County98's Learn as I Go Thread

[County98]

I didn't know that about the Pulse LEDs, that interesting. The analog dimmables should work off a rheostat though. I know Superbright sells some for RVs and whatnot that are advertised as map and instrument lights, but never tried them. I have a LED gauge cluster in my '69 pickup that dims accordingly, but they are built into the dash, so may be some additional sorcery I don't know about.

[County98]

Got my cables in yesterday, so thought I would show a couple things before I get started on the replacements.

I was wondering why shipping was more expensive on these, I guess I never really looked at what the back end of the clutch cable looked like. Clarks shipped them out in a long tube, which was pretty cool.

*On a side note...Clarks called me out of the blue the other day to ask if I wanted a cheaper shipping option since FedEx went up a little bit. Very cool for them to reach out like that instead of just blindly charging my card.

Rod end of both cables. Clutch cable is solid for 5ft or so, and emergency brake cable has the threaded end with the little hole for the spring. This is one of the things I needed since mine was rusted solid and I broke the tip off it trying to free the adjustment nuts.

Ball end is very similar, but clutch cable is thicker and has a nylon sheath.

Also took a snapshot of a Chevy bulletin that explains that a cause of frequent cable breakage at the ball end is due to over-smashing the retainer and sawing through the cable at the pivot point. Good tip, since I tend to over-smash retainers. I'll probably grab the dremel and file the edges a bit to cut down on wear friction.

Whelp, pitter patter, time to get at 'er.

[County98]

Cockpit side of routing. This stuff is pretty easy, but visuals are always good if you've never messed with it, so here they are.

Ball of emer brake cable slips into it's socket and runs straight back to top pulley on front wall. Make sure it runs straight and not rubbing on any of the steering supports. Top pulley sits on a shaft with a cotter pin.

From there, kicks over to middle pulley on front wall, top of heater stack. Cable guide is part of the pulley retainer. This one is a bolt, so make sure you have the bushing in there so it doesn't bind when you tighten it up.

Clutch cable slips into it's (not over-crimped or sharp edged) socket and straight down. They both meet up at the bottom of the heater stack under the floor. I'm running the aluminum roller from Clarks for the clutch cable.

Bottom cable guide:

Cables run in cockpit, next step is all under the car.

[County98]

Got both routed to the back of the car. Basic, but there's a couple odd things.

Emergency cable has only 2 guides up under the tunnel. Don't seem to be in grommets, so seems odd that they would have a chafing opportunity riding in the steel loops.

Rear one is weird, so someone help me out if an adjustment is needed. Seems to be DESIGNED to rub on the metal as the guide is lower than the grommet through the rear tunnel cap.

Even in the assembly manual, which admittedly looks like it was drawn by a 6th grader, shows this unevenness. Thoughts?

Brake where it joins the rear cable to the wheels. Can't adjust anything until I have somewhere to hook the spring to.

For the clutch cable, it doesn't seem to have any guides at all, and my swivel was a crusty frozen mess. (Soaked in PB Blaster)

Used a new retaining nut and chased the threads of the swivel to clean them up. Seems to work fine. I might be having a hard time visualizing this whole piece assembled, but clutch rod seems pretty long. I guess we'll see.

Routing through the tunnel end cap.

Done for now. More to come after getting the powertrain in. While I was up there, I also finished dropping the shift shaft for rebuilding. I've had to rebuild kit from Clarks in a bag for awhile now.

[bbodie52]

Brake where it joins the rear cable to the wheels. Can't adjust anything until I have somewhere to hook the spring to...

From way back in my youth, and in the deep recesses of my mind, I seem to remember that parking brake spring connecting from the threaded cable adjustor to a hole in the transmission mount bracket. It appears in the picture near the manual transmission backup light switch...

[County98]

Thanks bud, I'll take a look. My trans crossmember is still sitting on the floor bolted to the trans.

What about where it seems to chafe at that weird angle? Any advice on that sir?

[County98]

Starting on the shifting situation. I had taken apart and cleaned up the actual shifter a long time ago, but decided to pop it apart, and re-clean and grease it.

Pieces and shims. Have a couple new shim pieces from Clark's, and all the factory chunks. THEORETICALLY, I should be able to reassemble the factory shimming and be good to go. Problem is the floor isn't factory fresh and has rust bumps and whatnot. Assembly manual is a little confusing, but looks like the end product will be to have very little tilt side to side, but a little fore/aft movement with a little pressure. Allows shifter to not vibrate and move like crazy as the motor flexes forward and back a bit. That's why the factory pieces are all slotted instead of just holes, and why the mount posts are collared.

Watch the spring inside there, but only part not straightforward is the spring cup closest to top of shifter. It sits at a little angle. I'm assuming it's to keep a little spring pressure AWAY from the reverse side, someone correct me if I'm wrong. Notch in shifter housing goes toward the front of the car.

Cleaned up and re-greased. Mine isn't chrome anymore since it was pretty trashed, so painted to match the interior bits.

Shift rod and tube are a crusty mess.

Shifter/pin end:

Measured my coupler length before disassembly if anyone needs a starting point:

Tubes apart. Mine did not have any cardboard, but did have some plastic sheathing. I removed it. I'll be doing the DaveMotohead method with flange bushings, but the worst part is going to be cleaning the inner tube. The coupler end is pretty chewed up, so not sure just how smooth I'll be able to get that...

That's enough for today.

