rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[rattle_snake]

Went to Barret Jackson Saturday to watch some cars sell that a friend brought from Ohio. Two Corvettes again this year, a 63 split, and a 66 vert.

1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CUSTOM SPLIT WINDOW COUPE - Barrett-Jackson Auction Company - World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions

Sold* at Scottsdale 2023 - Lot #1445 1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CUSTOM SPLIT WINDOW COUPE

www.barrett-jackson.com

1966 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE - Barrett-Jackson Auction Company - World's Greatest Collector Car Auctions

Sold* at Scottsdale 2023 - Lot #1450.1 1966 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE

www.barrett-jackson.com

The convertible didn't do so well, bought by the CEO of Rockford Fosgate, which my wife does some audit work for. I showed him some pics of my 72 and he offered to hook me up with whatever I want. So time to swap out the 20 year old giant amp for a class D and some new sub(s).

 

[ntsqd]

I'd love to build a '66-'67 Roadster as a fun toy / Date night car. Had I the pockets deep enough I suspect that it could be done using nothing original. I'd build it with either a grilled hood or with the '65- '66 big block hood. I distinctly recall seeing a hood on one of this generation that had significantly larger, more pronounced side grills, but I've yet to find a picture in spite of many tries over the years. Never terribly cared for the 427 or L-88 hoods. A 427ci-ish LSx and 6 speed manual would be my power-train choice.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Sounds like you made a good connection!

 

[LXCam]

Checked out those rides on Friday. Absolutely gorgeous builds Justin. Does your buddy build them?

 

[rattle_snake]

He and his wife own Burning River Resto-Mods. They have a small team that does the builds.

 

[rattle_snake]

Tested out new rear axle position, centered well enough for full stuff, success.
Right side has exhaust interference and need to finish tailpipes.


Shackle angle is decent at full bump. Ride is 12 o'clock full droop is 10 o'clock position

 

[rattle_snake]

Moved the upper mount of limit straps. I mocked up an adjustable clevis but there is already lots of stuff in that area so kept it simple. New position has one inch of margin before driveshaft/shock limit. Current setup yields about 4.5 up and 5.5 down for a total of 10" of travel. Reset coil over sliders at 1"


Welded a 1/2-13 nut to some DOM tube and ground round to make a threaded weld on mount.

 

[rattle_snake]

But now the right side strap end will hit the axle side track bar mount. Addition if the 5th hole made bracket too tall, but that position was needed, so I let as-is at the time. To fix properly, needed to add another hole to frame side and cut one off axle.
Designed and cut an extension and an overlay. Then realized the frame bracket was 0.25 not 0.187, so just pushed go button again on 1/4 plate.


mock up to align holes


Back to a three holer again, but put lower hole at 1" space instead of 1.375


But reason I cut frame bracket down is it can hit tie rod at full suspension limit, before body was on to test. Given the restriction of the tire/fenders the bump stops are set to prevent this, so it can be extended to offset shortening the other end.
trimmed bottom as much as possible. paint and done.

 

[LXCam]

He and his wife own Burning River Resto-Mods. They have a small team that does the builds.

Must be something in the Ohio water. I spent a half hour BSn with another vet builder from Ohio that did this and acouple others there. Told me he’d build me anything I wanted for 300. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I could build anything I wanted for 2 hundy

 

[rattle_snake]

And then cut down axle bracket from 5 to 4 and radiused the top and outer edge for max clearance


Now both brackets have similar and ample clearance. Bar at same angle, same handling. Reset bar length to center axle.

 

[slodat]

Looks like you're getting some good use out of the CNC plasma. Fabrication work looks great!

 

[rattle_snake]

Going after rattles now. The upper fan shroud has little strength at the top of radius and was buzzing. Welded a strip on top to reinforce and screw to fasten the 2 pieces together.


Put riv-nuts in radiator for shroud so don't have to mess with nuts in the tight space. Seems to have solved the issue.

