Thread: Everybody that is currently building a car...

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Doing a frame off on a '69 C10 short box. My first build and its been a big learning curve. Engine bay and interior are painted, exterior not yet done. Ordered a small block stroker from Smeding Performance yesterday. It should be shipped at end of Feb. Next thing to throw money at is a tranny. The diff is a 12 bolt 3:08 so a 700R4 won't work. Recently read an article on the TH400 with a switch-pitch torque converter. Spoken with Phoenix Transmission and think I will go that route. Would love to get this hot rod finished its been a long 6 years!!

Why not change your rear gears and go with an overdrive tranny? They are nice if you plan on driving on the interstate at 70+ mph.

Originally Posted by rumrumm

Why not change your rear gears and go with an overdrive tranny? They are nice if you plan on driving on the interstate at 70+ mph.

Its all about money. Its cheaper to leave the 3:08 and the switch-pitch 400 is cheaper than th 700R. The switch pitch gives me good acceleration off the line and at 65mph turns 2700rpm. The 700R at 65mph would turn 2500rpm. For 200rpm its not worth the cost to switch out the rear gears etc.

Borrowed a heater from a bud for the shop, looks like the control board is out on my Reznor, too. Chit!!! Guess I'll have to do some price checking on a new one.....

I did manage to get in a little time on my old pickup today. Going to have to repaint the hood and grille, some clown just couldn't leave it alone while I had it parked outside..... Then while I was working out the new gouges in the hood I decided to redo the headlight openings a bit, too. Hopefully I can get this furnace issue resolved and get some repaint on the old and paint on the new parts for the Ford and actually have one of my own done and running!!!!!

Another one of them one step forward and 3 steps back days.......

Shame for that to happen to you Dave . Also for the mugs with raccoon fingers .

Dave A question if you don't mind?? Won't the 57 be a bit top heavy for road racing??

Originally Posted by cffisher

Dave A question if you don't mind?? Won't the 57 be a bit top heavy for road racing??

Stock,it would be...Those issues are being addressed!!!!

Yipppeeeeee! I've got a warm shop again! Install was a piece of cake, had to buy a few fittings for the supply line, but that was about it! Seems to be a very nice, uniform heat. Just a 100 CFM fan for a bit of air movement but not that noisy dang thing in the Reznor! Thermostat doesn't have temperature settings, just a scale of 1 thru 5.... Got it started, set it on about 2 1/2--hour and a half later the temp was 82 degrees!!!! Seems to be plenty of BTU for my little shop! Thinking I'll get a little 10" or 12" fan to hang in the corner furthest away from the heater to get a bit of circulation, but I think that's about all it will need for a 'tune up'..

Good news, Dave! Know you're glad to have the new heater in service and it sounds like it's up to the task. Heck, next you'll be posting pictures working in shorts & T-shirt with the snow stacked up outside!

Well Rog, with arthritis and fibromyalgia, then add in some really poor circulation on my left side, I just can't do nuttin' when I'm cold!!!!!! Ok, I can't do much when I'm warm, either.. But, if one is going to just sit around and be bummed cuz you can't work as hard as you used to , might as well be warm when you do it!!!!!

and if you understand all that could you please explain it to me?

Just took Pepper for a short walk and checked out the garage. I came in the house a couple hours ago, before I left the shop I dropped the t-stat to 1 1/2--temp is now stabilized at 65!!!!! and as you mentioned earlier, I no longer have that noisy dang fan messing up my hair!!!!!!!

Good news Dave. Glad your back in action. What happened to the truck hood and grill? I've been contiplating heat in my garage too, right now the thermometer out there is reading 39 degrees. The cement slab keeps it pretty cool unless I open the bay doors during the day. It's very well insulated so I think a little heat would work, just not plumbed for gas, so have to go the electric route!

I gave some thought to going electric this time, just too dang long of a cold season around here. I looked at an electric unit with similar BTU, think it was just a shade over $300. Then of course probably need to add an extra breaker in the box and wire the heater into there. Of course, we would all hire a certified electrician to do that!!!

Good deal, Dave. Glad to see you're back in business!

Went out to the shop this morning, temp was still holding right at 60. Turned the it up a bit, about an hour later it was a nice, comfortable 70 degrees!!!!


As for the hood and grille on the pickup, I had it parked in the front driveway for some time..... Somebody decided it would look better if they kicked the grille and put some gouges in the hood with a key or something.... Got an idea who did it, for his sake he'd better hope I don't find some proof that it was him!!!!

Originally Posted by cffisher

Dave A question if you don't mind?? Won't the 57 be a bit top heavy for road racing??

They are a top heavy car stock... the back half of the roof had been caved in from kids jumping on it, have to replace it so instead of using 18 ga. (.047") steel like the factory used, I'll use .040" aluminum. Back window and all the side windows will be lexan instead of glass plus a few other things to lighten it down. In '57 the cars were still built for driving on bad roads, so the engine and tranny were quite high in the chassis. I'll be changing all that, lowering the engine height and moving it back to move the CG down and the balance back. Mainly just changing from all the old style, heavy weight materials that were used on the car to some modern components that are both stronger and lighter.