[darkfox1]

I'm gonna start gettin' my list together here.. stuff I plan to do to my 57 more door to keep it on the road.

My goal is to have a safe, fun, drivable and reliable car that I can take to shows, to work, to the store, even on road trips to other cities.

Currently, the car's running and driving, but it's not really safe. Here's a break down of known problems and what I plan to do about em.

*speedometer hasn't worked in 11 years. I unhooked it and drive without it. :lol: I can either replace it with an OE unit, or get a combo gauge cluster with additional measurements. I'll probably go with OE on this, haven't decided yet. I don't want this part to be too complicated.

* passenger side rear leaf spring is cracked in 2 at the bottom where the shock meets it. Replace the leaf springs with 2" drop leaves so it will sit like it does now. The leaves are originals so I imagine they're sagging quite a bit.

*rearend is leaking gonna pull it out, have it sandblasted and powdercoated, new gear with a posi (it sometimes struggles with my driveway if there's ice water leaves or anything else on the concrete..) new axle bearings etc.

*transmission pump seal leaks. Gonna replace the tranny with a Th350 I have sitting in the garage. I'll keep the powerglide. I'm not getting rid of any oe parts in case I change my mind and wanna put it back to stock one day.

*steering gear is hosed, gonna replace it with a new p/s gear to replace the power assist factory setup with the hydraulic cylinder. Might move the p/s pump down to be belt driven off the engine since:

*generator is fried, won't charge with any sort of load. Stops charging as RPMS increase. Only charges in a narrow range.

*brakes are terrible. I always worry about fade especially as hilly as it is around here in the foothills. I want to do a new booster to replace the oe power booster and 4 wheel disc brakes.

*don't handle too well. sway bars aught to fix that w/o appearing to be a visual mod.

*fuel tank's original, so is the sending unit. Surprised it still works. Looks like the titanic. New OE repro's aught to fix this, new fuel lines are a good idea I imagine.

Visually the car will look the same, save for new rims since the OE's wont fit. It needs new tires anyway, the repros are dryrotted.

so this is sort of a re-restoration and it will be slow. I plan to do a little bit at a time so I can drive it as I work. (I know y'all recommended this in another thread.)

I think the first thing I should do is start working on the rearend of the car, leaf springs, rearend, sway bars and disc brakes.

Here's what I'm finding.. y'all let me know your thoughts on these kits if ya have any.

http://www.danchuk.com/ItemForm.asp...Category=f89496c5-0027-4f5b-b7c1-53232a4ee23d

http://www.danchuk.com/ItemForm.asp...Category=f89496c5-0027-4f5b-b7c1-53232a4ee23d

http://www.danchuk.com/ItemForm.asp...Category=f89496c5-0027-4f5b-b7c1-53232a4ee23d

I'd be gettin my fuel and brake lines from www.inlinetube.com

Now some pics of the car in it's present state:

 

[56 Wagon Wheel]

:biggrin: I think I'd concentrate on the safety items first, like steering and stopping. But its good that you will be able to keep it drivable. Goodluck

 

[Lloyd's 55 R.I.P 7-10-2016]

Beautiful, well thought out list, spot on. Made one very much like it in 1980. Check out my car at this time (still can not legally drive it). Suggest you fix one thing at a time, do it right, keep it on the road (until you can afford a full frame off redo (big bucks), if that is what you want to end of with). Had I kept my nice 55 2 dr hdt on the street in 1980, I could have enjoyed it. I have not, but rectifying that at this time (can afford it now, just have a problem finding the right guys to do it, but it is coming together. Just my experience, take it with a grain of salt. I have made most all of the mistakes, pm me if I can help you in any way. Regards Lloyd

 

[angs1957]

Are you going to do the repairs yourself, thats where the cost savings are, good luck doesnt look like anything major, make sure you keep up the maintenance though?

 

[r66ss]

indeed SAFETY ITEMS FIRST
Sounds like u have a great plan , keep us posted on this and thanks for up date and pics too

 

[carls 56]

that is some list, well thought out. :five: .............after you do them, what are you going to do after lunch? :winking0070:

 

[darkfox1]

Thanks guys.

I'm trying to decide on an order to do this in.

I think as you all said the most important hings are stopping and the rearend not coming apart on me.

As such I was going to start by re-doing the rearend.

The problem I'm running into mentally here is the sort of ballooning effect this all has.

for instance doing the rearend means putting the disc brake kit on for the rear, which means running the new brake lines, doing the front brakes and doing the booster.

which.. I've seen on another thread here that the piggy back generator and p/s pump do not like aftermarket boosters? S'at true?

in which case I would need a new p/s pump (which I have and new hoses too.. just needs a pulley.)and the bracket for it.. before I could do the brakes.

I want to keep it driving. Small rewards keep you motivated. I've learned from 2 previous frame-off restorations that were never completed.. that if you dig a really deep hole and then look up, it de-motivates you see how far you have to crawl to get out.

The rearend needs to be serviced and I'm the kinda guy that does it right.. or doesn't do it at all. So I want to pull it out, strip it down, take it and have it sandlbasted and powdercoated, then put on new leaves new gears n'all that.

Can the stock brake booster (power) work with an aftermarket rear disc brake setup on it? Or is that too much to ask for the old treedlevac?

 

[darkfox1]

Lol.. too funny..

I went under the car today to check out the front setup just to check wear on it, the front looks very good but..

looks like I've got a leak on the power assists setup. Not surprised. My uncle cursed this power assist thing many a time saying it was leaking.

Also snapped a pic of a body bushing and body mount. My uncle told me he replaced the body bushings and that seems to be the case.

note what appears to be a bolted panel to the floor behind it. this is between the front and back doors. The panel is apparently the floor pans in the back seat of the car.

 

[belairdave]

Sounds like a pretty solid plan and while your back there you might want to ad a rear shock relocation bar too... Later, Dave