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Second weekend in a row with a good turn out; Thomas Deyle, George Lever, Ken Long, Jim Boehly, Bob Way.

We tackled a number of different projects this weekend, some larger than others, some an extension of earlier projects, and one that address weak points of an earlier project.

Let’s take the weak point first. The body will be going on and off the dolly a bunch of times so it is time to correct the way the body sits on the dolly and the access to lifting the body off the dolly

I have never liked the way the body sat on the dolly. The back end of the body was always sitting low/close to the ground. Last weekend when I rolled the body outside to give us room in the garage to work I almost lost it down the driveway. This is not the driveway this picture was shot in but one from the parking lot of the Hot Rod Institute.

 

 

 

When I shoved it into the grass to stop it from going down the driveway it almost fell off the dolly.

 

 

 

 

So we added some stringers to the original dolly.

 

 

 

 

These stingers fit up between the rocker panels which will keep the body from moving around on the dolly

 

 

 

They sit below body mount locations so the area has additional strength and If necessary I can add pins in the stringer to go up through the body mount holes in the floor to further retain the body on the dolly

 

 

 

We doubled up the rear stringer to get the body to sit more level on the dolly. There certainly is now more clearance between the rear of the body and the ground.

 

 

 

Another problem has been getting the engine host into location to pick the body off the dolly. The engine host leg would not fit under the dolly and we would have to use a floor jack to pick the dolly up to get the hoist into position.

 

 

 

The easy solution was to remove material from the dolly so that the legs of the engine hoist could roll under it, which is what we did.

So with a little work we now have a dolly that hold the body securely, in a fairly level position, and allows us easy access to pick it up and put it on the frame.

 

 

Now for a couple quick, albeit expensive projects, that will surely enhance the performance of the Gasser on the track, first the 600 CFM Carburetor was replaced with a dyno tuned 750 CFM double pumper Carburetor

Next the cheap Chinese knock off distributor was replaced with a Billet MSD distributor that will be connected to a MSD Blaster 2 coil and a MSD 6AL-2 Box, another big expense that will pay off on the track. It allows for a preset transbrake RPM and also protects the engine with a top RPM limit RPM

So, now to the big task of the day. A while back we clearance the firewall to allow for the body to sit on the frame with the mock up block also in the chassis. Now that we have a complete engine the body no longer fits on the chassis again

So here is a flash back to that surgery. At the time it seemed pretty dramatic, but nothing compared to today’s surgery.

No pictures were taken, but the body was set onto the chassis well back from its correct location to mark up the fire wall to indicate what needed to be cut out.

 

 

The concentration of the Car Nuts on critical tasks cannot be beaten by any other team

 

 

 

 

Boy this guy is serious, he has his feet planted, head down and cutting for all he is worth. Who is this guy, I wonder if there is a way to get him to show up for every Car Nuts Meeting? Any ideas?

 

 

 

It was a true gathering of the Car Nuts, what a group, this work would not get done without them, cannot forget the guy behind the camera either.

 

 

 

 

A slightly larger piece of metal had to be removed to get the engine in the hole with heads, distributor, carburetor and exhaust manifolds on.

The current thinking is to run with exhaust manifolds, and at a later date replace them with fender well headers (which may have to be modified to fit). Modification is a good thing, it keeps things interesting.

 

This is a four door vehicle, can’t you use one of those exits, surely that would be easier.

 

 

 

 

Well it almost fit on the first try. The outlet of the right exhaust manifold did not clear the floor board, a little more cutting was needed.

 

 

 

It now fits. I want plenty of clearance. I want to be able to pull the distributor, heads, without having to pull the engine. I may have to remove just a little more metal above the distributor. I will also want to even up the cuts top and on both sides.

 

 

 

Right side

 

 

 

 

Left side

 

 

 

 

From a distance

 

 

 

 

I think the saying is “Miller Time” that is probably politically incorrect but so be it. Got to stand back and admire a step forward, two weekends in a row, hopefully with more to come.

Come out and join us!