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Kyle242GT's 1959 5.044

those rotors look beyond saving. The yankee bar is the tubular bit bolted to the bumper, only there because of U.S. bumper height regulations, therefor known as a Yankee bar, because in Europe they never got them.
 
The rotors actually seem okay - no pitting, that's mostly mud and surface rust. I have a mechanic client who can turn them for me. May tear the calipers down tomorrow, or I may just brew, transfer, and bottle some beer instead. :cheers:

Trying to make up my mind on the paint - interior/exterior, or just the exterior. Interior leads to window rubber, headliner/carpet/etc, ugh. Might settle on a dark metallic gray or red instead.

Once I get the mechanics sorted, the paint is next. bumpers will be part of that, kind of leaning toward a Jag XKE style split bumperette treatment. We'll see.
 
Once I get the mechanics sorted, the paint is next. bumpers will be part of that, kind of leaning toward a Jag XKE style split bumperette treatment. We'll see.
The rear bumper especially, is just so heavy, wide and clunky looking. I've had mine off and the car bare back there for a long while, but that doesn't look quite right either. Something thinner and lighter looking would be nice. I've pondered some aftermarket Beetle bumpers before.
 
JohnMc - looks to me like you could lay up fiberglass inside the stock rear bumper pretty easily. That would make for a slightly smaller bumper, MUCH lighter -- and you could leave off the bumper bar and guards for a cleaner look. Of course - it wouldn't offer any protection at all - but for anyone considering going without them completely or a split look - protection clearly isn't an issue. I took this approach for bumpers on 82 242 -- knocked about 40 lbs. off the car and ended up with much smaller looking pieces.
 
If you want to retain all your steering lock when doing the disk brake conversion buy a pair of these,
$275 euro? :omg: not happening. I can move the shocks, notch and bend and weld the lower bolts just fine.

The rear bumper especially, is just so heavy...I've pondered some aftermarket Beetle bumpers before.
I almost grabbed some tiny bumperettes from an MG Miget at the JY, but was plum tuckered out by that point.

JohnMc - looks to me like you could lay up fiberglass inside the stock rear bumper pretty easily.
That is a very cool idea. I'm sort of planning on doing something like what's-his-face's P1800 pro touring, cut/bend/weld/grind until I get a nice shape. Probably just paint them the silver I did the grille and headlight rings with.

No updates on the brake project; rotors are waiting to be turned, mechanic though they'd clean up fine. Looks like Scandix is the source for caliper kits (~$20 ea) and I can reuse the drum brakelines (per JohnMc on a Brickboard thread).

I did manage to get it out for a brief run the other day, moving cars around to make space for the garage construction. Had to charge the battery for a while, and crank to get fuel in the carbs, and the HEI fired right up. Now that it handles pretty good (big(ger) tires and new bushings) I'm definitely wanting more power. Haha, funny how that goes.
 
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Been nearly a year since I sourced the parts, time flies when you're having fun.
Haven't even driven it since last October or so. :oops:

Here we have the disk brake swap. On the left is the drum assembly, then rotor, softline, caliper adapter, brakeline clips and caliper bolt locks, hardline, caliper, caliper bolts, and dust shield. The drum brake assembly weighed in at 20#, the disk parts at 29#. 9# more unsprung weight sucks, but a small price to pay.


Started by removing the drum, bearings, softline, and backing plate/brake assembly.


The I mounted the caliper adapter and dust shield. Forgot to take pics... but this was the most involved part of the swap.

The caliper adapters are not identical, but either one can be used on either side. I spent a couple hours test fitting things to find the one that best located the pads on the rotor. There's a fine line here - too far outboard, the pads hang over the edge of the rotor; too far in and the dust seal rubs on the hub.

I (think I) wound up swapping side-to-side. This was mostly done to rotate the brake assembly enough that the brake line retainer on the backing plate so that it would clear the steering uprights. But too much rotation and there's not enough meat on the caliper adapter for the bolt.

Anyway, once I figured out which and where I wanted to install, I marked the holes, plug welded an existing hole that was adjacent to a new hole, and drilled away.

Once that was done, a simple matter of installing the rotor, bearings, and dust cap. Gave it a spin by hand to be sure there was no interference with anything.





Installed the caliper, and started bending the line. Hadn't done this before, but pretty easy. Only trick was cutting/flaring the new line - old Volvos are weird, in that they use a metric-style bubble flare on the caliper end (with 3/8x24 SAE thread) and SAE-style inverted (double) flare on the rest of it. Borrowed a flaring tool from the FLAPS, and after a few tries, got it pretty good... wound up having to do one over again due to a fluid leak, but not too big a deal.


