Project XTC - The Rehabilitation! (Page 25/47)
katatak FEB 14, 06:10 PM
Thanks for the positive replies Greg / Tony. I need to go to work for Archie.....lol! I don't think my welding and glass skills would hold up in Archies world. I do alright for a old - fat man. The welds are not pretty but I know I have penetration. Nothing a little grinding and paint can't hide.

Pat

Weeeeee........ Page 7 owned!

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 02-14-2010).]

katatak FEB 14, 06:27 PM
So today I had to tackle the front motor mounts. Man what an ordeal - actually it was not that bad - just time consuming trying to figure it all out, cutting, drilling, tacking, starting over a few times, etc. etc. I did manage to get all the mounts done and the motor is now sitting on the cradle - secured! Tomorrow I will pull the motor back off the cradle and finish the welding, cleaning and give the cradle a coat of paint. Hopefully I'll have the motor back on and bolted down for the last time. I did not get as far as I wanted to. I was also hoping to get the pulleys and belt finsihed this weekend too. Next weekend I guess.

Once I got the motor sitting square and somewhat level, I noticed that there was not much clearance for the tripod. I was a little worried till I stuffed the Silhouette axle in the trans. The tripod on those are a bit smaller than the Caddy's. I setup the front mounts so that I can shim them if I need to bring the nose up some.


One side coming together. I could not find any 3" angle anywhere so I am using 2". It sets a little high on the cradle but I will put some gussets on the back side.

And set in place with a few welds - will have to pull the motor off to finish a few gussets and weld.


I have read all the threads and seen several different versions of mounts for this side. I decided to use part of the stock Caddy mount bracket and fab up the rest. In the end, I am pretty happy with the results. I now have very solid mounts on all 4 corners. I don't think I'll need a torque strut.

Building it up:


Sitting on it's mounts, bolted down:








All that cutting, grinding and welding and not one fire was started........... More later.

Pat

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 02-26-2010).]

katatak FEB 15, 06:37 PM
I pulled the motor off the cradle this morning and got all the final welding done on the cradle, blsated it and then gave it a few coats of Rustoleum. It's amazing how good these cradles look when they are clean and fresh. While I was welding on the cradle, the Compliance Nazi stopped by to tell me that a neighbor was complaining about me working on my car in the driveway. I hag them beat this time. The motor was hanging from the hoist sitting in the driveway and I was welding in the garage. The Nazi said there was nothing wrong with the notor sitting in the driveway but if I had been working on it, he could have fined me? This makes no sense to me at all. You can stack all the junk cars and parts you want in your driveway, just can;t work on them?

Anyway, then he said that where I had the XTC parked was against code - the front tires were in the rocks in my front yard and the back tires were in the driveway. No parking in the rocks? He started to get snotty with me and was going to write me a citation. I suggested that he get his pen warmed up cause from where I was standing, I could see 13 more cars parked in the rocks in front yards on my street. Plus the broke down suburban parked facing the wrong way sitting on a jack in the street. He backed off and thanked me for my calm demeaner in the matter.

10 minutes later, a Traffic Officer showed up down the street looking at the Suburban. Next thing I know he is walking down the street towards my house. I had my Durango and the boys Mustang parked in the street - nose in toward the driveway. He wlks up to me in the garage and proceeds to tell me that he is going around the neighborhood giving warnings to everyone that is parked illegally on the street and in the rocks in the front yard. He just walked past 9 cars sitting in the rocks? Then he tells me that the Durango and the Mustang are parked illegally - they must be paralell to the curb. Hmm... I can see 4 other cars on the street parked the same way. I made it a point to "point" all of them out and asked if he was going to be fair and give every car on the street a warning? He said that I had benn warned and if he had to come back, he would write citations. I then watched him walk back down the street past all the toher illegally parked cars, get in his cruiser and drive away. No get this. The next door neighbor has his big 4X4 truck parked in the rocks between my house and his. - He's a cop? It's ok for him but not for me? I thought we lived in the land of the free? So I spent the day getting my cars moved around and parked legally, Made room in the garage to be able to do some work in there and then started calling the Compliance Nazi's to "complain" about all the other illegaly parked cars on the street. If they can take the time to beat on my door, they can take the time to beat on everyone elses door. Fair is fair! Ok, Rant Off!

