Spring-time fix: 1946 Mercury truck Steeering box

A few weeks back, when the snow was starting to melt, I got anxious and set out to move my 46 Merc Truck form its winter slumber spot - on the street out front. Unfortunately, the ice still had a good hold on the front tires so when I went to crank the wheel, some thing went "Sproing!"




So now that the ice is completely gone - and the weather cooperating nicely -  I wanted to sort out the issue that occured with the steering box a couple weeks back....

Luckily, it was just the top bolt that let loose fro the frame.

The captured nut was still in place, so either the head of the original bolt broke off, or it pulled from out of the threads of the captured nut. Seeing as how there is no remnant of the bolt in the nut, I'm guessing it pulled through the threads....

So I found a same-sized, same-threaded bolt and inserted in through the original captured nut. Then, to ensure the bolt doesn't pull through the nut again, I threaded another nut onto the protruding end the new bolt.  Job done!  The "Old Man" as we call it, will see duty for a 69th year!

1968 Camaro finsihing touches - Part 3

With the carpet laying square and the console and shifter back in place and bolted down, the carpet isn't going anywhere and so it can be cut to size and tucked under all the edge pieces.

With the carpet carefully trimmed back, the sill plates can be re-installed. 

Up front, the carpet was tucked behind the kick panel.

Now THAT's a fine result -  What a beauty!

Finally, it's time to power it up to test and check the electrical systems the many, many, connections I made in building this car.

Whenever I power up a car for the first time - especially after such an extensive re-fit - I never just throw in the battery and hope for the best, but I use a trick my Dad taught me, nearly 35 years ago, which is to use a battery charger, instead of a battery, for power. With the charger set to 2 AMPS, this ensures I get a bit of time to find any issues before wiring starts to smoke and fused start to burn up - or worse!

And upon connecting the leads, things began to light up, including the O2 sensor gauge:

As well as headlights, markers, I could also hear the new Vintage AC fan kick in and see the Volt meter in the new gauges showed 9 Volts (due to the obvious drainage off the low AMP supply).

Of course this is reality, so not everything worked right off. I noted that I didn't have interior dash lights, the fuel gauge was pinned to the  full mark and the wiper motor arm binds the wiper linkage when I tested it. This is part of the shake down process of any new build and will give me something to do tomorrow ;)

Other items tackled today included a new front spoiler (looks great!) - 

As well as an overhaul of the shifter indicator plate assembly:

 Its amazing what a little polish and paint can do

 

The windshield and back glass are being re-installed next week, so in preparation for that I need to get the chrome surround into shape. This included sorting out pieces that need a bit of hammer and dolly work - against the ones that just need to be polished.

So I threw on a new Sisal wheel and went to work removing scratches....

    
                                                     
                                                               .......and polishing them to a high shine!