Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thanks, yeah I know about AlanGrove and also Bill's Hot Rods:

http://www.billshotrodcompany.com/

Since I have the early SBC heads without accessory holes I have to think ahead for brackets that will allow me to someday install an AC compressor as well as a PS pump and of course still run my alternator. So while im looking for brackets for THIS upgrade, I need to know what I'm gonna use for the other and buy pulleys for all of it as well. Any help with this appreciated but I'm definitely not going with a serpentine system due to cost.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

likely you'll keep the PS pump and Alt on the drivers side. mount the A/C compressor on the passenger side. the stock early compressor bracket for a short water pump setup mounts a Sanden type compressor amazingly well. on mine (unfinished) if I put the back of the Sanden mount ear up against the front of the stock bracket that bolts to the water pump bolts the pulley line up good. needs a spacer on the back, looks like the adjuster slide brackets will be easy too.

First pic shows the stock bracket, it's been altered a little to clear the header pipe. the two aluminum spacers make up for the thickness of the stock exhaust manifold, if you're running the stock manifolds you won't need the two spacers or to grind the clearance.

2nd pic shows the stock bracket lining up with front bracket that bolts to the water pump. The through bolt for the bottom/pivot of the Sanden will be just like this.

3rd pic shows how the Sanden pulleys line up with the stock 327 pulleys. More or less perfect.

These brackets and pulleys are not all that hard to find. need the 3 groove crank and 2 groove water pump. Easy money here compared to any other option without going to a long water pump and changing everything.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

this pic shows the where the spacers will be needed on the lower through bolt. the whole compressor is slid forward about 1/2" in the pics. A guy could also run separate front and rear bolts, no spacer at all on the front and only a small one in the back.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

does this mean I'm a thread killer? :)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Murderer! Murderer! Lol

Nah, I've just been uber busy at work, with my elderly mom, two brand new infant granddaughters and an upcoming vacation.

Still have to gather a lot more parts, decide if I'm gonna buy an engine stand, rent a cherry picker, then schedule the steps - that last one is the result of 30+ years in heavy civil construction. If I don't plan it it'll stagnate and not get done quickly.

Oh & PS: I need to do a site search here for pulling the front bodywork clip. I remember reading somewhere it's upper & lower radiator hoses, headlight & other electrical attached to inner fenders then 8 bolts (I think). Then lift it without twisting & tweaking the whole thing.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

two bolts at bottom rear of front fender are often rusted and hard to get out. They're oddball, 7/16 fine thread or something. two bolts each side of the radiator, 2 more top rear of fenders. 2 at bottom rear of inner fenders, there's a rubber bushing gizmo there. wire harness might unplug OK, mine did. hood bolts to firewall, not fenders, you can leave it on.

Why are you pulling the doghouse?

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thanks for the detailed response.

Ive gotta pull the engine to install the IFS crossmember. Engine will come with tranny (TH350) Seems it'd be a hassle to try to work around all the front body work. Besides, that'll let me clean up the engine, paint it properly and put new brass soft plugs in. It'll also expose the firewall so I can patch the brazillion holes in it and paint it.

All this stuff is, "While I'm In There" stuff which frankly has me worried because there's no end to it! Having the whole front of the frame bare and the steering column out will enable me to loosen the cab, jack it up up to replace the rubber isolators which in turn gives me access to the underside of the cab since the tranny will be out to "de-louse" it and paint it, etc etc. See? NO end to it!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

PS: What's the purpose of this "rubber gizmo thing" you mentioned? Where is it? Photo?

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

lower rear of inner fender bolts to a little bracket the sticks out of the firewall, instead of just bolting it directly it has this little rubber bushing, no biggie. it's at the very top of this pic if the site doesn't cut it off. This pic also shows what a horrible mess it to mount a Camaro sub-frame. ;)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

other side showing the horrible mess of the steering column hookup.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

dan
you r goin about it the right way ! wait until you pull that clip off you will be amazed at how many things to fix - change - paint etc, - good luck and post some picts

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

"While I'm in this far," famous last words if ever there were any. :)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Dan, check out the latest November issue of Classic Trucks. There is very good article on the MII install, its on a Ford, but very well done with a lot of info!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thanks JJ, thanks you guys,

I want to do this fairly efficiently and clean. Not literally clean - there'll be plenty of crust once I get everything apart I'm sure. I just want a very clear picture in my head and on a To Do List before I begin. I find that if I understand a job as completely as possible and "do" it in my head, when I actually do it, it goes much smoother. Fewer surprises - that's what I want all the way on this job.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

?? November?? 2013 or 2014? Seems early in August to be talking about 11/14.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

not in the screwy world of magazine dating. That's the date they expect (hope, pray) all the mags to be gone off the newsstands.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yep, November 2014!!!!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Eek! Ok, I'll check. I have a subscription but it gets delivered to a P.O. box, so I'd better go pick it up.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

HMMMmmmmm. Dan is gettin stuff at a PO box. What all kind of stuff you got there, Dan? :)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Get your mind out of the gutter. No, not THAT kind of stuff. Does ANYONE need a PO Box for that anymore?

A couple years ago my 100lb Lab scared the hell outta the mailman and he refused to deliver mail anymore! That mailman's long gone but I haven't applied to have them start delivering it again.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

100lb Lab???

scares me to even think about it. That's a big Lab.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yeah, I used to call him my Shetland Puppy instead of Pony!

I picked up my copy of the Classic Trucks mag JJ mentioned and it's exactly my kit from what I can see in the tiny photos.

Two things I noted.
One is I have a badly cracked and partially heaved floor in my garage that's not going to remotely let me establish a level surface. I'll need to do something to address that before doing the ifs install. I already cut part of the slab for removal/replacement. Thinking I'll do that in Sept when the newly retired wife is in NorCal with our new grand daughter.
Two is they never mention installing the coil springs in the article! I'm gonna check the online version to see the photos better.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

typical magazine article. I'm and engine builder with 35 years of building engines. I'm always amused/dismayed by the stuff they leave out of engine articles. Horrors.

Main thing to remember while reading these articles is that those guys are writers, journalism majors, not mechanics or fabricators. Most of them are lucky to find their butt with both hands in a shop and even if they can their editors see a shop as a nice place to visit for a few minutes on the way to lunch. As long as there's no chance of getting their clothes dirty, that is.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yeah, it already occurred to me to take the sequence, the individual steps with a grain of salt and as a guide only. But its a good general primer and reminded me I have to fix my garage floor (at least minimally) before I start. Everything I can figure out to do to make this job go more smoothly I want to. Finding things in advance means less things to find while I'm in process = GOOD.:lol:

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Ha ha, yup and in his case it wasn't fat in his prime:
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps298d2a7c.jpg

But he's a horse. His name is "Sooner" - he was born in Oklahoma - and my sister-in-law got him free because even though he's pure bred he's not pedigreed. His non pedigreed father jumped a fence and mated with his Champion mother and the result was 12 puppies that were not as valuable as they would have been if she'd been bred as originally planned.

I've had him since he was 9 weeks old and he turned 12 this weekend. It's going to absolutely kill me when he passes which is likely coming fairly soon. He's healthy but now in his old age he has fat tumors on his body, those can turn malignant but even if not a 100lb dog doesn't usually live too long.