FINAL TOUCHES (2)

 

I know I said that the last page  would be the only page that I will update, but as you can see, I have had a few dramas with the paint. That took up much of the page. So, to save the endless scroll, I decided to make another page.

 

I finally have the 37 back from the painters. They did a fantastic job and I am very pleased. You can see the reflections quite clearly in the paint. That is not buffed, straight off the gun. The whole back section was completely stripped and re bogged (bondo). There is no signs of bubbles or ripples. The doors were not stripped, just rubbed back and re primed and painted. I spent a few days re assembling it all. Taking my time not to damage anything. The thing that took most of my time was getting the boot solenoid operating properly. I had to buy another bicycle cable as the original must have a bit of paint inside it as it kept binding. Next thing that took time was re fitting all the interior. I am pleased I managed to fit it all back in as good as it originally was done. Marg was pleased to get it all out of the lounge room. It all just needed a big clean and vacuum.
Only issue I have to think about is the convertible top clips have had the mounting holes filled in, so I will need to do some measurements and try and drill them in the same positions. Last pic shows I mounted the Ford script on the drop down flap. It adds the final touches. Well Marg and me think it does anyway. An added (accidental) feature is one of the mounting prongs is in line with the CDs on/off switch. By pressing on the flap, I can turn the unit off and on without dropping the flap down. I will place a small rubber boot over the prong so it doesn't mark the switch.
I was given a nudge bar off a fellow rodder, who said it was taken off the 37 that was totalled nearly 8 years ago and was the inspiration for my 37. I sent a template off to another fellow rodder who does profile cutting and general engineering. He then made me the two you see here. They are fantastic and finish off the front nicely. Anyone wanting similar can contact me and I'll put you in touch with Carl ( the engineer). I believe he kept a template as well. I also made a temporary number plate bracket that bolts to the grill
On the first run with the nudge bars fitted, I was showing them to another rodder who informed me that he was the guy that made the originals way back when. Rather ironic I guess. He suggested taking royalties:-)

The next pic shows a second transmission cooler I installed beside the original one. I felt the single smaller unit was just coping and one thing I've learnt about automatics, is their life span will be decreased drastically if they run hot. The new unit is the same length as the original but larger diameter and the cooling fins go all the way into the fluid path, making it a lot more efficient. I had to make brackets to hang the unit off the rail. I then connected the fluid line so the units are in series. Looks like I need to secure the wiring loom as well. I will be changing out the brake booster next week, so while I'm under there I'll fasten some clips to it.
This shows my nice new Cal Custom style rocker covers made by an Aussie company called Speed Co. I saw these a couple of years ago at Wintersun, and had in my mind that I will get them someday. I must say that I was a little disappointed when they arrived. The quality of the polishing was not the same as they show in their display. I let them know as well. The response was it would cost more. Obviously, they should display that instead. I spent a bit of time manually polishing them up. I would have liked to do the area where the mounting bolts are, but that would take much to long, and I'm not equipped to do it either. Still, I like the look.
I had to grind a small area behind the left hand cover to clear the firewall. Just where there is a  body mould. It is fairly tight there and the old covers just missed. The new ones are a lot more chunky. Makes the Clevo look like a big block:-)

Next item was to replace the large Ford brake booster with a smaller Gemini unit. You can see the size difference here along with the mangled guard that I've repaired a few times now.
By converting to the Gemini booster, I can do away with the guard. I might cure that unexpected brake lock up problem as well. After a bit of cutting, drilling and grinding, it fits like a glove. The Ford master cylinder had to have the mounting holes elongated about 1/8" wider on both sides so it could fit the metric studs. Apart from that, I made a template of the new booster mounting pattern with a piece of cardboard, then marked the holes on the booster mounting plate. A bit of drilling ( awkward as well ) and adjusting the push rod had it finished. On the test drive, I must admit, I can feel no difference in brake pressure. I was expecting the smaller booster to require a little bit more. You can see the brake switch wires hanging down, but I assure you, its just the angle of the picture. They are about 1" above the lowest point.
Why is this guy under the 37 you may ask?...well, while cruising  in the park at the recent Valla run,park, a representative from Australian Street Rodding approached me to do an article on it. So we drove to an open area so he could take some pics. I filled out a form  pointing out all the details. I also directed him to this web site. He may as well get the whole story I guess. The day before, me and Marg went for a country cruise and ended up driving on 20 odd Kms of dirt road. To the amusement of the local farmers seeing a hot rod going off road. Needless to say, I  had much washing and cleaning to do before this photo shoot.

