antz

On 01/02/2019 at 19:32, HighLUX said:

Antz?

 

Haha yup thats me, holy shit i havent seen that sticker in a long time

Yup with all the parts sounds like my budget was a bit under, but TBH saving up for another few months is totally worth it for a good result. Will get an idea once I start ringing around.

42 minutes ago, locost_bryan said:

Or see if a Rover SD1 torque tube rear axle can be made to fit.

Rambler changed to a conventional 4-link axle in 67 iirc.

Is your Rambler manual or Flash-o-matic?

It's manual man, yeah I have a 66 so have that dang torque tube.

56 minutes ago, Kimjon said:

There was a turbo RB25 powered rambler classic on trademe for $30k???

 

Edit: link added

https://trademe.nz/motors/specialist-cars/hot-rods/listing/1906650049?rewritten=true

 

Was immaculate, would have cost a shit ton of money to make. Shame it's never been a car (Amc ramblers) that had caught much attention for desirability. I really like them, my friend had a rambler classic and painted it kind of a goody gumdrop green with a white pearl roof...It was fucking cool! However like you, wanted to re power it and discovered the curse of the torque tube. Basically have to build an engineered rear subframe to hold a 4 link, to then connect the rear diff... shitloads of work.

Yeah I saw that Rambler there for a while, definitely mint!

1 hour ago, Avenga said:

I got my engine conversion done at Bygone Auto's on the North Shore. They did a great job and specialise in classic cars

 

 

Thanks very much man, i'll contact them to have a chat on what they can do.

11 hours ago, cletus said:

would be a very economical way of getting everything you need- a ba wagon would give you a motor/box/diff/ecu etc in a handy package

 

whats your budget?

and if you cant do a ford engine, what other brands could you not do?

Hey yeah, I figured getting a dereged/written off car would be the best way to go.

Ford is probably the only one TBH, although if I look at it objectively would seem like a great solution.

My budget would depend on the terms of agreement i.e. if I drop the car and the parts over, and I get it back certed and running I'd expect to hand over 4-5K i guess + I heard the certs these days are $600-700? Not sure tbh, i havent paid for something like this in many years so need to get my head around what jobs like this are worth, but as long as it's reasonable for today, I'd rather pay what it's worth and have someone do a decent job.

1 hour ago, The Bronze said:

Barra.

 

Barra.

 

Barra.

Haha I've thought about it, and although I'm long over the whole holden vs ford bullshit from my younger days, it would still feel wrong repowering it with a Ford engine, no matter how good it is.

Apologies if this has already been asked, I had a search through but couldn't find anything, if there already is a thread if someone could point me to it please.

I've had a few issues with my '66 Rrambler - fixed everything that had to be done for a WOF, coming out of my driveway to get it re-checked and one of the half axles decided to go. Getting more parts to fix it - I'm thinking I won't bother with the current drivetrain.

Since the diff, driveshaft enclosure and box are one sealed unit I can't just rip out the diff and replace it with something else and modify the driveshaft to fit - I've decided to repower it and replace the drivetrain, and my aim here is to repower it with something very common and reliable, not writing anything off i.e. if I could find a larger equivalent of the same reliability as a 4AGE i'd totally be keen for it, so just doing some research on anything 3L or above that's reliable and commonly found in NZ.

Although I've done some conversions in the past, I have fucked a few of them up in the process and at this point I can't risk screwing this one up so I'm very keen to find someone who will be able to take this on and do a decent job with some kind of budget certainty.

If anyone knows of a shop that might be interested in taking this on could you please let me know.

Thanks.

8 minutes ago, BlownCorona said:

I stand corrected! 

For the most part though I wouldn't be leaving a car in primer unless your know what your doing as the above dude does 

TBH i didnt actually read the previous thread properly, I just didnt want to discourage anyone from primering their cars as a finish, because like many others, I think it looks sweet! Just gotta get the right primer. Plus then if you've done your panelwork, at a later stage you can always choose to block it back and paint it. Didnt mean to sound like a know it all.

