Progress on assembling Sprint GT

A few more pics

A few more pics

LS jr:

Cleaning and finishing the suspension components was a combination of done-at-home, and farmed out. The large/complex parts that I couldn't clean up myself were sent out for media blasting and powder coating. That included the differential tubes, disk brake shields, front spring pans, rear reaction arms, and a few other big pieces. The springs were powder coated because you need a very flexible coating for that application.

Smaller parts that could be cleaned up with a wire brush, were just finished with semi-gloss Rustoleum. Another criteria for the paint vs powder decision involved parts requiring a lot of masking (like the spindles) that I didn't trust the blast/coat shop to mask off properly (getting powdercoat off the id of the tapered holes for the tie rods can be a real pain). Of course, it was a LOT cheaper to clean & finish parts myself than to send them out.

I did the red calipers myself - they do look a little "hot dog", but I couldn't resist. I used the media blast cabinet at my bodyshop to clean up the calipers (don't worry - I masked them thoroughly, and air-blasted them upon completion), and then painted them with Eastwood caliper paint.

1750gt:

Yea, this is the fun part. There are also some frustrations. I'm not looking forward to installing the rubber seals around the door, nor the gas tank door boot. Both have been described as *&^%$#. But, yea, after owning it for 7 years, it's nice to see it coming back to life.

I've been making slow, but steady progress in assembling my Sprint GT.

Reached a milestone today, installing the engine. Here's what it looked like:

and the next three photos:

And, no, I didn't get it running by afternoon. In fact, it will be awhile before I start it. Since this was a "down to bare metal" restoration, a LOT of things need to be built/measured/installed before it's ready to go - stuff like the wiring harness as it relates to the engine, all hoses, exhaust system, etc. Since this is a 2L into a stepnose chassis, it isn't as simple as just reusing the old stuff. Plus, I don't work all that fast.

Whoops, I hadn't monitored this thread in awhile - sorry to have missed your questions. Here are some quick replies. Progress is continuing - let me get it a bit further, and then I'll post some updated photos.

alfa2go had asked: "I was wondering what parts were "not so simple" in regards to the 2L upgrade"

Oh, there is nothing that complicated. Adding the hydraulic clutch to the chassis is the hardest part, and that isn't so difficult, once you have located a '69 pedal box. I didn't get any hard lines with my pedal box, so I had to source new ones from Fedhillusa. There are a number of minor modifications, like the length of the studs that connect the intake manifold to the head (if your 2L was Spica, the studs will be too long to accommodate a Weber manifold).

daveydog had asked: "I noticed in your pictures that your windshield wiper mechanism looks either new or refurbished. My '74's linkage has seen better days (the rubber seals have completely hardened and have broken off) and I was wondering if there's a better way than going on ebay to find a replacement."

If there is a better way, I don't know it. My old motor & mechanism was in sad shape, and I bought the one shown from ebay. The one from ebay used snap rings at the pivots, rather than the rubber thingies, so it could be disassembled, painted, and lubricated.

classicalfas had asked: "Take notes on installing the fuel neck boot, I remember it was a real pain getting it out, and not looking forward re-installing the thing at that time. Find some real easy way than post it in detail."

This has been discussed on the BB - I just did what others recommended. In sumary, saw the neck off your tank, remove a 1" section to shorten it, install the tank, and then use a section of rubber hose + 2 clamps to secure the filler to the tank. This has two benefits: 1) makes the tank & boot easy to install, and 2) lowers the filler so the gas nozzle will fit in more securely.

Here are some recent photos of the '66 Sprint GT that I have been assembling. Seems that a lot of progress has been made since the first of the year. I suppose the explanation for that is that a lot of subassemblies were painstakingly restored and put together, so when I got to the tail end of the assembly process a lot of progress seemed to happen quickly.

It is now running, the electrical system works, glass is in, ...

There is still a lot that remains to be done: The upholstery is still only part done - the shop I have been working with is very slow - the seats have been scheduled to be done "next week" for the past several months. Side panels are fabricated in masonite, but I need to have the upholsterer cover them. Carpets are partially complete. My powder coat guy, who is doing the air cleaner, must be related to the uphosterer. Dunno why it should take so long to powder coat a cannister-style cleaner. The air cleaner will be kind of slick - I'll post photos when it's back.

In addition to upholstery there are a lot of mechanical things that will need fiddling with: alignment, ride height, engine tune, ..., and probably some things that I won't know about until I begin putting miles on it.

But, it's getting there!

and, a few more photos.

I can't believe what a "rats nest" the wiring under the dash looks like in the picture below. Actually, I took some pains to make the wiring fairly neat. I took this shot because I wanted to show how I had relocated the fusebox from its original under hood location, to under the dash. I did this to get it away from moisture (as if I'll drive this thing in a lot of rain!) as well as to clean up the underhood area. I also wanted to show how I converted from the pointy-ended fuses to blade-type, which I believe will be FAR more reliable. The sharp eyed among you will notice that I pulled one of the fuses; this is because I don't yet have blades on the WW arms, and don't want to accidently scratch the windshield. By the way, what length blades does a Sprint take - 13" or 15"?

In the bottom picture, I covered up my license plate, just because I've noticed that other people tend to do this. I'm not sure why - obviously when I bring the car to a show, it's license number is open to photographers. Can anyone shed any light on why this is done?