I SPRING INTO ACTION

Greetings!

Progress continues on Gary's '51 Chevy coupe after a holiday season of intense partying on the part of Grandma & me. My daughters are developing such dedicated families, we attended the sealing ceremony of one daughter, Ariel to Michael, received the announcement that Haley was engaged to Adam and also got the news that Sunny & Nate are expecting another baby girl. It's heady times, to be sure.

As for the coupe, I ordered a specially-made radio for it that fits into the stock dash location, but it plays AM/FM stereo as well as provides for an auxiliary input to support a CD player or an MP3 player. I'm waiting for the unit to arrive before I install the A/C condenser under the dash so that I can be sure to provide enough room for the two to coexist with the new electric wiper motor. It should be here Monday or Tuesday so by the end of the week I can invite Gary over to examine the progress. He's been busy as well, over the Holiday Season.

The steering linkage was challenging. The power rack input shaft was too close to the inside of the frame rail to make a direct line to the steering column so I had to add a joint and anchor it to the frame with a spherical rod end. It seems to work well now, even without the steering column anchored to the firewall.

The steering wheel is a thing of beauty. Speedway Motors offers a few nostalgic models to choose from and this is a downsized '57 Chevy unit. I'm not a big fan of the fancy script: "Classic" epoxied into the center of the horn ring, but overall the steering wheel really adds to the classy look of the passenger compartment. Try to ignore the loose wires under the dash; all is awaiting the arrival of the radio to be re-wired.

Speaking of the radio, I went the extra mile and installed a layer of sound-deadening insulation to the inside of the doors and the panels on each side of the rear seat to cut out both noise and extreme temperatures. The insulation has jute backing on a foil sheet and is applied with an adhesive. I've used it before and it's quite effective. The car will stay cooler/warmer and the stereo won't have to be maxed out to be enjoyed.

It was difficult to get the sheets of insulation into place through the small openings, but I can say it's one complete sheet per door rather than pieces glued together. While I had the upholstered door panels off to install the insulation, I removed the door latch on the passenger side and soaked it in carb cleaner and bead blasted it to make it work smoothly.

Tomorrow I'll be installing the rear axle with the 3.41 gearing, since I was finally able to locate some new rear shackle bushings for the newly painted leaf springs. I'll install the rear axle and put the car down on wheels before I'm able to weld the new spring perches in place. I might even put the engine in first. I need to carefully measure the angle of the axle pinion in relation to the transmission output shaft. This exercise is to minimize vibration at speed. 

It's going to be a great ride for Gary, and the more I do to it the more I wish I could add or improve. It's worth the effort and expense and will keep it's value for generations. Thanks for looking in!

Doug