...and then just pull off the hub

After the snap ring is removed, this 3-4 hub and slider assembly is supposed to just slide off.

Nope.

Didn't get very far this weekend before we needed to buy a tool to press this off. Be right back.

Wait is over

The universal joints needed to install the half shafts and connect the differential to the wheels have been unavailable for several months. After a long wait, these are finally installed.

This installation was not a very pleasant task. Doing this with the car on jacks with the body on the frame would be twice as difficult.

Hobby Lobby

The stamp came in for the thermo strip on the fan clutch. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby for a stamp pad. Pretty sure there was no one else in that store to get something for the old car they were working on.

This turned out well and is set aside for later.

Cheater

Next in the queue was the cooling fan and fan clutch. These fan clutches are very expensive to replace and fail often, so it's lucky that the one on this car is in great shape — save for its looks.

The body was media- and then bead-blasted to make it look shiny and new while the five-blade fan was powder-coated gloss black. This is the only thing on the car that was powder-coated, but it seemed like a good place to cheat so this is more durable than it would be under paint.

The only task left is to buy a rubber stamp to replace the "This Side Up" marking on the thermo strip on the front.

Broke as a joke

There was just enough money in the budget to allow for the purchase of a set of keys and springs direct from Paul Cangialosi to build out the transmission sliders and hubs. These sell out like hotcakes, but he was nice enough to help me out and send a set along. What a super nice guy.

After that, the small 1/4-20 bolts that attach all the ignition shielding to the block and heads were electroplated. There is one missing, but reproductions are available.

It might seem silly to worry about saving these, but these have unique markings and are very visible under the hood, so it was important to get these able to be reused.

My father would roll his eyes at saving rusty bolts, but the little things matter in this sort of work. Honestly, this might actually be one of the big things when all is said and done.

Once you see how this goes together on the engine and how showy this set of parts are, you'll see what I mean.

On all four paws

The chassis is on four wheels and tires again.

After spending $2,000 on tires, there wasn't much money left to do anything else on the car but torque some of the suspension now that the frame is no longer up on jack stands.

We'll get a main shaft for the transmission and start putting it together once we finally get out of the poor house.

Don't tell my mother

The fifth and final tire came in today from JEGS to complete the set so it was time to mount it onto the last wheel. It had been a struggle to mount the first four at first, but it had become easier as we went along until it only took a minute or two to seat them to the wheel. That is until this one.

This old center-post Coats tire machine is from 1987, but it's 16 years ahead of its time when it comes to this car from 1971. It has a built-in bead blaster that expands the tire with a powerful blast of air to seal against the beads of the wheel long enought for it to inflate. However, this wasn't working on this tire for one reason or another.

After a long struggle, it was time to bring out the ether and explode it onto the beads and seat the tire. It's not exactly the safest way of doing it, but it became the only way to break the stalemate.

BAM! It's on there now and it looks great.

Once the touchup paint cures to fix where some paint chipped off during installation, this will go onto the car and complete this very expensive but satisfying step and get it on the ground on its wheels.