Tufcj's 66 Rogue Project

tufcj

Kinda slow here. I bought a 66 Rogue back in October. It had been wrecked in the driver front corner some time in it's life. The sheet metal had been replaced but the inside structure had been very poorly repaired. Cowl was bent from the hood hitting it in the accident. We're working on bringing it back.

Plan is an "A" scheme SC/Rambler clone with lots of mods. I already have a full front and rear Control Freak suspension waiting. EFI 390 (dual throttle bodies on an Offy dual quad manifold). Ford 8.8 and 4 wheel discs. 17" tires and wheels. I'm hoping to have the money for a Keisler RS600 trans.

Here it is coming home. Bought it as a roller, no engine or trans. Was a factory 290/4speed car, had a 390/5 speed in before I got it .

Frame had a buckle just behind the sway bar mount, inner fender was hammered out, but still about 1" short, core support was just barely welded on.

On the frame machine. Core support removed.

Found a 69 in a junkyard. Been there since 81. Core was straight with just some surface rust.

Bad parts gone.

Test fit of replacement parts. Hope to start welding things back on next weekend.

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

2/20/12 Haven't had time to work on it for a month. Family in town, snow storm, sickness.

Got the cowl and core support set and tacked. Cross measurement says we're within 1/16" of true in all directions. As good or better than factory.

A dry fit of the front clip. Looks like a car again.

Once we finish welding, I'm going to put in a 69 tail light panel, then strip it to prepare for media blast.

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

2/26/12 Got the Rogue off the frame rack. Just some final welding and grinding to do. We found that the "weld through" primer was a problem on thin metal. When we would crank up the heat enough to "weld through" it would melt through too. We had to re-drill all the holes to get a clean spot on the back panel.

The cowl:

The core support and inner fenders:

Now on to removing the tail panel:

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

3/4/12. Got the tail panel out today. Didn't get more done because the compressor at Jim's shop broke.

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

3/10/12. Got the engine back from the machine shop. The block is a 68/69 390 I've had in the shed for close to 10 years, it was bored but never finish honed. Crank and rods were originally from my AMX (that block was really messed up when I got the AMX). Pistons are OEM .030 cast. Heads are 291C's that I traded for some 090's.

The red in the valleys and on the heads is a product called "Glyptal", basically a red high temp enamel paint. It's supposed to make the oil pass back to the pan faster. The block already was drilled for the valley line, so I'll use it. It also got main studs, but I didn't take pics.

Heads are 291C, they shaved .005" to assure they are flat, 3 angle valve job, hardened seats, positive seals, new guides. Guides have been cut for lift of up to .550". Valves are factory, springs and retainers are Crower. Studs are ARP SBC. I'll be using Crane roller rockers.

Crank had to be turned .020/.020. Rods were resized with ARP bolts. See how little was drilled from the harmonic and flywheel to balance it.

I'll have this manifold powder coated before installation. Two 400 CFM throttle bodies going on it.

Bob
tufcj

pwborst

probably a silly question but I build Boats not Cars,

what is the make and model of the red handeled vise-grip style clamp in the top picture. the straight handle one. they would be super handy. A good source to purchase them would also be appreciated.

Thanks

Borst

tufcj;131659 wrote
2/26/12 Got the Rogue off the frame rack. Just some final welding and grinding to do. We found that the "weld through" primer was a problem on thin metal. When we would crank up the heat enough to "weld through" it would melt through too. We had to re-drill all the holes to get a clean spot on the back panel.

The cowl:

The core support and inner fenders:

Now on to removing the tail panel:

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

I'll check on the clamps. Probably Snap-On, most everything Jim has is from Snap-On.

3/17/12. Didn't get to do any body work, so I did some assembly on the engine. Installed crank, cam, pistons, and heads. This was all done with parts I had on the shelf. Only thing I paid for was machine work, main and rod bearings, and timing set.

With the manifold and one shorty header mounted.

Bob
tufcj

Blown7

What a neat project ..Thanks for sharing.

tufcj

Brought her home a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time to work on her till this weekend. Test fit the front clip. Got the 67-69 tail panel in, the back glass and the rest of the interior and carpet out. pretty clean floorboards for a 46 year old car.

Bob
tufcj

tufcj

4-29-12. After a couple of months of sitting due to work and some health issues, I got back at it. The glass is all out, all fuel and brake lines out. Just a little touch up on the welds, and it's off to media blast.

I am going to have to replace the passenger side floorboard, and do some work to the trans tunnel. The tunnel was cut to install a T-5. Someone had filled the rusty areas of the passenger floor with what looked like an epoxy filler, which peeled back while I was removing the old sound deadener.

The factory undercoat was falling off the inside of the passenger door, must have been 1/2" thick on the door, probably 2" thick in a pile on the bottom. Must have rattled terribly going down the road.

I am surprised that I found 4 compression fittings used in the brake lines. I was taught this was a no-no early on, living in the rust belt.

I also found someone had used a shop rag as a wind block around the brake rod. We must have burned it during the cowl install.

Hopefully have it in media blast in the next couple of weeks. Lots of pics during the body work.

Bob
tufcj

jeepsr4ever

Its a journey fir sure Bob! Cant wait to see more progress!

tufcj

7/27/12 Been a while. Got the Rogue back from media blast today.

Tore the front suspension out and built some rollers.

Removed the brace from the firewall before media blast. The 66 brace is on the right, the bigger 69 brace on the left will be spot welded in.

Back home without paint.

Not too many surprises, it has the standard rust in front of the rear wheels.

The one surprise was the drivers front fender that I thought was good. It had heavy undercoat on the back, and must have had filler on top. I think I can still save it.

Old repairs in the driver door.

Dent in the roof.

Trunk lid will need some attention. Old repairs here too.

Trunk floor had some hidden rust too. Probably cut that out and use an early Mustang tank.

Bonus.. The repro scoop showed up today. Excellent piece.

Now..... Down to the body work.

Bob
tufcj

jeepsr4ever

Its amazing what shows up after blasting. Where did you bring the body and how much if I may ask did they charge you to blast it?

tufcj

I took it to a local place called Blast-Tech. They did everything forward of the firewall, front fenders inside and out, hood and trunk lid inside and out, and inside the trunk, along with the hood hinges and a few misc pieces. Used plastic media to remove the paint from the body, then something more abrasive just in the areas that had old filler. The whole deal cost me $1100. I think it's the only way to do a car right. The old paint was some sort of single stage stuff (maybe Imron) that was put on 12-15 years ago, I didn't want to go over it, and I didn't know what was under it. This way, I start fresh. Bob tufcj

tufcj

9/30/12. Been a while but I'm slowly working on it. Over the last couple of weekends, I've taken the factory AMC20 out (3.15/open) and tacked in the Control Freak 4 link brackets.

Undercoat cleaned off where the new brackets will be.

First test fit of the Control Freak bracket.

A couple of shots of the control arm and coilover bracket tacked in place.

The narrowed Ford 8.8 with the brackets welded on. Didn't have time to take shots during the test fit and tacking of the brackets.

The shortened left tube. This axle will be 56 5/8" WMS/WMS. The stock axle is 56"

Bob
tufcj

moparmusclecars

any updates?