22 hours ago, BlownCorona said:

Primer isn't waterproof by the way, so I wouldn't recommend doing that, but I do understand being scared to drive with high dollar paint! 

Depends what primer, if you take the old PPG 2K hifill, that stuff is waterproof as. For best jobs we used to do a decent coat, then drive the car around for a month, park it in the sun, and let that shrink as much as possible, then block it back, then reprimer it, another month or two of shrinking, then block back again. It definitely made if harder to block back, but was worth it. By the time the paint went on, there was absolutely no shrinkage of any kind, the panels were mirror straight and even after 3-4 years it looked like it was just pained. It takes ages, and you wouldn't normally do that with customer's cars unless they're happy to wait for a few months and obviously pay more, but from my experience if you want an immaqulate finish that lasts for years, that's what I'd do.

Ok got new M14 rods, also looked online and seems one guy that makes these hooks uses countersunk screws as hooks, which makes perfect sense since they're the right shape.

The bottom hooks I'm making from two 2.5mm corner pieces, this doubles the amount of weld that holds it in place. It's definitely looking a lot stronger than the first attempt anyway.

Here are the new rods above the old ones for comparison:

Yeah nah, have had a look at some posts of people snapping spring compressors, I think I'm gonna scrap this shit, and redo it with something substantially thicker, and won't weld to rods, instead will weld to the tube that's secured with nuts. Will also use 5mm plate to make hooks.

Its cheap enough, I'm not in any hurry, better do this properly.

Finally got around to making up hooks for the trunnion suspension to take the front springs out. Used m10 threaded rods, and 3mm mild steel plate to make hooks. Feels pretty solid but what I'll do is once I jack it up, and release the spring saddles on these hooks, I'll give them a bit of a bash around while it's still inside there and can't go anywhere, so if anything fails itll be still in there.

Will definitely be chaining the hell out of it as well while winding it down to release the spring tension, this is gonna be pretty dodgy. Cant wait to get these springs out of there.

Took it to Kumeu last week - went all good, temperature didnt go above half.

Today got these whitewalls sorted, cheap as at STA parts, seem very decent for the price. Managed to drop the profile from 75 to 65, and width from 185 to 175, which is what I was after so pretty happy. Plus I've never had a matching spare in any of my cars, so decided to do it this time.

Took it up the road to test it out, didnt go far, seems to go pretty good. Might venture out a bit further next weekend.

But man it sits high, gonna have to sort out those munted AMC spring clamps, pull those springs out sit it on it's ass. It's 187mm at the lowest point from body to the ground. So that gives me 3 inches easy and it still wont hit 100m.

New Dizzy, new coil and new leads. Got someone who knows what they're doing to actually tune it properly for once instead of me learning as I go. WOF is due in March, and I don't think it'll pass easy, so I just want to drive it until I'll inevitably have to take it off the road to fix up the rust and whatever else they'll find.

But so far it runs really well. Taking it for a decent spin now, hopefully won't be posting a pic of it on the back of a towtruck later this arvo.

Just got the replacement dizzy - the old one had multiple issues so it made sense to just replace the entire thing. Hoping to chuck it in this weekend and get it running, fingers crossed will be able to take it for a cruise on Sunday.

1 hour ago, Spencer said:

Its just personal and a time thing man I only learned tips off a slow old resto guy and never worked in a production line, i know what you are saying though. For me too much DA = lots of heat which is no fun if you make things go bendy especially on a roof.

I hear you man. Although, that's why working with old crap is so much nicer than new cars, whatever they use now 0.8mm or whatever steel, vs the old stuff where you can (not that you would want to) get away without using a dolly, or there is never any heat warp from any kinds of orbital work, etc.

4 minutes ago, Spencer said:

I am guessing "worm" means he has pitting which you sometimes cant DA down without thinning the metal? Its standard practice to spot treat pitting with acid IMO, the acid and rust is neutralized and gone once you wash with water and then hand sand it clean. Should just be steel left. Probably should have done the roof first though, top down.

