Thread: For Don Shilady

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Attachment 57392Here is an out-of-sequence photo of the stainless steel plate on the front of the firewall. Feared loss of side-to-side cowl stability was not realized after installation and the result is rock solid. A hoped for reflecting panel did not work out because the plate was not polished so it was painted to match the body. This photo was taken after the frame was plumbed and the painted body was mounted.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

rearbrake.jpg700R4big.jpgbrakelinebig.jpgsafetyloopsmall.JPGAttachment 57398In 2005 and 2006 the brakelines were plumbed and the frame was sent to the nearby garage of John York Sport Cars. Although John has built many different kit cars such as MGs and Porsche speedsters based on VW chassis, his speciality is building Cobra Kits with Ford drive lines. John sent out to Standard Parts of Richmond for a balanced driveline to match the Maverick 8" rear and installed the other end to a Monster Motorworks 700R4 (low 1400 rpm stall) and installed the recently rebuilt Corvette L48 350 engine. You can also see the proportioning valve for the power brake system. After the body was mounted on the frame the dangling parking break cables were attached to the underside of the floor with small hose brackets to keep them away from the driveshaft.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57399Back to the engine. While I was assembling the frame components the Corvette 350 was being rebuilt by Joe Butler at Joe's Machine Shop. In 2005 Joe was in the process of retiring so my engine was certainly one of the last he assembled. His shop was tiny with barely room to turn around with milling machine, boring machine, derusting tanks and some storage of in-progress engines but I was impressed by the number of racing trophies on a shelf above his one-man work bench. His shop also served his building of SBC 400 blocks so we settled on a 0.030" overbore, three-angle valve job, smoothing the exhaust ports of the 882 heads, 0.020" shave of the heads and just a standard rebuild kit with new rods, cast eyebrow pistons and polishing the crankshaft. The desired compression ratio was to be near 9:1 and Joe cc'd the heads to 72 cc pockets. The cam was chosen as a Blue Racer grind which is essentially a copy of the 300 HP cam for the stock 327 SBC. All in all this is surely equal to the GM rebuild of 180 HP and might be up to 270 HP intended to cruise at 2500 rpm with the low gear of the 700R4 providing good acceleration. TechInspector1 ran a dyno-sim for me that showed the HP might be as much as 300 HP using the Edelbrock Performer-RPM intake, shorty headers and an Edelbrock 461 four-barrel carburetor but 270 HP is OK with me and so far the 700R4 provides plently of low gear quickness. I have yet to weigh the whole car but it should be about 2500 pounds.

Further research on the L48 shows it was shared between the Corvette and the Z28 Camaro and the 1977 Z28 LM-1 was rated at only 185 HP (net)

http://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/z28lm1.html .

Apparently there was no Z28 in 1976, but the 1977 Z28 looks a lot like my engine

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z...et-Camaro.aspx .

It is listed as a two-bolt main block and the Blue Racer cam in my engine looks like a regrind with about 0.010" more lift than the Z28 cam. By coincidence I had Z28 springs installed in my 882 heads and the Z28 Camaro also had the 882 heads. Overall the specs for the 1977 Z28 LM-1 are close to my engine except for slightly higher comprehession and a regrind cam. Thus I may just have a warmed over Z28 engine with a Performer-RPM intake, shorty headers and an Edelbrock 461 carb and I might be just above 200 HP. For comparison here is a quote from a spirited discussion by Tango, Techinspector1 and DennyW several years ago according to Techinspector1 using the 1.5 ratio rockers now on the engine:

"RPM HP TQ
1000 49 259
1500 93 327
2000 134 352
2500 171 360
3000 223 391
3500 270 405
4000 305 401
4500 331 389
5000 336 366
5500 327 313"

