little by little

[big m]

Vic,
Having gotten very familiar with my own car, the crease is part of the factory stamping, and should be identical on both sides. Maybe because the one side is in primer and the other is not, makes them appear different. The rear support you have shown on the floors is strictly for coupe and convertibles, although the floor pans from a four door car will fit, and you just have to add the support back in afterwards.

---John

[vic barone]

Thanks John

Hi all
Attached are some further progress pics

Had chassis sand blasted and primed ready to paint

Been sanding down some panels my coach builder has finished off - cant say I enjoy it much (that is until they are painted)

Weather here is getting better every day for cruising. the following is a link to an American Car only cruise night held once a month http://www.zipsautogallery.net/zips

Unfortunately not many Forward Look cars on the night - so looking forward to get the Sport Fury out.

Managed to event get my daily driver in a pic - yep I have a 65 Tbird I drive daily - as they say life's too short to keep them in the garage!

Even with fuel prices at $1.60 p/L still having fun.

Cheers

Vic

[jason]

Looking great Vic......Missed ya on the last cruise!
Lots of cars out even Ross' 300F the black one was out.
look forward to catching up soon man!

[vic barone]

Cheers Jason

Plans were to at least join the run at West Lakes but plans went pear shape!!

Hope to see yo at either All American day or even Chrysler day

Cheers

Vic

[vic barone]

Hi All

Hope everyone has managed to have a great start to the New Year

I have finally managed to get some time to update my status. I have been watching everyones progress especially Dick's, John Q & Big M. If it wasn't for guys like you that post regularly and give us all the right info on the do's and donts, restoring these cars would be hard work.

John Q your car has come out great, must say love it with the wide whitewall tyres, they really do set it off. Dick your work and detail is amazing. I hope I have as much energy as you do to keep me going thru this resto.

Current Update

Have finally got a rolling chassis back up and running ready for the motor which is finally started after so many run arounds from two mechanics. The body is almost ready to start the paint work and I have now started taking down all the little odds and ends to have ready to start mounting back onto the car. After much debate and deliberation I have chosen to not proceed with my 361 as it would have needed to have been taken out to 60 thou and although I the feed back I was given said that this would still be ok for this type of block, - just dont want to run into over heating problems once built. I have decided to build a 383, I managed to find a standard core engine for only $400 (not sure how this compares in the US) but this is not a bad price for AUS. Since I am no longer an original engine I have decided to also run a 456 storker kit thru it with a very mild cam. Will still be running the stock exhaust manifolds so that it still looks the same on the outside. I have recently sent off my dual carbs for a total rebuild and hope to get them back in the next week. Turns out they are 1957 Carter WFB - must say not a bad score for only $50 (inlet manifold and carbs ) back 20 years ago.

I have put in another order with Gary Goers for some fire wall pads, heater box cardboard and some other small rubber parts. Wont hold my breath though as I know he has a back order but none the less the goods are always good and he always delivers

I was talking with my coach builder the other day and he mentioned that i need the shoulder bolts for the convertible top. If I recall Dick I think you actually got them re made. Is there any chance you would be able to give me the details of the local shop that did them or if you are prepared to sell the old ones I would be interested in them

I have managed to rebuild the tail shaft with trunion bearing (i think that correct) so that its al ready for when the engine and trans get dropped in.

If all goes well looks like this might finally be the year that I get this car on the road

A few more pics

Hope to post a few more in the near future

Cheers

Vic

[Dick Koch]

Vic - Talk about detail, you are doing pretty good youself. What happened to your shoulder bolts? The ones I have are destroyed but I kept them (Just in Case). If you have your old ones a good old school machinest should be able to duplicate them. Meanwhile I will bring my old ones to my machinest and see if they will make me a set or two. Will get back to you.
Dick.

[Dick Koch]

Vic - The shoulder bolts I had made are the ones for the folding frame itself. 4 on each side, each one different. There are two more larger ones on each side that mounts the frame to the car. Do you need these also.
Dick.

[Dick Koch]

Opps!! There are Three (3) larger ones on each side that mounts the frame to the car.
Dick.

[vic barone]

Thanks Dick

I will be at the body shop on Sat so I will see exactly what I need. Unfortunately the top came in pieces when I got the car so not sure exactly what I have

Will touch base soon

Cheers

Vic

[vic barone]

Hi Dick

Went to the workshop yesterday and noted that I am missing quite a few of the shoulder bolts. It would appear that i have the 4 main bolts that connect to the rear well i.e. two long shoulder bolts and two smaller ones

I then appear to have a mixture of other bolts including two shoulder bolts with blank heads. I now recall that when i got the car there were normal bolts holding it together

I then spent four hours sanding back all of the frame - boy its takes a long time

[vic barone]

Any help you might be able to shed on which ones I might need made up or who can supply them would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Vic

[vic barone]

few more pics

for those of you who dont have a sand blaster. You can use molasses and water to strip the rust off the smaller parts. I mix 10 parts water to 1 part molasses. Let it soak for about two weeks, then high pressure clean, wire wheel and its ready for painting

heres an example

Just watch out for aluminium as it eats it up. Lost my dash mouldings that separate the speedo from the push buttons - luckily had another pair

Happy restorations!

[Dick Koch]

Vic - Let me start over. There is no way I can figure out what you need from the pictures. I just did a thourough look see and this is how I see it:

Each side on the main frame has: Five threaded shoulder bolts with a head. Two of them with Phillips slots.
One long threaded bolts with no head but slotted for screwdriver.
One long pin with a cotter pin.
One short pin with a cotter pin for header bow.

Each side for mounting to the car: Three threaded shoulder bolts with a head. The largest one has two wavy spring washers.
One long threaded shoulder bolt with a head to mount the cylinders to the main frame.

Each and everyone of the bolts are all different. I will get a price from my machinist for a complete set (both sides) if you would like. Let me know.
Dick.

[big m]

Dick,

I could use a full set as well, as mine are completely gone.

Thanks in advance, John

[Matthew Keij]

If anyone needs pics of the top frame let me know, I will get pics of every single parts you want to see.

Vic and JohnF, what color are you going to make the top frame?
All the documents say it is originally ivory white.
I bought another top frame 2(?) years ago because I needed parts and it was an original frame in black.