Build DADs Landmark (restomod)

[Eric H]

Don't chuck um

Btw the bezel police will be knocking on ya door soon ... might want to fix your avitar

I dont plan on throwing anything out. one mans junk is anothers treasure.

I didnt even notice the bezel. I will probably find a better one one of these days. had to use something. Nothing google cant fix.

 

[winnie]

love the history ... nice project ... wish my welding looked like yours ... welcome to Mud ...

 

[Captn Conch]

"And also in other news after work today i went for a little drive and picked up an old 8274 for a reasonable price. Took it apart for inspection and re assembled. looks to be in decent shape. the gear on the brake was on backwards tho... I havent decided if im going to rebuild/uprade it or just clean it, paint it, and throw some 3/8 synthetic on it. Upgrades would be really nice but its money on something thats not a fj40 vital organ. "

Now wait a minute....Like Forrest Gump said "An old FJ40 without an 8274 winch is just not right.... They go together like peas and carrots." Well, I'm pretty sure that's what he said....It's a vital organ when your up S**t Creek...Ya gotta have it.

 

[Eric H]

love the history ... nice project ... wish my welding looked like yours ... welcome to Mud ...

Thanks for the welding compliment. Im new to mig. I was running a 110 flux core untill recently so im still a newbe

Now wait a minute....Like Forrest Gump said "An old FJ40 without an 8274 winch is just not right.... They go together like peas and carrots." Well, I'm pretty sure that's what he said....It's a vital organ when your up S**t Creek...Ya gotta have it.

True they go perfect on these. I had a really nice belview 6000 but i wanted to make sure it had a good brake. Ive been doing a lot of reaserch in the last couple hours. I think if everything is in spec ill just run it and upgrade to a new motor and soeinoid pack later if necessary. Ive been to S**t creek before and its not very fun.

 

[Eric H]

I got my new radiator in the mail! I love flexalite! great quality. I had to do a little cutting and drilling to get the tranny and power steering cooler to mount up right, but they look good now. Also have an overflow to mount up after i get it in there. The fins make mounting stuff real easy tho. Hopefully i get some time to mount it up this week.

 

[Honger]

That is some sexy cooling equipment bro...

 

[Dynosoar]

That vin tag is from a July or August of 1964

 

[Eric H]

Sorry i haven't had anything new for a while. Waiting on parts for the 8274 and i changed my mind about the motor/tranny/case for overall drive-ability and modern technology. Im going to go with an LS/4l60e/atlas maybe. I found a donor camaro with low miles and a salvage title. Hopefully picking up on Tuesday.

Im selling my stak monster 3 speed to help fund whatever transfer case i go with. Who has an atlas? Do they drive nice and quiet at highway speeds can you shift it on the fly?

Anyways i tacked in the radiator, i put it as far forward as possible since i know that my rear driveline will end up pretty short already. Im going to have to weld in a custom grill insert.

It fits pretty well. Im going to cap the tube i bolted it to. Also there are rubber isolators between the tube and radiator side mounts. I may use the tube to tie the tube fenders into not sure. I had to start the steering box mount in order to figure out how high the radiator needs to be. I made 2 triangle shaped plates for the astrovan box. I plan on sleeving the bolts and using the sleeves as spacers for the box side of the fram like guys do with the saginaw box.

This is where it will land.

im waiting to finish it till i get the motor and trans stabbed in. I dont want to move it if it wont clear.

 

[White Stripe]

Why not run a split case tcase? U can always put the 4:1 AA gears in it.

 

[Eric H]

Why not run a split case tcase? U can always put the 4:1 AA gears in it.

I was just looking into that. Only issue with that i have some work into my centered rear axle

just did a little research the 4l60e and split would end up being a longish combo with the adapter length. with adapter gears and a case its not exactly cheap. (still cheaper than atlas)

im trying to figure out lengths of tranny and t/case setups, but google is giving me conflicting info. I figure all i really need is around 4:1 in the case.

 

[Eric H]

Earlier this week i spent an entire day off of work spending way too much money. Bought this 99 camero with 101k miles and a salvage title. Guess what motor it has...... ls1. Im pretty excited about that.

Also on the way to get the car we stopped about half way and picked up this beauty.

Atlas 4 speed. 2.0 in the rear case. I will be ordering the adapters and transfer case flanges soon. Once i get the adapter i can get a 4l60e rebuilt and have all the major bones of the truck together.

One thing i cant decide is if i should keep the old school fenderwell headers and adapt them to the ls1 header flanges. Or if i should just buy some block huggers. I like how the fenderwells look and i think i can protect the mufflers between the body and sliders.

 

[rrv333]

 

[Eric H]

Fairly productive week!

The parts for the 8274 came finally (weather delay) and i was able to reassemble the parts that i had carefully cleaned and painted. Put in new lower bushings, brake friction pads, 6hp motor, sinthetic line, factor55 safty hook, and a new style solinoid pack. Looks damn good.