Haha your shop must have been much more thorough than mine dude. I dont think anyone worried about thinning the metal when I used to do this, then again most of the time the pitting I came across would get taken out with a DA real quick, anything that wouldnt sand out relatively easily would then get the 36 grit soft disk grind-up, etc.

As Spencer said you can acid it, i've never had issues DAing it till it's nice and shiny, etch priming it and then going from there. A couple of cars I've done in 04-05 like that without any acid treatment are still sweet to this day without anything coming back.

Ofcourse, if you acid treat it, it'll only reduce the risk of it coming back so makes sense to do it if you can.

2 minutes ago, dabuzz said:

RUST WORM - 

I need to strip my roof back to bare metal, there is some rust worm in it, what are the best products to use to eliminate this, any other prep tips would be appreciated too - thanks

If you have access to a DA, I'd go 80grit on that. It's not too coarse and still does a good job. Go over the entire area or otherwise feather off the edges.

Once done, etch prime that with a thin coat before priming it with a hi-fill or whatever you're  using.

Check figure 3-1-2 here: https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vehicle-structure/structure-incl2.-frontal-impact

Verse a: "deformation from the original shape that has affected the vehicle’s structural integrity" will be what some might think applies to you.

This is down to the inspector. Some might understand that it's clearly nothing to do with the structural integrity and will not worry, some will have a baby over it. To avoid it - I would absolutely cut that piece out, rust kill it, chuck some epoxy based primer on it to stop further spread of rust and bung it up with a rubber/plastic plug like other cars have from factory. This will be totally down to an inspector. There are so many grey areas in VIRM and this is one of many, so by addressing this before the inspection you'd reduce the risk of them failing it.

6 hours ago, allmud said:

Sorry mate u don't it was low when I got it 

No worries man. Just getting all the right bits now to make it myself, plenty of people seemed to have made them and good designs/specs have been posted so should be pretty sweet.

55 minutes ago, 187inc said:

Hey guys is it legal to use an adjustable bias pedal box in a road car? Not one with an "on the fly" adjuster, just one which can be adjusted until a good balance is reached and forgotten? 

Edit- found in LVVTA 35-00(02)(Braking systems) - still unsure. 

"An adjustable balance-bar assembly which actuates twin master cylinders 
must:
(a) be capable of being securely locked into position to prevent 
unintended changes in front-to-rear brake balance; and
(b) in the case of balance bar rods within a custom-built balance-bar 
assembly, be manufactured from a material of:
(i) appropriate strength; and
(ii) suitable diameter;"

Hey man, the VIRM doesnt have it as an exclusion: https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/brakes/service-brake-and-parking-brake (see table 8-1-1) which means it'll have to be certed.

Looking at LVV standards: https://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/standards/LVVTA_STD_Braking_Systems.pdf , section 2.2 verse 23/24:
A low volume vehicle may be fitted with one or more proportioning valves which are purposely designed for automotive applications.
A proportioning valve which is adjustable from inside a vehicle must have the facility to be temporarily disabled or locked into a position of normal operation to prevent unintended changes in front to rear brake balance occurring whilst the vehicle is being operated on public roads.

Based on this it looks like it can be done if certed. I think? Hopefully someone else will be able to confirm.

2 hours ago, allmud said:

Cool car bud 

I have one the same 

Mate that's mint!!! Ok, straight to the point then - do you still have the front suspension clamps to extract the springs? If yes - can I either borrow them, or buy them, will pay shipping ofcourse. 

Hey guys

Better late than never. Ants is the name, not sure wtf is up with the z in my username, I guess I created this account in '05 and in my early 20s I thought it was cool back then.

Anyway, I've been on the car scene since about 99, went through a Honda phase, then had a bunch of Mazda Bongos, then moved onto older stuff. The best oldschool car I've owned so far was an HX wagon that I've restored, owned it from 08 till start of this year.

In my past life I was a panelbeater and then ended up being the shop's painter for the last few years there. Now for the past 10 years have been working as an office poof, but still mucking around with cars on weekends.