SkinnyG's V8 Pontiac Firefly

NOHOME said:

My eye tells me that if the piece of cladding right behind the tire did not seem mismatched to the arch, most of us would not even notice that the tire was not centered in the opening. 

Very true, but the un-centered front wheel has been taunting me every moment I could see it. The gap mis-match is so horrific to ~my~ eyes, I HAD to cut it out and fix it.

Same reason why I am building a new Lethal Locost - while 99% of the public doesn't know what it is, much less that it's a fake, 99% of it bothers me because it's not accurate enough.

I spell it CDO - that way the letters are in alphabetical order.

I could spell it COD, which would be in order of pen stroke, or volume of ink used.

LOL @ CDO

Finally caught up on a few details around the shop, so I can get back to some tasks on the Firefly.

It's a steady -15°C lately, so I boxed in the barn fan in the shop so I could stuff it full of insulation and close it up.

No pics, sorry, but had my 12 year old help drop the cross member and pull the governor out of the TH350.  I cut 5/8" x 3/16" of each side of the inner weights, and reassembled.  Theoretically this should have me shifting at 5000rpm instead of the 4000rpm it has been doing.

Also re-sealed the speedo bullet, and replaced the trans pan gasket. Pesky oil leaks....

One of my complaints was that the rear shocks were effectively too long. Apparently I was not thinking (again), when I made the shock mounts, and had WAY too much droop, such that the springs will fall out.  Annoying to re-position the springs when I wanted it down off the lift.

I figured I could shorten the stud on the top of the shock (there are no shorter shocks with appropriate valving), but then if I ever had to replace the shock, I'd have to shorten the shock every time - no thanks.  Then I had a brainwave to just lengthen the shock mount.

Now the coils are only -just- loose at full droop, and I can use any OEM-replacement Camaro/Firebird shock.

My right-lower back was finally on the mend (four months, wheee!), and now I seem to have pinched a nerve in my left hip, making my toes go numb.  Wheee! Good thing it's Christmas break eh?

In reply to SkinnyG :

Nerve issues are so much fun, one day your fine the next your arms are on fire.  You must work through the pain and complete this build!

Well, the Dr. is impressed how I have such limited range of motion with no apparent injury. X-Ray is scheduled. Saw the Chiropractor today as well, who got a bit more motion out o f my hip, but said he didn't have any stretches or anything for me, because I can't actually move enough to do them.

This getting old thing ain't what it's cracked up to be.

Time to build a sauna and heat soak?  Doesn't sound like you're having a good time.

Either the Robaxacet isn't working at all, or I should be very thankful that it IS working.

FWIW, my chiropractor is (was, he's retired now) an orthopedic surgeon as well.

His explanation was: "This is a good thing because I can write prescriptions. I'm going to shoot you full of lidocaine and reset your back once the drugs have made the muscles relax. Not much point in trying to fix things when you're all wound up, is there?"

Maybe try finding a back guy who is actually a doctor. Worked for me.

-edit-

He also gave me these pills, I can't remember what they were but they were yellow and shaped like a little house and boy did they work!

The instructions were: "These are not smart drugs, you need to be smart. Start with half a pill, if that doesn't do anything, take the other half. Never take more than a whole one!"

Cyclobenzaprine?

https://www.drugs.com/imprints/d-32-16355.html

Looks like it.

Those things are great.

Got my phone call from the doc - x-ray just shows osteoarthritis, nothing else. Explains some of the pain I've had for years, but not the limited range of motion recently.

So, I might have pulled something unknowingly?

I hear lots of Bourbon is good for osteo....

Exciting news everybody!

I am now into day 3 of no pain killers at all.  I've been on pain killers since mid August. Yay!

SkinnyG said:

 

This getting old thing ain't what it's cracked up to be.

It was a lie!

Dude!! Fixing that front wheel centering makes you a hero in my books. I see so many street rods with improperly placed front and or rear wheels (relative to the center of the arch) and it drives me bananas. Major cudos for cutting it apart and fixing it. Tremendous improvement. I commend your ability to do and re-do major things like lower control arm design in order to get it right. Knowing myself as I do I might have tried to convince myself the first wheel placement was good enough. It wasn't. 

Keep up the good work and glad to hear the back is feeling better! Back pain sucks a lot.  

SkinnyG said:

Exciting news everybody!

I am now into day 3 of no pain killers at all.  I've been on pain killers since mid August. Yay!

What changed to cause this improvement?  Glad to hear you're feeling better.

pres589 said:

What changed to cause this improvement?  Glad to hear you're feeling better.

I don't know. I was very nearly on the mend at least three times with my back (down to Tylenol once a day), but then it always came back with friends.

Maybe (just maybe) with my hip going wrong, it's because I finally went Advil. My guts don't like Ibuprofen, so I usually pick things easier on my stomach. To deal with the hip, I went Advil and Tylenol instead of Robaxacet, and just made sure I ate a couple crackers or something with the Advil to cushion the blow on my stomach lining. I don't know.  I'm not complaining.

Probably the right attitude to have.  

I've been pain-killer free for close to three weeks now, I think.  Yay!

"Break it up!  Back to work!"

Starting to pattern inner fenders.  Rolling the fenders edges to fit the Firebird wheels properly made the original inner fender no longer fit. I tried to modify them to fit, but ruined them, because I got skillz.

In reply to SkinnyG :

Toy bring up a task that I am not looking forward to with the Molvo.  The P1800 never had liners and the Miata ones are not going to fit.

Pete

SkinnyG said:

I've been pain-killer free for close to three weeks now, I think.  Yay!

"Break it up!  Back to work!"

Starting to pattern inner fenders.  Rolling the fenders edges to fit the Firebird wheels properly made the original inner fender no longer fit. I tried to modify them to fit, but ruined them, because I got skillz.

What material are you contemplating......aloomeum/plastic?

I've thought about both of those, but I likely will go ABS plastic.

Aluminum would be easy to stretch and form, now that I have a French Wheel and a Shinker/Stretcher.  BUT - Any residual road salt (not that this will see winter, I mean dude - I got stuck, in my driveway, on the flat, in a skiff of snow) may result in galvanic corrosion, wheras the ABS will likely just wear itself into a better fit.  \

My main goal is to keep rocks from denting the underside of the fender, and to keep water out of the doors/door-hinge.

I have gotten distracted by purchasing my next project, a '61 Chevy Apache

Gotta get the Firefly mobile again....

Once the template was finished and I was content with the fit, I traced it onto the ABS, and cut it out with tin snips.

Then trial fit, discover just how badly I made the template, and then I cut up and modified the now plastic version of the pattern.

<a href="http://gwellwood.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_20180218_165818802_HDRs.jpg"><img src="http://gwellwood.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_20180218_165818802_HDRs-672x504.jpg" alt="" width="672" height="504" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-5675" /></a>

Spring clips help hold it in place while I trimmed, shaped, and held it in.

The other side went a lot slicker, and these inner fenders look worse in pictures than they do in person.

Not as pretty as I'd like, but their main intent is to keep the rocks and water out of the inside of the fender, and out of the door hinges. This'll do. Compound curves with ABS is interesting....

This ABS is available thru a plastics only supplier?   Well done SG!!!