Hardware store

The very distinctive bolts and serrated washers that hold the front crossmember to the frame and support the radiator support were restored. There quite a lot of hardware that has been restored and is waiting for installation.

The three pieces of the crossmember will be sandblasted and primed once it stops raining and the sand dries out.

Ram it

This weekend's project was to restore the power steering ram. A deluxe kit from Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes (a truly amazing company) was ordered in and the ram was disassembled.

The chrome rod was protected along with the hydraulic fittings and the whole unit was media-blasted.

A few nicks were corrected and the cylinder was primed and painted. Once the paint cures, this will be assembled with new seals and put onto the frame.

Springtime

The rear spring pack is finally in.

The bolts can't be torqued until the full weight of the car is on the rear suspension, but they are snugged up enough to keep the spring pack in place.

Clamped

The fuel feed and return lines are installed now that the correct clamps came in today.

These fuel lines made by SS Tubes come pre-bent and are prepared for restoration use. They are very expensive; so much so, that it was really disappointing to have to do as much work as was needed to get them to follow the frame as they were supposed to.

Far from a quick install, these required a lot of tweaking to get them in. There are a few spots where they don't fit very well and the feed line is about two inches too long.

Disappointing to say the least.

That said, they are in and with some work they look really good. The Corvette America clamps and the restored bolts made the difference.

Rags to riches

The steering coupling - commonly called the rag joint - gives a little relief from road vibrations to the steering column and the driver by using a disc of rubber.

This is the original save for a few cheap rebuild pieces.

The parts were media blasted and Parkerized as the were originally. This will be reassembled with a few new parts once they come in.

It should look really nice when it is put together.

Still not great

This set of GM-licensed spring liners fits a little better than the last set, but these still aren't great.

Not sure why it's such a challenge to make these fit stock springs that are 2 1/4-inches wide, but no vendor seems to be able to do it.

That said, the spring pack is all together again and ready to go back into the car.

While we wait

The clips that were purchased for the fuel lines are not usable, so while we wait for the real ones to arrive, U-joint straps were refinished while the ones that could not be restored were replaced with new.

The tie rod tubes, as they are called, were sandblasted and painted with flat iron paint while the clamps for the tie rod ends were Parkerized along with the bolts that cinch them tight.

The very distinctive nuts that go onto the bolts were electroplated.

A new set of restoration-quality tie rod ends will be purchased soon so this will be ready to reassemble. An idler arm will need to be purchased as well.

The steering gear was refinished this week, but the hardware on the top cover was removed, refinished and then reinstalled.

It looks great.

The rag joint, power steering ram and valve are next on the list.