Not sure if it should be called a slacker update, as I'm seemingly (literally) running around the country sourcing parts for this particular car. I have done considerable work to the car inside AND out, though not quite ready for the painting stage. I need it mechanically good and will determine if the car is worthwhile to paint/finish interior once she's being driven around. I wish I had someone on standby as I do the work on these cars taking pictures as my hands often end up so greasy that I'm not bothered to wipe them down enough to take pictures myself. Do they make camera condoms?
Either way, I recently traveled to middle of nowhere Connecticut, about an hour northwest of the ocean to pick up a very good 722.315 for the car. I have a few 722.303's hanging around, but I don't want to monkey around with swapping tailshaft housings, etc for speedo drives. That, and I don't want the incorrect transmission in the car. Needless to say, the drive was a bit chilly. Enough so, that the star was encased in ice.
This makes it 4 transmissions that I have hanging around right now. The bad one in that was in the car had a brand new front pump installed at some point, I'm going to go back through the service records and see how long ago that was done. I did find that the front pump seal was crooked and pressure eventually knocked it out - found my leak.
While I wasn't under the car swapping the trans I took some time to do some of the easier tasks. Test fit the french euro headlights (I'm not sure weather or not I want to keep the clear corners) and put on the new front bumper. I kind of want to do an old hot rod trick of mine with the bumper and drain out a bit of the bumper shocks to bring the bumper in closer to the body. I'm not sure how that'll look with the outside rubber trims just yet. I think I can bring it in about an inch though.
This annoyed the hell out of me - the transmission "nut retainer" brackets for the trans mount. These things sit in the most ungodly spot in the frame. I ordered new from MB ($10 a piece!!!) with new bolts. Moisture just sits and rots things out - while the whole chassis is rust free, these nook and cranny things are all getting detailed by me. A brand new set of nut retainer brackets and some preventative rust maintenance while I'm there.
My trick to trans removal - the 4 1/2 foot long 3/8" Snap on extension. I reach up above the trans to break the bolts free with a 17mm open end, then go in with this bad boy to make short work of all the bolts. I get these trans swaps done in about 3 1/2 hours on a good day, or 5 hours if I'm dicking around.
This makes it 4 transmissions that I have hanging around right now. The bad one in that was in the car had a brand new front pump installed at some point, I'm going to go back through the service records and see how long ago that was done. I did find that the front pump seal was crooked and pressure eventually knocked it out - found my leak.
While I wasn't under the car swapping the trans I took some time to do some of the easier tasks. Test fit the french euro headlights (I'm not sure weather or not I want to keep the clear corners) and put on the new front bumper. I kind of want to do an old hot rod trick of mine with the bumper and drain out a bit of the bumper shocks to bring the bumper in closer to the body. I'm not sure how that'll look with the outside rubber trims just yet. I think I can bring it in about an inch though.
This annoyed the hell out of me - the transmission "nut retainer" brackets for the trans mount. These things sit in the most ungodly spot in the frame. I ordered new from MB ($10 a piece!!!) with new bolts. Moisture just sits and rots things out - while the whole chassis is rust free, these nook and cranny things are all getting detailed by me. A brand new set of nut retainer brackets and some preventative rust maintenance while I'm there.
My trick to trans removal - the 4 1/2 foot long 3/8" Snap on extension. I reach up above the trans to break the bolts free with a 17mm open end, then go in with this bad boy to make short work of all the bolts. I get these trans swaps done in about 3 1/2 hours on a good day, or 5 hours if I'm dicking around.
0 comments:
Post a Comment