Fuel line: phase 2

When a broken fuel line means progress...

Here's the story: I bought a tube bender. I picked out one that I thought I could use on the lines as they were already installed, because I was not about to pull it all out and try putting it back in again. As we know, I am a very lazy restorer. Instead, I couldn't wrap my head around how the darn bender worked. In my head, I knew where and how I needed that line to bend, but no matter which way I put the line in the tool, it seemed to want to bend it in the wrong direction. Giving up on that for a moment to work it out in my head again...matching the old line with the new one to see how the bends lined up...I put a little too much force into my manhandling of the line. I felt it snap. I knew I had gone too far. 

you can see the break just below the bend

 I had a minor ...MINOR... moment of defeat. Those moments I'm oh, so used to, when I think 'well, that's just great. More money wasted and my one step forward has yielded 2 steps back.'

But this time was different!

No tears.

No dwelling on the fuck up.

No feeling sorry for myself not getting this right the first time.

That's progress!!!

This time I actually took a breath and thought, 'well, I guess I was right in the beginning. This line needs a section cut out if it's going to fit. And now the car gods have saved me more time struggling and have forced me to just cut the line.' My friends keep reminding me that this is the first time I've done this. I don't have any previous knowledge. This is a huge project for me and I have to stop setting unrealistic goals for myself. I'm doing the best I can, I'm learning along the way, and I have to 'stop beating [myself] up over the setbacks', as they keep telling me.

And this time I did! 

And it felt great!

And now I'm going into another day of car work WITHOUT that feeling of dread that I tend to get after a little thing like the line break!

Using dad's old line cutter, I made a clean cut on one end to see how sharp the blade was. I'll cut the 2 broken ends to fit it in the wheel well and add some rubber line and extra clips to keep it secure to the car (since I accidentally bought two new sets of clips). 

I considered using some of the nylon line and the quick connects I have but that would call for a whole different flare on the lines. Plus, it's right in the wheel well, where there will be a lot of rocks and debris flying up from the tires, so I thought the rubber lines would be a stronger option. See! I'm learning.

I'm still working on 'test fitting' the fuel tank to get the right placement for the bolt hole. I attempted to do it last weekend but I'll need a second set of hands to make it less frustrating to get the tank in and placed right.
I'm also still working out my plan for the welding projects that need doing...the trunk weld is gonna be fairly large but doesn't have to be pretty...and I can do it while the car is in the port. The floor weld, which I got a full new pan for, will need to be done close to last, I think, as the doors don't open all the way while it's trapped in the carport. Which also means, I have not been able to get the front bench seat out. The car port is looking pretty gnarly these days...the rip from when the storm lifted it off the ground, plus the thinning of the tarp and holes from tree branches that have fallen on top, and now the ripping at the corner poles...but it's been up for a few years.
I just need to make my plan of attack and stick to it from here on out, I think.
Tires need to be mounted, since I'm about done with the brakes. Still need to get the shocks on.
I just want to make sure I don't need to get back under the car before I finish all that up. But then there's the exhaust! ok...too much looking ahead again...focus! focus!

In the meantime, if it rains like it's supposed to today, I have been researching my carburetor.

The manual I have been using for my car is not exactly for my 1967 Barracuda. It's for 'Dodge Dart/Plymouth Valiant 67-76, 6-cylinder engines/also includes Barracuda (67-69), Duster and Demon'. When I looked for a Haynes manual, this was all I could find for my make/model/year. So it's been helpful, but not exactly perfect. And the Carter BBD carb is not in this book.
I love youtube. And I love the random people out there in this great big world, willing to share their knowledge on the internet.
I really don't want to take my carburetor apart, but at the same time, it would be nice to have it all clean and pretty when I'm ready to put it back in the car. Of course, first thing's first, I'll need to get the old manifold and headers out of the car!

Lastly, I am a little concerned with the positioning of the new ball joints and knuckle on the front brake conversion and I'm hoping that once things are on the ground it'll all line up.

hoping that fills out and sits right once it's greased and wheels are down

I'm also feeling that anxiety about tightening the torsion bar back up, since it's as loose as it'll go without taking the bolts right out. I keep reading the manual to try to get the correct order of operations with this and the shocks and the torsion bar. Unfortunately, I was startled out of sleep by a dream of the bar snapping as I was tightening the bolt. 

So that's where I'm at. I keep going through it thinking 'oh, I just need to finish this up and then that...then I can move onto the engine...ugh...the exhaust...dang, I still need to get the tires mounted. and bleed the brakes once they're done...the welds...the window adjustment can wait...good thing I wasn't planning on putting in a new headliner or carpet!!'

