FF, I'll have her give you a call unless she sees this before I see her tomorrow. We are heading down to finish pulling the front suspension tomorrow. I also have some photos to post of her doing the class with her young women's group.
I'll get some of the suspension pull tomorrow as well. We went down to the Auburn auction last weekend. Kathryn saw some nice toys that she would like....but alas, no money...lol! She is a big block girl. As soon as they fire up she is entranced...lol!
After 3 hours of frustration last evening the upper and lower control arms on the passenger side of Kathryn's fiero are now off.
Anyone know of a good source for new control arm bolts?
For those that have never removed these before a few words of advice: PB-Blaster does not work Breaking bar and extender does not work Beating on it with a mallet does not work Heating it does not work
Cutting the Bolts with OxyAcetylene and THEN beating on it with a mallet does work, but does leave you with the requirement for new bolts....lol!
Oh and the horns and brackets are off and ready to be cleaned up and repainted.
Originally posted by michhiker28: For those that have never removed these before a few words of advice: PB-Blaster does not work Breaking bar and extender does not work Beating on it with a mallet does not work Heating it does not work
Cutting the Bolts with OxyAcetylene and THEN beating on it with a mallet does work, but does leave you with the requirement for new bolts....lol!
Removing CA ant other bushing bolts are easy in rubber bushings. (Polly doesn't have seems in inner sleeve) I been doing this even in Upstate NY... See my Cave, bushings
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
10 days since last update The fans await information Did the cutoff bolts rejoin and formed an evil alliance? Has the Bmblbee Garage turned Katherine the wonder girl into some sort of mad scientist? Has Super Dad succumbed to the Bmblbee? Where does the Corvette now stand?
These and other questions to be answered in the future... But for now
BUMP
[This message has been edited by Wild Horse (edited 09-23-2012).]
Hi The little Misses grandfather. I dont post often but watch alot. I want you to know how much she enjoys your help and support and encouragement. She is truly quite amazing and dedicated young lady. I've seen her tear things apart many times until she's satisfied that it's right. She loves your advice and you are all tops with her and she loves this forum. She does all work herself with a minimum of help, mostly lacks upper body strengh but has found ways to compensate. We're all very proud of her and the accomplishments she's made. Stay with her with the advice and comments because she talks constantly of what she learns here. She has been on a brief vacation and will return tonight
Hi The little Misses grandfather. I dont post often but watch alot. I want you to know how much she enjoys your help and support and encouragement. She is truly quite amazing and dedicated young lady. I've seen her tear things apart many times until she's satisfied that it's right. She loves your advice and you are all tops with her and she loves this forum. She does all work herself with a minimum of help, mostly lacks upper body strengh but has found ways to compensate. We're all very proud of her and the accomplishments she's made. Stay with her with the advice and comments because she talks constantly of what she learns here. She has been on a brief vacation and will return tonight
You should be rightfully proud of her! Congratulations for having such a motivated young lady in your family!
PD1949, it has been a pleasure to watch what your granddaughter has done so far. And a I cannot wait to see how she does going along the rest of the way. She is a neat kid and has a great future ahead of her. And her dad should also be commended for his nuturing on this project. It is a hard balance to help, but not too much.
Hi The little Misses grandfather. I dont post often but watch alot. I want you to know how much she enjoys your help and support and encouragement. She is truly quite amazing and dedicated young lady. I've seen her tear things apart many times until she's satisfied that it's right. She loves your advice and you are all tops with her and she loves this forum. She does all work herself with a minimum of help, mostly lacks upper body strengh but has found ways to compensate. We're all very proud of her and the accomplishments she's made. Stay with her with the advice and comments because she talks constantly of what she learns here. She has been on a brief vacation and will return tonight
PD, you have every right to be proud of this little lady, she has inspired each and every one of us. We watch closely as she progresses and grows with this project.
alright everyone, i have to apologize... i haven't been able to work on my car in AGES!!!! for all the people who have told me the wonders of high school thanks but, you all seemed to forget mentioning that it leaves no time for anything else...lol sorry for not being on in a while and thank you for all your patience!!! I hope to be able to work next week at some point because with homecoming coming up everything is being thrown into chaos. And unfortunately I have to let the suspension win....for now I will be calling soon!! I just need to get around all this homework from taking two days off to go with my dad and family to the great wolf lodge because of a conference for my dad. again i apologize for no updates but hopefully i can make some progress soon. -kathryn
Don't let the car take you away from every thing that is fun in high school. That is what vacations are for. You only get to go through high school once. But the car will be there when you have time for it. I worked on mine in high school, not as much as you have, but I still wish that I would have done more in of the the things that only happen in high school.
Kathryn, I remember highschool, alas a long time ago. It is important... Don't worry, everything has a time and place. We will still be here when you come back around. Even if you don't post a lot of updates, a couple of pictures of the progress on your car will keep us busy. We won't forget the school girl with the winning smile and the cool car she is rebuilding. Enjoy highschool, it only happens once. ~Zep
[This message has been edited by mwzephyr (edited 09-25-2012).]
We are heading down to do some work tonight. Kathryn informed me last night that she is going through withdrawal symptoms from grease...lol! We'll have some photos up either later tonight or tomorrow. Need to decide if she wants to do more suspension work, or if she wants to grind and weld. Both need done
Instead of coming up with ideas of how to remove rusted parts, how about an alternative for salting the roads in the winter? Our knuckles & patience would appreciate that.