 

[rattle_snake]

Must be something in the Ohio water. I spent a half hour BSn with another vet builder from Ohio that did this and acouple others there. Told me he’d build me anything I wanted for 300. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I could build anything I wanted for 2 hundy

but you would have to spend a lot of you time time to save a mere 100k
ya I think given what sells at BJ a vet is a safer choice than most.

Looks like you're getting some good use out of the CNC plasma. Fabrication work looks great!

Thanks, yes I can get around fusion now and pop out parts pretty quick. Even if I screw it up can replace or modify easily.

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome work Justin. LOVEed the first picture of the truck flexed out.

Track bar and drag link look great in relation so no bump steer input, love it. I know how tedious dialing in suspension can be but what a wonderful feeling when it handles like a dream and knowing it isn't an "off the shelf" suspension system.

 

[MP&C]

That's a calendar picture right there. Awesome truck.

 

[rattle_snake]

Awesome work Justin. LOVEed the first picture of the truck flexed out.

Track bar and drag link look great in relation so no bump steer input, love it. I know how tedious dialing in suspension can be but what a wonderful feeling when it handles like a dream and knowing it isn't an "off the shelf" suspension system.

Thanks Mike.
I have made many small changes over the years and all together the suspension is working better than ever. Excited to see what sway bar does.

That's a calendar picture right there. Awesome truck.

Thanks Robert. One of the many things I have learned from your posts is value in creating custom tooling for a specific job, big or small, intricate or crude. Once on hand, can be reused for other purposes with or without mods.

 

[rattle_snake]

Found a drip of fluid under the truck, brake fluid. Fix three leaks, and another pops up. Leak is from front disc delay device plus 'T'. I had rebuilt with new o-rings for the purpose, but leaking none the less. Plan to delete the accumulator (aka spring and piston) and just use a simple 'T' IF fitting, but will need to redo some of the lines and come up with mounting scheme.
While apart replacing the left caliper that seems to stick a bit. Get wheel hop on hard braking, didn't used to do that. I rebuild both myself, right side never worked properly and was replaced early on.

 

[plain2car]

JUSTIN, Nice write up on the vetts.. I was looking for a few things for the truck (radio wise) and had just saw that RF moved! (from FRY's to by the 202/101 area?) i am going to try to make it over there in a week or so. great job on the truck susp. nice looking work! ... now if I can just get you over to the house to help me on the truck... even tho it's a chebby!! LOL!!!

 

[rattle_snake]

Chasing small items on the truck still. Since I have to open brake system up to fix leak, it was a good time to swap out the left caliper that I rebuilt. Brakes pull some to left, and under hard braking the left wheel hops pretty bad. Assume a sticky piston.
But 'since I was there' decided to address the torn upper ball joint boot due to using a steep angle BJ shim for a short time like this

Which quickly led to this on a new Spicer BJ. So beyond the other reasons I would never use them again.


Also had not been into this side since assembly, wanted to check bearings and whatnot. My younger daughter asked to help out so I put her to work pulling the knuckle. She asked if I wanted her to hold the light, I said no, I'll hold the light and you take things apart.


Lower joint didn't want to let go but eventually got it. Greased and put a BJ seal on and reassembled.


Swapped out the OEM delay/tee block for a simple 3/8-24 tee I found locally. Problem is, how to secure? Could have waited and ordered one with mount provisions, but impatient so made a bracket to clamp the fitting. Welded captive nuts on to simplify install. Worked great.


My existing double flares were not so good and flare nuts bottomed out in new tee fitting. So had to redo a few. Key is stripping off the green coating and going slow. Simple mod one line and done.


Rebuilt caliper leaked out of the bleed screw. Threads seemed wonky. Seal face pitted, so drilled to clean up and machined the bleeder tip to match. Still leaking, so swapped out caliper for another. No leaks from bleeder but the banjo washers were, was eventually able to torque to resolve. Else have to anneal the copper washers again.

Pull and hopping issues gone so a success.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Glad to see you had a helper out there!

