1963 chevrolet frontend overhaul

jester

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I'm thinking this is penny wise and pound foolish..
So you touch up the paint when there done . It's not like you need to have it aligned everytime you put gas in it. Get it aligned and over with. :clap
 

JimKwiatkowski

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
Like I said at the start of this tread I've been doing front end alignments for over 30 years.Your tie rods and adjustment sleeves are new,you should be able turn your adjustment sleeves by hand.If they don't take some duct tape and wrap tie rod adjustment sleeves to protect them.Us front end tec's are smart enought to do a good job and respect our customers vehicles.
 

Gus68

Well Known Member
front end

Hey man!! Did you know that if you align the front end (either by your self or a shop) and you change the ride hight, you will have to have it aligned again?
 

64ss409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 9
Also raising or lowering the rear end changes the castor angle on the front.

Back to the alignment shop.
Ron
 

chevy_belair63

Well Known Member
Ok the 1000x15 radir M/T slicks are just that 4 ply nylon slicks, and the 670 bfgs im going with are 4 ply rayon bias ply. not mixing radial and biasply.

Also yes i checked the yellow pages. one place dose but when i went over their not the orignal owner, and nothing but kids work their, plus the tie rods are new but the adjusting sleeves are orignal and you need a wrench to set it. thats why i know the paint will get scratched. when i was adjusting it the wrench sliped and red paint was showing through i had to wire brush the whole thing to primer and re paint it. not going to take the chance.

plus not going to drive the car much. probly wouldnt put 200 miles on the car in a months time. hell maybe a 3 month period.
 

Impalaguru

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
You might try and contact Jeff Lilly restorations. They are in Texas, not sure how far from you, but they might be able to work on your front end and give you the results that you want. They are a HIGH END, full service restoration shop. This is the type of shop that color sands and buffs inner fender wells!!! Not joking, there are pics of this on the website! I don't think they would stand for scratched tie rods either! They might at least be able to put you in touch with some people that they reccomend. www.jefflilly.com
Ross
 
Impalaguru said:
You might try and contact Jeff Lilly restorations. They are in Texas, not sure how far from you, but they might be able to work on your front end and give you the results that you want. They are a HIGH END, full service restoration shop. This is the type of shop that color sands and buffs inner fender wells!!! Not joking, there are pics of this on the website! I don't think they would stand for scratched tie rods either! www.jefflilly.com
Ross

VERY VERY nice stuff, Guru !

Then again.... give me a customer that doesn't grind me to the nickel... to the minute... and then STILL chisel me down.... HECK YEAH ! NO QUOTE FOR TIME ?????
HAAA HEEE HAAA !!!!
Forget the $40+ an hour they're getting.... I'd do it THAT for $20 !!!!!!!!!

Oh well
In the next life maybe
 

Impalaguru

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
I can imagine EXACTLY what you're talking about!! When I was studying auto restoration we had a project where we were to give an imaginary customer a quote to restore his model A. Not very easy.

We also had to keep track of what we worked on in lab in a log book. Had to turn it in at the end of every week for grading. We also had to take pictures of what we did. Sometimes hard to get everything.

My instructors had all either owned their own shops or had worked in them and they said the paperwork end of things was always their least favorite.

Ross
 

chevy_belair63

Well Known Member
do they do interior and exterior restration??? cause looks like they do a good job with paint and body work and the interior dosent look too bad but just wanted to compare their price to the interior shop down here that is going to charage me 2500 to restore the whole interior including repainting of the dash and pillars in fawn laquor.
 

Impalaguru

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
They sure do. There is a tab to click on, at the webpage, for interiors. I'm sure they could install your upholstery kit and paint your dash, etc.
Ross
 

Impalaguru

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
Pretty nice lookin ride, 63BA :clap Post some vintage photos if you got 'em!!! Love those old photos. My avatar is actually the graduation picture of the 3rd owner of my car, taken in 1977. I'm a young guy so I missed out on things, back when.
Ross
 

chevy_belair63

Well Known Member
i plan on it. i got one of the interior back in 1968/69 before the steering wheel was replaced and the underdash gauges was put in or tach. basicly factory stock still.
 