Wrapped the line up and around the caliper, keeping it tight to the caliper to stay clear of the wheel.


Then hooked up the new softline.


My older son is getting to be a pro at bleeding brakes, even remarked when he started to feel solidity. And he doesn't grumble about the job like SWMBO does. :lol:

Easiest bleed ever, used my transmission funnel to get the brake fluid in. Why Volvo put the master on the frame rail is beyond me.

Put the tires back on, took it for a road test.

:omg: these are about the best feeling brakes I've ever driven. I bet a lot is the lack of power assist, but they are rock solid, easily modulated, and really stop the car nicely. Found a steep hill, and repeatedly laid into the brakes in an effort to elicit fade or misbehavior of any sort. Nope. :nono:

Hardest part of this job (other than pulling the old brakes at the JY surrounded by wasps) was figuring out how to position the caliper adapters. After that, gravy. :cool:

So, now that I have safety (seatbelts), cornering (tires), and stopping, it's time to investigate more power.

Like a lot more. :oogle:

//edit - oh yeah, haven't addressed the shocks yet (they hit the calipers and limit steering). While it's still livable, the turning radius is on par with (or worse than) our 04 v70, a legendary bus-like turner if ever one existed.
 
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it's time to investigate more power. Like a lot more. :oogle:

Picked this up last night, after a month and change of scouring CL, twenty minutes south. Getting lazy in my old age, would rather pay a little more to not spend hours on the road... probably has something to do with my wife not enjoying these little errands as co-driver.

Hauls ass, sounds good, shifts excellently, all the gauges were spot on. No AC, which I was halfway thinking of transplanting over. Probably for the best.

Anyone with bright ideas as to what to do next? Figure I should leave the PV intact until I can find a buyer for the B16/M4. Say goodbye to my little friend.

Anyone with bright ideas as to what parts off this thing are worth? Figure the wheels are worth a bit, but I need to keep them handy for rolling it around, and rear drive until I get the axle narrowed/redrilled.
 

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Sell all the lenses (headlights, etc)
Sell all the gray interior bits, if you can clean them up a bit and take good pictures, you should do all right.
Cut out the cowl panel and sell it
Sell the plastic grill in the cowl panel
If the weatherstripping is decent on the rear sail windows, you'll make out decent pulling them
Fenders and ground effects are haggard but you may find a buyer.
Is that an OEM paint job? Feel like it is a fairly uncommon color
 
Roachy is right. Paperwork is a mess, car's been wrecked and repainted, interior is horrid, but some of the plastic ought to clean up nice.

Never have sold stuff on Ebay, been a CL seller instead. Worth the headache? Tempted to run a mini pick n pull after I have my way with it.

But not sure just how much I want to sell just yet - might be able to work the cluster in, be nice to have full instrumentation and a tach.
 
Check E-bay for comps even if you CL the stuff.
LKQ online [Pick your Part- the octopus yard] seems to keep a cap on used car parts prices.
E-bay is hit and miss, always has been but is more so lately.
Another 6% isn't the end of the world if your schwag actually sells.
Easy to tack that 6% back on the front.
E-bay is now a virtual big box convenience store.
You know like for people that realize that $7 shipping is cheaper than getting in the car, and driving,or waiting around all day for a flakey CL'er to not show up....
 
I think the stock gauges are kind of crappy, I wouldn't mess it integrating them. You could probably match a tach and speedo to the autometer gauges in it for cheaper/easier.

Might try a local racing board before ebay? If you posted that here on CL and horsepowerjunkies, it would be gone.

Roachy or not, if you can get those seats clean and they aren't too busted, someone will buy them. Same with the carpet and door panels. Do you have access to a good carpet cleaning machine?
 
Thanks Mav. Driver's seat is broken on the inboard side, guess that's common? Upholstery is pretty good, just filthy. Was halfway thinking of recycling them into the 544, stock chairs have no support or headrests; these at least have a lowback "look".

My mother in law is a neatfreak, so yeah, we can get a carpet cleaner.

re: the gauges, was thinking I could make new faces and fabricate a bezel to make them individual gauges. Hell, might be able to cut and paste the movements into separate gauges. Probably not worth the hassle.

I do have one of these as wall art, was thinking of using it.
tbird_dash.jpg


Still not 100% sure how to begin. Guess the first step is to get the engine/trans out of the mustang, then roll it out back to gank parts off? Gotta find a deserted parking lot for teh donutz first... :-P
 
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