Elandan frame-off renovation

[GlennLever]

I know American vehicles are big over there. I sold a Pontiac Ram Air III to someone over there and they paid the shipping.

I've seen many car show pictures of restored big American cars.

An avenue you might consider is finding a machine shop that carters to these vehicles and have them rebuild the engine and trans?

Also sold this



http://www.lever-family-racing.com/l...ss-el-camino-2
to Rob Baarsma Spijkerboor The Netherlands

It had a nice little 454 in it built to LS-6 specs

[DeOrellana]

Originally Posted by GlennLever

I know American vehicles are big over there. I sold a Pontiac Ram Air III to someone over there and they paid the shipping.

I've seen many car show pictures of restored big American cars.

An avenue you might consider is finding a machine shop that carters to these vehicles and have them rebuild the engine and trans?

Also sold this



1970 SS El Camino | Lever Family Racing
to Rob Baarsma Spijkerboor The Netherlands

It had a nice little 454 in it built to LS-6 specs

You are absolutely right. Older American cars are huge here. I saw somewhere that there are more 50's and 60's American cars in good condition in Sweden than in the U.S. If you go out in Stockholm on a Friday or Saturday summer night, or almost any small town really, you'll see people cruising in vintage American iron. Myself, on sunny days I ride around in a '76 Caddy Eldorado convertible rat rod.

That El Camino is a sweet looking machine!

Just rebuilding the 454 is an option of course. I've always loved the sound the Elandon makes when you start it up. Dual pipes with minimal mufflers.
I have a local machine shop that can machine anything as long as I get the internals for it. Newer big block motors are hard to come by, though. Most people go for the small blocks or older big blocks.

I don't think the trans needs a rebuild. The TH475 is a stout unit. It's just missing a gear or two for my taste. I would really like to have an overdrive transmission to keep the revs and noise down while driving. I've thought about an overdrive unit, but I would prefer to keep my gears in the transmission - one less thing to worry about, and a neater install.

[DeOrellana]

BTW Glenn, I looked at the build pictures of the El Camino. Nice job! Very impressive build!

[Gordon Dewald]

Impressive undertaking. Will subscribe and look forward to news of the progress.

[DeOrellana]

This weekend was spent doing one of those things nobody ever talks about when doing a renovation. Taking all of the bits that you've removed and putting them in labeled boxes and putting the boxes away in storage. Most of the larger pieces have also been put away for long term storage.

It doesn't generate fun pictures or makes you feel like you've made any progress, but it is an essential part of the project. It's not anything you show your friends that makes them go "Wow!" Some of them if you show them will even think you might be a bit strange.

But when the time comes to put your project vehicle back together, it's nice to pull out the box labeled "weather seals" and quickly be able to find the seals that you are after. All of the screws in small plastic bags attached to the parts that they belong to also help.

Anyways, as I was saying, no progress in the traditional sense to report, no pictures to show for all that work. Just stuff in boxes ready to be hauled to the second story of the shop. And more stuff to pack up. And a sore body.

[Keen Family]

Climbing a mountain is just one foot in front of the other. As long as you don't give up, you'll get there in the end.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by DeOrellana

This weekend was spent doing one of those things nobody ever talks about when doing a renovation. Taking all of the bits that you've removed and putting them in labeled boxes and putting the boxes away in storage. Most of the larger pieces have also been put away for long term storage.

It doesn't generate fun pictures or makes you feel like you've made any progress, but it is an essential part of the project. It's not anything you show your friends that makes them go "Wow!" Some of them if you show them will even think you might be a bit strange.

But when the time comes to put your project vehicle back together, it's nice to pull out the box labeled "weather seals" and quickly be able to find the seals that you are after. All of the screws in small plastic bags attached to the parts that they belong to also help.

Anyways, as I was saying, no progress in the traditional sense to report, no pictures to show for all that work. Just stuff in boxes ready to be hauled to the second story of the shop. And more stuff to pack up. And a sore body.

An extremely important step.

Also never throw anything out until the project is done.

[DeOrellana]

Originally Posted by GlennLever

An extremely important step.

Also never throw anything out until the project is done.

Very good advice on any project!

Although I did haul off my old non-functional refrigerator to the recycling center along with bags of old caulking, wallpaper and other such bits. But I am keeping the giant pile of scrap metal that I know I will not reuse for reference when I rebuild it.

[bap]

so,so soo true,,--one of the things that i wishi had learned real quick was to organise all of the parts,,..and not to toss anything away except stuff like the old caulking..lol


you sir have a great project going on--thank you for posting..


jeff..

[Gordon Dewald]

Check out some of Jeff and Debbie's restorations on the GooooodMorning thread. They bring new life to rigs other folks would throw away.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by DeOrellana

Very good advice on any project!

Although I did haul off my old non-functional refrigerator to the recycling center along with bags of old caulking, wallpaper and other such bits. But I am keeping the giant pile of scrap metal that I know I will not reuse for reference when I rebuild it.

That old scrap metal makes great patterns for new metal.

[Daveinet]

While there may be legit reason to get rid of an old RV fridge, failed functionality is not one of them. Replacement cooling units are pretty easy to install.

[DeOrellana]

Originally Posted by Daveinet

While there may be legit reason to get rid of an old RV fridge, failed functionality is not one of them. Replacement cooling units are pretty easy to install.

The old unit was in overall pretty bad shape with a few broken bits here and there, plus it was a 110v fridge. I will be getting a 230v fridge that works with the European standard electricity. All the old 110v stuff will be gotten rid of in favor of 230v replacements.

I tried running the fridge and A/C units on a converter, but I suspect the difference in frequency in the AC power didn't quite agree with them.

[slowmachine]

Originally Posted by DeOrellana

The old unit was in overall pretty bad shape with a few broken bits here and there, plus it was a 110v fridge. I will be getting a 230v fridge that works with the European standard electricity. All the old 110v stuff will be gotten rid of in favor of 230v replacements.



I tried running the fridge and A/C units on a converter, but I suspect the difference in frequency in the AC power didn't quite agree with them.

Have you considered a 12v refrigerator?


Mike
2000 HR Endeavor 40PBD
Freghtliner XC, CAT 3126B