No worries, it's all good. The rack and pinion I posted was the giveaway really. Wasn't a secret or anything. Was just gonna post up pictures of the kit when it got here.
1969 Dart Street/Strip (Re)Build
- Thread starter clinteg
- Start date
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No worries, it's all good. The rack and pinion I posted was the giveaway really. Wasn't a secret or anything. Was just gonna post up pictures of the kit when it got here.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
Holly crap man! My heart skipped a beat when you said steering locked! I can imagine the feeling!
Lots of pics with your suspension swap!
HDK kit arrived yesterday! The kit was packaged extremely well. I cart-wheeled it end over end into my house and nothing was shifting inside that box. It was a bit like Christmas time. Parts wrapped and packed in paper and I was tearing through it like a tazmanian devil! Wife was working late so I took over the living room. Flipped the rug over and started laying all the parts out.
Even the cat was making some use of the parts, scratching and rubbing around on it.
The welds on this kit are really awesome. I'm impressed with the quality through and through. You can tell that there was a lot of thought put into the way the kit is built.
I could stare at this stuff all day. But if I did, I wouldn't get them off to powdercoat! Dropped it all off today and doing it all in gloss black. I tried to come up with some other color combinations, but I just couldn't think of anything that would look as good as black with the rest of my car.
Then there's little things like the small cutouts to merry the parts together that I didn't even see at first. These are very precise!
Working in the aircraft industry makes you expect a certain level of quality in parts and I'm really blown away at the quality of this kit. I hope the powdercoating quality comes out just as good. Any of you that have really followed through this thread will know that I am somehow a magnet to ordering NEW parts and they show up completely defective. Part after part after part. It doesn't seem to ever end. Even the "New high quality" rack and pinion I ordered last week showed up looking like a 5 year old took a hammer and pipe wrench to it. So my hat's off to Denny on making this high quality kit and making me feel completely satisfied about spending the money I did on it.
Even the cat was making some use of the parts, scratching and rubbing around on it.
The welds on this kit are really awesome. I'm impressed with the quality through and through. You can tell that there was a lot of thought put into the way the kit is built.
I could stare at this stuff all day. But if I did, I wouldn't get them off to powdercoat! Dropped it all off today and doing it all in gloss black. I tried to come up with some other color combinations, but I just couldn't think of anything that would look as good as black with the rest of my car.
Then there's little things like the small cutouts to merry the parts together that I didn't even see at first. These are very precise!
Working in the aircraft industry makes you expect a certain level of quality in parts and I'm really blown away at the quality of this kit. I hope the powdercoating quality comes out just as good. Any of you that have really followed through this thread will know that I am somehow a magnet to ordering NEW parts and they show up completely defective. Part after part after part. It doesn't seem to ever end. Even the "New high quality" rack and pinion I ordered last week showed up looking like a 5 year old took a hammer and pipe wrench to it. So my hat's off to Denny on making this high quality kit and making me feel completely satisfied about spending the money I did on it.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
its all down hill from here!
adamm
Well-Known Member
I just got my rack and pinion for my hdk today from speedway. Packaging was fantastic, and free 2 day shipping. Youll be pleased.
Awesome build thread, love it all.
I'd love to say that the speedway unit was perfect but even this rack and pinion had an issue. This was by far the nicest of the three but they didn't get their coating in the pockets near the mounts! So now here I am debating whether to send this back as well. I called them up and they checked inventory. All were that way so they knocked some money off and I kept it. Won't see it when installed anyhow and I can live with it. Still not up to my standards though.
Only thing you've missed is all the headache I've been going through! Took this powdercoating company 2 weeks to get my parts done! I didn't even look at them when I picked them up because I had already been sending them emails regarding how irritated I was and how they were jacking me around changing the price and time frame in which they'd be done. $300 later this is what I got. The spindles were sprayed so thick the coating actually was running off the parts!!! Other parts had fish eyes, pin holes, and every part was contaminated with silver or white powdercoating because they didn't clean their lines good! Worst job ever. I took them back and I was pissed. Their operations manager had to get involved and we went over everything and he went back through the email chain I had over the last couple weeks. I think he was somewhat embarrased that the parts went out like that. He wanted to chemically strip every part and have his "go to" first shift painter do the job this time. Who did I get then? The drunk 3rd shift guy who'd never done it before??? So anyhow, here I am still waiting because I can't seem to stop getting screwed by over and over and over, no matter what I do.
And don't forget the brand new Flaming River 16:1 steering box! Local guy just got a '67 Formula S Barracuda that will need these parts so I may sell the whole thing to him if he wants it. But yes it sucks to toss all those new parts for probably half what I paid for them.
