frame bare, and he'll blast suspension components separately.

Tomorrow the big spending starts! I'm planning on ordering front end rebuild and brake master overhaul kits from Kanter tomorrow or Friday. Yikes! All in the name of love, right? Also glad I decided to restore and not drive this summer. Two of the three rubber brake hoses are on the verge of exploding, and the metal line looks pretty bad too.

When doing a restoration like this, what do most people do for hardware? Repaint and reuse as often as possible, or all new?

Also will be getting engine and tranny mounts revulcanized. Found a core engine mount on ebay, as mine was modified (apparently with a hammer) to allow access to the lower water pump mounting bolt with the rubber in the engine mounts shot.

It's me in the picture today. The guy in the body mount picture is my neighbor- the other half of the garage is his.

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Quote:Ken,

When the crack is welded, because lots of heat will be generated in the welding process, will the manifold be bolted to the block?

No, but he will clamp the manifold to a large sheet of steel to dissipate the heat and prevent warping. I'm still debating whether or not to take the intake and exhaust manifolds apart, understanding that doing so will most likely necessitate getting the gasket mounting surfaces machined.

Also- does my car have a water distribution tube?

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If there are no leaks probably a good idea to leave alone. But with the welding and any current misalignment of the manifolds to the block you may need have them surfaced. Depends on what you find and what happens with the welding.

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The short answer? Yes!

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Yes Ken, your car should have a water distribution tube. To get to it remove the water pump.

(o{I}o)

Spent all day today working on the engine cross member. The piece a local shop bent up for me wasn't quite right, so I had to cut it into two pieces, then weld it into the crossmember. I spent a large part of the day welding shut small holes. Unfortunately, the inside of the U on the crossmember is difficult to grind, and filling holes is tough work, so I have a lot of weld built up. I don't think I'm going to grind it down smooth, but if I have lots of time this week, I may. On the underside, I'm grinding everything smooth because it's so much easier to get to. I'll post pictures tomorrow when it's all done.

Both guys I was hoping to have sandblast the frame are booked this weekend. It's for the best- things take longer than I had hoped, as always with a car that's nearly 80.

Gotten a little bit of work done so far this weekend. The front suspension is all disassembled as well.

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Well, it's been a few weeks since I've posted, and in that time I've gotten the frame sandblasted and painted, prepped and painted my front shocks, received a lot of parts, and started some re-assembly.

I put the rear leaf springs back on today. I had to cut out the grease seals out of a rubber sheet for the rear shackles.

As soon as my centerpost rebuild kit comes in, I expect to be able to get the front end reassembled.

I do have an issue with my exhaust manifold heat riser valve. It's frozen, and I've been soaking lube on it for about a week, but I'm not sure how to get it apart if I can't get it to loosen up. I don't want to apply heat to the cast!

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Ken,

Like the rubberwork, I can relate to that!