The very last pic is a moment of pride. Out of 80 something rookies that were present, guess who got the  prize? To be judged as the best, when there were so many nice rods there was an honour. To top it off, it ran so well. Not one moment of concern. Yeah, I'm proud. Seems to justify the  3,400 hours  toiling away in my garage. Another pleasing aspect was a well known rodder, who was trying to buy the 37 back in 1999 didn't even recognise it. Even when he was going all over it. He was very surprised when I told him it is the same car. He commented on how well it looked and I done a great job. All in all, it was a great week at Valla.:-)
   
 
Now I have driven the 37 for a while, I have noticed the steering not feeling right. Basically, one wheel was fighting the other when I was doing tight turns. That pointed to the Ackerman being out, so I taped a string to the centre of the diff and bought it forward to intersect the lower control arm ball joint. While keeping it straight, it should intersect the tie rod ball joint, but as you can see, it's about 2 1/2"  to far in. 
The solution was to heat and bend the steering arms as far as I could before they hit the rim. Ideally, they should have gone in another inch or so, but that was not possible with the 15" rims. If they were 17" or larger, then maybe that would allow me to get it perfect. Front steer cars are hard to get right for that reason. Still, it's a lot better than it was. At least it's not reverse Ackerman now. I have read that heating the steering arms is acceptable as long as you let them cool naturally and don't rapidly cool them with water. I made rod extenders by cutting off the threaded portion of a pair of old ball joints and the threaded portion off an old rack.

Next pic was taken at the Idle Wild memorial day run. Not clearly visible, is the trophy I am holding. Another surprise!. I really wanted to go to this run as the Idle Wild club put on a great day. Their raffle prizes alone are a good reason to attend. The weather was forecast as rain, so Marg and me decided the night before not to go, so we slept in. When I woke, the skies were blue and hardly a cloud. I told Marg I'll venture out, but I think I might be turning back some time. I just took the cover off the 37 and drove off. Luckily. I did, as this glass engraved trophy is certainly a nice reward. Marg has ordered a pair of  glass display cabinets. She wanted to show off her nice glass ware, but I guess I will occupy one with the 37s trophies at this rate.;-) Thanks to Chris and Des for taking the pic.
January 2008. OK, it's been a while since I updated anything on the site. Honestly, there's not been much happening except driving it.( which has been a blast ). One thing I finally done was to fit a radio aerial. Since this was only going to be used on the odd occasion, I wanted something fairly discreet and removable. In the first pic I have pointed to an area in the hold down bracket for the convertible top. I have taken out the hold down bolt for a clearer picture. That hole was not used for any particular reason, so I ran the coax up the centre windscreen post and glued in a plastic washer. I then attached the aerial conductor to a screw. The aerial is then screwed to the screw when needed. With the top up, the aerial just lays flat up the inside of the roof. With the top down, it pokes up a bit, following the angle of the windscreen. It works rather well and when I'm not using it, I unscrew it and put it in the glove box, leaving very little sign of the feature..
June 2008 It's been a while since any updates. To be honest, there has not been much to show cause I have just been driving it and having fun. There is about 6,000kms on it now and its has been great to drive. One thing is it doesn't like corners, so I got hold of a anti-sway bar off an L300 and cleaned and painted it up. I had left the brackets on the control arms as I always intended to put a anti-sway bar on eventually. The first pic shows it hanging off the control arm brackets. I positioned the front mounting brackets into the required position, then stuck my head under the front to see anywhere I can attach/weld a bracket to. I then spotted the radiator brackets I made way back and removed the radiator mounting bolts. The next pic was taken from under the car shows the hole in the bracket. To much delight and surprise, they lined up perfectly with the anti sway bar brackets.
All that was required was slightly enlarging the hole. I had some old urethane bushes and they slid nicely over the rod. The bracket should be strong enough as it is made from 3mm thick angle iron and I had welded it from all angles onto the spreader bar. With it all tightened up, there is a gap of about 3/8" under the radiator. I couldn't have planned it better if I tried!!!. So now the sway bar bracket also acts as a radiator anchor. I have yet to take it out on the road but I reckon it should be a lot better. Only issue is it may be a bit low over speed humps. Time will tell.
Just a little update. After driving the 37 up to Valla and back, I decided the sway bar done absolutely nothing. In fact, it just made noises and looked ugly...so...I have now removed it. At least I gave it a try. OK, now for some updates. I needed a cigarette lighter outlet for all the modern accessories that we have these days, like GPS, mobile phones, and all other devices. I certainly didn't want a large hole in the dash, but it needed to be accessible. The solution was an outlet converter.
OK, here it is. It's a small power socket, similar to what is found on mobile phones and alike. I tapped into the battery feed that feeds the clock and radio permanent wire. That is already fused at the battery, so it seemed perfect. The next pic is looking up under the dash at the ledge. You can see the miniature power socket.
Here is a view with it plugged in. When its not needed, I simply unplug it and put it in the glove box. 

Next pic is a modified cabinet door latch. The problem I had was the bonnet was not releasing enough when I pulled the release cable. I had to get someone at the front to lift the bonnet while I pulled on the cable from inside the car.
I trimmed it to fit in an enlarged  hole in the radiator cover. When the bonnet closes, it pushes down on the nylon roller, which in turn compresses a spring. It has just enough energy to pop the bonnet out of the latch when I pull the cable. I can now open the bonnet on my own;-)
Update Jan 2009...While on the last run down to Victoria, I noticed the steering was not feeling right. It also was making strange noises. I convinced myself that it was not to serious, even though the tyres were scrubbing on the outer edges. When I got home I pulled the front end apart, this is what I found. The urethane bushes fell out as I pulled the control arms out. This brand I have never used, so I had no idea what to expect. I have now replaced them with a brand I have used in the past and the whole car drives and feels great. I'm up for a pair of tyres soon.

 

 

 

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