More powdercoating woes. They seem to have a bad batch of powder that is contaminated. They're stripping parts again and going to try a new batch. 3rd time is a charm?
I also cannot use the Kevco pan that I have with the R&P due to the way it's designed. Going to look at some other Kevco pans and see what I can throw in it.
I also cannot use the Kevco pan that I have with the R&P due to the way it's designed. Going to look at some other Kevco pans and see what I can throw in it.
Contaminated by what??? If they're sweeping up used powder to reclaim it or not cleaning the equipment properly, it would be a good idea to shop around some. It seems they might be practicing on your parts.
6pkScamp
Well-Known Member
None of the characters in my area are worth a crap. I've been doin my own. Limited to the size of the oven
Who knows. They've sprayed the parts twice with the same results with some white particulate throughout the coating. I'm about to the end of my rope.
The saga continues. So the third and final time the company coated the parts, they still F'd up. Everything looked good until a liquid of some sort began bleeding out from the end of the K frame and stripping the powdercoat off. I ended up getting a bunch of money back and I left it as it was. Took it home, hung it to allow anything else to drain, cleaned it up and painted the end with Roll Bar and Chassis paint. Really terrible quality control in that place. Live and learn, move on.
Since I had previously repaired the shock tower support and frame, I needed to grind any welds flat. This was the passenger side. Luckily I didn't cover the hole!
Back on the driver's side I started installing the bushing through the shock mount hole. I used the bolt to get it in place. This was NOT necessary. All you need to do is tap it with rubber mallet from the top side. Goes in easy.
Back on the driver's side I started installing the bushing through the shock mount hole. I used the bolt to get it in place. This was NOT necessary. All you need to do is tap it with rubber mallet from the top side. Goes in easy.
Notice the shock tower hole does not align with the hole in the HDK corner fitting. Because of this mismatch, you cannot get the bushing in without loosening the upper bolt. Loosen the upper bolt, push the bushing through the corner fitting and the shock tower support, then tighten the upper bolt.
With the bushing in place and upper bolt tightened, drill a 1/2" hole through the bushing and inner fender.
I tried both starting the hole with the 1/2" bit, drilled all the way through with a smaller bit and then stepped it up, and I drilled the other side with the 1/2" in one shot. Would probably just do the latter next time.
After drilling the hole, I installed the bolt through the stack-up and tightened. Here's where I wasn't too pleased. The bolt sucked my fender in and cracked the paint. A longer bushing would have prevented this. It's definitely no worse than the damage the valve cover breather did when it fell off and locked up my steering and really damaged the paint. But hey, it's no trailer queen show car. Paint's not anywhere near perfect anyway.
With the bushing in place and upper bolt tightened, drill a 1/2" hole through the bushing and inner fender.
I tried both starting the hole with the 1/2" bit, drilled all the way through with a smaller bit and then stepped it up, and I drilled the other side with the 1/2" in one shot. Would probably just do the latter next time.
After drilling the hole, I installed the bolt through the stack-up and tightened. Here's where I wasn't too pleased. The bolt sucked my fender in and cracked the paint. A longer bushing would have prevented this. It's definitely no worse than the damage the valve cover breather did when it fell off and locked up my steering and really damaged the paint. But hey, it's no trailer queen show car. Paint's not anywhere near perfect anyway.
On to the hoop. To get it to lay flush to the frame, had to grind a bit as shown.
After bolting the hoop to the corner fitting, this kicked the bottom of the hoop outward. You could suck the hoop down to the frame and cause unnecessary preloading into the upper hoop bolts in the corner fitting if you want, but I couldn't live with that. To make the geometry right, a tapered shim needs to be installed between the hoop and corner fitting.
Tapered shim about .030 tapered to .010 fixed the geometry and the hoop now sits flush with no preload. The passenger side is twice as bad and it has a tapered gap in 2 different directions. No pictures of that yet.
Now it's better
Ready to drill the frame for the hoop bar. **Important note: install BOTH upper bolts in the hoop BEFORE you drill the lower hoop holes through the frame. I only had one bolt in place which allowed the hoop to twist or clock enough to where I almost could not get one of the bolts into place because of the misalignment.
I started the frame with a drill start, pulled the hoop out, then drilled all the way through with a 3/8 bit. I then drilled the OUTER HOLES ONLY to 1/2".
Close call!