Basically it's almost finished!! hahahahahahaha

next...

A quick update before moving onto today's project:
After the initial struggles with the brake lines connecting (or rather, not connecting) to the proportioning valve last weekend, I spent the morning of my day off trying to figure out why things weren't fitting as they should. After a friend suggested loosening the valve from the car to get a better angle to see what was going on, I ended up disconnecting all the lines and, long story short, I discovered that the diagram I had drawn myself did not match up with the photo I had. Thankfully, I remembered I had taken pictures for reference. Once that was worked out, I was able to get that all squared away and decided I'd just jump into the headache of getting the fuel line in.

And that's where we are today.
Having wrestled with the original line, trying to get it out in one piece but ultimately having to cut it into at least two pieces to get it out, I knew I was in for another wrestling match.
I had to unbend the pre-bent line in order to get an angle that allowed me to get the line through the one tiny hole where it goes through the frame.
I was able to get it through with a fair amount of struggling...and more bending and straightening of the line.
But, as we know...nothing is that easy, as to just be a little bit of a struggle. It has to be a full on brawl with these parts to get them back in!
I did finally get it pretty much where it should be...see how professional and nearly perfect it seems!

Well...the rear end of the line is a different story...

the bends are just a little off

 It's so close to being where it's supposed to be, going by the clips that are still on the car, but it's just not right.
The bends are right, but just not in exactly the right place.

I will play around this later, to try to get the line to match up with the old pattern and clips, but the bit just along the frame rail is causing a lot of trouble. I'm not quite strong enough to bend by hand and my line bending tool isn't the right size. So, back to the tool store I go, I think, before I can get these bits to match up.
***no tears were shed during today's struggles***

brakes....the never ending story

Wednesday.
Day off from the J.O.B.
Made up my mind to put in as much time as i could with the 'Cuda.
I've started calling her Christine because she is an absolute nightmare and i'm beginning to hate and fear her...but, is it weird that that's my middle name??
I went out at 10 am, deciding to start by hooking up the brake lines to the prop/combo valve so i could get the brake system all tied up and D.U.N.
I had the chart I made when i disconnected the original lines, oh so many years ago, so that i knew which lines went where upon reconnecting. (that's one smart thing!)

After a tiny struggle with the first connection, the next one was fairly easy. Along the way i got to the level of frustration that i was ready to throw in the towel for the day...but then i thought i could go a little longer..try a little harder.

I swore like a sailor..cried like a baby...and figured the universe was, again, against me. This connection seemed to either be too big for the hole, or the threads in the hole weren't properly threaded. I didn't really know what to think except to wonder why the hell that thing would not attach. Eventually, I got it in enough to stay put while i screwed it in tighter with the line wrench. Unbelievably frustrating, but it was just a taste of what I was about to experience with the next line.
So i got that worked out and moved on...hooked up another line and went on to the next.
This caused so much trouble that I could not move on.

An impossibly tight space and a line that simply would not screw in caused entirely too much stress after hours of working on a task that seemed it should take a few minutes.
From 10 am to 1:30 pm i worked on those lines. the last 45 minutes was spent on one line. the line from the prop valve to the master cylinder caused so much trouble. I could not get the right angle to get that connection to the prop valve. my hands won't fit in the tight space. from underneath i can't get the strength or proper angle to tighten connection. working with my eyes closed, since i can't see what i'm doing, i still couldn't get the connection to stay put.
Ultimately, I walked away, in desperate need of a shower, without getting that connected.
I am beyond frustrated. Beyond annoyed. Beyond sanity.
And with a severely bruised hand...(which you may not be able to see from the picture, but let me just tell you, the slightest little brush up against anything shoots a cringe-worthy jolt of pain into my hand and making a fist hurts.)

I need to take a day, but I need to get this damn brake system done, once and for all.
I've taken a couple extra days off to keep any momentum I may gain over the next couple months.
Any tips on getting into tight spaces are greatly appreciated!

You're never gonna believe this!