[JohnDB]

I did the DaveMotohead flange bushing method a few months ago and it made a huge difference! I did most of the cleanup on the tube with green scotchbrite and some emery cloth on the coupler end. The bushings get honed out a little bit to fit (I used a dremel with a drum sander) so the tube doesn't have to be perfect. At least yours doesn't look like it is bent - mine was pretty bad at the coupler end.

[County98]

Thanks John! I got sidetracked halfway through that project and decided I was tired of walking around the motor and transaxle sitting in my way, lol.

[County98]

Even if I don't have everything bolted onto it, I'm tired of the powerpack sitting in my way. Started putting it all together, but have a bunch of questions....

I got all the tins secured with mostly new hardware, but whomever decided a half dozen different sized bolts into a dozen pieces of tin was a good idea must have been drunk that day. Couldn't just make them all the same size? Sheesh.

I realized I'm missing both sides of the oil cooler and the summer/winter plate. Have them in my cart from clarks, don't feel like bending them all up myself.

I also have a hole right underneath the coil. What goes in there?

I don't have breather retainer hardware and neither does Clarks. Arg.

Lastly, Do I need to run any lower shrouds at all? I'll have headers on and only be a summer, occasional fun car. Not primary or winter.

Overall, besides the big things like the alternator, etc. Do the things I have assembled look correct? Using Silicone Wire Systems wires, and Roger Parent linkage.

What does everyone see wrong? What am I missing?

[County98]

SO, I had my motor built by Bob Coffin, to include the clutch plate, etc. This is what I have on that end.

After the fact, I went back and got a 3.55 posi from him, but was after the motor shipped. Does the clutch fork look to be in the correct position?

So besides being super careful on alignment and not forcing anything, do I just grease the end of the input shaft and slide them together? Nothing else goes in here or gaskets or anything? I've never done this before.

[JohnDB]

I realized I'm missing both sides of the oil cooler and the summer/winter plate. Have them in my cart from clarks, don't feel like bending them all up myself.

I don't have the sides on the oil cooler either. I'm not sure if they were factory or not, but a lot of people suggest using them. It's on my list to add at some point.

I also have a hole right underneath the coil. What goes in there?

This was for smog (A.I.R) pipes - I think only cars sold in California in 1966 required A.I.R., but I think the shrouds got changed and put into all cars at some point. My car has a build date of the 2nd week of October 1965 (1966 model) and has that hole. I covered it with a piece of scrap stainless I got at work:

Lastly, Do I need to run any lower shrouds at all? I'll have headers on and only be a summer, occasional fun car. Not primary or winter.

Plenty of opinions about lower shrouds off or on. Without them it will take longer to warm up and you won't have any heat or defrost - maybe not too important in summer? You can always cut them for headers.

[fred bagnall]

I install the clutch fork fingers completely in the throw out bearing. I then test the action with the clutch rod and make sure it functions fore and aft. correctly. Looking great.

[County98]

Thanks for the answers guys, MUCH appreciated!

I'll get some cooler plates, and cover the smog hole, good catch.

Yup, had clutch fork fingers in the wrong place. So just slide it all together? Nothing fancy about it?

[County98]

Finally got around to knocking out some more work today. Moved the clutch fork to tuck in the springs on the fingers and hooked the pivot under the little nub retainer.

Next I made some guide pins. Got the idea from here I think. Got a few 6" x 3/8 coarse thread screws and cut the heads off them. Next took a dremel and notched both ends so I could turn them from either side with a screwdriver.

Guide pins worked well since I was doing it by myself and didn't want to bend the input shaft. Was still a little fiddly with trying to mate them and having a guide pin smack into tins or whatnot. Still worked well after some trial and error.

The mating was also a little finicky. I had the motor on my trans jack with the DaveMotoHead cradle, and the transaxle on my ATV jack. Went okay, but didn't have it far enough forward and had to reposition a couple times. After I had the depth right, I had to play with the angle and finally had to bump the crank around a bit. FINALLY, it just slipped right together all the way up to the mating surface.

Getting the screws all in went okay, but had to pull the heater flanges back off to get the bellhousing bolts all in. Not too bad overall, and together at last.

Also threw the starter on and was surprised to read that corvair starters don't get shimmed. Put on a new one from Clark's, so we'll see how that goes later on.

[County98]

Next project of the day was the perimeter seal. I had to stall on this one until I could find what box the retainer strips were in. I had forgotten all about them.

Looked like crap, rusty and bent to hell. I was also missing a couple top hat screws and had a couple more stripped. I just replaced one retainer run with fresh oversized screws.

Sandblasted and quick spray paint.

New seal from Clarks. Nice overall, but still has the issue I read about and the spring steel was pretty wide. Slipped right off on my test fit.

My seal looks wavy now, as I took a pliers and crimped it together every inch or so.

I read MANY opinions on whether to install on tins first, or body first. If on body first, I read you have to worry about not having enough slack in the corners, but on motor first and retainers are a PITA. I opted for body first, tried to leave slack in the corners and will hope for the best.

Was a little unpleasant and tedious, but not terribly hard to do. Little square lip goes in square channel. The downside is everything was a little bent, and I only have 2 hands instead of the required 3 to make holding everything easier. All done though.

Mine is an LOS car and I can verify that the factory had the seam in the center of the front with some duct tape over it and DID have some occasional staples that I did NOT replace.

I chose to put the seam at the rear.

Yep.