Sparky's '56 Wagon Build
- Thread starter Sparky Powers
- Start date
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
Duane, I'm not sure that I will see much of a drop in engine temps. I have been driving it for a year now with one fender with the vent already already cut and I didn't see a noticeable drop then even with air temps over 110* here in Vegas and Death Valley. With the engine running I could feel a small amount of air coming out the vent. I cut them in mainly for looks.
The Jeepster build is going to be exciting, I have big and crazy plans for it.
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
agne2520
Well Oiled
Your wagon is looking good Sparky. Was wondering what your opinion is so far, on the power window kits you installed. Will be to that point soon and thought I'd get your thoughts on whether you'd give them a thumbs up or down. Thanx
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
I haven't got to that point of the build, yet. I hope to be at that point by this coming weekend. When I did the mock up portion of the build I could knock any part of the kit. It was a very complete kit with all of the wiring you will need. The motors ran nice and smooth and very quite. I will update this as soon as I get it back together with pics.
Steve
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
It's been a busy weekend and I wish it could have been completing the wiring on my wagon. I promised a customer that I would finish up his 530hp LS3 that I'm installing in his 57 Chev pickup once I returned from vacation. I got his truck fired up and finished up some of the small details on his 57 and then I ran over to another friends house to teach him how to do drywall. So I was still able to find a few minutes to work on the Wagon again this weekend. I got the A/C box installed and the vents. I now need to run all of the heat and A/C lines, dryer and trinary switch.
The day before leaving for Moab we went to put the hood on and I had one of those OH $h!+ moments. Somehow, someway the measurements for the hood hinges were off. Instead of cutting to modify the firewall to get the hinges in the correct placement I decided to machine some mis-allignment blocks. I hope that these aren't too noticable. If they are I think I will engineer some new hinges that of are more modern style. These blocks are designed so that they could be mounted to the hood with counter sunk holes so that the hood hinge will sit flush onto the block. The hood hinge now will bolt straight into the block and have the normal adjustment as factory. The block is 3/8" and I think that the hood hinge mounts have enough adjustment in it that the hood doesn't sit to much higher than stock.
Here is a pic of the heat A/C vent and it still need the trim ring. These are modified Cadillac vents. They had a very close angle as the Willys dash has near the far edges.
[/url]20170605_153659 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr
Mis-alignment blocks. Showing both sides. One set of holes are threaded for the hood hinge to mount to and the other is countersinks that allow the bolt to pass thru and bolt to the hood.
[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/VjzxPV][img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4276/34997151391_e5c5fa5a27_c.jpg[/url]20170605_153637 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Now you can see that the holes were off by a lot.
The factory hood holes are bolted in place and the new hole spacing has the screws in it.
[/url]20170605_173503 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
The day before leaving for Moab we went to put the hood on and I had one of those OH $h!+ moments. Somehow, someway the measurements for the hood hinges were off. Instead of cutting to modify the firewall to get the hinges in the correct placement I decided to machine some mis-allignment blocks. I hope that these aren't too noticable. If they are I think I will engineer some new hinges that of are more modern style. These blocks are designed so that they could be mounted to the hood with counter sunk holes so that the hood hinge will sit flush onto the block. The hood hinge now will bolt straight into the block and have the normal adjustment as factory. The block is 3/8" and I think that the hood hinge mounts have enough adjustment in it that the hood doesn't sit to much higher than stock.
Here is a pic of the heat A/C vent and it still need the trim ring. These are modified Cadillac vents. They had a very close angle as the Willys dash has near the far edges.
Mis-alignment blocks. Showing both sides. One set of holes are threaded for the hood hinge to mount to and the other is countersinks that allow the bolt to pass thru and bolt to the hood.
[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/VjzxPV][img]https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4276/34997151391_e5c5fa5a27_c.jpg[/url]20170605_153637 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Now you can see that the holes were off by a lot.
The factory hood holes are bolted in place and the new hole spacing has the screws in it.
Metalguy
Precision Fit
Mistakes : Everyone
Admits Mistakes : Real Men
Blends in mistake so you can't even tell : Super genius!!
Admits Mistakes : Real Men
Blends in mistake so you can't even tell : Super genius!!
Broken Wagon
Well Oiled
Edit to, "I engineered these bitchen blocks to shift the load on the mounting points on my hood."
