project ugly betty

[gt37jim]

Well i finally got my computer back. it was possessed by evil spirits and i needed the geek squad to perform an exorcism! As you can tell computers are not my friends.

thanks for the kind words victimizer, i'm sure alot of what i'm doing is old news to some of these guys, but its my first bug so i'm discovering and learning as i go.

I spent last weekend swapping out the bad engine in my nieces escort, its not as much fun when its not your car and there is a deadline.

today i fixed some little things that were bugging me. one of the spindle nuts that i bought had the pinch bolt drilled to far out, and it on rubbed the dust cap. you can see how the head sticks up past the cap flange. ordered replacement from flaps.



also the bearing retaining washer was punched badly. you can see a correct one under bad. it didn't engage slot but spun all the way around.



the last thing that was bugging me was the disc brake kit i bought off ebay sent me 2 left hand calipers, so on rt one the bleed screw was at the bottom. i know i could have unbolted caliper and put it a top of disc while bleeding, but it made me nuts so i replaced them with a set with dual bleeders so they are interchangable.



tookoff doors so i can get at rusty floors easier. fyi, a door with glass, mechanism, hinges, and latch weigh 43.3 lbs



now for a question, i'm using the screw in wheel studs cb perf sells.(first picture) what do i torque locks to when using alum wheels? 90 ft/lbs seems high? opinions?

[gt37jim]

I kind of bounced around on my projects this weekend. i finished assy of pedal cluster, but won't install until floors are repaired and por 15'd. i put pedal pads in boiling water for a couple of minutes and they softened and streched, easy to install


next installed 4 wheel disc master cylinder, and made new hard brake lines for front. only one scrap to short. will make a new rear line when i install rear disc setup.



started fitting wide fiberglass front fenders. mark 2 holes, take off, drill, refit, mark 2 more holes, slot previous holes repeat. took all afternoon but i'm happy. it looks like a bug again


lower inner corners of fenders by apron needs reshaping to match. apron has more roll to it.


i 'm going to use porsche stye lens on headlights. i need to fab bucket mount clips.


next week i get to take fenders off again so i can roll bedliner on underside. still i'm making progress

[gt37jim]

I wanted to vent the back of the front fenders to reduce lift at higher speeds. I looked at the holes and slots others have used, but this is what i came up with.

I'm using the early horn covers. When car is dark blue, covers will be satin black.
I think it works, but only because fenders are three inches wider than stock.


I needed a bracket to hold headlight housings in fender. I drilled the fiberglass fenders and installed rivet nuts then bent small clip to catch roll of headlight trim ring. Seems to hold ok.



For bumper brackets i bought a set of these . They use original mount point, and they go under fender which i hope will protect apron and fiberglass by riding up on speed bumps and driveways.

Now i need to clean up all the fiberglass dust. Its everyplace !

[gt37jim]

It is a miserable day in central cali. today, rainy, cold, and windy. So i decided i should go to the junk yard

I picked up two rear diagonal arms that i can clean up and rebuild before i do the rear suspension lowering. I also scored a set of guages from a 914 for $30.


During the week i also worked on some hood pin mounts to pull center edges down.



I need to get ideas on guage layouts, i think i saw that in the offroad section. i guess i'll hang out there for a while

[bajaherbie]

also my plates showed up saturday


is that german for "see you later" or something like that?

heidi klum says that when a contestant is eliminated on "project runway"

[gt37jim]

hi bajaherbie

a german english translation site says auf weidersehen is goodby in a formal situation, or to strangers.
i remember it from watching hogans heros, and this was as close as i could get and fit on a plate. i hope most people get it.
i'm going to need a good motor with an attitude like that the daydream is a 2110 with cb performance fuel injection, but it depends on future cash flow. jim

[msauls]

great looking project! Thanks for all the detailed photos.

the plates are fantastic!!

[gt37jim]

Hey msauls, thanks for the positive comment. i always wonder if people are interested or just flipping thru the posts. i'm enjoying building this bug alot, before this i limited myself to maintaining or fixing busted cars. this time i can try out all my crazy ideas, and it doesn't have to run by monday. jim

[harryset]

Keep up the good work, I've stolen a couple of good ideas from you already.

[gt37jim]

thanks harryset ! i'm glad people are interested in my build.

last week was all problems, didnt get to work on bug. daily driver, my 2000 firebird was up for smog. its got 238k on it and i've only changed fuel pump and converter,so i was concerned. it passed tailpipe test, but failed visual because part # of converter i had replaced last year was 1 digit off. back to muffler shop, they said they didn't install it because it didn't match # on paper work. ended up splitting the cost, then retest, finally passed but i lost a days pay. Then took my 1970 tempest gt37 (hence username) to friday nite carmeet at sonics. throwout bearing let go as i was leaving, had to have it towed home. how embarassing. finally washing machine started draining across garage floor. it lasted 22 years, time to bury it. hope thats it.

i got a fiberglass front bumper/airdam combo for bug,had to trim edges for wider fenders.



it needs final trimming to smooth edges, i hope it helps lessen air under car.

i also picked up a grant steering wheel, adapter, and a quick release.




it has a plate that bolts to adapter, and a release plate that bolts to wheel. it locks up tight using three ballbearings in recesses.

thats it for this week. sorry for venting my troubles. jim

[harryset]

What brand of spray on bedliner did you use? Was that sprayer, or rattle can?

[gt37jim]

hey harryset,
i used duplicolor truck bed coating in the spray can. it will still scratch through but it does seem tougher than paint. i dont know how it would hold up to weather, but takes dropped tools well, for inside the trunk i think it works good.
i cleaned area, wiped down with wax and grease remover, scuffed with red scotchbrite pad, then rewiped with the remover.
for wheelwells i used herculiner roll-on, same process. i got both from autozone. jim

[harryset]

Thanks. I plan on doing pretty much the same areas as you have done.

[msauls]

love the carbon fibre hood, but whew, $$$!

I've been looking for a fiberglass one, along with a decklid but seems that all i can find are baja ones.

Either way, great project keep us up to date-

[jaywiz1977]

I love the vents in the apron and at the back of the fenders.I have to replace my apron and wanted to jazz it up a little so...Idea stolen!haha I will give ya props thogh when anyone asks about it.