Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[caseville cyclone]

Keep up the good work Mike, that car is really coming together. As far as the welding goes I know where you are coming from. I cheated and called my son to do the welding, he's a great welder. He said the more you weld the better you get. Andy

[lavron]

I cheated and called my son to do the welding, he's a great welder. He said the more you weld the better you get.

I am too far away for him to come weld for me , I have been told, even by guys who know how to weld, if you don't do it for a while you have to practice to get back in the groove. If I could just weld standing at a bench I could probably do ok, laying on back trying to avoid the hot balls flying toward me is another thing entirely

I got the crossmember welded in today, everything ground smooth (enough), and a quick coat of primer.



I bolted everything back on and now I am waiting for my shocks and upper bag mounts to get here so I can get them welded on (well the shock mounts not the shocks themselves ) I should have at least one shock tomorrow (shipped separately) and not sure where my bag brackets are but may not get here until next week. I ended up getting Checker Cab shocks, Crown Vic shocks were really close but the Checker shocks had an inch more stroke (the shocks were near identical otherwise)

Thinking about getting one of these sway bars; https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mustang-II-fro ... 3762585384 they bolt on the back of the crossmember, not sure this is the one I need but there are several on eBay, I think they are Helix bars. At least there wouldn't be any welding with one of those, just a couple of holes in the crossmember.

I am almost a roller again after 2 1/2 months, as soon as I am done with the front I am going to mock the engine up in the bay and get the motor and trans mounts made, then, hopefully, I can get the engine sent off to the machine shop.

See Ya,
Mike

[tomb22]

Looking good Mike!!
Tom

[lavron]

Looking good Mike!!
Tom

Thanks Tom.

I was out mocking up shock mounts out of cardboard when UPS arrived and delivered one of my shocks hopefully tomorrow I can start building the mounts.

Been messing with measuring up the engine, it is going to be tight but I think I can make it work, the biggest issue is the steering rack and inline 6's are kinda tall, I think I can cut the oil pan down to 3.5" deep and still clear all the rotating parts and then weld a new sump in the rear, the last issue will be the oil pump clearance, I need to bolt it in and see how far it sticks down hopefully less than 3.5" at least it is better than the 200 pump because the pickup tube enters in the side and the 200 tube is on the bottom.

Most likely I will have to hire a real welder to modify my pan, I wouldn't be so nervous but you can't buy replacements except out of salvage yards if you can find them

Anyhow keeping on.

See Ya,
Mike

[caseville cyclone]

That's a beautiful suspension Mike,making ALOT of progress. Your right, my son said you are a little far away from Michigan. Andy

[lavron]

That's a beautiful suspension Mike,making ALOT of progress. Your right, my son said you are a little far away from Michigan. Andy

Oh well I will keep practicing, should of invested in abrasive stock before I started then maybe I could recoup some of the cost on grinding wheels

Just got UPS notification that my air bag mounts should arrive tomorrow, I am sure I will have to modify those like everything else once I get them on in theory I am roller again if I want to shove some blocks between the mounts front and rear, it would make for a rough ride going to have to start thinking about dropping some cash for the bags, funny $400 is a big ticket item on my build

Right now just the steering left to get done before the 15th of Sept. to meet the goal I have set for myself in month 3. Time to start thinking about running brakes and clutch lines etc. and really need to get the machine work done on the engine. Will think about what to set for my month 4 goal, lots to do.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

This took way too long, but after several models and one false start I got one side made.



It is the front shock mount, I still meed to get the hole where the shock mounts bored out larger and get the other side put together and welded, it is about half finished, but should be faster now that all the "engineering" is done.

I got this one mostly welded in and will add some more welds to the outside when I have the wheels off next time, the notch I cut out was to clear the rib on the inner fender.



Sorry about the extension cord I should have moved it out of the way. As you can see it was pretty dark today, it was storming while I was working and I don't have any lights in the shed just the trouble-light

My bag brackets arrived today as well along with the second shock, I will have to modify the brackets but should be pretty straight forward.

See Ya,
Mike

[bigdan]

Hard to tell what you've got going on there, but it looks like the shock is behind the UCA and your mount is welded to the frame rail and the apron? Looks good to me - should be plenty rigid once you close up your shock tower holes in the aprons. Looking good!

Dan

[lavron]

Hard to tell what you've got going on there, but it looks like the shock is behind the UCA and your mount is welded to the frame rail and the apron?

You got it, the steel is all 1/8", doubled up on the back and plug welded to the apron as well as welded solid to the frame. There is a loop on the back (wheel well side) at the top that holds the top part of the limiting strap. I am not sure I even need the limiting straps but I have them so I thought I would go ahead and put them on.

The lower control arms are made for air bags and have the lower shock mount made on them already

Got other stuff going on today but I am going to try to get out this morning and get the left one made and installed. Hopefully next week I can get the bag mounts on there.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Here is the back of the shock mount for the drivers side where you can see my limiting strap mount, this is not complete because I had to cut notches out of it as well.



I am SHOCKED now, got them both welded in and the holes enlarged in the top for the upper shock bushings.



I think I will do at least one more modification to them and add a gusset from the frame up on front/outside of both of them, probably don't need it but it won't hurt anything

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

A really tall picture, and probably can't see it super well but it is a progression from where I started to where I am today on the front end install.



Needs to be a slideshow

See Ya,
Mike

[bigdan]

Very impressive. What I've found, at this point, is I can look back and forget the effort I've put into it to get this far. So, I'm glad I'm not the only one taking a bunch of pics! Looking good as always -

Dan

[lavron]

Bags on the way my wife let me get something for the Comet for our 30th Anniversary (I mean I got her something as well not car related) She asked me what I wanted so I told her

It will be standing on it's own wheels soon, I hope, I may not have all of the air system yet but I have a compressor and I can put Schraeder valves on the bags for now until I get the few missing components.

Anyhow there you have it

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

Just noticed you've been reading through my hackery, happy you feel better about yours,, LOL
Mike, there was a time when I thought we might lose this forum. Other people were sorta running it, you were never around and hardly ever posted let alone working on your Comet.

Ya I thought your car would become a forgotten dream,,, SHAME ON ME!!!

I'm very happy for you to see all the work that has been completed recently, the goals you set and complete and the general quaility of your "Hackery"
Keep up the great work, I and many others enjoy watching our Forum Founder movin Forward,,
From Fred

[Rocket989]

Man, way to keep crankin’ it out!! I’ll bet it’s rolling before month end!! I don’t even have time to drive the heap much these days so it’s fun to read about the progress man!!