57 convertible, in project jail since 1996

[brushwolf]

Well, it is nice out again now in MN, so need to get back to where I left off before Florida trip.

Those paying attention may recall I had mechanically stripped the entire underside of the car, fixed some butchery to the uprights in rear portion of X member that a PO had done for exhaust/tailpipe clearance, and had repainted the underside so I would not get surface rust returning while I was in Florida.

Plan on undercoating it all underneath, except for the suspension components, the X frame and perimeter frame ahead of firewall.  Also plan on putting Eastwood rust preventative inside frame rails before running any new brake/fuel lines. A messy job however it is done.

I have gravel roads coming to and from my house, so don't care to listen to rocks bouncing off the underside of my re-furbished fenderwells and other underside metal. Will put some sound deadener inside as well, but not there yet.

Thinking I may spray the undercoating on the rear (including rear wheel wells) of the car right now, before installing the refurbished axle and new springs back in the car with the garage door open and plastic on the garage floor. That way I don't have to mask those parts. Then roll it outside, blow out the frame rails some more, put in the frame rust preventative, then spray the rest of underside outside the garage too. Less vapors to breathe.

But, I also have to install the vintage traction bars that require welding mounting tabs to the frame. And I also have the TBird Southwest rear sway bar to mount and IIRC, that may require some welding too.

Am I better off installing the rear axle, springs, traction and sway bars now and get the required welding done before spraying on the undercoating?  If I do so, then I will have to mask all those additional components, but does the risk of fire on the fresh undercoating make that the better approach?

Any pointers or opinions you have on traction bar or sway bar mount positioning for welding appreciated as well. Should the car be sitting on jack stands under axles in rear with maybe a few hundred pounds of weight added in trunk to compensate for missing trunk lid, bumper, spare tire, etc, to get approximate ride height before welding those on?

Or does the fact that motor transmission, front clip, interior, dash and glass are not installed make that a futile effort?  Front suspension and steering are on and front is sitting on tires on top of car ramps..

I believe I had cut a coil out of both front springs, figuring I have about five more spare sets if I need to change that later anyway.  The 351c with aluminum intake and water pump is roughly 100 lbs less than the Y block as well. Too many variables...

Thanks

[gasman826]

I sprayed tintable bed liner on the bottom side.  It dries up, no fire issue, gets hard and is very durable. 

If your traction devises are not adjustable, welding at ride height would be very, very important.

[brushwolf]

Looks like sway bar angle is adjustable to some extent, but traction bars are not. These traction bars were antiques when I bought them in original packaging, so no adjustable ends like modern versions. 

Maybe I will have to bolt them on and leave the welding of their mounting brackets till later when undercoating is fully dried and more parts have been put back on car.  Suppose I could modify them to one adjustable end, but would rather not. Both weld on brackets for sway bar and the traction bars are on outside of frame ahead of axle, it appears.

[hiball3985]

The rear bar is better set at ride height. My brackets to the frame had holes for a bolt on application but I tack welded also. There is some interference at the brake line T that has to be modified a little.

[brushwolf]

Yes, my frame brackets for traction bars do have a bolt hole too, so that is good enough for now if it matches a frame hole.  Will weld eventually though.. But, that does make me wonder if some people just bolted them on a pivot back in the day so suspension could still move more freely, though a limited amount.

Don't think the sway bar end brackets have a hole but I can just tie the ends up for the time being. Have not run new fuel or brake lines yet, cuz did not want to get overspray on them. So, figure to just route around any brackets in the way.

[brushwolf]

I sprayed tintable bed liner on the bottom side.  It dries up, no fire issue, gets hard and is very durable. 

If your traction devises are not adjustable, welding at ride height would be very, very important.

Yeah I sprayed each wheel well  overnight to see how bedliner vs undercoating comes out. Like the flatter finish appearance of the bedliner, but the softer thicker rubberized feel of the undercoating. Undercoat is glossy black. Don't care for that look underneath for a driver. Think I will overspray the undercoating side with bedliner tonight and see if they are incompatible or not.

Yep, I know.. Don't mix potentially incompatible coatings. But, not being a chemist I will just do a real world test.

[mustang6984]

HHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...might be that we have the same brain stem...guilty of the same thing on stuff like that. LOL!!! Would that make us "back yard chemists?" LOL!!!

[brushwolf]

Well, here goes nothin... Will overspray that undercoated side wheel well with bedliner and then get out of this garage to minimize fume inhalation... 

[brushwolf]

Anyone know a source for these leaf spring snubbers? Found new axle snubbers and the pinion snubber appears to be just another axle snubber, but spent hours online and cannot find these. I had just cut all my surviving snubbers off figuring on new ones anyway.

