carterb Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) Awesome pre-crash pro photo More photos of running cars here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMh4aRCDGKanON3m2o80P3H4R0rlzOKIQgySOrDBhqy-HSKDCzgJiwVoUcTHSAxNA/photo/AF1QipMAcIT7uB4hdOBrFHCVuTTa5USBdmozY4nb4xw?key=SjRDNFhWMDdHNzUzZEJkZEdoMzRQS1gyMmp4LS1n Edited June 9, 2020 by carterb 3 Quote Link to comment
Z23T Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Wow, sorry about your crash.Good luck getting the car put back together. Quote Link to comment
mikec4193 Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Man o Man...that totally stinks...a vintage race car with all that work saving it and then getting it wadded up like you did...damn damn damn...I spent many years racing in circles and when you have those days...sometimes you gotta wonder why you keep doing it...but...adrenaline is worse drug than alcohol... Good luck on the rebuild... MikeC Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Considering the shape this thing was in when you guys started, you'll have it back in race form in no time. 2 Quote Link to comment
rosso Posted June 10, 2020 Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 Carter, Glad you are okay - bummer about the car. Nice to see you are already planning the rebuild of the swamp thing - I love your adventures. I take it you will be the third driver for the next few races 😞 I hoped you wouldn't take the rice wagon for a race car <big sigh of relief> I like it for inspiration to keep going on mine! Cheers, M Quote Link to comment
Dime Dave Posted June 10, 2020 Report Share Posted June 10, 2020 Carter, Glad you are OK. Any wreck you can walk away from is as good as it gets. I've had my share, barrel rolled 1.5 times landing in a brook. went off at a hill climb into a ledge outcropping taking out the right front, clipped the RR of an MGB when he came uptrack after a tank slapper, launching me into the air (yes it does get quiet when you are n the air), and a few more while road racing and hillclimbing. In the brook (yes this car continues to race). 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Thanks for the well wishes guys... Although I had already been securing replacement parts, last night we officially started the come-back. Mainly Sam and Jeff spent the evening separating the inner fenders, frame rails, and core support from a firewall-forward front cut while I worked on stripping the actual car so we could do the same thing with it. Parts starting to come off the car Front cut Jeff assures us he knows what he's doing. (he does) Front sheet metal all gone Champion Radiator better put me on their Christmas card list! Jeff laying down on the job. Teamwork JNC Wheels needs to put me on their Christmas card list too. Strange thing was - that wheel was on the right front corner. No contact with the wall. It appears the front (mainly the anti-roll bar) shifted over and made contact with the wheel. Hit so hard it broke a spoke too! Tire still held air. : ) Front cage was ripped out of the strut towers. James Boswell Coachwerks (Not to be confused with J.B. Coachworks in the UK) used this front clip to develop their rack and pinion conversion. Not only is their rack and pinion setup seeing racing action - now the test bed will be as well. After stripping off the extraneous, it was time to weld on the missing items - like T/C rod mounts. Meanwhile, the car is ready to lose it's drivetrain Time for a little under/over Congratulations! It's a boy! Sunset... 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 A few photos of the mangled mess this front end became. We recon the cage really did it's job. Most of the damage was forward of the drivers protection. My thanks to the original builders of the car. We loaded up the *new* front end into my truck at the end of the night. Today we dropped it off at Bulldog Powdercoating to be sandblasted. Hopefully that will save us a few hours of sanding and grinding. We need all the hours we can get. 2 Quote Link to comment
Trophy24 Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Thanks for documenting the rebuild so well Carter! We are rooting for you guys for sure. I have not seen the actual movie, but this feels like "Return of Swamp Thing" to me. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Heather Locklear?! 1 Quote Link to comment
volkswagner Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Finally got the GoPro footage up, take a look see. Excitement starts at 25:00. 1 2 Quote Link to comment
