HM-2037 Build Thread

[Bass And Hot Rods]

Ha.  No.  I live 50 minutes from Summit.  We are in a toxic relationship 😏

[Bob Worley]

I'm 20 minutes from Summit.    Capital One VISA loves that.    bastards.

[Redstang69]

Made some good progress, I got all my brakes bled. I still need to play with the pedal adjustments some. The front master cylinder travels more than the rear, not sure if it's an adjustment issue or how it's supposed to be. I've got the 7/8" master for the rear brakes and a 3/4" for the fronts. Pedal feels really nice though. I did not join the "no leak" club, I had to go through and tighten most of my fittings, I just simply didn't have them tight enough, especially the -3 fittings.
Another nice milestone in my book though, feels good. I think I'm ready to put the cockpit tub on permanently now.

[Redstang69]

Today I put the weatherstripping on and set the cockpit tub on, hopefully for the last time.
Now cue the next issue. Put my steering shafts together and the u joint between the collapsible shaft and double d shaft has only about 1/16" at best of clearance between it and the header pipe. The set screw will definitely hit. I'm probably going to chamfer the u joint and put a dent in the pipe.

[Redstang69]

Need you guys' opinion. I put the 3/4" x 3/8" weather strip in the green areas. The red areas did not get weather strip because there wasn't quite enough. Did I do this wrong? Should it have only been installed around the foot boxes? I think Kamal said he put all his on but then took most of it back off.
I realize this lifted the tub 3/8", so I plan to get a couple thick washers to take up the gap at the seat bolt mounting holes.
Will I be ok as is?

[Kamal]

Ben,

Progress looks great.  Let me chime in on a couple things.

Greg mentioned to me that after studying builds for sometime, he determined that no weatherstripping is the way the builds have evolved.  I originally had it all over the frame, thinking it would provide some isolation for vibration, and ended up removing it all.  Hopefully a more experienced member will chime in, but I think that weather stripping is out, and just using some sealant is the way to go.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.

In regards to the steering shaft, I originally had cut my shafts so that the U-Joint was adjacent to the firewall bracket.  Because of the header clearance issues, I purchased another shaft (cheap!) and moved the u joint further forward to clear the header. 

Also, I'm noticing quite an angle at your trans to driveshaft joint.  Makes me wonder if the back of your trans is sitting up too high.  IN my setup, there is almost no angle at either joint; the engine/trans slopes downward a little to the rear, and the rear axle a little upward.  We have different trannies, so I can't comment on the mount you may be using.

[Greg K]

Also, I'm noticing quite an angle at your trans to driveshaft joint.  Makes me wonder if the back of your trans is sitting up too high.  IN my setup, there is almost no angle at either joint; the engine/trans slopes downward a little to the rear, and the rear axle a little upward.  We have different trannies, so I can't comment on the mount you may be using.

It also has to do with where your frame to ground or ride height is set to and tire height.

[Redstang69]

I think you and Greg have talked me into the no weather stripping route, ugh this manual.
Not sure if I'll go a sealant route or something much thinner and able to crush down.
As far as my driveshaft goes, the trans has a 2° slope down surprisingly and I set the pinion angle 2° down also. It might be because I'm running a T5 and as Greg pointed out, I don't have the ride height set yet.
I'm going to order a longer steering shaft, seems like what the rest of you guys have done to remedy the situation.
I appreciate the feedback and help from everyone. It's really helping my build come together nicely.

[NTX-CLANK]

........ to be. I've got the 7/8" master for the rear brakes and a 3/4" for the fronts. Pedal feels really nice though. .........

My brakes are set up with the 7/8" master for the front and 3/4" for the back.  Attaching adjustment notes from Wilwood.

Jim

[Redstang69]

Thanks for the replies and help Jim. I'm going to do some more bleeding in them and maybe call Wildwood and ask them what is "normal" operation.

[Redstang69]

I've been having to work some long hours but I did manage to redo the weather strip with a much thinner piece. Set the cockpit tub on and it did seem to fit better. Got it as far back as the upper frame would allow and locked it down. Riveted around the foot boxes and two bolts on the back wall like others have done.
Had some time today and locked the trunk tub down as well. Mounted my gas tank vent, E-Brake handle, and shifter hole aluminum trim. Then cut my new steering shaft to length and fit it up. Needed to be 1-3/4" longer than the original. Still need to put a coat of sharkhide on it before locking them down for good.
I'm shocked how solid the tubs are after locking them down.
I didn't really grab any pictures.
One thing that has been tricky is trying to line things up. It seems like things move a good bit as they get tightened down, so it throws alignments off.

[mandmGuys]

Just reading through this bit but wanted to point out commit you made on pinion angles that you had 2 degrees down on the the trans and 2 down on pinion. Please re-check pinion in your case should be 2 degrees up for best driveline life.

Mark HM2006

[Redstang69]

Mark, thanks for reading through the build and looking at the details. I think we're on the same page just referencing what we're saying from different perspectives. I said it the way I did based on the picture and looking at everything from the front of the vehicle perspective if that makes sense.
Those are not my angle in that picture, that's just a random one I grabbed for illustration only.

[Redstang69]

Spent the last two weekends getting the radiator, shroud and fan put together. It all went together pretty straight forward without much issue. I did slot the mounting holes in the radiator to shift the radiator toward the driver's side to center it up better.
Kamal, thanks for figuring out the lower radiator hose, I did the same as you. Could probably be a done a little cleaner with a longer piece of solid pipe and a 90 on the end, but the two rubber hoses work fine.
Also decided to tackle my inner fenders since they need to go in before the radiator. I was dreading it but they actually weren't bad at all. Had to trim a little at the very front to clear some weld on the 1x1 at the top and very little of the arch over the suspension mount. Thankfully Greg told me to check the front body mounts and sure enough the mounting ears don't have enough space to let the inner fender slide in. I was able to spread the ears slightly and all of good.
I'll get inner fender pics after I sharkhide them.

[Redstang69]

The pictures don't seem like they show a lot of progress, but in person it feels like a lot. Got the inner fenders coated with shark hide and fully installed and was then able to permanently install the radiator. It all went together really well and looks great IMO.
What slowed me down was getting the ground cable hooked up and ground strap hooked to the frame as well as the power wire and wire from starter to starter solenoid. I wanted that done before the inner panels went in and I'm glad I did.