'58 (nash) rambler american family project

[mygasser]

we went to the nsra swapmeet today and i collected the torque thrust wheels. we can fit the new tyres now. i also got a used late fe 3 bolt starter and a nos windsor one which will work by swapping the nose from the fe one if it ever fails. i bought a matching late 184 tooth flexplate from ebay this evening so that issue's sorted. i checked rock auto last sunday for distributor prices and bought a repro single point one for £69 including shipping etc so was very happy with that. the last thing i needed was a carb but as ashley bought a tunnel ram and 2 carbs for his 440 today i'll have his holley 750 vs for the nash.
neil.

[mygasser]

well that's the wheels and tyres all ready. we just have to build a car to fit them to now
and it's been a while but here's a reminder of what we're building, lol
neil

[mygasser]

well, there's no going back now
the back axle, fuel tank and complete front suspension is out and on the floor. so it's not coming out until it's on it's new wheels, suspension, axles etc.
everything came undone with no snapped bolts which was a bonus. i reckon the tank will be reused, it just needs a dent popping out and 2 spiked holes welding where i guess the old fuel was 'drained' before shipping .
the steering box/column etc will be next then we'll start offering up the straight axle
neil.

[mygasser]

i thought we'd have a 'look' at the damaged o/s rear 1/4 to see if it's saveable. eerrrrrr........... that'll be a big fat no then. the arch doesn't matter as they'll be radiused anyway but above that going forward and almost back to the rear light the metal's just too stretched. it didn't help when some c0ck thought it'd be a good idea to drill 20 million holes to try to pull the dent out. if the idiot had took the wheel off they'd have seen you can access the entire 1/4 panel from behind as there's no inner arch!
so..... plan 'b' is get the rear axle shortened to suit the wheels/tyres, then we'll know how far to radius the arches. then 'wheel' some repair sections and let them in as required. luckily the n/s is perfect so the new panels can be laid over that side to get the shape right.
so far the inside of the damaged 1/4 has had all the underseal removed. there's no easy way so it was blow torch, scraper and wire brush time, deep joy.
i better go and pick up the 8x4 sheet of zintec from my mate's place that he ordered in for me.
neil.
ps i'll edit with a pic or 2 once the camera's charged up, doh!

[ScottyDave]

Messy job removing the underseal I'm not a fan of that task

[mygasser]

Messy job removing the underseal I'm not a fan of that task

nor me, lol. i was up in the 1/4 panel so i could see and it was bl00dy hot too
neil.

[mygasser]

first things first.... the camera battery seems to have died and won't charge . to be fair the camera's about 20 years old and the last battery i bought was probably at least 10 years ago. looks like another one is due if they're even available, lol.
back to the car, the old axle, wheels and front suspension were moved over the road. then the car, exploder axle and wheels/tyres were all measured. the results are that with 2 of the short side halfshafts the wheels/tyres will be level with the arches so that's a result. i'll have a look on the summit racing website to price a couple up, the shipping seems to be a killer these days though so the long ones i have may still get narrowed.
neil.

[mygasser]

i thought i'd check with rock auto for the short explorer half shaft cost. i know there'll be some duties this end when they arrive (26th, next friday!) but at £250 including shipping for 2 brand new dana shafts there's no point getting the used ones shortened and resplined. plus it'd probably be weeks before i got them back so a time saver too.
neil.

[mygasser]

monday we started assembling the front spindle/hub/ brakes. the used ford round back spindles had inner bearing/seal spacers pressed on for whatever hubs were on them. these needed pulling off (with some heat) and then turned down into a thinnish sleeve. this was because the hubs were for a disc conversion on a 49-54 chevy car and those spindles must be a tad bigger diameter. the first one's done with a forged caliper bracket attached then the hub fitted. the gm calipers then didn't fit as the brackets have a 5 1/2" bolt spacing and the calipers are 6". i do have another pair of calipers so i'll check them tomorrow. if not the 'chevy' conversion brackets will get altered to suit. one way or another this hodge podge of mismatched (but cheap, lol) parts will work seamlessly together. also today we had a rough measure up of the back end of the car and the total axle/wheel/tyre width and with the 2 short shafts that are on the way the wheels will be just under or level with the arches so spot on.
jump forward to today......
half shafts arrived today with no duties to pay, result.
also i checked the other pair of calipers and they fit the brackets spot on, 2nd result. the only other thing was the caliper wasn't centred on the disc so we made spacer rings to sandwich between the spindle and caliper bracket. it now sits and rotates nice an smoothly.
neil.

[MattH]

You make it all sound so easy!
I'm struggling to bleed brakes and remove a tight steering wheel boss from the column!

[mygasser]

yeah, sometimes the simplest jobs are the biggest ballache matt, lol. i've got a cheap hand pump vacuum bleeder for brakes, it makes it an easy one man job. those steering wheels can seem like they're welded on sometimes too, been there myself.

after moving the old lathe over the road today i had a chat with ash about where we're at with the front brake mockup. i mentioned the last job would be redrilling the hubs to ford pcd as they're chevy. then as i said it i glanced at the other tube axle stood against the wall that is for ashley's zephyr. that's ford pcd. his front slot mags were vw 4 stud so have been welded up ready to drill to 5 stud. i said if i drill your wheels to chevy you can have these hubs and i'll have those that are ford. a bonus for him is the chevy ones are drilled and grooved and shiny, the ford ones are plain discs and surface rusty which i'm not worried about, lol. so no hub drilling for me now, result.
with a bit of lateral thinking most things can be achieved simply or cheaply and sometimes both.
neil.