The DynoSim run assumed an HEI distributor which I could not fit in my firewall, but I used a small cap 327 points distributor modified with an electronic Pertronix kit. Even so according to these DynoSim results the engine should be able to exceed 300 HP which was my original "design goal". If I ever pull the engine out I could get a dyno run just up the street at the Progressive Performance shop but for now I am just going to run it!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57400steering column.jpgNext we come to a critical piece of assembly in which TechInspector1 helped a lot in making the steering column safe. I spoiled the first D-bar I bought from Speedway to match the Flaming River tilt column to the Vega steering box. On the second try I bought a small drill press so I could drill a hole to pin the universal link as Richard explained and he approved the picture here of the finished link.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teem Rodder

winecolor.jpgAttachment 57403Attachment 57404Several photos have shown body features so here we show the full body in the paint process. The work was farmed out to Haskins Auto Body in Ashland Va and a metallic maroon was selected from a color chart. The shop called it "Shillady's Merlot". It has some fine metal flake in the paint and is topped by clearcoat. Unfortunately I chose to paint the body before a number of other tasks were completed so during the rest of the project a number of dings and scratches occurred. By now the car still looks good but from ten feet away. For those who might be interested the original paint was:

Color Max
M8237A
Diamont/BASF

Unfortunately the shop has since changed over to a PPG paint system and they tell me there is a conversion chart for the PPG "equivalent". However it remains to be seen if they can match a few imperfections if I need a touch up. The paint looks "red" in bright sunlight but wine-maroon in the shade.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

seatcutsml.JPGfinalseatsml.JPGseatmount.jpgWith the body painted attention turned to windshield ((2" chop), windwings, instruments and the seat. A trip to a local pick-a-part (Chesterfield Auto Parts, Richmond) revealed a number of Plymouth and Dodge vans with a nice middle seat with just the right width for the Model A (1929) cockpit. I picked a nice one in red from a Dodge for $15. I had to modify the legs and add some angle iron mounts to bolt the seat as far back as possible and anchor the built-in seat belts.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57408Attachment 57409Attachment 57410The windshield was cut at a local glass shop for the 2" chopped frame from Bratton's in Md. and Speedway chopped stanchions (stainless) were drilled for two mounting holes for the windwing clamps. Glass windwings were heavy and tended to slip through the rubber-lined clamps and plexiglass windwings were impossible to cut without frayed edges so finally Lexan windwings were cut from 3/16" stock. Lexan is light, strong and cuts clean. Then a lot of little parts were purchased from Bratton's along with rubber gaskets and other fittings for a very nice stainless steel set of top irons from Bratton's. Oak bows from Bratton's were coated with spar varnish and attached to the stainless top irons with screws embedded in epoxy, especially the front bow. However the front bow needed a lot of work to accomodate the windshield wiper.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57411carvebow1.JPGhiddenwiper.JPGAttachment 57414Attachment 57415Since the top is chopped 2" visibility is reduced somewhat and yet a windshield wiper is required for State Inspection. If you purchase an electric windshield wiper from Speedway (No. 911-23502, 12V stainless) you need to know that it parks to the LEFT as you look through the windshield so if you want to hide at least part of the wiper you need to carve out part of the top bow! In my case I carved with a Dremel Tool and I carved and carved some more. This probably weakens the bow compared to the stock bow which has only a small cutout for the stock wiper in the higher windshield. The final result is that the wiper blade is almost totally hidden under the brow of the top bow. Of course the wiper blade has to be shortened (cut off) about 1" because of the chop. I have had occasion to use the wiper in the rain and the small wiper does clear a useful part of the windshield. The fourth picture shows the wiper motor mounted on top of the windshield frame and the bow just laying on the top irons to check the space for the motor.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Great stuff there Don! A lot of those pics I don't remember seeing before. Thanks for getting them up...

34-40, Thanks for looking. You are my excuse for documenting my project in case Brent wonders why I am repeating material. I readily admit there are some other superb build projects elsewhere on this Forum that are far better than mine. On the one hand I have wanted to "build a car" since I was a teenager so this is a big item on my bucket list and about the best I could do but it is still a "a car that looks good from ten feet away"! I have a few more pictures since I made a big push since last May to get the car on the road and there will be a few more which are actually new to the Forum. While I helped my Dad in shade tree overhauls since I was a boy I have great respect for the folks here who have run businesses and raced for their practical expertise so I am just glad that I finally got my car to the street-legal stage.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

It's all good Don. And stop beating yourself up on the build. You did it and there are a lot of guys out there who never finished one never mind started to do one! Besides, that's why we say they are never done. You see a great feature on someone elses and will want it for yours, so apart it comes and then while your at it... oh well.. you get the idea.

