Am still in Beijing, but thanks to the wonders of the internet I have a the 67mm version of the Filter King filter/regulator on the way to Alaska from a vendor in the UK called "Rallynuts". Will probably beat me home. Order filled promptly and UPS tracking info provided. This smaller unit (compared to the 85mm version I have) should fit behind the 4 cam shroud. I also purchased some spare diaphrams, seals, filters and the glass filter bowl. Many thanks to Nigel Cousins in the UK and Brad Ripley for aiming me in the right direction.

Zero 356s sited in Beijing, but lots of new high end 911s.

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Got back from China last Sunday and am just now getting over jet lag. Unusual for Beijing, we had clear skies for about half the trip (most of the time the air pollution looks like lite fog...)

Today was my day to pay my friend Ralfy back for all the help he has given me. We had his friend Jerry's 62 notch over to soda/crushed glass blast the bottom, front trunk, engine compartment and interior. Took about 10 hours and came out pretty good. There is a local blasting service that has a trailer mounted unit that comes to you.


While the notch was getting blasted I went to work on the Filter King 67 mm fuel regulator/filter that arrived while I was away.


To get the filter/regulator unit to fit I had to relocate the mount bracket that I previously welded to the firewall in the stock location and make a new mount bracket to attach to the filter/regulator that is similar to the factory one. I also had to drill some mount holes thru the firwall for the breather can to mount to, and install some weld nuts on the interior side.


Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Over the weekend I finished up painting the firewall and installing the breather box and the fuel pressure regulator/filter. Both fit nicely behind the 4 cam shroud and I did not have to move the regulator/filter to the left of the left hinge as I thought I might. The smaller 67mm Filter King unit made the difference.

Next up was to install the S shaped parking brake actuating lever and the steering dampener - both attach to the front torsion bar tube and could not be installed while the car was on the roll over frame. It was a bit of a PITA, but I finally got it done.


Before installing the lower hood latch and making any adjustments I thought I better install the emergency opening cord.


Next up was to reinstall the front bumper. For now I removed the over riders and bar. Later the bumper will get a GT deco strip. Of course there was a problem. The weld nut on the inner bumper bracket mount on each side had come loose and the prior owner had turned them over and poked the snout of the weld nut thru the hole. Lord knows how he tightened the bolt - actually they were loose. Repair was fairly easy - sequence shown below.





Tomorrow's task is to remove the horns mounted in the carrera location in order to access the front two bumper mount bolt locations (it is always something) so I can mount the front bumper. Fog and driving lights will also get installed. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Got both bumpers back on the car, minus the bumper over riders and bars. Will save those for a future custodian who may wish to return the car to a more stock configuration.


While I was cleaning and painting the rear torsion bar tube where the roll over frame was mounted I decided to install the starter. A while back I purchased one of the "Hi-Torque" starters - the 12 volt model with the 6V gear - model IMI 105. It fit without any mods to either starter or car, however the terminal that the battery cable mounts to is on the top, making it somewhat difficult to tighten the nut.


Going over to Gary Tone's tomorrow to do some machine work on the wheel spacers and fog light mounts. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Went over to Gary's house to day to use his mill. I needed to modify the fog light brackets I purchased at the LA Lit meet last year. There were several issues - the hole the light base fits in was too small, the clamps were not cut quite wide enough to fit over the double bumper irons and there was not enough room to turn the nut that secures the lamp to the bracket.


While I was at it I did a trial fit of the headlight grills. Tony Smetona makes a few sets every once in a while and I was lucky enough to get these about 18 months ago. Very nice quality.


Next tasks are to install the head light grills and paint the rear torsion bar where the roll over frame was. Thanks for following along.

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Bill
WOW! The attention to detail is amazing. Thanks for documenting the build, it's great to follow.

_________________

Took the afternoon off today and worked on final cleaning of the oil tank and installation of the headlight grills. The oil tank is a reproduction, one of 5 that Tom Tate had made several years ago. I used phosphoric acid to clean the inside of the tank and then used the zinc phosphate conversion fluid to leave a nice no rust phosphate coating inside the tank.


While the oil tank was soaking, I worked on the headlight grills. I had previously installed headlight grills on my 64 cab so it went a bit quicker this time. The grills supplied by Tony Smetona fit very well. All in it took about 3 hours to install both grills.





Tomorrow the oil tank and the hood straps get installed. Then off to dinner with friends for the 4th of July. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Looking great Bill, thanks for sharing!

_________________

Got a little more done over the last 2 evenings. Once the oil tank was cleaned I put a quart of oil in it, plugged all the holes and sloshed it around to coat the inside of the tank. Then emptied out the excess. Should protect the inside of the tank until the motor is installed and the tank placed in service. The actual tank installation went pretty easy.



on the morning of the 4th I went back over to Gary Tone's and spent about a half an hour on his mill and cut down the rear wheel spacers from 20mm thick to 15 mm thick. This was the cheap remedy to the paper thin tire/fender clearance. The expensive remedy would have been selling the 185 tires and getting 165 tires.


