RBQ 2434 Rebuild of ‘Make It’

[Gill]

I purchased 2434 in September 2008 w/ 90,527 miles from the son of the 2nd owner.  Personalized it slightly, engine clean & dress up, LED running lights, Saturn chin spoiler, new radio & speakers, power drivers door lock, iPad navigation stand, 16” Mustang wheels & other things... She won a 3rd place Bear Trophy at Gettysburg summer of 2011 & then I spun a bearing that Christmas Eve.  I have been nursing dreams of getting her back on the road over the past 10 years & 3 moves.  

Gettysburg 2011….

Last year my CEO told to ‘Make It the way I wanted or move it….’   Soooo…. last summer the engine came out… a Jasper 350 was massaged by Heard Precision Machine LLC into 383 & a requested 400 bhp…. In December engine dyno tuning at Morgan International 460.9 bhp w/ 472.1 ftlbs were realized….  When pulling the engine my mentor suggested that I move her to his compound & do a frame off… w/ great horsepower comes great stress…. especially w/ 98,799 miles on a 46 year old car….  Soooo the preamble establishes my need for help, suggestions, comments & recommendations on what I should be doing & what pitfalls I need to dig myself out of….

pictures of today….

I anticipate separating the body & frame in the next 2 weeks…. I’m still not sure what I’m putting the body on…. not even sure what it weights….  We’ll be using a 4 arm lift, windshield & rear window are removed… I believe I need to remove the doors but have seen pictures with the body lifted w/ the doors still attached….  Thoughts???

The body & frame are scheduled to be media blasted on July 8th & then the reassembly begins…. I know that I need a new trans…  a 4L65E from Bowtie Overdrives is on the wish list but…. I also know that the Dana 44 needs to be overhauled & updated to ‘posi-traction’… 

Soooo…. I’ll try to keep anyone interested updated on my progress & will definitely be listing questions…

Gill Lott

 

[Zedman]

Hi Gill. I am replacing my original Frame with a new one (well- one made up from a SWB Lark and welding all the necessary accotrements back onto it). I'm working in primitive conditions, so I can only hope you are better off !

• If you are able to use the 4 point lift to get the body up, can you leave it up there whilst all the other work gets done? This solves lots of other problems.
• If you must take the body off the hoist, you may support it by simple wood blocks under the front A pillar mounting  positions and under the rear wheel arch with a long length of timber.  I have been told you can even support the whole shebang on timbers supported by 20 litre steel drums. You might even wish to consider integrating the whole issue into a moveable  "Dolly", however.
• Beware that the back window and rear body will be heavier than the front- don't ask me how i found this out !🙄
• Whilst I have taken out the front seats and pulled up a bit of carpet I have left back seats in place and left the doors shut. I can open these doors whilst it is suspended but I choose not to because I just don't wish to tempt fate.
• Just my humble opinion, mind, but this task may take longer than you think- now is a fantastic opportunity to replace spring bushes, freshen springs, rebuild the front suspension, paint the hell out of everything....

Regards- Steve

[Gill]

Thank you for your response… I won’t be able to keep the body on the lift but your other comments are of great use.  & yes…. I know that this will be a journey….