CFD's Build Thread

[CFD]

Finished up all the welding on the body mounts and seat supports, bead rolled the floor pans and got them tacked in place. There's a lot of sheet metal in there. Bolted the seat back in and started mocking up the steering column so I can make the upper and lower mounts.

[CFD]

Hi all. Been very busy on the Buick. Made up a steering box mounting plate and got the steering box in place, bent the pitman arm to get steering geometry correct. Made up a bottom mount for the steering column and roughed out the upper mount to install everything. Then got the master cylinder and brake pedal as well as the gas pedal positioning figured out and mounted.

I started in on the radiator support. This is an important piece as the radiator support also supports the entire front end. From the factory "THERE IS A T-BAR AND ONE BOLT THAT SUPPORTS THE ENTIRE FRONT END". I started designing a new system that will provide much more support as well as being adjustable so that straight panel gaps can be achieved. I got a bit done and will post pictures in the next day or so when finished.

I ordered a new gas tank, when the radiator support is done I will mount the tank and then the body will be coming off so I can finish all the welding, brackets and miscellaneous components before painting and final assembly.

[CFD]

Hi everyone. Have a lot going on so I haven't posted much but figured I'd update progress while I have a minute. Got the radiator support made up, mounted the radiator and gas tank, then finished all the welding and fabrication of misc. brackets and tabs. Then it was completely disassembled. The chassis was cleaned and painted and is now assembled and complete. Tomorrow I will start welding the body and prepping the motor for installation. I'm moving a little slowly as I had a go round with a disc grinder, it won.

[CFD]

Hi all. Haven't posted much because I didn't want to bore everyone. Most of the last week has been spent welding the floors, firewall and body panel I had tacked in place. I was going to do the cab corners and rockers while I was driving the car but seeing that I'm waiting on my transmission I decided to do it now. Got the cab corners in place, tomorrow I'll finish the welding and move on to the rear corners and then the rocker panels.

I went with a 4L80E from Hughes Performance.

I also decided to get rid of all the electronic engine controls and go worth the GM Performance distributor conversion. It's a pretty cool set up and eliminates the need for a computer and simplifies the fuel system for use with a carburetor. Here is a link to the instructions for those interested or not familiar with it.
https://static.summitracing.com/glob...imingcover.pdf

[hammdo]

Man, she’s coming along nicely. Interesting move going carb/computer-less. Very interested in the outcome now!

-Don

[CFD]

Originally Posted by hammdo

Man, she’s coming along nicely. Interesting move going carb/computer-less. Very interested in the outcome now!

-Don

I've not seen the distributor set up in person, only in reviews and articles so I'm quite curious about it myself. I'm in the process of verifying fitment and needed parts and if everything falls in place I will be ordering it this week.

Finally committed to doing the rear corners. Who ever did the repairs before didn't bother to form the repair panel and left it flat, that along with the poor welding made it an obvious choice. It would need about 3/8 " of bondo to contour it properly but whereas I'm building a steel car, not plastic, there is no way I'd leave it so I cut it out, formed the new panel and tacked it in. I also started on the drivers side and should have it finished tomorrow. With the panel cut out you can see the sheet metal work between the panels, something you can't see on a finished car and is usually fairly ugly but not in this case.

[hammdo]

Curious, wouldn't you need some bondo to 'level' low to high areas? Not sure what you could do unless the panels are pretty level already. Understand not wanting 'fiberglassed' parts... Love the craftsmanship!

-Don

[CFD]

Originally Posted by hammdo

Curious, wouldn't you need some bondo to 'level' low to high areas? Not sure what you could do unless the panels are pretty level already. Understand not wanting 'fiberglassed' parts... Love the craftsmanship!

-Don

Body filler is needed especially for a flawless paint job. The difference between the panel that I made and the one I replacesdis that now the filler will be measured in thousands, not fractions of an inch. lol.

[CFD]

Got the drivers side rear panel tacked in place. Tomorrow I will weld them in then proceed with the rockers. More importantly, stopped by my Chevy dealer and verified fitment of the distributor/timing cover set up , all should work so I ordered it, may be here by the weekend. Once I get it I will post a couple of pictures and see how the installation/fitment goes.

[mlee]

Coming right along...

[CFD]

Originally Posted by mlee

Coming right along...

It is moving along at a good pace. I'm actually thinking it may be running by the end of the month or a couple of weeks after. Considering the extent of the fabrication and that I stopped driving it in August I'm quite pleased.

[CFD]

Had a chance to play with the rockers a little. I was going to duplicate the factory rockers but without running boards it looks way to unfinished . Since I've gone this far with it I decided to redesign them. I made a test panel that will work well. The first picture shows what it looks like from the factory, the seems are split but you can get a good idea of what it looked like. The second picture is with the newly deigned panel. Looks much more finished. It will be a lot of work but well worth it in the end.

Ordered the water pump so when the timing cover gets here I can work on drive pulleys and brackets. None of the factory stuff works with this set up and the available set-up starts at $2000.00 so needless to say I will design my own.

Also ordered the intake manifold, went with an Edelbrock Super Victor. Haven't decided what carburetor I will be going with yet.

[CFD]

Did a little more with the rocker panels and may have them finished this weekend.

Now for the good stuff, a few of the major components came in for the motor. The distributor conversion timing cover, the water pump and the manifold. I will at some point this weekend start test fitting them.

[CFD]

I was hoping this was going to be easy but should have known better. I didn't have any time to play with the timing cover so decided to check fitment of the intake, that isn't going well. The manifold doesn't clear the castings on the heads, if the motor was apart I would set them up in the mill and machine it off but I'm not disassembling it.

I was thinking it may be because the heads have been milled, the stock manifold and Holey Sniper fit without issues so I would be surprised if that was it. Checking it is easy where as the bolt holes are machined straight and not at angles like conventional small blocks. Center to centers on the bolt holes are as close as can be measured on the motor, it's quite visible in the photo's as well as the castings that are interfering.