Well, well, well...
On this day, June 13, 2017....a mere 5 years since parking my greatest challenge in Hubby's parking spot and ordering the parts for the drum to disc brake upgrade...I'm ready to hook up the brake lines and get the rotors and tires back on!
This weekend I had another day of 'oh, all I have to do is this one little thing and I'll be on track to tie this brake system up, finally!'...which turned into, instead, 'what a surprise. I can't get this to work out. I need a drink.'
It gets pretty exhausting, going day after day, hitting a wall every time I try to get some momentum on this project.
I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have a handful of folks I can text, message, call (ha! like I use the phone for talking!) to ask 'what am I doing wrong?'
The car forums are super helpful, too, when it's a specific A-body question.
And I always have my Haynes manual handy...
But all of that is still not enough to work out a problem without a little mental & emotional breakdown thrown in.
Let's just get right to it...we all know this is the longest brake conversion in the history of brake conversions, I'm sure.
Once all the stuck parts were off, I thought it'd be pretty smooth sailing to get the new stuff right in there and off we go to the next thing.
Alas, that is not how this project works. This past weekend, I went out to work on the car with all kinds of hope and excitement that the front brakes would go on, lickety-split, then I could get the rear drums all put back together and then hook up the brake lines...then onto the fuel system.
Instead, the new parts didn't line up properly. with lead to all sorts of frantic messages and texts and forum questions, followed by a couple days of checking emails, and reconfirming that I was understanding the information I was getting.

With the knuckle connected to the upper ball joint, I could not get the lower ball joint to meet up

With the lower ball joint connected, which is the order the manual says to do things, things also did not line up 

Adding a jack, to help raise the knuckle was the best suggestion, but this is as far as the jack would go before the pressure just seemed to intense.

So, when the jack method wasn't working, I got emotional. I thought back to the forum replies. And the manual...the thing I kept thinking was 'why is the adjuster bolt not loose?' According to the manual, the bracket should move freely, but I just chalked it up to rust, since previous posts on the forum lead me to believe that the bolt was out 'all the way'.
But the manual says it should move...besides that, upon further reading, that bolt comes out when/if the torsion bar is removed.
Let's pretend I'm removing the torsion bar.
As I recalled, I turned to bolt as much as I could in past attempts.  Out comes the PB Blaster and the breaker bar...
Oh, good god! It's still turning! and turning! and for heaven's sake will this bolt ever come out!? Then the bracket began to move! Joy! A new emotion.
Eventually, it came out and, just like the guys in the chat rooms said 'once that bolt is loose, the lower control arm should move freely.' It really did!

There it is! The adjuster bolt just had to come all the way out for me to get the range of motion I needed for that lower control arm to move!

 So once I could move the LCA, I used all my upper strength to get the parts to meet, and my lower strength to hold the low parts up with my leg.
But hold the phone...it's not so simple.
I was able to get it all together without removing the new bump stop, as everyone had suggested, to get the UCA to move down more. Yeah, right?
Wrong...at that point, I couldn't get the adjuster bolt bracket back into the LCA...
so, off come the new parts...out comes the new bump stop (which I've been assured will go in easy once the car is back on the ground)...in goes the bracket...and back on go the new parts...

All buttoned up, but without the bump stop.

So, I gave myself an hour to work out my problem, hoping I could a)figure it out, and b) move on to get the passenger's side done, as well. Unfortunately, it took me nearly the full hour to do this.
Fortunately, I'm home for the day and have to power to extend my stay, so long as the heat didn't cause me to pass out (it's currently 85 degrees outside the carport...but, I was working around 10am, so it wasn't as hot...but the sweat was still dripping. No getting around that!)...so, I gave myself another half hour before I would have to call it a day.

passenger's side, done, with bump stop!

The passenger's side took 20 minutes. Not only that, but learning from my mistake, I put the bracket back in, leaving the bump stop on, and then put it all back together.

So that's that! Now I need to add the rotors and all that jazz, of course, but I'm without bearing grease and I'm going to be honest...I hate this heat and really just want a cold beer.

Until next time...

Now we're moving along

The struggle continues. On and on I go, just hoping that the daily task I have set for myself goes off without (too much of) a hitch.

The latest issue: bump stops.

BUMP STOPS!!!

the silly little rubber bumpers that keep the upper control arms up and away from other metal parts as the car hits all the bumps in the road.
A bit of rubber on a bolt that is screwed into place.
That's it! It's a rubber topped screw.

The task: unscrew old bump stops, screw in new bump stops.

WOW! That'll be easy. Probably a little (a lot) rusty, but I'll just douse it with PB Blaster and use the impact wrench on it.
OOPS...not enough clearance for the wrench...or the wrench, socket and hinged adapter.
Breaker bar? NOPE...so here we go with the smallest wrench and socket I have...and after hours of struggle...I mean, ab wrenching and shoulder pulling struggle...nothing.

NOTHING! 

How can these things not be moving AT ALL!?

I'm getting better at holding back the tears. I'll get a cutting blade for my 8-in-1 multi-tool thingamajig and try again.

