Project No-Flight Update
August 2004
It's hard to believe it is August already. I seem to have missed a whole summer. I bought a new boat, but still haven't had it out yet, just one nit after another. I had planned to blow the car apart to paint the chassis in the spring, but am just getting started on it now. At least August and April are both "A" months <LOL>.
Day 1 - How to expand a car to fit all the available space, and then some. This is the first days progress at taking the car back apart. I'm stripping it to the bare frame and body so I can finish weld all the frame brackets that were only tacked so far, dress the welds a little, and then paint the frame so I can start re-assembly of the car to hopefully a running state. Due to the roll cage I can't remove the body (the cage side bars are wider than the rocker panels), I can only lift it a "little" to get at the top of the rails for paint.
The first step was to strip all the parts off of the mock-up block so they can eventually go onto the real engine. I removed the injection, A/C system, alternator, water pump, starter, exhaust system, and the heads.
The exhaust system got the final welds on the tabs that hold the sections together. After some dressing they will be ready to send out for ceramic coating (which will also get them out of my way for at least a little while).
The motor is now stripped back to just the bare block and the mounts. I'll drop the block out after I get the front sway bar out of the way. The easy way to remove it is out the bottom. Just put a crate under the motor, loosen all the mounts and remove the front and mid motor plates, then lift the frame up over the motor and slide it out.
The trans was removed the same way, put a crate under it and then lift the car up and over.
I took the doors off to make it easier to get the interior stripped, and it will let me get at the roll cage tubes for eventual painting.
The front and rear suspensions will be the next to go.
Now that the fuel tank is out I could get some good shots of the rear suspension, battery box, new rear frame rails and body mount. I never liked the way the originals rear kick went to the body mounts, so I spliced in some straight rail sections and added an upper brace tube, then made up new rear body mounts that bolt to the reinforced license plate mount.
I'm starting to get quite a good collection of parts. I got a set of stacking storage tubs from the local K-mart to put all the loose stuff in, grouped by system (for example, all the AC system parts are in one tub, engine accessories in another). I'll probably need to get a few more tubs to fit all the loose suspension parts in when they come apart.
Day 2 - Does it really count as disassembly if you take something off but put something new on? I've never really been happy with the rear shock setup that came on the chassis. Since this would be the last opportunity to weld on the chassis before it gets painted I decided now was the time to change out the rear shocks and install new upper mounting brackets. You can see the old shock setup about 4 pictures back, and here is the new one.
Day 3 - Time to get the engine block out of the car. Since I have the lift it is easier to set the motor on a block, then lift the car over it to get it out. I'll probably install the new one the same way, as my engine crane doesn't have quite enough reach to put the motor in from the front due to all the setback.
You can see that I slid the motor forward to disconnect the mid mount, then unbolted the front motor plates to make it narrow enough to drop down though the frame rails.
Next to go was the front suspension. Here all that is left is to remove the lower A arms. They are one of the few "mostly stock" pieces in the front or rear suspension.
The rear axle was removed by first adding some restraint straps, then removing the shocks and all the linkage. Finally the rear axle was set on jackstands and the car lifted again so I could move it out from under the car.