Keep'em coming, I love seeing someone elses build.

Attachment 57449Attachment 57450With the body in place the details rapidly increased. When the steering column was assembled through the firewall and through the Flaming River tilt column I found it was still not easy to get into the car even with the column tilted so I ordered a 13" race wheel from Speedway with knobby bumps on the underside and had it coated silver. I figured it will get nicked and show aluminum in the nicks so why not make it all aluminum in appearance? As it is even with the small steering wheel and the column tilted I have to squeeze myself into the seat! I also found that if I put the speedometer in the center console it was hard to see so I cut another hole in the dash and bought a tachometer to put in the place where the speedometer was. With only three spokes in the wheel it is easier to see the speedometer through the steering wheel and only a side glance to see the tach. The other quad instrument unit is still easy to see in the center right and at present the tach is closest to the wheel. A small B&W temperature gauge is to the extreme right of the dash to monitor the transmission temperature. Unfortunately I cut a rectangular hole in the dash for a radio very early in the project not thinking that the windshield seal might leak in the rain so I bought a marine radio that has a coated circuit board in case water drips onto the right side of the dash. I had a clear plexiglas cover fabricated to go over the radio but I have not attached it yet (not shown). The radio can be operated from a IR blinking unit so you don't need to touch the dial if the cover is transparent. I left a lid in the cover to accept discs in the CD player. The cover looks clunky but might save the radio in a downpour so I need to get busy and get some small screws/bolts to attach it over the radio. In one of the later photos you can barely see the cigar lighter in the dash to provide a means to charge a cell phone or run an air pump. In that picture of the interior you can see the Lokar shifter that was added last May to replace the Gennie shifter in the earlier pictures. The black heater unit is from Vintage Air with a three speed fan and it really works well, maybe good enough to use for engine overheating relief in the summer? The kick panels are just painted with maroon house paint and the elbow panels are padded vinyl but I have no cover for the door edges and I consider the interior unfinished at present.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57451Attachment 57452Attachment 57453Next we come to a long period of very slow progress due to frustration with the mysteries of wiring the car iterrupted by winter weather in an unheated garage in 2008. I bought an "It's A Snap" wiring loom because of the support and the labeling on the wires. I also bought a set of headlights with LED turn signals from the same group. Fortunately I finally got the wiring straightened out about three months before It's A Snap went out of business and the support was gone. I lost at least six months because ot two purple wires on the headlight switch. I thought the thicker heavier gauge wire was the one coming into the switch and the thinner smaller gauge was to the dimmer switch, but no, the dimmer switch gets the heavier gauge wire! Fussing an fuming led me to take out the switch and test every combination of connections with a voltmeter and finally I got the headlights to work right.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder

Attachment 57454Attachment 57455Here are the LED lights. The front headlights have H4 bulbs and are quite bright. The lower yellow LED portion of the lights are the turn signals. The rear tailights are the 1929 "Teacup" style with modern LED lights on a circuit board as sold for Model A Fords by Bratton's and they are much brighter that the old 6v bulbs. These LED lights need to have special relays at the fuse box because LED lights actually take less current than tungsten bulbs. The battery box under the rear of the car is empty here because I am running the electrical tests from the battery on the floor connected with jumper cables to the car battery posts. Thus if there was a problem I could quickly disconnect the battery.

Attachment 57456Attachment 57457Attachment 57458Back to the gas tank. At present the engine uses a stock fuel pump and the fuel line is shielded by running the steel line through some rubber garden hose from the tank which is higher than the pump on the lower corner of the engine. Since the tank is in the rumble seat position and has wires for the fuel gauge I put a plywood cover over the tank and made it look like a seat complete with a single large seat belt. The reasoning was that the wires need to be covered and also if anyone ever sat there they should have a seat belt. Some folks on this Forum think it is too dangerous to sit on a gas tank even if it is made from 14 gauge stainless steel. My Title inspector did not flag this nor did he look at it so I will use the seat belt as handy to tie down a package or in some rare case where a single adult might be on the rumble seat he/she ought to have a seat belt so as not to fly up over the top on a sudden stop. Actually the main point of these photos is the fuel filter and shutoff valve for the gas line mounted to the inside of the right rear fender.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/Teen Rodder