Casey Family Build thread....

[MRSQSL]

Tim, you are a brave man! We ended up going a different route, but I'm a little relieved to see you had an issue too. I fully expected to log on this evening and find a post with a simple solution we completely overlooked. During the ordeal last night, Mike turned to me and said "how did Tim get his bolted in?". While I was typing my update this morning, mike was apparently out in the garage die grinding the tips of the center bolts so that they wouldn't mash against the manifold. While we still couldn't get a torque wrench on those four, we did on the rest and didn't snap anything that we know of.

[MRSQSL]

Week 7 still:

As noted in the above post to Tim, we solved the intake issue and got it successfully installed. Hopefully there will be no leaks and the linkage will still be set up well. We tried to be extremely careful.

Some things we learned while the guys were here Saturday:

1) the tires rub on the f panels. Guess some of that hero status gets taken away since I didn't consider this might be an issue. Never fear, several solutions were discussed and I'm confident Mike will find the best way (possibly after trying a few not so best ways).

2) it is possible for one of the pedals to snag on the head of a bolt and get stuck. Jim pointed this out so I assume it happened to him. Since his car is not in a billion pieces, I'm going to assume it didn't happen while driving. The important thing I was supposed to remember is clevis ramp. I remember, but I haven't fixed it yet.

3) it was also noted that our clutch thingy (looks like a little triangular winglet) was feeling a smidge bindy. Mike took care of that today. He was going to make a spacer, but it turned out he just needed to trim the big bushing-like thing and now it moves freely.

4) despite what I said last week, luck was not on my side. The heater barely cleared the valve cover up until Mike tightened some bolts on the motor. Argh! It went back to rubbing and all 3 guys noticed it instantaneously. We had discussed solutions before, but all agreed moving the firewall back a little would be best. The driver's side footbox panel nearest the engine was bowing slightly. I tried to pretend it wasn't my fault, but nobody seems to believe me. Moving the firewall back a smidge solved both problems. A helpful tip for getting the firewall unsiliconed is to slide a thin, thin, super thin sheet of metal between it and the frame. With a large screwdriver and some major skill, Alyssa and I were able to resilicone it after I drilled new holes (she pretended to have homework for that part).

I'm sure Mike learned other things, but I only have new memory capacity for 4 things at a time. We went to Medieval Times this afternoon, so we weren't able to work much. We did drop the car (literally as Steve got a smidge rambunctious with the jack lowering) and now it sits on its wheels. We didn't block it before leaving, so I was afraid we'd have an earthquake and come back to find the roadster cuddling with the garage door. I believe Mike is out there now taking care of that...or maybe just staring at the car.

[QSL]

well, i just came in from the garage and brought in the camera... so here are some pics!

We also changed the bolts out on the intake to stainless steel as well as painted the gold screens black. I did not like the plating on them from factory.

[QSL]

more pics! Thanks JIM for letting me know about the brake hangup issue. I think the pics below explain this, but the idea is that the clevis can grab onto the bracket and lock the pedal. I installed a very thin piece of stainless to keep this from happening. Worked great and was easy enough to do! Not the clearance on the heater. This was hitting the valve cover before.

[QSL]

There are some pics of before and after on the intake manifold studs. We starting tightening them down and realized they started hitting where the carb sits. I had to take it all apart and grind down the tops of the studs, this fixed that issue, but we still had to use the custom tool we made in the photo above to tighten them. They are not torqued down to spec, but i feel close. I think we will be OK? I do like tims idea... that may be plan B.

[QSL]

last pics for now.

I also cut and put together the front stainless (w. red covering) brake lines. Need to still bring them to work and crimp them...


ANOTHER GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by MRSQSL

...but I only have new memory capacity for 4 things at a time.

Get yourself either a dry erase board or a chalk board for making lists of things to do/buy/remember etc. It will save you a bunch of "Did I remember to do...." questions.

Ray

[QSL]

Funny you mention that ray... last night we spoke about doing that. Just because we are trying to remember... top off the rear gear oil, tighten up the steering, tighten and adjust the panhard bar, etc... Right now i still have the list in my head, but if i died tomorrow, they would have a heck of a time figuring out what needed to be completed... as i know thats the only thing that would be on their mind if such a thing happened!

