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!                                                                                                                                                                                      

Finishing touches - Part 2

At the end of a build I always go through the car and make sure everything is up to par. On the Camaro, I thought the front markers were OK, but once everything around was new - well, they stood out  - for being OLD. New parts were ordered, delivered - and installed.

Talk about details - as I was hooking up the new wiper motor, I noticed the "E" was missing from the knob bezel....so some careful detailing brought it back out,

Th car was without wipers since the firewall was shaved a while back, but since it was now owned by one of the RCMP's finest - and wanting to make it a driver  - meant it had to have working wipers!

Luckily, the original wiring and connector were tied off behind the engine, 

so it was still "plug and play"!

Everything - right down to the squirters!

50 years of pullin' gears meant the shifter bolt inserts had pulled right out of the floor so,

 after locating the holes through the padding and new carpet, 

new inserts where installed to give it that "as-new" feeling.

Before the console was re-installed, it was treated to a coat of SEM black. Doing it right meant first cleaning it up with prep-paint solvent and then giving it a coat of sand-free adhesion promoter prior to painting with SEM "Landau Black"

Perfection!

Stay tuned for final photo's in the sun!

OK, one teaser!

Finishing touches - Part 1 (of 10 at least - LOL!)

 Grille and headlight doors.... funny how they never go back in as easily as they came out!

                                           Everything fits nice and tight behind new grille -

The grille looks so good I couldn't use the top chrome strip due to some previous damage. We'll order that up with the front market lights.

Bumpers where finally next on the agenda.

 

With the front end ready to be lowered back down, I did a rough toe adjustment -

These new tie-rod adjusters really simplify toe-in 

Getting far enough along that the name plates may as well be on...

Looks almost done here!

A quick buff o the center caps before they where re0installed...

 Next week I'll trim the carpet, install the console and a few other things and it'll pretty much be ready for sub-trades: Interior, AC system finalize and charge, wheel alignment and such...

 As with every proejct, while bitter-sweet to see it go, it'll be a blast to see it at a car show, or carving turns at an aautocross!