Hope you get her back on the road soon.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Hope you get her back on the road soon.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
chdecoys
Bigger Hammer
what is the coating on the hood? sorry if it elsewhere in the thread. Lizard skin?
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
Lol. Thanks guys.
I think that they turned out nicely and unless your looking for them they aren't to noticeable. Luckily the thickness of the blocks didn't effect the finish height of the hood. What do you think?
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
The coating that you see in the picture is Vortex brand spray on liner. The coating is very thick and durable also it is very smooth for as rough as it looks.
commando_willys
Sharpest Tool
I think it works just fine and is most likely much stronger than original.
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
It's been so hot here in Vegas that I haven't really worked on my Wagon in a month. We had 23 days straight with temps over 110*, we even set an new all time high temp at 118*, and at my house it was 121*. It was brutal hot. Thank god for a having a pool. Things are coming together on the Wagon and I am hoping to have most of it completed by the end of this coming weekend. I will finish the interior at a later date when I figure out what I want to do with it.
Meanwhile, I completed the vent wing windows and now they are waiting installation.
I got the vent window frames back from powder coating and am ready to install the glass. The lock, pivot and hinge are ready to be riveted back onto the vent frame. The factory used tubular rivets to hold each of these items on so I did the same. Tubular rivets are very easy to use and with some patience you don't need any special tools. All you need is a hammer, centering punch, flat punch (drift) and a bench vice. There is a tubular rivet setting tool but for as little as I use them it's not worth the $100. You can see the tubular rivets in the center of the picture.
[/url]20170717_210154 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
This pic shows the back side of the tubular rivet after being set and holding the lock firmly.
[/url]20170717_210425 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Next you need a way to secure the glass into the frame. There are many different ways to skin that cat. I prefer to use glass setting tape just as the factory would have done. This tape is unique, it is a soft rubbery tape that stretches and conforms easily with very little tackiness. This tape comes in various thicknesses. This roll of tape came from previous project and was a little too thick for the vent window frames. This is partially because I had the window frame powder coated versus painted. So I ran the tape thru the slip roll to thin it out a little and it worked perfectly.
[/url]20170717_214117 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Somehow I forgot to take a pic of the tape being stretched over the glass and being temporarily held with tape. The frame should slide over the glass and tape with a mild amount of force. You can use a small amount of dish soap to help the frame slip over the glass and tape. Then you use a soft mallet or small dead blow hammer to get the glass to set into the frame.
[/url]20170717_213317 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Trim the excess of tape and then you are ready for installation.
[/url]20170717_213959 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Meanwhile, I completed the vent wing windows and now they are waiting installation.
I got the vent window frames back from powder coating and am ready to install the glass. The lock, pivot and hinge are ready to be riveted back onto the vent frame. The factory used tubular rivets to hold each of these items on so I did the same. Tubular rivets are very easy to use and with some patience you don't need any special tools. All you need is a hammer, centering punch, flat punch (drift) and a bench vice. There is a tubular rivet setting tool but for as little as I use them it's not worth the $100. You can see the tubular rivets in the center of the picture.
This pic shows the back side of the tubular rivet after being set and holding the lock firmly.
Next you need a way to secure the glass into the frame. There are many different ways to skin that cat. I prefer to use glass setting tape just as the factory would have done. This tape is unique, it is a soft rubbery tape that stretches and conforms easily with very little tackiness. This tape comes in various thicknesses. This roll of tape came from previous project and was a little too thick for the vent window frames. This is partially because I had the window frame powder coated versus painted. So I ran the tape thru the slip roll to thin it out a little and it worked perfectly.
Somehow I forgot to take a pic of the tape being stretched over the glass and being temporarily held with tape. The frame should slide over the glass and tape with a mild amount of force. You can use a small amount of dish soap to help the frame slip over the glass and tape. Then you use a soft mallet or small dead blow hammer to get the glass to set into the frame.
Trim the excess of tape and then you are ready for installation.
Gojeep
Well Oiled
Thanks for showing how you went about it.
Pretty hot over at your place too and it is like you are here in summer! I still work in that heat though including welding!
Pretty hot over at your place too and it is like you are here in summer! I still work in that heat though including welding!
commando_willys
Sharpest Tool
Wow, excellent work as usual. I do like the powdercoat look much better, it fits perfectly with the tint. Love it!:beer:
Looks good Steve. I thought you were getting rid of the wing windows in favor of one piece roll up windows?
