WORK IN PROGRESS
Project VK is rolling along nicely. The latest is we’re getting the rear section of the two-piece driveshaft made up, now we have the correct measurements. As you may recall, we have a 304 block in the snout, done up as a 355 stroker, now tied to a TH700 four-speed auto. The rear of the transmission sits back a little, so we’ve had to customise the drive shaft, via the good services of Warren Duggan and Duggan Balancing.
He’ll give it back to us with a new centre bearing and universals. It’ll be brand new and custom-made for the job. It ’ll never wear out in our lifetime.
We ran into some clearance problems with the starter motor. Things are a little tight between the headers, steering rack and starter, and it’s just one of those things you take on the chin. We’ve come up with a different starter and will use the other in another project. It’s all part of building a custom car.
Next on the list is doing the plumbing for the power steering and transmission, then we’re up to the radiator and fuel system. For the latter, we’ll be running an inline self-regulating electric pump – keeping it simple. And then we’ll be up to the wiring stage.
I think the hardest issue will be how to plumb in the air-conditioning.
Even if you’re working on a project like this at home, when you’re seeing the end in sight it’s useful to build up a finishing list. That helps to realise what’s needed. Sometimes it gets longer as you work, but it’s a great aid to getting the job done.
Another project in the workshop is putting a 396 big-block in a 1967 Impala. It’s a stunning vehicle. It went in relatively easily, once we sorted an alternative set of engine mounts from the folk at All American Auto Parts, and we needed about another quarter-inch clearance on the sump for the drag link – other than that it was pretty straightforward.
Now we’ll start making all the hoses for the power steering. It comes as a kit, so you follow the proverbial bouncing ball.
Our little Beetle is also coming along, and I reckon we’ll have it ready for Summer. We did a triangulation measurement on it after we installed new shockers, and now we’re going to alter the leftrear torsion bar to lower the left rear corner to make the right front come up. If I’ve done my homework correctly, that should square it up.
This car came as an interesting mix of bits and the numbers didn’t work with the existing rego databases, so we had to sort that out. It’s not that anyone did anything wrong, it was just that you really need to do your homework when buying, particularly when it ’s a one-off like this.
THANKS, DAVID. For those catching up, Jon is rebuilding the Jaguar after a relatively minor fire. The issue was not the fire damage, but rather the highly corrosive nature of the fire extinguisher