Friday, August 11, 2017

Where am I doing here?

While I smoke, I figure it's a good time to get an idea of what to do next in place.  The biggest hurdle to overcome in my shop is the finite space available to work in, since it's a very single car garage with a ton of steel in the middle of the floor.  The rafters aren't exactly what I'd call stout, so there's a lot of material taking up floor space that would normally be stowed up above, such as:
  • Eagle wheels and snow tires (x4)
  • A904 transmission cores (x2)
  • Gremlin door (x2)
  • Gremlin fender (x2)
  • Gremlin hood
  • Old leaf springs
  • More
 Keep in mind I'm doing more than just routine part replacement within the garage space.  I'm also doing caveman machining, torch work, painting, and poorly-executed welding.  It's safe to say that every square inch of the shop would give an OSHA inspector night terrors if they had reason to review it. Long/short: shit needs to be tidied up.

Old parts can be collected in a scrap metal pile, which is going to grate on my sense of "don't throw that away! You can use it for something!" like you wouldn't believe.  I asked the transmission shop if they'd be interested in the 904s, and they would- for free.  I know I got more than my $100 worth out of them, but I'd rather give them to someone that would use them with their AMC.  Not so much interested in giving someone two cores that they can invest a couple hundred in each and then resell for a few grand in all. 

Car work that's still needed:
  • Motor mounts
  • Install transmission
  • Bend and run cooler lines
  • Same for fuel lines
  • Pull old head, intake and exhaust manifolds
  • Rebuild new head
  • Install new head
  • Cut and braze intake to accept carb plate (throttle body seat dimensions are all wrong)
  • Install intake, headers
  • Oil pan, may as well do the pump while I'm in there
  • Timing gear/chain
  • Install wiring
  • Replace power steering pump and high pressure line
  • Rotorhubs and brakes
  • Finish rebuilding heater box
  • Drop in new heater core
  • Torque suspension fasteners to spec once (nearly) full running weight is in place
  • Body work: minor patches to driver/passenger floor pans, cowl, rear fenders
  • Install replacement doors
  • Get windshield installed
  • Get exhaust work done at Shoreline Muffler if they're down. I'd read online that a dude took his Rambler American in for them to run dual side exhaust from his I6 with header, and the body is fairly similar.  Probably should give them a call once I'm closer to that point.
  • Get alignment
  • Paint touch ups
  • Cut new vinyl hockey stripes (white as before, but the new ones will glow in the dark)
  • Clear coat
  • Hillbilly undercoat (oil and dirt)

I'm screwed.  


I'll figure out what I'm going to do next, then make space accordingly.  Probably toss up a Craigslist ad after pulling the stuff in the engine bay and give away the head, manifolds, and transmissions.  Time to rock.

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