After wasting a lot of time online looking for them (Steele, Dennis Carpenter, Macs, EBay, etc.), I finally went out back and carefully removed these from a 57 Custom frame and stuck them on for now.  Figure worst-case basis that if they do not hold up I will have to whittle down some new axle snubbers to fit there instead..

[brushwolf]

Well, I will take that as a "nope, no longer available"... IDT with traction bars that those original spring snubbers off a Custom will ever be put under any stress anyway...

Axle is back in place, ancient NOS traction bars bolted on, but front bracket hole attaches to front leaf spring mount bolt. So, good enough for now, but will have to hunt down longer bolts being the threads are 1/4" short of the nut going all the way on. Will wait to run a weld bead along that traction bar front bracket to leaf spring bracket until the car is substantially re-assembled and at new ride height and longer bolts installed.

The Southwest rear sway bar is loosely clamped to axle. There is only a drawing for install instructions on that, but it appears to me that the U brackets on axle tube probably need to be welded in position on the axle as well as clamped or they will just spread and loosen.

The frame attachment brackets for the sway bar are apparently welded to inside of the car frame, rather than outside. I guess I cou,d wait to weld those too, but my new (expensive) plastic-sheathed E brake cables run directly underneath those, plus the E brake cables on convertible and retractable also look to potentially interfere with replacing the front spring bolt with a longer one.

So, IDK...  Thinking the best assembly sequence may be:

Get new spring eye bolts sourced and installed first.
Then weld the sway bar frame brackets on.
Then install the new E brake rear cables.

Anyone know off hand the dimensions of the original front spring eye bolts and if any other years used longer ones?

In the meantime, I will make new rear brake hard lines and start figuring out a new fuel line. I have multiple coils of the copper-nickel lines in multiple sizes and Eastwood flaring tool so that should keep me occupied while I wait for new spring bolts.

Will the original 5/16" fuel line be adequate for 1970 351c single Edelbrock 600 CFM 4v, or should I use 3/8" for the fuel line instead?  I have a bigger cam in that engine under advice of the engine machinist to bleed off a little dynamic compression cuz that was allegedly a 10:1 compression year motor for 2v heads in 1970 only.

[brushwolf]

Here is how sway bar is sitting now. Did not realize 4 attachments is the limit...

[Ford Blue blood]

The 5/16th" will be more then adequate.  Have that size in my 36 (since 1976) and the Ranchero.  Both 351C with a SC cam, cast iron manifolds and 2 1/4" exhaust pipes into Corvair Turbo mufflers.

[lalessi1]

I bought my Traction Masters bars from the guy who designed them in the day. Mine have a bracket that welds to the frame and the instructions were very specific about welding them on with the car at ride height. Nevertheless they do bind occasionally, especially when the axle is tilted to one side or another. I haven't seen a set up like yours where the bar bolts to a bracket on the spring perch. I think the longer length makes them less likely to bind.

[brushwolf]

Though idt geometry is really my strong suit, I would think that the closer the pivot point axis is vertically on the front of the spring and the traction bar, the greater the up and down movement range of those two relatively horizontal components should be before either component can restrict the movement of the other.

Though the spring becomes longer as it flattens and shorter again as it rebounds or is under torque tension, those dimensional changes should still be taken up by the shackles moving forward and backward anyway. IDK, but the nice thing about that is I can bolt it on and leave it to weld until the car is together and I am satisfied with ride height.

Found an online bolt supplier that has good prices and a very intuitive website allowing any quantity of any item (yes you can order one 3/8" washer if you want). Shipping is pretty cheap too. Ordered some grade 8 hardware to get longer front spring eye bolts.   https://www.boltdepot.com/about/Default.aspx

Looks like the original bolts are 4" long, so ordered 4 1/2" long which should leave me with 1/4" exposed threads even with the bracket on there. While waiting for those I started putting fuel and brake lines together. 

Don't know what I did with the brass brake line tee off the axle in 1994 when I took it off while still living in the city either. Have to go scavenge one off some other axle out back. I must have some more parts boxes for this car somewhere cuz went thru lots of boxes and cans, yet noticed I also can't find my convertible top tacking strips for under the rear curtain either. There is a 58 convertible parts car out back that still has those, on a worst case basis though.

[gasman826]

If you step back and squint at Traction Masters, they will form a four-link.  The main leaf is the top link and the Traction Master as the lower bar.  Making the distance between the main leaf and the rear TM bolt center the same as the front of the leaf to the front TM bolt the same measurement will for a more parallel four-link with the least binding.  I made TM clones because I wanted adjustment.  Even with the initial install at curb height, a violent, second gear shift would result in a side kick from the rear end.  A couple of twists on the adjustable bars and the side kick was resolved.