Fast forwarding: metal cutter in hand, eye protection on, footing as secure as i can get it (well, not really 'footing' since everything I do with this car I'm either lying on the ground or kneeling until my legs go numb)...
After just a few seconds of using this tool, I can tell it is not going to work. The intense vibration has my hands going as numb as my legs and my brain telling me that this will only end badly, if I continue to attempt this.
So, I give up again. As I think about my problem, I remember that I am not opposed to more elbow grease if that's what it takes. People may think my way tends to be more labor intensive, but if I can get the job done with less fretting that I may slip and cut my hand off, it's worth it to me.

My solution: get thee a hacksaw!

I put it in my head that, no matter how crowded Home Depot was going to be on a sunny day after 2 weeks of rain, I was going to stand in line and buy my $10 mini hacksaw.
The true victory was actually going home and USING the saw, rather than waiting another week.
But as with most days working on this car, the joy from this victory was short-lived.
After a lot of work without much pay-off, it didn't seem like the saw was cutting the bolt at all.

 

Though to look at it, and the relation of the blade to the placement of the screw, it had to be going through...so I continued on.
Finally, after a pretty intense upper body workout, That disc popped right off!

And I was faced with another 'haha, you suck at this' slap in the face from this car that I can only assume, at this point, is haunted by some asshole spirit that likes to watch me beat my head against the car window and pretend to smash it to bits with a hammer...

...wait...where was I going with this...?

Oh, the top finally came off to reveal....

A square hole, with a square bolt that has been tightened beyond it's proper position.

Seriously...is this whole thing a freaking joke? Well, universe? Is it?

What could I do, but move on to the passengers side, leaving this bolt stuck. I did not have the wits to figure this problem out, at that time. It looked as if it had been welded in, and the fact that I was unable to get it to budge at all, it's truly what I thought.

The passenger's side bolt actually had some movement to it, I was just not able to get the nut off the bolt.

That went much more smoothly and I was beyond excited to just get it out and move on to try to solve the problem of the driver's side fiasco.

That all happened on Monday...with my day off just around the corner, I made up my mind to get that bolt out on Wednesday (today).

More PB Blaster...sledgehammer and a big metal punch we had lying around from some other random project...flat head screwdriver-as-chisel...and more sledgehammering.

My god I pounded on that thing...I cursed the car, per usual...I fake cried (because the tears just don't come anymore)...then I gathered my strength to go at it all again. Staring and wondering how it could be that this fucking thing won't budge!!??

Out comes the drill. That's no help, because I'm not really sure, at that point, what or where I should be drilling.

So I chisel away at the parts that I think will help relieve that tight grip of a diamond in a square.

Finally, I could see the PB Blaster shooting up through the bolt hole...I thought 'why not give that little socket wrench one more try?'

Oh sweet merciful whatever, it moved...but not straight...so it was simply stuck in a different position.

So I go through all the usual quips: 'really!?' 'are you fucking kidding me?' 'this is SO my life'...

A little more wiggling and another smack with the hammer and it's out.

JUST LIKE THAT. EASY AS PIE.(*sarcasm*)

Mangled and shiny. 

The best part: I'm too nervous to check but, to my memory, my new bump stops are not square at the base. We shall see soon enough, though.

The light at the end of this tunnel that took me several hours over the course of many weeks to get through: 

Parts can start going back on!

We're not done yet and I think the real fun is about to begin.

Days of rain

I'd love to say that the days and days of rain is the reason that i've been lazy about working on the car. But it's really only part of the reason. The main reason is because I've spooked myself. I've convinced myself that I don't have what it takes to see this project to the end.
And that's just silly! I mean, sure, I have no idea what I'm going to do when it comes to the engine work, but I can figure that out. I know people.
It's true that it's taking me FOR-EV-ER to move along on this thing, and I've thought about giving up several times (but then couldn't figure out how to get that heap of metal out of the driveway, anyway, so why not give it another go, right?), but I always go back. Maybe it's because a lightbulb goes off and I figure a different way to get past my roadblock. Or, maybe it's because a new person enters my life with the knowledge that I need to move past my current problem. Or, maybe I just somehow summon the strength and courage to push through my doubt and get shit done.
This time it was a combo, really...
and I'm still moving along.
Here's where we were last time: unable to get the tie rod out. Why, you ask? Well, because, as we know by now, I don't really know what i'm doing. So I could not get my impact wrench in a position to get the nut off. But, with media, my super power of admitting I am ignorant, and my collection of car friends, I was guided. 'Turn the steering wheel' my friend Pat told me. Of course. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and be ready to feel like a complete dolt.