Also i got busy wrenching on the donor ls1 car. I wanted to do a compression test before tearing it apart to double check the motors helth (im sure its fine) but it was near impossible to even get to some of the plugs. So out it came.

Such a pain pulling it from the bottom. Lots of busted knuckles. Tight spaces are not my friend.

Hopefully get all the un-nessary stuff stripped off and get the car back rolling again tomorrow. Then its back to waiting for parts.

 

[Eric H]

Well just a teaser but i finally got the rebuilt 4l60e with the 4.8 torque converter/crank spacer installed with the atlas. I spent a lot of time replacing the main seals/oil pump/valve cover gaskets and general cleanup (went through a box of towels and 2 cans of brake clean). Its basically installed finishing motor mounts (which have been a pain in the ass) and transmision/case crossmembers tomorrow. Thanks to my friens jd squared bender.

Here is it all together

And the ruff stuff motor mounts. They are the older style small block mount kit that i was going to use. Bought some barnes LS plates to make it work.

Hopefully a lot more progress tomorrow. Ive given up on flat belly but hopefully i end up half way close with a skid plate for the tranny pan.

 

[Eric H]

Well its in there!

Still have to finish all the mounts but this is what i have so far.

Mounted it as far forward as possible. Looks like ill end up with a 2foot driveline.

I could almost do a true flatbelly. But i decided to keep it simple. All the crossmembers will be flat and the same height so i can easily make a skidplate to protect everything.

Hopefully more progress tomorrow.

 

[Eric H]

Tad bit of progress. Had errands to catch up on till around noon. Then i spent the rest of the day chipping away. Most everything is just tacked in right now. Im waiting till the body comes off again so my life will be easier.

Welded up the tranny mount/crossmember since it is supporting weight.

One of my errands was picking up some random exhaust manifolds. I needed a super tight one to clear steering on the drivers side. And im planning to crossover the pass side under the oil pan so i needed something close to center dump.

And here is a view of my crossmember/skidplate/track bar progress. Still waiting on the atlas mount.

Beginning of the tranny pan skid plate.

Im done with crawling around under the vehicle for now. Soon as the atlas mount comes ill stick that in there. Then its on to sliders. Once those are done off comes the body again.

 

[White Stripe]

Thanks for the support and advice guys! Ive been in kinda a stall for the last few days because im waiting for the radiator that i ordered to get here. I need to fit it before i can decide on final placement of the motor. I took advantage of a ruff stuff sale a while back. here is my pile of parts.

As far as the color, I really have no idea. Here is a picture of the early grill where some of the paint has been stripped. And also the frame stamp. I think the stamp means it was built in september of 63?

I originally wanted to run a th350 but unfortunately the stak 3 speed transfer case that i have is a 32 spline input. Stak is out of buisness and i cant seem to source a new input anywhere. I also struck out trying to find a 32 spline output for the th350. I would like to keep it auto so i believe that my options are between the th400 and 4l80e. This picture shows where i think the transfer case will land. (ill be doing a little tunnel work)

Today i was able to get a little done on the bumper mounts, front frame box and shackle hangers. Here is what i started with.

Cut the fronts at an angle so that i can reach the bottom bolts for the bumper. and im going to reuse the stock upper brackets.

Boxed the front frame section and welded the front cross-member solid. I left a hole in the top so i can still use the factory style tow hooks. i also left the front of the frame open so that i can get to that front bolt.

I cut and angled the back of the 2x6 tube and boxed it for looks/strength.

Bumper is the Hell For Stout bumper. Looks pretty good. Now i just need to find a cheap 8274 to fix up.

unfortunately the bottom of my bracket isnt quite wide enough to use both bolt holes in the bumper. One for sure will fit, but the more the better when were talking about the winch mount. Ill figure something out. May have to drill another hole in the bumper.

Thats all for now. Hopefully i get that radiator soon so i can start on the fun stuff.

It looks like your tires are going to hit the springs if turned...

 

[Eric H]

It looks like your tires are going to hit the springs if turned...

Since that picture i added 1" spacers. Still unsure if its worth getting different wheels or running spacers. Good eye.

 

[Eric H]

Did a little bit this week. Mocked up the steps/sliders and cut a lot out of my floor. Im scared of sheetmetal work but i will have to overcome that soon.

I have to trim the ends and make gussets and skid plates but you guys get the idea.

Here is a look at the floor carnage. I will need to make a custom tunnel and patch the gas tank area. And also my rear quarter that im going to need to replace. Im thinking the thicker bud built ones will do nicely since this isnt exactly a restoration.

Now that i finally finished the sliders the body is coming back off. i still have a list of things to weld on but nothing i need the body for.

also if anyone feels like it, i need to be schooled on 2 piece drivelines. I would like to use one in the front. I can use a straight tranny pan xmember and a 16" upper driveline with a hendrix carrier bearing. That way both of my drivelines will be about 2 feet long and up and out of the way.

What do you guys think?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

cool build.