Old Car BS thread

Better to take it slow and have everything line up plumb rather than having to grind off the welds and start over because something doesn't line up, though.

 

Definitely! Have enough work to do than to go too fast and do everything twice.

 

So @DCSBFTMFW just led me to this thread and I figured I'd show off my old sled. It's a 1962 Studebaker lark Daytona. It still has the original 289 V8 and 3 speed automatic. It was my first car and I actually took my test to get my drivers license in it back in 1992.

 

Ugh.
Part of the fun of working on a 47 year old truck in New England: Tetanus shots

Doing king pins on my '69 (because they're like a hot dog in a hallway), and the retaining pins that hold everything in place are seized. I've been soaking them in penetrating oil and winding the heat to them since Saturday and they still don't want to budge. I ruined a brass punch on them and cranked a 2-jaw puller so tight (multiple times) that it was bending. I also tightened the puller down in good shape and whacked the center piece with a hammer, whacked the axle with a hammer, and applied heat, the puller, and multiple hammers at the same time, lol.

My next step is to pick up an air hammer and see if I can 'gently persuade' the retainers out with that instead, and if that doesn't work I'll have no choice but to start drilling the retaining pins, and I HATE drilling. Especially large-diameter hardened steel.

 

Try soaking them in 50% ATF and 50% acetone. This mixture has broken more shit loose for me than any penetrating oil I have found.

 

I will roger that, it's got to be worth a shot. I've got both of them kicking around, probably. At least I know I have the ATF; the GF probably has Acetone for stripping her fingernails. If not I know the local hardware store sells the high-test stuff.

 

Stole this one from the Funny Pics page.
Figured it belonged here

 

Most people and many kids today prob dont even get it

 

Had wing windows in our Bronco's, I wish every car I owned had them.

On a hot day, there's nothing better. Twisting those open on the open road was like sticking a leaf blower in your face. Loved it. So many memories.

 

The '69 and the '84 both have them, my '73 Mercedes had them, and my '96 and '94 Jeep Cherokees both had them because I swapped out the doors from an '86


The only problem is that every so often they suck a bee in and spit it onto your chest.

 

I had a 77 cutlass that a yellow jacket came in the window in slow mo as Im trying to roll up the window with hand crank....hit me right in the neck...needless to say I almost wrecked my car

 

Yeah, and they're always PISSED after they get sucked through a window, lol.

 

Courtesy of the Oatmeal:

 

that was almost me but luckily I was alone at the time...of course they cant just fly around...this is more like what happend

 

Finally managed to persuade the driver's retaining pin out this weekend. I let it soak in that acetone/atf mix all week, but they still didn't want to budge. So yesterday I heated it up with the propane torch for 20 minutes, then I beat on it with a sledge and a punch for about 5 minutes nonstop as it cooled. All of a sudden it shot out of there like I'd fired it out of a cannon. Made it all the way out of the garage and completely across the driveway!

Switched sides and the passenger side retainer fell right out after 6-7 taps with a regular hammer
Kingpins themselves were so wasted that one fell out on its own after I got the retainers out, and the other one dropped out with just a couple of light taps. So tomorrow I'm dropping the spindles and the new parts off at the local machine shop and they said I should have them back on Thursday. So with a little bit of luck I'll have the old girl back on the road with new pins and new brakes in time for the holiday weekend!

 

Looks like it's missing its lower jaw, lol.


Super high-tech and smooth-riding I-Beam axle


And high-tech and responsive manual drum brake setup!


Power brakes by Leadfoot, power steering by Armstrong. Want to parallel park this thing? Best be hittin' the gym.

 

Did the acetone and ATF do it for you?

 

Probably helped. I let it soak in that all week, kept spraying it on there in the mornings before work and in the evenings after work. Tried again on Sunday, but it wasn't interested still. I decided I was getting it out of there even if I had to drill it, so I held the torch to it for about 20 minutes and beat the crap out of it with the punch/sledge for about 5 minutes while it cooled off. When it let go it let go in a hurry; shot all the way across the driveway.
Passenger side fell right out with just a few light taps, though, so I'm sure the acetone/ATF is what did the trick on that one.

 

New brake lines done, front to rear from the Master Cylinder to the Wheel cylinders (also new). Picking my spindles up from the machine shop today, so tonight I can put my front suspension and steering system back together. Then I can bleed the brakes and be good to go!

 

Spindles rebushed and ready to go! Looks like I'm king pinning tonight, lol.