I turned the steering wheel and, low and behold, I had no problem on the driver's side. The passenger's side was a little more of an issue, but I still managed to move along.
The tie rods are out.

They, of course, needed some cleaning...and removal of old bushings. Removing old bushings isn't all that easy, by the way.

They've been cleaned up.

The new bushings are on and it's basically ready to go back in.

And that means we finish that brake conversion! The thing that started it all, in my eyes. The upgrade that I thought this car needed. Let's face it, it's not a great looking car to start, so spending money on body work wasn't really important to me. It's a heavy beast so souping it up to become a race car would be the most ridiculous idea ever (that's my next car. *wink*). I just wanted to get it running so I could drive it around a few times during the summer...maybe hit a car show some weekend...then maybe sell it to recoup the money I put in (which is basically the few dollars I got from a lawsuit my dad was involved in before he passed away). So, since driving on the Cape means having brakes that work...I was willing to spend the bulk of the budget on this disc conversion...and it's about to happen, folks! Years later, I can actually say I'm ready to start emptying the boxes of rotors and dust shields and calipers and (ugh) adapters...

While playing my usual game of getting frustrated and feeling like I couldn't make any progress on the car, I decided to do some cosmetic stuff (nothing major...just trim and window stuff)...
DECORATIVE DOOR TRIM:

the dark brown is the old (outer) trim...a look at that same trim but on the inside of the door revealed that it was originally silver. I got new silver trim.

You can't really see the silver in this picture, but you can see the difference compared to the picture below...

I also replaced the weather stripping between the front door window and the quarter/back window. The door still needs to be adjusted to make it water tight (another procedure I didn't know about until my friend Pat mentioned it...more researching needs to be done there.)

So that is where I'm at now.
And it's been raining for a week, basically. With another weekend of more rain ahead of us.
We shall see when I get back out there, but I'm feeling good and positive about where I'm at. Just trying not to think about the engine and floor boards just yet. (oh, yeah...I bought a pre-fab floor pan to weld in to fix the driver's side floor rust...another adventure there, for sure!)

and just like that...

Well, folks, it's been a long time, hasn't it.

A long few months of silence here, and over on the ol' facebook page.
I've been dormant, though the weather has actually been pretty nice considering it's winter in New England. We had a big snowstorm, but it was all cleared out by rain and warmer temps within a few days.

So, my point?

It's not the weather keeping me from that beast in the driveway.
I pretty much gave up on the ol' gal after all the trouble with the front suspension, as you all know.
But not the kind of giving up that leads to the thing just sitting there to rot or trying somehow to get someone to come buy the heap so I didn't have to keep being reminded that I was in way over my head simply starting this project. (that was a long ass sentence!)

maybe you're thinking 'what kind of trouble were you having? i forgot.'

 The front disc brake conversion can not take place until the old brake parts and suspension are squared away...

remember...I had to buy 2 of these $20 tools because i broke the first one trying to get the ball joints off?

 All the things I tried...including the pickle fork/sledge hammer combo and this stupid 'too big' pitman arm tool.

Ahh...the joy of auto restoration, coupled with a complete lack of car knowledge makes for some pretty rough days of waking up the neighbors (guess it's ok if they shine their headlights in my windows, after all...and eye for an eye, i suppose.) and tears. Lots and lots of tears.

Well, winter will give me a great excuse to just not think about it for awhile so when people ask 'how's it going with the car?' i can say 'um, it's winter. what could I possibly be doing? It's going just as scheduled.'
Then we have the ridiculous warm weather and days when I should be out there. But I'm not.

Enter my new friend, Jeremy. 

Husband of a woman my hubs works with. Mechanic. Happens to have some free time this week...and Wednesday looks good. Oh, but wait! There's snow in the forecast for Tuesday, of course.
Miraculously, Wednesday is still looking like 40+ degrees...and it was.

Yes, yes, and...?

Let's just let these pics do the talking...

All the parts are OFF! Which alone is enough to really bring me joy. However, I got a bit of pleasure when the ball joint gave him just as much trouble, until he used some tricks of the trade and his knowledge of leverage and how it can work in this situation. It was better than finding a unicorn while out on a walk in the woods. It proved to me that I must have a little bit of good karma built up somewhere.
Since I really just met Jeremy a few days ago, I told him my whole sad story. Which reminded me of the long and winding road I've been down with this car. I have renewed excitement for this project again, now. Soon, the long and winding roads will be for cruisin'!
***(Jeremy, if you're reading this, I hope you're not completely embarrassed and unwilling to ever speak to me again. ...Perhaps I should've asked him first...)