The 69 Adventure
Chapter 16 – It's Starting to Look Like a Car
The glow of running engine lasted at least a week - oh heck, I still smile about it! It is still unbelievable (at least to me) that we could assemble all these little parts and the thing ran the first time we tried it! No, it didn't just run, it ran well and roared. The engine (to this day) has never had a problem - no leaks, to metallic clunks, it just runs. Even when I have adjusted the timing or a coil wire went bad, the darn thing runs! That engine is certainly a tribute to the genius who designed and built it! I couldn't have asked for more.
| When I first fantasized about this project (and it was a fantasy), I had envisioned getting an engine / transmission and just dropping it in an existing 69 Camaro......and racing it. Jase has let me know there was a bit more to it than that, even before we started. But I don't think either of us realized how much more for this car. We had our engine and tranny, now we wanted to drive it! It wasn't quite that simple. The day after the first running, we were back working on the body, while the monster slept under a tarp. | |
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Every so often, we'd start the engine: I just wanted to hear it run! I think Jase was breaking it in. The body was resting on 4x4's held up by cinder blocks. It had been supported this way for almost 3 months and had been very stable for us to work on. But in order for us to get the rear in and the ladder bar under, we were going to have to remove some of the supports and get the body up higher. Jase also wanted to finish what he could while there was as little in his way as possible.
| The following weekend, SnowyJay was down from NY and it
seemed like the time was right to get the frame and rear in. LuvMyFormy,
Lee, and Daisy also visited.
69Mustang's engine hoist was going to help someone else out - thanks, Nate- so Jay & Kat packed it up. Jase had gone to the junkyard with Jeff and 89Iroc in February. The rear came out of a 77 Lincoln Towncar . The gears were 3.50's Jase had found on ebay. |
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| The 69 was lifted while we stacked more cinderblocks, until it was high enough for the ladder bar to slide under. I was worried about the stability while they were working |  |
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Jase welded, and fabricated shock mounts - on the outside of the ladderbar for added stability. We finally got to envision how the car would look when it was done - but we were still a long way from done, and getting more impatient. |  |
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Daisy did have a fun day, playing with Bruiser and Icebox, vying for their attention, and basking in the sun. |  |
While the guys were doing the stuff that required muscle, I wasn't much help. I still felt like crap; the boob was still acting up, and while I didn't have the pain from the headaches, I had all the other symptoms. Jase had learned to tell when I had a headache and just told me to sit - if I didn't, I was liable to fall cause my equilibrium was gone. I was tired of not helping and tired of painkillers.
I was determined to get the dash done, though. I used posterboard to make a pattern and transferred that to styrofoam. I wheedled the styrofoam until it fit. Then we cut holes for the Autometer Phantom gauges. Jase liked the smoked plexiglas I had in the garage, so we decided to use that. I came home on May 19th to find he had cut the plexiglas and installed the gauges. Jase had opted to paint the back of the plexiglas black, since he didn't like being able to see through to all the wires. He labeled and wired the gauges. We just had to see how it would look, so we dragged a battery in the house to light them up! I was pleased with the look and we had one more task accomplished.
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| We ordered axles from Moroso thru Gambardelli's. They took almost 4 weeks to get them and then the driver's side was inches too long. We took them back and they were going to have to be redone. |  |
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We got some 20 gauge sheet metal and Jase set about
rebuilding a floor for the car and wheel wells.
May 24th |
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I was starting to feel really badly. Jase hadn't signed on to this project with the knowledge that he was going to build an entire car! He insisted that this was something he had always wanted to do - I had my doubts! |
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Memorial Day Weekend, we had the battery and fuel cell in. I undercoated the car - once with Zero-Rust and twice with sprayed undercoating. The front tires were on too! |  |
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Jase was working on the exhaust. We had ordered the Flowmaster for the original 69 but with the ladderbar, it wasn't going to fit. We had to get Hookers and exhaust pipe from Midas and Jase made an exhaust. |
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Looking back, we accomplished so much in May , but neither of us was satisfied. We still hadn't driven the Bastard and it seemed everything was becoming harder - nothing just worked out right the first time. Things in the house were getting tense too. |
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