 

[zmotorsports]

That Spicer BJ breaking like that is something I haven't seen before Justin. Do you think it was just due to the pressure from the angle of the shim?

 

[ntsqd]

Trick that I learned with copper crush washers; anneal them before reuse. I hang one on a piece of wire and use a propane torch to get it almost starting to glow, and then drop them into a Red Solo Cup* ~1/2 full of water. The last step isn't really necessary, but it fixes what to do with a very hot washer. A little Scotch-Brite cleans the oxidation off.
Annealing them takes them from being argueably a single use washer to being able to use them 2-4 times, annealing before each reuse, before they need to be replaced.

*Other color Solo cups have not been tested, use at your own risk.

 

[rattle_snake]

That Spicer BJ breaking like that is something I haven't seen before Justin. Do you think it was just due to the pressure from the angle of the shim?

The BJ itself is not broken, just the boot is torn from extreme operation angle induced by the shim.

Trick that I learned with copper crush washers; anneal them before reuse. I hang one on a piece of wire and use a propane torch to get it almost starting to glow, and then drop them into a Red Solo Cup* ~1/2 full of water. The last step isn't really necessary, but it fixes what to do with a very hot washer. A little Scotch-Brite cleans the oxidation off.
Annealing them takes them from being argueably a single use washer to being able to use them 2-4 times, annealing before each reuse, before they need to be replaced.

*Other color Solo cups have not been tested, use at your own risk.

I've done this before and it works well. I have a stack of 'unused' washers but the harden with age. What is in the box with a new part is unkown.

 

[rattle_snake]

New rear springs are hitting the exhaust. Some self clearancing has already taken place. I cut down the tops of the spring retainer.


Also driveshaft is hitting muffler when flexed out. Time to address interference and finish out tail pipes.


Added a bend and 12" of length to extend out past sheet metal, but still protected. Was able to rotate each tailpipe with the V band to get the pipes up higher by the frame. Worked the frame also to gain some room. Hopefully between the set of mods it will clear ok.


Half-assed polished the last foot.






Finally found an exhaust rattle that was eluding me, the 02 sensor was not torqued. No more annoying sounds.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Video with the "new" exhaust?

 

[rattle_snake]

10 sec idle. Don't have much else since trans swap.

New video · Sunday, Feb 5, 2023 🎬

Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That sounds pretty good, I would imagine much deeper in person!

Pic looks awesome

 

[LXCam]

Some self clearancing has already taken place.

Ain't nothing wrong with a little self clearancing J.

Makes for the perfect fit every time ..............















Well that or a big gaping hole

 

[Mr.zippy]

Stance on that old Ford is spot on! Damn fine looking truck

 

[bugnut]

Having the daughter helping is just awesome!

 

[zmotorsports]

The BJ itself is not broken, just the boot is torn from extreme operation angle induced by the shim.

OK, I see that now. Thanks, I expected the boot to reach the lipped outer diameter.

Great job on the exhaust. Turned out awesome.

 

[slodat]

Justin - truck looks amazing! I'm not typically a 4x4 guy. Proportions are perfect!

 

[rattle_snake]

That sounds pretty good, I would imagine much deeper in person!

Pic looks awesome

I'm really happy with the exhaust now. Idle is mean and away from tail pipe all the header tink-tink-tinks let you know there is plenty of cubes and cam duration under the hood. Now that cruise rpms are 1200-1800 it is less noisy in town and on highway. WOT is authoritative but no rasp. No drone on highway operating in the lower RPM range. The tail pipe extensions helped I think in that they don't dump into the chamber under the bed/bumper.

Ain't nothing wrong with a little self clearancing J.

Makes for the perfect fit every time ..............

Well that or a big gaping hole

Yes sir! 'Lil dent never hurt flow enough to matter.

Stance on that old Ford is spot on! Damn fine looking truck

Thanks Zip!

Having the daughter helping is just awesome!

Yes and the fact that she wanted to on her own is even better. Time with dad in shop over video game?