[cobrajj]

I used pieces of blue painters tape to remind me of things that needed final tightening. Some were stuck on for quite a long time before getting torqued for the last time. Jim

[Ray]

Another good idea is when you do a final torque, paint a stripe from the nut to an adjacent surface. Makes a great visual reference when you do a spot check. If the stripe lines up, good. If not, tighten the nut.

Ray

[frankeeski]

Originally Posted by Ray

Another good idea is when you do a final torque, paint a stripe from the nut to an adjacent surface. Makes a great visual reference when you do a spot check. If the stripe lines up, good. If not, tighten the nut.

Ray

Rays right, I used a paint pen. Works just like a ball point pen but has paint inside. Nail polish works too. Frank

[QSL]

i saw that tip before and i have done that. We used nail polish. I like the idea you can check it out later to make sure nothing has turned loose.

Thanks guys!

[MRSQSL]

So that's where my nail polish went! I'd been meaning to check your toenails.

[QSL]

I did not post this before, but we got the OK, so now you get to hear my story!

Saturday we had a great group of guys come by. After what i thought was a great visit and lunch everyone took off with the exception of Frank. So, we are sitting there shooting the BS when he asks... "Have you ever even driven one of these?"... Well, I was only lucky enough to ride in one before. Never would i dare to even ask anyone to let me drive and i would NEVER expect anyone to offer. I know it kinda seems weird to buy a car that you have never driven, but i felt that was the process of owning one of these. If you want to right to drive one, you need to build it Well guess what happened? Frank threw me his keys and said "you can drive it!"

Wow, holy crap, wow, boy was i excited but it was MUCH harder not to show the excitement and just act cool. Joe cool LOL.

So here are the pics as it DID happen. It was an amazing gesture that i will remember forever. To allow someone to drive your pride and joy is a special thing. Even though i was easy on it, i am sure frank was cringing just a little over on the passenger seat as it was not him at the captains chair.

Anyway... THANKS FRANK!!!!

Really gives you that extra motivation and keeps you going as it reminds you what you are shooting for!

[QSL]

I think i am actually getting the pics up before julie posts the progress.

Not much this week.

I did do the mechanical linkage and spent 1.5 days on it. Its still not done, but the basics are there. I wanted something a bit beefier then what has been done. The supports have ball bearings in them. The action is very smooth! I machined the parts on my mini lathe and mill. I also made real beefy looking rods. The Arms came from speedway. So this is my take on it so far. I still have to finish off the parts so they look good.

[QSL]

more pics... julies professional explaination to follow

[MRSQSL]

Week 8

I don't know what happened this week. We appeared to accomplish absolutely nothing. I blame this partly on the Internet. We wasted a total of at least 6 hours over the course of the weekend watching videos from the car kit inc site. The quality of those builds is jaw dropping.

The kids spent all of Saturday and part of Sunday with my mom, so Mike and I were on our own. I'm certain I drilled at least 60,000 holes. My arms and back and neck are not happy. I drilled the rest of the passenger floor pan and all of the driver floor pan. Yes, I'm a big whining weakling. Once Alyssa returned, we removed the trunk panels and I marked all the holes. We should be tackling those next weekend.

Mike began the throttle linkage. I have to admit it's looking amazing. If I didn't know how much time he put in, I would've guessed about 2 hours. No offense meant. Some things require effort yet appear to be simple.

Learnings:

1. I work faster when competing with a 15 year old, but pay the price in muscle pain later. Apparently my body and mind disagree about our age.

2. Never walk up to someone using a tap and ask "is this the part where it breaks". When it rips off a few seconds later, you might feel bad.

3. Dogs are adorable, but maybe not good to have around when drilling. Poor dog loves to be near me even if metal shavings rain down from above.

4. Progress isn't always measured in how much you finish, but rather how much you didn't have to redo.

[JKleiner]

Hey Caseys!
I've seen, and I think even responded to, some of your posts with questions but somehow missed this thread until now. Looks like you all are having a great time! I'll be sure to keep following along

Jeff

.

[Pedalmasher]

Julie - This is your BEST quote ever!! This would make a great poster, kind of like those "inspirational" posters, but this could be a "build series" poster!! Derrick

Originally Posted by MRSQSL

4. Progress isn't always measured in how much you finish, but rather how much you didn't have to redo.

[MRSQSL]

Clearly, I have zero experience with this, but here's my attempt at an inspirational poster. Thanks Derrick!

[QSL]

thanks jeff, yea, we have seen each other around on the forum. We ARE having a blast!

