| |
I'm getting seriously behind in my picture-taking, but the reassembly is taking shape.
The engine is going back together little by little. Most of the engine bits are stacked up waiting to go in; about the only things I can think of that I don't have are a distributor and distributor drive gear. Oh, and I bought a pile of ARP bolts, including a cam bolt, but it's 3/8in and this cam needs a 7/16in bolt. And a big bloody washer, since I'm not using a fuel-pump drive eccentric.
For now the rear suspension is bolted up, though the springs aren't in their final form and the rear axle housing needs various work. This is the first time I've had the Bilstein B46-0929 shocks in the car, and they fit just about right.
The Gearheads Cruiser Products steering box package was here when I got home this evening. It is pretty much what I expected it to be: a GM Saginaw 605 steering box out of some '80s RWD intermediate, with a new mounting plate welded to the output shaft housing and a Ford pitman arm modified to fit the output shaft. So far so good; the box and its attached mounting plate look okay.
It is not, however, a direct bolt-in.
At the very least, the lower end of the steering column has to be modified, a bearing installed, and the column mounting to the floorpan altered. If the car has a column shift, the linkage must be modified. If the car is a column-shift automatic, the neutral-start switch must be removed and a transmission-mounted switch installed.
None of the above is worth shedding a tear over.
But, as it turns out, the instructions caution that some frames must be dimpled approximately 3/8in to clear the front end of the steering box. Some in this case includes mine. There's no way you're going to dimple the frame metal without either heating the crap out of it, or cutting it to make room. If you'll recall, my frame came back from powder-coating some weeks ago.
This hurts.