My '72 Grabber build thread

Ha ha. Thanks. Ive only owned the car for a little over 3 months now. I wanted to paint it by Thanksgiving but that doesn't look like its gonna happen. I'll shoot for the end of the year now.

 

Vry nice work John! U doing all that work in a home garage? Looks like u might have prior experience in body repair, paint and fab work.
I looked at some of ur gallery on the Robinsonville site. Can I send my Comet out to U when ur done w/ the Grabber? I wud'nt normally ask a guy who owns a Mav if they want to work on my Comet.

 

What type of seam sealer is that? It looks gooey. I have only used the white paste type seam sealer.

Good job! Looks great!

 

Mojo,
I work in my tiny 2 car garage with my falcon in the other side. Most of the work is done outside especially the sandblasting and painting. Yes I used to do body work for a living but it was 25 years ago and only for about 3 years. Long enough to learn what I need to know to do my own cars. I have so many projects backed up I really can't be taking on work, sorry. And comets are family man! (red headed step child)


merc73,
Dude, are you using that sealer that comes in a can and you brush it on? Come on out of the stone age buddy! You're going to thank me the first time you try the stuff I use which is Fusor line of Lord Products. The stuff in the regular looking caulk tube is a one part urethane seam sealer. You can apply it just like you would be caulking the windows on your house or use a acid brush or your finger to spread it around. It's really great to work with, very forgiving and is paintable and lasts pretty much forever without drying out and cracking.
The stuff in the "double barrel caulk gun" (gun is pretty expensive by the way), is "The Bomb"! I highly recommend this stuff especially if you are going to re-caulk your drip rails. It comes out so nice because it self-levels and looks totally factory when you're done. This is the blue stuff you see in my pics.
Trust me, if you try this stuff you will be taking your seam sealer and throwing it in the trash because you will never want to use it again. You should be able to get it from any body shop supply store where you buy paint.

 

hey john got your text my phones screen is messed up so i saw you sent me something couldn't make out what it was. looks awesome!

 

Wow! How did I miss this great development!? Although I am not a body guy, I don't know how I missed this. I have always hated the white brush on stuff. When I get to that stage, I will look into the one part urethane stuff. Thanks! :Handshake

 

I don't have much body work experience, so it is pretty cool to learn about that seam sealer ... thanks for the info.

 

Got some work done today. I first installed my new idler arm and my competition engineering adjustable front shock absorbers. Then I decided to tackle the modifications to the clutch pedal hanger assembly. What I did was install sealed ball bearings on the hanger to reduce friction in the pedal should I run a heavy pressure plate. It makes the pedal action much more smooth than the stock setup with the plastic bushings. I started by removing the pedals from the hanger. Next I used a 1-3/8 holesaw on a drill press to drill out the hanger bracket the proper size for the bearings. The original bushings keep the holes saw centered well enough until the saw begins to make its hole. Then I cleaned up the holes a little bit with a file and installed the bearings from the inside out. Then I slid the pedals into place to line everything up and made four spot welds with the mig welder around the outside of each bearing. Then I wire brushed the whole thing and gave it a coat of POR15. Here are some pics.

 

More pictures of the procedure. I will need a couple of washers on the end of the shaft to take up some space because the stock bushings are thicker than the new bearings. I'll take a picture when it's all back together.

 

Ok I forgot to post pictures of the assembly all put back together. Here it is. Notice I had to use three washers on each side to take up space because the original bushings were pretty thick. Tonight I put a coat of POR15 on the new master cylinder.

 

Nice job on the pedals, John

One more thing you have to do yet - - paint that spring blue

 

Yeah I know. It's not ever going to be seen but it bothers me too

 

I know, I did the exact same thing

Went to the hardware store and bought a cheap can of blue paint - made it look like a million bucks instead of a half a million

 

Over the last few days and weeks I got a coat of POR15 on the under side of the cowl and the inside of the firewall. The clutch brake pedal assembly is back in the car and the new master cylinder is also installed. I made up a munch of new brake lines and plumbed in the line lock selenoid. The brakes are bled and I have a nice firm pedal. Everything looks good in the engine compartment. One problem though is the brake pedal is way too high. It should be even with teh clutch pedal but it is several inches higher. I think I remember somebody mentioning something about the length of the brake rod that goes into the master cylinder for manual discs or the pedal is different or something. Do you guys know how this can be corrected?

 

there are two lengths of push rods for the mastercylinder. when i got a mastercylinder it came with two rods. the shorter one is the right one.