Finally Coming Together

[rficalora]

Totally awesome Ed!!

[BlownMGB-V8]

Ed, if you dial it in closely couldn't you cut it from the front and then re-cut from the back? Just have to have a couple of accurate reference holes, which you already have.

Jim

[epeppy]

Thanks Rob.  You need to build one of these.  You'll love it.

Yes Jim, I thought about doing that.  Right now, I've got the x-axis and the y-axis zeroed in the center of the drivers side vent opening.  I could cut the face as it sits now, flip the part with the same zero position and mirror the part in the drawing to re-generate the g-code to cut the backside.  Like you said, I might have to change the zero position to one of the smaller holes so I can get the part zeroed accurately when flipped.  I still might do this if this new bit I've got coming leaves too big a gap. I'll make a few test cuts with the new bit and decide.  The gap on the original dash was about a 1/16", was just kind of hoping to improve on that.  We'll see.  Thanks for the great suggestion of using the smaller holes.  I would have struggled getting the larger vent opening zeroed in.

Ed

[danmas]

Ed,

Great job on the dash - I envy your tools. Here's a picture of the dash I made for a TR6 out of a 1/2" solid piece of oak. I cut the gauge openings using an adjustable circle cutter on a drill press. The glove box was cut using a scroll saw.  To get the blade started, I drilled a small hole where the hinges would go so they wouldn't show in the finished job. Cutting that opening was nerve racking, as I knew there was no room for error. The edge of the dash was beveled with a table router.

Did you make dimensioned drawings of the dash (I'm sure you must have to cut it on CNC machinery)?  Would you be willing to make the drawings available to others? For a fee, of course.



Here's a picture of the dash installed.

[epeppy]

Dan,

That dash looks great. You did a great job cutting the glove box opening.  I'm pretty sure mine would have looked terrible if I used a scroll saw.  

I do have an AutoCad drawing of the dash that I used to generate the g code for the CNC.  It's drawn full scale so it currently doesn't have dimensions on it but I could easily add those.  I would be willing to make the drawing available.  It's also pretty easy to make changes to the gauge layout, switches, lamp openings, etc.  Most of the changes that I made only required a small amount of cutting of the metal panel behind the dash.

Your TR6 was what got me started down this road many years ago.  Have learned a lot from reading about your 302 conversion.

This picture sold me on the idea of doing mine.  Thanks for the inspiration!

[rficalora]

RE: Thanks Rob. You need to build one of these. You'll love it.

I've started reading up at the links you sent.  Will have to collect parts over time as looks to be about $1k or more in parts.  Also watching craigslist for a used one that would work or might be a cheaper source of parts.

I like Jim's idea of flipping the dash to use the 3/32 bit.  The smaller gap will look so good.

[epeppy]

Well, I couldn't wait for the new bit so I decided to use Jim's suggestion and cut the glove box opening halfway through and then flip the part and cut the remainder of the way through on the back side.

This is the cut on the back side



The door was only off by just little.  The back of the door and dash get beveled so this would get routed off.



I was pretty exicted that this was going to work out.



So I routed the perimeter edge and cut the glove box door for the hinges.  Decided I should see how it fit in car.  Well.... it didn't fit. The distance between the vent openings was off and the small hole I made to the left of the steering column notch for the alternator warning light was right in the way of the column mounting.  The glove box was also off.  So, obviously changes needed to be made.  With all the test cuts that I made, I never made a complete dash.  I cut lots of holes to check for gauge, switch, led, vents, etc.  Made a bunch of drawing changes, and cut a test dash.  Still had a few issues and made those changes.  Dash number two is on the table now with all the holes cut.  Need to cut the glove box again and the perimeter.  The new 1/16" bit came in today but I will plan to use the 1/32" bit.  The gap looks much better.  Just hope when this one gets flipped to cut the back side that it lines up as good as the first one did.  Also hoping it fits in car....

[BlownMGB-V8]

That sure beats the jigsaw we used to cut Dan B's cherry dashboard for his TR4-A about 20 years back.

Jim

[Dan B]

Jim, I bought the car in 1980.  We cut the dash that summer, so it was a little more than 20 years ago!  That cherry dashboard has great sentimental value.

Jim and I cut that out with our grandfather, Clyde Miller, who Jim swore to the folks at Speedway Motors was Harry Miller's cousin/nephew/son/brother, depending on who he was telling.

[BlownMGB-V8]

You think they'd have liked to have heard about Philo Farnsworth being related to Uncle Dorsey? That makes a pretty good story too...

