Thread: Luke's GTP

He just said that because one day NOTHING will be free unless you have some kind of subscription to their corporate product somewhere that they own. For now flickr works great for me.

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

He just said that because one day NOTHING will be free unless you have some kind of subscription to their corporate product somewhere that they own. For now flickr works great for me.

Understood. That being the case, I want to go with a reliable photo hosting vendor that charges a more reasonable price. I want to go straight to a paid service because I'm only going through the trouble or re-linking these photos once, not doing it again. So if I put them on Flickr, and in a year or two Flickr hoses me, I'm not going to want to re-link them. Looking to pay NO more than $10 per month. That's what I believe is a fair price for a service that requires virtually ZERO tech support or trouble-shooting. The price Photobucket is charging is more than a URL/Domain name is most cases. I'm not paying them $40 a month. F that. I got racekar partz to buy.

I switched over to supermotors.net as my photo hosting site. I will gradually fix the other photos that photobucket “stole” from me. I already fixed the photos from my last 2 posts.

Did some work on the car last night. Mostly messy stuff. Dealing with the wire wheel and rust dust and OSPHO dripping down from everywhere. No Bueno. The biggest bummer was that I could not finish drilling out that tie-rod end from the knuckle. See previous post, (Post #165). The drill bit stopped catching after a little bit. The smaller hole I had already drilled was slightly off center, so this bigger hole I attempted to drill is somewhat oblong. Meaning I messed up on the drilling and might have caught some of the actual knuckle. No problem I thought..., I can smooth it out and make it more circular with some JB-Weld. But I still cant get that piece out and it looks like the two metals fused together from the heat. What to do, What to do? Do I need a different drill bit like an extractor bit? There’s also the possibility that I have the wrong knuckle on the drivers side anyway, as the caliper bolt hole sizes are different. See measurements below.

Hit the new trailing arm brackets with a coat of Rustoleum for extra protection. Rear sway-bar brackets also got a coat:


Before I cleaned with the wire wheel...this is passenger side, but both sides looked like this:


Cleaned up:


Cleaned up and dripping with OSPHO:


Getting ready to drill this b1tch out!


And....Nothing. Sucks. Not sure what to do here. Drill bit will not catch on the metal just spins round and round no matter what. Use a file to file it out?! But that would take forever!

Originally Posted by spazzz

Washers/spacers(or washer nuts) aren't used for the bracket bolts.
I wonder why some slickmeister put them there.

I think some slickmeister put them there because that’s the wrong knuckle all together. Since the metal isn’t fat enough where the bolts pass through, without the those metal spacers/washers these mounting bolts probably rub the rotor. Again, see photos in Post #165. Should I just get the correct knuckle given the tie–rod problem and the fact that using spacers/washers at the brakes isn’t very safe? Not looking forward to the work involved at the axle, but maybe that’s what I should do, get a used (new) knuckle…?

The tie rod end is tapered, you cant just flip it around stick something tapered into the hole and press it out?

Called Ed Morad Parts Company today. And the actual Ed Morad was on the line. Like talking to a god damnnn celebrity! Haha. He's got the knuckle and he's putting it on the next west-bound train, to Chicago! Yeee hawww

But seriously. Spoke with the man. $35 shipped via PayPal. Just the knuckle, no bearing. Leaving his warehouse today.

Ed is the man.

See if he can pack up a stripper survival kit for you, too.

LOL. Not sure what you meant by "stripper survival kit".... Please elaborate!

Like actual big breasted strippers, or like stripping things from a car, or like whaa?

[QUOTE=CHI2000GTP;1475343]LOL. "stripper survival kit".... Please elaborate!
QUOTE]

Trojans, Samsung Pay, Blistex, Massengill, a few grams of coke, Mace, and a dose of Narcan just in case....LOL

[QUOTE=CHI2000GTP;1475350]Damn cheatah! You already got a kit huh? LOL.
QUOTE]

Standard Issued Equipment for all my ho's.

Got my knuckle from Ed Morad. With the fat caliper bolt holes. Gonna work with it tonight if I can... as long as their isn't a million lightning bolts in the sky, like last night.

Re-linked all my photos. All 165. Took 4 hours to complete. Yeah they got the SuperMotors watermark….not bothering me too much yet.

Finished up with the rear end last night. Buttoned up the rear sub-frame, installed trailing arms, and brackets. I ended up taking the seized bolts from the trailing arms to a shop and paid to have them removed. Made everything go much faster. All fuel line and brake line unions are tightened to the maxxx. Back end is done for now.

Also got the car completely back down on the ground. Sitting on all four tires. This is in preparation for removing the front knuckle which requires removing the axle nut. Don’t have any good pics as proof though, lol.

My lighting rig with the car battery died early on me last night. I used it 3 nights in a row without charging. The battery was powering 3 energy saver bulbs. That set-up lasted maybe 8 hours total. The inverter started buzzing hardcore at one point last night with only 1 bulb going, so I had to cut everything off. With no real lights the conditions were even more primitive back there. Used all the flashlights I had for the rest of night to get some light around the car.

Took these to the shop and had them remove the bolts:


Installed:


Reused the rotted out, stock lateral arms. Need to get that welding done before buying more crap and they really aren't that necessary yet. The look pretty nasty and 1 is slightly bent but not the end of the world. Sub-frame also in place:


Blurry pics. Car is coming down:

Man, I've checked out your whole build thread and I have to say it's an amazing amount of work! Nice job, and a serious commitment to restoring your old car.

I grew up in the rust belt of the Great Lakes, and sent a few beloved cars to the junk yard because of terminal rust. I've been in Florida a long time, though, and had more or less forgotten about the ravages of the salt and the difficulty of keeping a car nice in that environment. The last reminder I have of it is my old 96 4WD Tahoe that I brought down from the Lake Ontario area after about 9 years there in the salt. To this day, though I've restored and rebuilt the whole bottom, it has effects that just don't go away compared to a vehicle that had spent its whole life away from the road salt.

Good luck with your ongoing project and continue with the posts.

Hows the roads, no major flooding your way? Alot of people are fkced up here.

Those 2 days of storms were crazy man. I was hearing on the news how bad the flooding up north was. No problems here in the city tho. My mom stays out in Lombard, no flooding over there either. I know you're right on the water. Any flooding at your place?

At the time of the storm my house was pretty much surrounded in water, couple things washed out no big deal. Around the corner streets/houses are vacant, lakes/channels/rivers still rising. I like chaos so I enjoy this kind of thing!

Haha. That being said, I hope your place stays dry man. I'm sure this isn't your first rodeo. If necessary, pontoon the GP. It must be saved!