And so the answer to a question I posed on the main forum several months ago (will 185/70 x 15 tires on stock 4.5" rims with 20mm spacers fit under the rear fenders of an A) is NO. But they will fit with 15mm spacers.

This evening I got the hood straps installed. The first choice was where on the hood to place them. I had two examples to go by:


After trial fitting the straps in both positions I liked the version on the "back in the day" photo, but found that this placed the mounting screws where they would have to go thru the internal hood frame. Thus the position on Ed's car was the only one I found feasible as it places the top of the straps just above the internal frame. It does raise a question though as to just how the straps were mounted on the car in the old photo! In any event after much measuring, mounting with tape and standing back to look I started drilling.....and everything fit fine!


Tomorrow I hope to complete the install of the above tunnel shift set up I purchased about 18 months ago from the late Ken Dougherty. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Worked on fitting and installing the above tunnel shift kit today. Apparently Ken Dougherty copied it from the original one in Ray Knight's Sauter roadster. Fairly simple affair - raises the shift lever base to be in line with the shift hockey stick coming out of the transmission nose. Uses a coupler and an Empi adjuster to allow fore/aft and rotation.



I only had one problem in setting things up. I could get in to all 4 forward gears, but not into reverse. I finally figured out that the cup on the shift rod was too high on one side and was not letting the shift lever move far enough to get to the reverse gate. Solution was a carbide burr on the die grinder. Made several cut and fit cycles to be sure not to take off too much.

This fixed the problem and once everything was re-fitted all the gears could be engaged. The next step was to weld the threaded part of the Empi adjuster to the shift rod.


All that is left is to bead blast the parts and paint them the same beige color as the steering shaft before doing the final installation. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Today was spent doing a lot of small tasks that had to get done some time. First up was the nasty task of cleaning the old adhesive and junk off the alloy cover that goes over the front part of the tunnel and off the shift linkage cover. The above tunnel shift tower is wider than the hole in the alloy tunnel cover, so it needs to go on first.



I also got part way thru the final installation of the shift linkage.

Once the tunnel cover was in, the pedal boards were installed. I had the originals, but they were broken and missing pieces in places, water damaged and warped. The new set from Sierra Madre was OK, but not great. I had to trim them in a few places to match the holes and size of the originals. If you need concours quality look elsewhere. I also removed the snap fittings from the original boards and used pop rivets to install them on the new pedal boards.


Last task for today was to install the engine lid. Went pretty easy and fit is great.


Tomorrow's tasks are to finish installing the shift linkage and to install the seats. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Today was a short but fun day making the car look more like a car. I got the speedster seats installed with zero problems. Seats and GT seat bases came from Russ at Fibersteel and, unlike some things you buy that did not originally come on your car, these fit perfectly the first time. Kudos to Russ & Fibersteel.


After the seats were in, I could install the rest of the shift system. Since it had been pre fitted and tested it went back together without problems - and I can get into all gears!


After the shift system was in, I installed the rear tan mats from International Merchantile (Terry did a small run last year) and the Coco Mats.


Since I was on a roll and things had gone quickly I decided to see if I could install the soft top. Car is starting to really look like a car again!

All that is between me and the road is a motor, putting in all the various fluids and grease, adjusting linkages and getting the car aligned. I plan to put my spare 12V generator on the 1960 super motor that I took out of the car last year and drive with that while the faux cam motor is being built. I will also have to fit the Sebring exhaust and replace the leaking rear main seal (the leak that started this whole restoration saga ). I hope to be driving and getting things sorted in a couple of weeks. Building the faux cam motor will happen in parallel. Thanks for following along!

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Beautiful, Bill! It's been sunny and 80 degrees down here in Seattle. Finish that Faux Cam and bring her on down.

By the way, if you're around, the Bullsession is at Denny Aker's place on 15 July and the weather is supposed to be nice.

Cheers

_________________

Hi Nick,

I think getting a motor in the Faux Cam by this weekend would be a stretch too far, but my 64 cab is at Brad Green's place in Seattle. Only two problems - last minute ticket prices to Seattle and lack of time to get everything done here in Alaska - think I will have to give it a miss. But I am thinking of driving the Faux Cam down to Seattle in September. Any events in the first half of September?

_________________
Regards,

Bill Sargent
#151489 59A Cab - the Faux Cam
#159176 64C Cab

Bill, its really looking great! You have so many cool parts for this car! I love the shift tower and the direct hook-up to the trans eliminating the drop linkage. Very cool!!!
Justin

_________________