Thank you for the kind words. Don't hold your breath. This is only one of many irons in the fire that requires my attention and most importantly, cash! I am patiently waiting to hear back from the chassis inspector, but this is that time of year that nothing happens quickly.
1989 Trans Am
- Thread starter UAmember
- Start date
'68 Coronet R/T
Oldtimer
I understand the cash part very well. My GTX project moves at a snail's pace because everything I need to purchase is extremely expensive.
1A Rock
Promoted Users
What kind of mods are you doing that require a jig table?
Require? Possibly none. If nothing else it will help us baseline the chassis. The strut supports, most of the "toe box area" and part of the tubing under the driver's seat need reworked. Some of this goes back to waiting on the chassis inspector. Ideally, I would like to replace the rocker bar. It is almost a foot too short. I don't intend to do any significant rework on the chassis without having it on a jig. The main reason is that there's nothing to measure off of. This might be obvious to some people, but concrete is NOT flat. Without a point of reference we are building a car that will not go straight. We also need to verify that the existing cage is square and true with the world.
I have been plugging away at this a little bit each week night. After 30 years this car finally has a steering shaft connected to the steering rack. I have been working on replacing suspension bolts, many which were grade 5 with NAS hardware. The axle housing was missing nearly all of the "studs" for the center section. They were a full thread 12 point fine thread bolt which wasn't easy to find.
I installed the rear brake rotors and calipers. I bolted on the front rotors to the front wheels, which was a project in itself. Finding the correct grip NAS bolts wasn't easy. I had to ream the wheels and rotor to get the bolts through the wheels and rotor.
Not much to look at, but it has been some very tedious work.
I installed the rear brake rotors and calipers. I bolted on the front rotors to the front wheels, which was a project in itself. Finding the correct grip NAS bolts wasn't easy. I had to ream the wheels and rotor to get the bolts through the wheels and rotor.
Not much to look at, but it has been some very tedious work.
Attachments
I have bought from these guys in the past. You should be able to find your NAS fasteners from them.
military-fasteners.com
Military Fasteners: Mil Spec Hardware, Electronics, and Tools
Shop over 40,000 in stock milspec hardware, consumables, electrical components, and tools.
military-fasteners.com
MJM
Promoted Users
Connecting the steering column to the steering rack is a BIG deal. Until you've moved a car a couple of times having to adjust both front wheels, move the car a little bit, adjust the front wheels again, move the car a little bit, it gets old really fast not having a steering wheel to use. Glad to hear you're chipping away at the project. That really is all it takes to complete a project. Even putting forth 1 hour of time a day goes a long way.
Keep your progress going, and thanks for sharing. I'm liking what I'm seeing.
IF you need any swing out door bars, I'm your guy !!! ........ just kidding
Keep your progress going, and thanks for sharing. I'm liking what I'm seeing.
IF you need any swing out door bars, I'm your guy !!! ........ just kidding
I have bought from these guys in the past. You should be able to find your NAS fasteners from them.
Military Fasteners: Mil Spec Hardware, Electronics, and Tools
Shop over 40,000 in stock milspec hardware, consumables, electrical components, and tools.
I found them and was ready to place an order until I realized how the pricing and quantities were set up. I made a schedule of all my bolt sizes and grip lengths up to this point. It really didn't make sense to have to buy their minimum quantities of each fastener when many of my grip lengths needed were less than 10. I ended up sourcing from numerous places, most of my luck was from ebay. I did use a place called stockcarsteel.com and RJ Race Cars at quartermax.com. RJ is
"local" to me 1-1/2 hour away, but I wasn't going to drive to will call to pick up items so shipping gets out of hand fast.
For whatever reason they had very few of the grip lengths and diameters I needed.
This project, like all is multifaceted. My Dad has been working on building a chassis table. I have been working on cleaning up previous work that we will change. Related to that, I spent some time prepping and spraying SPI epoxy on lathe parts for his LeBlond. Here's a shot of the "paint booth". The main purpose is to keep overspray out of the shop. It is a horrible environment to spray in, but it works OK for our small parts. Onwards and upwards.
Attachments
Last week I made a fixture to shorten up some 3/8" and 1/2" hardware. I couldn't find the correct grip length fasteners in the thread lengths I needed for the rear coilovers and the rear brake calipers, so I bought what was available and milled them down. Very tedious...