1/2" bit
Here's the sleeve that installs through the frame to keep it from crushing. On the rear sleeve, take note that the frame is not as thick as it is where the front sleeve installs. You can easily lose this sleeve inside the frame rail and you'll be cussing and fishing it out of there just like I was!
After bolting the hoop to the corner fitting, this kicked the bottom of the hoop outward. You could suck the hoop down to the frame and cause unnecessary preloading into the upper hoop bolts in the corner fitting if you want, but I couldn't live with that. To make the geometry right, a tapered shim needs to be installed between the hoop and corner fitting.
Tapered shim about .030 tapered to .010 fixed the geometry and the hoop now sits flush with no preload. The passenger side is twice as bad and it has a tapered gap in 2 different directions. No pictures of that yet.
Now it's better
Ready to drill the frame for the hoop bar. **Important note: install BOTH upper bolts in the hoop BEFORE you drill the lower hoop holes through the frame. I only had one bolt in place which allowed the hoop to twist or clock enough to where I almost could not get one of the bolts into place because of the misalignment.
I started the frame with a drill start, pulled the hoop out, then drilled all the way through with a 3/8 bit. I then drilled the OUTER HOLES ONLY to 1/2".
Close call!
1/2" bit
Here's the sleeve that installs through the frame to keep it from crushing. On the rear sleeve, take note that the frame is not as thick as it is where the front sleeve installs. You can easily lose this sleeve inside the frame rail and you'll be cussing and fishing it out of there just like I was!
Passenger side now. As you can see and as shown earlier, this is the side that I had to add plate to the shock support due to rust issues at the base and in the frame. This did cause me some headache.
Notice how short this bolt is? I could not get this started any way I tried. With the extra thickness of plate (only .125 thick so I don't know why this caused such a problem), this was part of the issue. So knowing the fender is going to cave in when I tighten the bolt down, I took the corner fitting back out and installed the bolt through the shock support tower and the fender and let the fender cave in. Pulled the bolt out, put the fitting back in, and luckily it was enough to get me a thread or two to get the nut started.
I sure hope that all these little speed bumps help someone else in the future when installing their kit. It's GUARANTEED I'll find every single problem there is to be found so you'll have no surprises like I've been having! I now have about 5 hours of work into this and only have one hoop on. None of the suspension components are even assembled yet. So much for a single day job! I apparently do not have the talent to work at such a pace as others do.
Notice how short this bolt is? I could not get this started any way I tried. With the extra thickness of plate (only .125 thick so I don't know why this caused such a problem), this was part of the issue. So knowing the fender is going to cave in when I tighten the bolt down, I took the corner fitting back out and installed the bolt through the shock support tower and the fender and let the fender cave in. Pulled the bolt out, put the fitting back in, and luckily it was enough to get me a thread or two to get the nut started.
I sure hope that all these little speed bumps help someone else in the future when installing their kit. It's GUARANTEED I'll find every single problem there is to be found so you'll have no surprises like I've been having! I now have about 5 hours of work into this and only have one hoop on. None of the suspension components are even assembled yet. So much for a single day job! I apparently do not have the talent to work at such a pace as others do.
I ordered a new Kevko rear sump oil pan since my existing M301 pan will not work with the R&P. The pan is actually made for a truck and I don't know if my headers will clear the dipstick fitting. If not, I'll cut it out and move it so it does clear. Also got a Lokar locking dipstick to go with it.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
Passenger side now. As you can see and as shown earlier, this is the side that I had to add plate to the shock support due to rust issues at the base and in the frame. This did cause me some headache.
Notice how short this bolt is? I could not get this started any way I tried. With the extra thickness of plate (only .125 thick so I don't know why this caused such a problem), this was part of the issue. So knowing the fender is going to cave in when I tighten the bolt down, I took the corner fitting back out and installed the bolt through the shock support tower and the fender and let the fender cave in. Pulled the bolt out, put the fitting back in, and luckily it was enough to get me a thread or two to get the nut started.
I sure hope that all these little speed bumps help someone else in the future when installing their kit. It's GUARANTEED I'll find every single problem there is to be found so you'll have no surprises like I've been having! I now have about 5 hours of work into this and only have one hoop on. None of the suspension components are even assembled yet. So much for a single day job! I apparently do not have the talent to work at such a pace as others do.
i did a dry fit on mine before powder coat. then when it was all painted it was just a simple final assembly. your doing a great job and my inner fender did crush a bit too. it was only about 3/16" but it did move.
True I'm doing this a little differently than most by powdercoating first. It just made sense after taking with you to go ahead and try it in one shot so the mock up is the same step as install. Just seems like it's going slower than it should.
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