Jim

[epeppy]

Dash No. 2 is getting some finish put on it.  This one actually fits.  Moved the hole to the left of the steering column, lined up the glove box and got the mounting holes located properly.  Turns out the first dash was not that far off.  The glove box was about 1/4" too far to the right.  Filled in the mounting holes that were off.  Might not look too bad.  I liked the grain pattern on the first dash.





Received the interior panels from Bob Danielson today.  He does outstanding work.



Would highly recommend Bob.  He's also got a great website where he has documented lots of modifications to his TR6.
http://tr6.danielsonfamily.org/

Ed

[epeppy]

Started working on the console.  The angled piece and the shifter plate is walnut.  The sides will get wrapped with either black vinyl or with the seat/panel vinyl.  Can't really decide.  The kidney panels that Bob Danielson provided in his kit are black so it seems to make sense to make the console sides black.  Also planning to put black carpet.  I think I'm talking myself out of the black.  Need to decide soon.  My son told me that I need to cut the opening for the radio into a rectangle if I want to put a new head unit in.



As you can see, I still have all the dash wiring to do.  Need to put a couple (maybe more) coats of finish along with some sanding to get it flat.

[epeppy]

Put some vinyl on the sides of the console and some finish on the wood.  Realized I'm not much of an upholsterer so I'm glad I decided not to try to do the interior myself.



Also put a few more coats of finish on the dash and stuck the gauges in it.  Had to do some fitting to put the dash pad on.  Didn't line up very well with the vent openings.  Got that done and put the dash in to see how it was going to look.  Using Autometer gauges.  At night, the gauges go black and the numerals turn orange.  Will have to do some more wiring to see how that looks.



Stuck the steering wheel on also.  Of course I had to take it all off to work on the wiring.



It looks like this now.  



Ed

[Addicted]

Looking great!  That wiring looks like a handful.  I actually enjoy wiring projects.  I like the wire with spiral coloring on it.  Is that part of a kit, or just spools of wire?

[epeppy]

Thanks Mike. I contacted Advance Auto Wire and told them I had fabricated my own version of their "power block" (relay panel) and asked if they would just sell me the wire that would come in their kit. He sent more than enough wire, bullet terminals, etc. to do the car.  Very easy to deal with. Highly recommend them.

Ed

[epeppy]

Got enough wiring done to see what the gauges are going to look like.  

This is what they look like during the day.


This is what they will look like at night.


Have finished most of the wiring.  Still need to do some interior lights but for the most part it's done.  This cold weather, holidays, etc. have kind of slowed progress.  It's got to start warming up soon.

Ed

[epeppy]

I think there's a song "momma said there'd be days like this".  Took the distributor out to prime the engine before trying to start it up.  Looked down in the hole and some idiot (me!) forgot to put the oil pump shaft in before putting the oil pump in.  So... drained the oil, took the pan bolts off, and tried to pull the pan off.  Finally got the gasket seal broke loose.  Guess I thought it was never going to have to come off.  Didn't have enough room to get the front of the pan off.  Don't have enough room between the oil pump and the front crossmember.  Took the motor mounts off and tried to raise the engine.  Trans hit the top of the firewall. What a pain.  So, I just about have everything disconnected to pull the engine tomorrow.  Not exactly what I had planned.  The plan now is to get the engine running, break it in, tune it, and anything else it might need before it goes back in.  So much for a schedule.  Oh, and also got a letter for jury duty today.  It could probably be worse.... maybe.  At least I haven't ruined the engine yet.

Ed

[BWA]

Keep pressing on and don't let these things discourage you.  I have found as I work on myTR6 that any job worth doing is done at least three times!!


Cheers
Byron

[74ls1tr6]

Byron is right 3,4or 5 times until it is right. Well worth doing!

A good story that I went through.

My ls1 engine had a hard time priming the oil to the oil pressure gauge for the first time. I was not going to start the engine until there was pressure. I turned the engine over with the starter, had the coils disconnected,fuel pump shut off, pulled the spark plugs trying to get it to prime . I ran down one battery and it still didn't prime. So I took off the oil pressure sending unit which opened up a 1/4" hole on the top of the block in the back. I took a very small funnel and poured oil in the hole until no more would go in. I was thinking, I would need to pull the timing cover back off, try to replace the O ring that could pinch real easy on a Ls1, between the oil pump, and the pick up tube. So pouring oil in the top of the block was a last ditch effort not to pull the timing cover off.....Re-installed the oil pressure sending unit back into the block and turn the engine over one last time. " Victorious" It primed, and the oil pressure was showing on the gauge with 50psi. So needless to say "you need to check and check, and check and re-check until you feel everything is right before you proceed to start your engine". I have heard and read where people have jumped the gun some and ruin their engines, not a fun situation.