BrothersGarage Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Booooo, you got fucking robbed by the transition to the straightaway. That little car is so lucky that you guys have saved it a couple times from the wrecker now. I am excited to see how she comes back together! 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted June 16, 2020 Report Share Posted June 16, 2020 Let me know if you need some more tube bent up to rebuild the engine cage. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 (edited) Bulldog Powdercoating saved us a few hours of prep time by sand blasting the font end. Closest we've come to a beach in quite some time. Nice warm sand... : ) It was great that they were able to fit us in as we had a long Saturday planned with lots to do. Opening up the garage door in the morning revealed Sam had the front end of the car nearly cut off. Not too long after, the bulk of it was gone and ready for the more meticulous work up next to the firewall Replacement standing at attention While Jeff and Sam were busy up front, I decided to tackle this ugly corner Inner fenderwell was pressed up against the tire and coilover. I had done some earlier work just to free up the tire but now it was time to get serious. With the fender flare off, you could really get a good look at the wrinkles! Ouch! Edited June 17, 2020 by carterb 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 We had a few things we needed to save off of the old front end. Hey Jeff! Notice there is no bolt or nut in the T/C rod end you have your hand on? I'm blaming it on you! I don't think any of us want to do this again After it became obvious there was no way to straighten back out the left rear quarter (at least not with our skills or available tools) we went to the parts pile to find this quarter panel to graft in. Notice Mother Nature had already begun preparing it for racing by lightening the bottom half. I've never done this before but measure twice - cut once - and away we go! Meanwhile, the new front end is hanging in place ready for final fitment/adjustment before welding Let there be light! 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Once the rear quarter was ready for weld, I sanded the fender (this one was from "Freebird" if you are keeping tabs on all of our projects) and replacement hood. They didn't get *quite* as much attention as the last set. Let's just say we are working against the clock a bit this time 'round. Pile of stuff that needs to go back on the car at some point. Jeff was on weld duty for a good part of the day! Good as new? Let's get this thing primed! 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Sam started painting the front while Jeff and I were finishing up the rear quarter. I'm sure that's exactly how they did it at the factory right? It took some real effort to pull that floor back out. Still a little wrinkly but with the quarter panel in place and the trunk lid closed... Racecar! Hurry Jeff! Sam is almost done and I still have to sand that thing! Front end looking exciting and new! (start humming Love Boat theme song now) Sam handed off the gun and I got the hood, fender and rear quarter And it was time to call it a night! We'd need to let it dry Sunday with plans to return Monday after work and see what we could do. 2 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Fresh paint always looks so good! amazing work! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 We got right to work Monday, starting with the re-installation of the motor/tranny/crossmember assembly Much easier going in that going out since the engine bay was not a parallelogram! Rear flare cut marked out Sam banged this out fast! Front suspension on, wiring harness hooked up, throttle cable, shifter, etc etc etc... Remember that T/C rod bolt Jeff *lost* ? Well, we had to have it! Being some special Futofab bolt. Jeff and I must have spent an hour looking everywhere in the garage and driveway to no avail. Finally Sam dove in the garbage can and found many other fasteners (and other treasures) that had been swept up but no T/C rod bolt. We looked some more but just couldn't give up! So I dumped the entire trash can on the floor and sorted through it all and was just about to give up when I found the nut! That means the bolt must be near. So a 2nd sort through and Sam spotted it. *phwew*!!! I think we can celebrate by calling it a night! We're getting close! 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Went back tonight for a couple hours and got the radiator installed, headlight assemblies in, rock guard in place, fenders set, and determined that my 12" Hayden fan is too big for this installation. Fortunately, Jeff found a suitable replacement in his shed. Really starting to look the part again now! 5 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 It’s got another lease on life! Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Impressive turn around time fellas. Very nice. Quote Link to comment
Z23T Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 I'm blown away how fast you got this done, you guys kick ass! Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 You guys are getting good at this. 😄 Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted June 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 4 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said: You guys are getting good at this. 😄 If I had a nickle for every 510 I've welded a front clip on..... 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
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