Swifster

NOTE: There is a another version of this thread on the SDC Forum. An attempt will be made to update both threads at the same time. Why dual threads? Well, there are quite a few who post in one site but not the other. I don't want to limit good feedback and suggestions that may only be available on one site or the other. The original post was on 07/17. There may also be another thread on the Jalopy Journal site as well.

07/17/07 - I've had this car since 2003. It was bought in South Lake Tahoe, CA for $880 as a roller (no engine or transmission). When I purchased the car, the idea was to just toss a Chevy crate engine at it and be done. But over time, and after spending too much time on this site (SDC) , I have changed what I want this car to be.

I've always had a bit of hot rodder in me, and this car will reflect that. But I have been greatly influenced by Dick Steinkamp's '54 Starliner, Ron Butt's '59 Lark, and the '65 Commander that was on Ebay that belonged to Boyd Coddington's favorite customer, Scotty. This car will be a restomod.



Dick once mentioned that he built the Starliner the way he would have wanted when he was in high school. I like this idea and it has stuck with me (I hope I didn't embarass you Dick ). Having been raised in metro Detroit within a stones throw of Gratiot Ave. and Woodward Ave., I like the stories of the Big 4 engineers taking their latest, greatest machines out to the street to do battle. I can picture in my mind Jimmy Addison's '67 Plymouth GTX (given to him by the Chrysler engineering staff) lining up at the light against one of Ace Wilson's Royal Bobcat GTO's (Ace Wilson owned Royal Pontiac and did all the serious tuning on the Pontiacs in the area including stuff sent by PMD). This makes me think of 4-speeds, slapper bars, mag wheels and other period speed equipment.

So with minor exceptions that shouldn't be visible, everything on the car should be no older than 1967. No high schooler would have had a brand new car, but it wouldn't have been uncommon to have a 3 year old car. My car, as you can tell from the production order, was equiped typical for the time. While my car came with a 4-speed, it came with a 289 2-bbl, an open 3.31 rear axle, bucket seats and a console. Extras included a push button radio, Climatizer (heater), white wall tires and full wheel covers.

So based on this, what would a young guy do to improve his Daytona in the late '60's? On the outside, a set of 15" X 6" Cragar S/S wheels mounted with the latest performance polyglass tires (7.75X15) with gold or red stripes? A set of traction bars tucked under the rear axle? A set of 3.73's or 4.10's? Inside he might have an aftermarket AM-FM radio, an 8-track tape player, a reverb unit and rear speakers. Maybe even a wood steering wheel and hurst shifter to be a little sporty.

Under the hood there would have been a change to a 4-bbl carb and intake, a cam change, the heads ported and headers. Because our boy isn't rich, and because then as now, superchargers and their pieces aren't easy to come by, it will most likely stay a R1 'want-to-be'. The change to a dual master cylinder would be for safety. A dual exhaust with Thrush style glass-pack mufflers to clear out the spent gasses with nice mellow tone would add to the package. Can anyone think of anything else?

This is the car as it currently sits in the garage;



I'm going to track the build in this thread. This can be real good or real embarassing (I'm hoping it's going to be good ). One other thing. My one concession on this build my be adding A/C. While I don't think too many cars patroled Woodward with the A/C on, living in Florida has kind of made this something to think about .

OK, I'm open to suggestions and feedback.

Swifster

08/19/07 - Well, it took a little bit, but I was able to get my 289 engine from Tallahassee. Loaded up my Ranger with the engine and I headed back towards Tampa after a tour of the shop and yard. So far, so good. I arrived home around 1:00AM and left the engine in the truck over night. Sunday morning I went to my local FLAPS and bought an engine stand rated at 750#. The minute the engine was left to it's own weight on the stand, the cross bar between the wheels buckled (FAILED!). The engine was at a 45* angle with a severe nose down attitude. ARRRGGGGHHH! Fortunately I wasn't hurt and neither was the engine.

Yesterday I went to Harbor Freight and bought a 1000# stand, borrowed the engine hoist from the body shop at Bill Heard Chevrolet in Plant City (I previously worked there and they still like me! ). The switch went well, the hoist was returned and I was given a refund on the old stand (actually it was more like a credit...I spent more than the stand cost while I was there!).

So here it is. It's a 289-2V out of a '64 Cruiser that had approximately 50,000 miles. It was sold to me fully dressed with the accessories intact (the power steering stuff was still in the car and I'll pick that up my next trip north). I have an alternator, 2-bbl carb, carb linkage, A/C compressor and brackets, fan, pulleys, fuel pump, etc. After getting the garaged cleaned up and the engine switched over, I enjoyed a nice cold Diet Coke sitting on my tailgate making engines noises with a grin on my face (OK, so maybe I wasn't making noises, but the neighbors wife said she could here the noises in my head just looking at the grin on my face, and she was right!).



I'm going to be disassembling the accessories off the engine for storage and plan on having stuff cleaned up and painted or powdercoated before wrapping them up for the day everything is reassembled. ARP sells many of the bolts used on this engine in a black oxide or a bright stainless. I'll probably be using mostly black oxide with the exception of the valve covers and valley plate.

Swifster

08/21/07 - I wanted to do something, so I went to Home Depot and bought a bucket, mineral spirits and a stiff brush. I had a couple of pieces that came with the car the were covered in built up grease. One was the inspection plate between the engine and the FOM (Flight-O-Matic transmission). The other appears to be the rear mount bracket.

I didn't want to buy an expensive parts washer just yet so the bucket suits the purpose. After scrubbing, both pieces look pretty decent. The mount bracket is twisted on one end, so I'm going to try my hand at straightening it. Then both will go in the pile with the radiator support, upper air deflector and the two grill supports to go for powdercoating. I'm going to get the accessory drives off first and take those as well.

Swifster

08/24/07 - For better or worse, I've added the dollar amount spent in my signature . This will include the cost of parts, parts shipping costs, outside services and anything else related to the direct construction of the car. This will not include gas spent on trips, tools, or other stuff outside of the car itself. Heck, this number will be bad enough, right ?

Swifster

08/28/07 - Well, as I've already blown my monthly budget, I was out during Saturday and Sunday pulling some of the front accessories off the engine to lighten the burden on the engine stand. I pulled the A/C compressor off with the brackets still attached to keep together as a unit. The alternator and brackets, the power steering pump mounting bolts and water pump pulleys have been pulled. The carb was removed and listed on Ebay.

I made a little 'How To' on disassembling and storing parts for a novice just starting their first build.

Swifster

08/29/07 - I bought a second starter from another SDC member. As mentioned, I'll have one as a spare. I plan on rebuilding both at the same time. Cost was $34.00 shipped.

Swifster

I sold the 2-BBL Stromberg carburetor that came with the engine to a SDC member. I was also able get a Stewart Warner Greenline Motor Minder vacuum gauge on Ebay. It was $102, but is was an NOS gauge which I thought justified the cost. The new units being sold by SW are approximately this price, but this isn't one of the gauges being reproduced. Hopefully I'll be able to find a nice oil temperature gauge to match.

Silvia_San

thts pretty awesome. i'm def gonna check back on this thread. do you have any more pics of the chassis?

Swifster

Not yet. As I get further into the car, I'll be posting more. Keep an eye on the 'Garage', as this will have a current picture of the car. As things change, so will the pictures.

GRez

Sweet!