OK, I see that now. Thanks, I expected the boot to reach the lipped outer diameter.

Great job on the exhaust. Turned out awesome.

Thanks mike. My SS work is far from professional but gets the job done. Just 308 MIG on C25. Used clamps to get the oval aspect of the bends to match straight cut pipe. worked well, less of a step to grind.

Justin - truck looks amazing! I'm not typically a 4x4 guy. Proportions are perfect!

Thanks Steven. I happy with it too. Lots of rework and tweaks but I enjoy that part. Enjoy every time I get behind the wheel.

 

[rattle_snake]

120 miles into the new 6 spd trans and what a difference! Makes the truck so much quicker and fun to drive. For a big 6000# truck it scoots really well. Once this tank is empty can check fuel consumption. Note 'fuel economy' is not used in relation to this beast.

In manual mode, upshift into 2nd at 5500 puts you back in the seat, like the shift to 2nd, and converter lock in 2nd, and so on.

Before a normal speed right turn (leaning WAY over anyhow) would bog in 2nd (1.46:1) and if more throttle would downshift to 1st the right back to 2nd.
Now it stays in 2nd (2.34:1), lights up the 40s, locks converter and pulls to 65 mph before shift to 3rd. Amazing!

 

[rattle_snake]

Emptied another tank of C25 so time for a gas run.
Checked giant, heavy (250?) Argon bottle and it was about empty. It made rolling the welding cart difficult and sketchy. Swapped it out for smaller 125 cf like the C25. Got lucky with an aluminum tank that weight almost nothing in comparison. Argon is just for spool gun on aluminum so it should last awhile.
Still want to rebuild the weld cart again and lower the tanks as much as possible to improve COG. Some day.

 

[TimeWarpF100]

10 sec idle. Don't have much else since trans swap.

New video · Sunday, Feb 5, 2023 🎬

Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

Now that yours done when can i drop off Eco2 for the 4x4 conversion? It already has 6R80 and 2015 t-case installed. Just needs F250 front diff installed.

 

[TimeWarpF100]

120 miles into the new 6 spd trans and what a difference! Makes the truck so much quicker and fun to drive. For a big 6000# truck it scoots really well. Once this tank is empty can check fuel consumption. Note 'fuel economy' is not used in relation to this beast.

In manual mode, upshift into 2nd at 5500 puts you back in the seat, like the shift to 2nd, and converter lock in 2nd, and so on.

Before a normal speed right turn (leaning WAY over anyhow) would bog in 2nd (1.46:1) and if more throttle would downshift to 1st the right back to 2nd.
Now it stays in 2nd (2.34:1), lights up the 40s, locks converter and pulls to 65 mph before shift to 3rd. Amazing!

Sure liked the 6R80 in Eco1. The 10R80 in current ‘66 is even better. Wish i would have had option when i was doing all the 429/460 stuff.

 

[rattle_snake]

Now that yours done when can i drop off Eco2 for the 4x4 conversion? It already has 6R80 and 2015 t-case installed. Just needs F250 front diff installed.

Randy, What is this 'done' you speak of? just a front diff huh?

Sure liked the 6R80 in Eco1. The 10R80 in current ‘66 is even better. Wish i would have had option when i was doing all the 429/460 stuff.

I did take awhile to get aftermarket support for the 6R. Man I am glad I went that route. Big cubes and low gears make for big smiles.

 

[TimeWarpF100]

Randy, What is this 'done' you speak of? just a front diff huh?

I did take awhile to get aftermarket support for the 6R. Man I am glad I went that route. Big cubes and low gears make for big smiles.

“Done” it works.
Not only that but my garage’s are full. That way i would get “free” storage too!

Like so many want me to do. Story of my life.

So when do i drop it off?

Seriously thinking of doing a proper ‘66 F250 front axle if i can find one. Since the transfer case already in.

Need to sell a few more projects, finish a couple so i can get to it.

 

[rattle_snake]

Made a $0 hose hanger out of old shoes.