On with the pics......

Welded, Cleaned and ready for the motor:



Setting it back on the cradle:


All bolted down for the last time:


I spent some time taking off the un needed water lines and the Caddy tensioner pulley. Looks like I am going to have to lease a shop and move some of the projects so I can work on them. Just more time and money...... More later.

Pat
doublec4 FEB 19, 11:02 PM
Sounds like your neighbour is an a**hole. Great work on the swap so far though!
katatak FEB 20, 01:52 PM

quote
Originally posted by doublec4:

Sounds like your neighbour is an a**hole. Great work on the swap so far though!



Yep... Neighbor is a A**Hole. I'll get even....lol. Thanks for the positive reply.

Pat
Sofa King FEB 22, 10:06 AM
P,

Will you be cleaning the engine? The cradle looks awesome all nice and clean - what about the engine?
katatak FEB 23, 07:57 PM
Hey Greg,

Yes we will do a quick swab of the engine - not too crazy but we will clean it up a bit. I will put on valve cover gaskets, pan gaskets, front seal and new H20 Pump before we stuff it in the car. Ordered the Fuel Injector service kit today. I need to make one more trip to the mega pull to get a few AC compressor brackets we are missing then I can setup the tensioner and install the belt. Over the next few days, I will be putting the front suspension back under my Monte so I can move it out of the garage - got to make room for the XTC so the compliance Nazis will leave me alone. Should be full speed ahead starting this weekend. I really need to get this done.

Pat
katatak FEB 26, 08:11 PM
Well I know this is not exactly Fiero related but I have to get this done so I can get the XTC in the garage and start the swap. I got the front suspension back under the Monte and will be moving it out of the garage in the AM. I needed to get something done on the Monte anyway so the XTC swap and the El Paso Code Compliance Nazi's forced me to get some work done on the Monte.

Now don't flame me for sticking the old rusty springs in there - it's temporary. The plan is for some Hotchkiss resto rod lowering springs - this is just to be able to move it into the back yard.



More tomorrow!

Pat

[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 02-26-2010).]

katatak FEB 27, 07:48 PM
Got a lot done today - even after taking a few hours to meet up with the El Paso Fiero nuts for lunch. I got all the suspension and steering parts installed in the Monte and got it out of the garage - Yay!



Then we cleaned out the garage and moved the XTC in.



Now I have to say that I am feeing pretty lucky. Before we moved the XTC, I asked my 16 year old - "did you put the axle nuts back on before you put the tires/wheels back on"? He says "yep - sure did". So we get ready to move the car and I ask home again - again he says yes. And away we go. Pushed it out in the street, turned it around and shoved her up in the garage. All is good! When I jack up the car to put the stands under it - guess what happens?





The passenger side is just about ready to fall off! Lesson learned? Check to make sure the axle nuts are on myself! I sure am glad the hub did not come of out in the middle of the street! Could have been ugly. Will be pulling the Duke tomorrow!

Pat
katatak MAR 07, 01:05 AM
Dan (Frizlefrak) and Jeff stopped by this afternoon after we spent most the day driving from El Paso to Mesilla for a lunch run. I must have missed the memo about "Fiero's Optional". Everyone else drove a Vette. I was the only Fiero in the bunch - so I had to lead them up there....lol.

Anyway, with the help of Dan and Jeff, we got the duke dropped out and sitting on the floor. We'll drag it out from under the car in the am and get it out of the way. Going to strip down the Duke as it has a lot of new parts on it. The trans was working great too so we'll take it to our favorite trans shop and donate it for some goodwill. I'll be keeping the 88 cradle and I plan on using it in the V8 Coupe when I swap in the 383 and 6 speed - it will be great to get the rear suspension upgraded at the same time.

Not too many pics today - once we got started, I forgot about the camera. I'll get a bunch tomorrow.

Photo op on our Fiero run today - note all the beater Vettes?


Getting ready to drop the Duke!


More tomorrow.

Pat