I just hope our final product is as good as some of the guys out here!

[vnmsss]

I've been following your build, and just want to send along big congratulations on your progress. Very cool that you're building the car together as a family....You may be builiding a car, but you're building memories that will last a lifetime.

Looking forward to meeting you in the future!

Karen

[MRSQSL]

Thanks Karen! I've actually been looking into some threads of your racing. VERY impressive.

[CrawleysCobra]

Originally Posted by QSL

I think i am actually getting the pics up before julie posts the progress.

Not much this week.

I did do the mechanical linkage and spent 1.5 days on it. Its still not done, but the basics are there. I wanted something a bit beefier then what has been done. The supports have ball bearings in them. The action is very smooth! I machined the parts on my mini lathe and mill. I also made real beefy looking rods. The Arms came from speedway. So this is my take on it so far. I still have to finish off the parts so they look good.

Just gotta say that is really nice work!

[QSL]

Thanks crawleyscobra!! Just about finished it this weekend.

Week 9 Pics!

[QSL]

second batch

[QSL]

last batch this week! Julie to follow with progress report!

[MRSQSL]

Week 9

Progress? Ugh, so sloooooow. The biggest time sucker upper has been the throttle linkage. Mike is doing an amazing job, but every step takes HOURS. I think he finally finished today, but he could potentially wake up at dawn with a new idea that'll send him back out in the garage again. He started out refining his contraption. You know, round off an edge here and there. Suddenly he was back in the metal shop area feverishly working. Turns out he wasn't happy with the flex in the linkage. He devised another mount thing which took one heck of a long time. The linkage is smooth as glass now or at least really close to it.

Alyssa had the stomach flu this week, so she was weak and full of homework. She wasn't able to do much. Mike and Alyssa worked on the throttle while Steve and I started bolting up the pulleys and alternator. As usual, we had to interrupt Mike every thirty seconds or so. For some reason, the March kit didn't come with a spacer for the bottom part of the alternator adjustment rod. Mike will fab one up maybe this coming week. That was the easy part. The alternator,when mounted, almost touches the block. Well, the thing the wire attaches to nearly touches. Shorting things out is not the plan, so thankfully a forum member pointed out that the back of the alternator could be clocked. Aha! It didn't take long. I was able to unbolt it, spin it around and now we have a perfectly spaced alternator. Thank you Mr. Mustang.

Between bouts with the alternator, I was able to mostly install the battery box in the trunk. I still need to cut the trunk panel, but the box is mounted and riveted.

Mike installed the new gas pedal as well as a third master cylinder (huge thanks to Lynn). We were originally going to do a clutch cable, but decided to switch to a hydraulic setup.

Finally, I drilled out yet another mountain of holes in one of the trunk panels.

I learned a few things like a right angle drill would've been ideal for the battery box installation. We went to get one today, but HF was out. I also learned that the kids don't really believe I like to work on the car as much as I do. Saturday was my birthday and they kept asking me if I'd rather do something else. No...

All in all it was a slow progress week once again. Hopefully now that Mike is done with the linkage, it'll gain momentum again. I don't think he realizes how important he is and how much we depend on him and look up to him. I imagine he feels frustration with our endless supply of questions and neediness, but hopefully he understands it comes from love and a gargantuan amount of respect.

Goals for next week include finishing up the brake lines and probably more hole drilling. I want to rivet in the floor panels, but am waiting for Mike to finish up the brake lines and grinding the rest of the boss off the tail shaft of the trans.

[lynnhowlyn]

Originally Posted by MRSQSL

Mike installed the new gas pedal as well as a third master cylinder (huge thanks to Lynn). We were originally going to do a clutch cable, but decided to switch to a hydraulic setup.

You guys are doing an amazing and extraordinarily quick build! Gotta be approaching some sort of time record!

If the top or side of the DS footbox is still open, how about a couple pics of the brake/clutch master cylinder area - including routing of the clutch hydraulic line inside the footbox?

And be sure to let me (and others) know how that former brake MC works for your hydraulic clutch. As I said in the note I sent with the MC, I'm a little concerned about how well it'll work - but am planning to go down that same road.

Thanks

Lynn

[QSL]

Lynn, Steve installed the master over the weekend, but we did not get a chance to plumb it up yet. I did get all theparts and brought home what i needed fitting and hose wise. I should have it setup pretty soon. When i do, i will for sure let you know and post pics here.