Pete
Pete
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
At this point Marcus you must be able to work through the heat, cold, wind, rain etc. because we are addicted to your build and we need, no, require to see and read about your build progress. Here in Las Vegas we get on average of 100 days a year at or above 100* with about half of them in our rainy season. So its hot and humid. Usually I push through it but this year it was hotter and more humid than ever and I just gave up. Or I'm just getting older and softer.Thanks for showing how you went about it.
Pretty hot over at your place too and it is like you are here in summer! I still work in that heat though including welding!
Thank you. I like the durability of powder coating too.
I did start the one piece window but I soon noticed that I was running out of real estate and decided that I would go back to having the wing window.
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
Strike 1, 2 and 3. Crap! Time to take the doors back apart. 1. I forgot that the outer window scraper has to go in before the glass. 2. With the new glass being 3" longer than stock I have to install the outer door handle first. 3. The glass setting tape was to thick for the wing window frame after powder coating. I know what I will be doing this weekend.
[/url]20170722_194357 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]20170722_194336 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]20170830_182644 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]20170830_182712 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Sparky Powers
Supporting Vendor
As much as I wanted to dive into fixing my mistakes on each of the doors I decided to clear my head for the moment and work on a couple other items that still needed to be installed. The doors can wait and I need the room in my garage. I converted the Dana 300 and converted it to twin sticks and I changed the e-brake from the cane style to a modern console pull type.
I'm sure it's a preference thing but I personally like the modern style console mounted e-brake the handle. I spent the day at the local U Pull It yard looking at different types of e-brake handles. There were soo many different types that I had to go back through the yard and and look at them again. What I came up with was a 90's Mustang handle. The reason I chose this was because the handle laid flat with the brakes off, it was mostly a surface mount unit, it only required a small cup mounted under the console for the cable to pass through, and the cable had a nice weather seal.
[/url]20170905_173222 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Here is the cup mounted under the console with the weather seal in place and the cable ran through the seal. I ran some seam seal around the cup but at 110* here in Vegas, it ran out like water. What a mess. I guess I will have to get out there in the middle of the night when the seam seal wont run away from me.
[/url]20170905_173348 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
Here is the finished product, the e-brake is mounted and the twin sticks are installed and ready for shift boots to be made. It's now time to send the seat bases and seat risers out for powder coating. I will be building a center console that will come down from the dash and also run down the transmission tunnel to the backs of the seats.
[/url]20170905_174116 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
My next project has arrived. I mentioned to a friend that I will be looking for a bug body in the near future and a day later he told me that he found me a body. I went out to look at it and I came home with two bugs and a 79 L82 Vette. Now I really need to get the Willys completed before the wife kills me. lol. I will have LOTS of vette parts for sale soon if anyone is interested.
[/url]3819 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]3821 by Sparky Powers, on Flickr[/IMG]
I'm sure it's a preference thing but I personally like the modern style console mounted e-brake the handle. I spent the day at the local U Pull It yard looking at different types of e-brake handles. There were soo many different types that I had to go back through the yard and and look at them again. What I came up with was a 90's Mustang handle. The reason I chose this was because the handle laid flat with the brakes off, it was mostly a surface mount unit, it only required a small cup mounted under the console for the cable to pass through, and the cable had a nice weather seal.
Here is the cup mounted under the console with the weather seal in place and the cable ran through the seal. I ran some seam seal around the cup but at 110* here in Vegas, it ran out like water. What a mess. I guess I will have to get out there in the middle of the night when the seam seal wont run away from me.
Here is the finished product, the e-brake is mounted and the twin sticks are installed and ready for shift boots to be made. It's now time to send the seat bases and seat risers out for powder coating. I will be building a center console that will come down from the dash and also run down the transmission tunnel to the backs of the seats.
My next project has arrived. I mentioned to a friend that I will be looking for a bug body in the near future and a day later he told me that he found me a body. I went out to look at it and I came home with two bugs and a 79 L82 Vette. Now I really need to get the Willys completed before the wife kills me. lol. I will have LOTS of vette parts for sale soon if anyone is interested.
gremlinjeep
Bigger Hammer
can you un bolt the window & slide down to put the sweeps in place?