So pulling the engine is the correct way to handle it Ed. Check and check everything else before you put it back in. In the end you will have one very cool car that you can appreciate. It will put that big grin back on your face every time you drive it.

As far as Jury duty, we are able to respond online here in California. I filled a form out that states I'm the only bread winner in the house, and I would lose to much money for the days they would need me for their jury duty. Just a thought! Don't know about your state that you live in.

[88v8]

Replaced the oil pump gears on my Rover 215. Vaseline.. priming tool, drill.... wouldn't prime.

Pulled them again, this lying on the drive in winter, hard to do when you can't feel your fingers, why didn't I leave it until summer... Engine building grease...priming tool, drill, wouldn't prime.

Decided to replace the pressure relief valve with a 'tadpole'.
Speaking to the chap who sold them... errrm it was was a while ago... errrm, anyway I mentioned the problem.
'Where did you get the cover gasket?' he asked.
Turned out the gasket that came with the gears was a couple of thou too thick. A known problem that these bad gaskets were in circulation grrr.
He sent me the correct gasket, it primed.

If I had just fired the motor, that would have been the end of it.

Now, I don't know if you can get a priming tool for your engine, but the trouble with priming it on the starter, by the time it gets going all the cam lube has been wiped.

Something else to worry about. :}

Won't drift on to camshaft running-in procedure, I'm sure that's been amply covered in this forum.

Ivor

[BlownMGB-V8]

That oil pump end clearance needs to be set tight. TA sells the shim kit (gaskets). If it just drags a little when assembled cold that is just about right.

Jim

[epeppy]

Byron and Calvin, thanks for encourgement and stories like Ivor's kind of make me cringe.  It's good to have folks that have been through this to give advice.  

Jim, is that TA Performance?  Didn't realize the oil pump end clearance was something that could be adjusted.  

After a slow start I was able to get the engine and trans out today.  Pulled the trans while I was at it.  Was going to replace the rear seal before it went in after paint but I forgot.  Looking at this little excersize as an opportunity to check, check, and recheck (how many times Calvin?) everything before it goes back in.

Ed

[BlownMGB-V8]

Oh right, that's a Ford engine. Can't help you there.

Jim

[epeppy]

Probably a little late in the game to be adding a rear torsion bar, but I wanted to have the body on the frame and the mufflers installed so I could see what kind of clearance I had.  Well, I put it off long enough and decided I needed to make some decisions to add a rear bar.  I had purchased and installed a Richard Goods 7/8" front bar so I knew I needed to install a rear bar.

Had originally wanted to install bushings in the frame rails below the trunk area.  Unfortunately, the mufflers would interfere with this location.  I have seen some bars that were mounted on the spring tower/front diff crossmember, but the tubing I welded between the two crossmembers would keep me from using this area.

I had some space above the frame rail but not enough to get a bar between the top of the frame rail and the bottom of the trunk.  I decided I needed to cut the frame so that I could lower the bar halfway into the frame.  This would give me clearance above the mufflers and below the bottom of the trunk.

Hopefully this might help someone else who is trying to install a rear bar and has similar issues.  I had talked with Richard Good and found out that his rear bar is 7/8" and has an arm length of 11" to the center hole.  I wanted a shorter arm length (8.5") so I ended up using a 3/4" diameter bar.  Should be real close in spring rate to Richard's.  Ordered the bar, along with a splined and smooth bore bushing.  The bar is cut to the length required and the bushings are welded to the arms.  The smooth bore bushing is welded to the bar.  The shorter arm allows the bar to be easily removed through the wheel well.  Purchased some 3/4" greasable bushings from Energy Suspension.  

Made some brackets for the bushings to sit on.  Also made the arms, and the bracket that attaches to the trailing arm.  Wanted to try and use the old lever shock location at the rear of the trailing arm to attach the bracket.

Cut a piece of pipe to weld back into the notch that was cut in the frame rail.  Also welded in some sleeves for the bolts that would attach the support bracket.


Bracket attached to trailing arm with male and female rod ends to connect to the bar arm.


Bushing mounted to support bracket.


Support bracket bolted to frame.


After a few false starts (distributor in 180* out, intake manifold leak), the engine is running.  Still need to do some timing and carb adjusting but at least it's running.

Ed

[BWA]

Ed your swaybar looks real good.  If I ever decide to go with one I may be talking to you.  
Congratulations on getting the engine running!  Now on to the next thing......

Cheers
Byron