chevy_belair63

Well Known Member
front is 3 inches lower than the back im going to see if i can find the spring lifts like i got on the back i had the twist in on the front but want the ones in the back that are like straps and i think im going to raise the front up just 1 inch over stock then let the air out of the air shocks in the back then with the 29.25 inch dia tires out back will give it a fairly good rake compared to now where its about a 4 inch difference between front and back.
 

jester

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
front end

you better check the instalation of the that link. From the pic, it looks like it is way to loose.
 
belair63.... You want to use 29.5" tall rear tires ?
There is VERY VERY little chance that they will clear th front edge of the wheel opening... ESPECIALLY if you really DO have the rear suspension raised.
Somehow I doubt that you want to cut the body on that car :dunno

If you really DO have the rear of that car up in the air... Do you realize the colossal collection of problems that causes :? ?

(1) yes, the rear axle is pulled forward into the wheel well

(2) the panhard bar pulls the entire rear housing over to the left side of the car

(3) because the lower control/trailing arms are mounted at an angle, pointing to eachother, the rear axle housing will actually twist in relation to the direction of the car, and cause the car to "dog track"... with the rear of the car driving into the curb

(4) The "unnatural" upward angle of the lower control arms is counterproductive to traction. This was covered in the "bolt hole" thread. This condition will also cause a distinctive "wobble" in the rear of the car when going over bumps in the road.

(5) The pinion in the differential will point down at a MUCH greater angle than where it should be. Will cause a constant "shudder" in the driveline, especially at low speeds. U joint life will also be reduced.

(6) Maybe the most obvious problem.... it makes the car look......well.... :doh


Oh, and about the 29.5" tall tires. While the engine is just a 283 ( 301/327 ? ), and the car is just an automatic... the excessivily tall tires are absolutely destructive to the rear axles. If you had torque, those little 17 splines would last about 8 minutes :eek: ( not to mention the bearing caps onthe differential ).

Just some thoughts
 

dq409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
jester said:
you better check the instalation of the that link. From the pic, it looks like it is way to loose.

In Belairs defense,,, :? I don`t think he has the upper bushing on yet,,,

This is the sway bar you are pointing out ,,yes?,,,dq

Also belair ,,you want to use raising blocks in your springs ???:eek:

You must be nutz,,,,, :D those will give you a very unstable ride and ruin what ever is left of your springs,,, and what Aubrey said,,,,

Your car ,,,, your way,,,,
 

threeimpalas

 
Supporting Member 1
Take it to a professional alignment shop. I don't care if you're afraid of scratching the paint, DO IT. Tape the wrench surfaces if you're really concerned about them not being careful. Why you seem to be so worked up about it when it appears you've got other bolt heads, nuts, and frame chunks only half painted, I don't know. :? Hell, if the paint does get slightly chipped, do some touch up after you get the car back home!

Regardless, take it to a shop so they can properly align ALL aspects of the suspension. (ie: Caster, Camber, Toe-in). You might be able to get it "close", but you won't be able to get it "right".
 

chevy_belair63

Well Known Member
ok pictures were taken before i finshed putting the sway bar in the powersteeing slave cylinder wasnt installed yet, and the reasion why the bolts are painted looking forwards is its kinda hard to paint something when you got jack stands in the way. i already resprayed that, and touched up all scratches.

Also i dont know where you got your information from but the car had 200 miles put on it with the 3 inch lifts in the back and no vibration from drivetrain at low speeds or high speeds, dosent dog track, dosent woble, dose bounce up and down more than before, but not left to right.
 

dq409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 3
chevy_belair63 said:
ok pictures were taken before i finshed putting the sway bar in the powersteeing slave cylinder wasnt installed yet, and the reasion why the bolts are painted looking forwards is its kinda hard to paint something when you got jack stands in the way. i already resprayed that, and touched up all scratches.

Also i dont know where you got your information from but the car had 200 miles put on it with the 3 inch lifts in the back and no vibration from drivetrain at low speeds or high speeds, dosent dog track, dosent woble, dose bounce up and down more than before, but not left to right.


WELL THERE YOU GO GUYS !!!
WERE JUST WAISTING INK !!!!

I guess Aubrey don`t know squat !!:roll

Why even ask us?? You all ready had your mind made up on what you were going to do!! :dunno

BTW,,, Nice welds on the headers,,,, and how many rattle cans of paint did it take to do your work???? :rolleyes:
 
Top