Well thought we should post a few pics of what she has been up to lately. I think we had told you that she taught a class on auto maintenance to her young womens' group at church aged 12-18. So here are some of the photos of that project:
Then of course we had the fun that we told you about getting the front suspension off. At first we tried all kinds of things, then it was time to try cutting it. Kathryn got a lesson in oxy/acetylene
And of course as we all know, all work and no play is no fun, so tonight Kathryn is off doing this instead of turning wrenches. This is pretty hard on Dad.
You may not want the hear this, but the kids have a glow about them, great to see Kathryn enjoying things beyond the car.
Put my car into an very early winter sleep this year, my half-shafts have a very limited life time (due to hp/torque), and one decided to go about a week back. Will get another custom set made and have it ready for next season.
Originally posted by michhiker28: This is pretty hard on Dad.
OHHHH papa!! It gets NO easier as she gets older.. All we can do is teach them the values we hold dear and hope that as they grow older that they hold those same values true.
Daddy to Daddy.. I feel your heartache. You want to help them spread their wings and let them fly as high as they possibly can, and all the while you want to bring them down and tuck them under your wing and protect them forever! Things to look forward to: Boys, High School Drama, Mother Nature, Boys and Birth control.
You've got Mrs. MH there to take a fair bit of the burden.. I can't help but think how much that helps (I've been a single dad with my kids since they were 5 and 3). But even still, watching your little girl grow up.. is a hard pill to swallow.
I think it is really terrific that Kathryn taught the Maintenance class to her Church group. Share your passion Kathryn. Get more young women involved in the auto hobby. Get them over the fear of getting their hands dirty, and have some fun !.
------------------ Marko.
'85 SE 2M6 Muncie 4 speed. a.k.a "The Rumble Seat"
Mitch, you teach well by your example. Bets are you have no worries with your kids... Remember this just might be practice for when your next daughter wants to rebuild a car or, could be the young one might want to race them...(Grin)
Kathryn the clock is ticking, sixteen candles needs the sweet ride ready and you know between the rain and snow and prom dates, time slips by into over-drive. Just teasing you; I know you are seriously dedicated to your project. I know you have plenty of help to get finished by then.
Nice prom pictures by the way. Hope you had fun.
I know that from my past projects, (Lincolns and Thunderbirds) time slid by way too fast. Of course I didn't have a way cool dad to help me.
~Zep
[This message has been edited by mwzephyr (edited 10-01-2012).]
hey guys, recently i haven't been able to do a thing because as soon as Dad and I set a day to work I end up getting bombarded with tons of homework but i have been able to de-rust my horn and start getting it painted although i'm starting to wonder if there are any parts Michigan winters and salted roads haven't either A: rusted or B: ruined...lol Also i have been working on cleaning up the water pump. just little things but i suppose they are still progress. -kathryn
We've also heard that we will be joined shortly by some new friends from California that will be spending a couple of days with Kathryn at the end of October to talk to her about how kids learn outside of school. They were interested in the project since she has been learning as she goes, on her own, with a lot of help from all of you. It should be fun!
I think we might do some engine work while they are out, and finish the frame repairs.....so lots of welding to come!
hey guys just a quick update; no the people from Cali are not the same as the ones from LA the people coming up on the 26th are doing documentary on kids who learn in different ways outside of school and how this helps the student to learn. Also i'm working on setting up another presentation for my Young Women in Excellence and I'm using my car for that. I should be able to use a similar set up to the Makers Faire. And for a school project for science i used car knowledge to compare functions of different car parts to functions of different organelles in a plant cell. Will have to post pics -kathryn
We had some of the most fun that we have had on the project in a long time last night. Don't get me wrong, it is always good, but last night was just a blast. We started working on one of the areas of concern that I have been most worried about...the frame...I need not have been. The upper frame rails on Kathryn's car are just about gone completely. Luckily (thanks to some forum members we had some ideas on how to proceed and some templates and drawings. Kathryn decided to fab the new rails a piece at a time. (I'll get some photos up for you all soon). Anyway some 22 gauge sheet steel, 16 gauge metal and a MIG welder and we were on our way.
I'll let her tell you a bit more about that experience...but suffice it to say, the girl can lay down a bead now! I basically spent 2 hours talking to by Brother-in-law, and watching the kid have a blast! At this rate the frame will be done soon....unlike the sanding, I think Kathryn REALLY likes welding!
You can't go wrong learning welding if you love cars. Talent must run in your family. It is a very cool feeling when a car project is done and you are one of the few who knows whats under the "nice paint job". Its a real pride pumper to know its done right and not with bondo and screen from your neighbors old screen door... (grin) Fabrication is the basic way I have had to go when parts are rusted beyond repair, more often than not but that said I have almost always worked in metal fab factories so I had access to good scrap and shears , benders and welders. I usually would powdercoat the pieces with zinc rich primer so that they would last. I also used to love spending the day at the local junk yard pulling treasures, gretting ideas and opening things up for a look-see.
It would be really cool to see what your in-house "fabrication wizard " (kathryn) has whipped up. Keep the pics and updates coming. Thanks for the education and entertainment. Glad to see a young person fixing up a car for real and not just slapping decals and rims on a junker! I have read the complete thread and just today found kathryn's fiero build website~
code:
http://myfiero.webs.com/
What kind of primer do you think you will use on the frame when it is done. Getting ahead of things but just curious. Thanks for sharing your fun! ~Zep
[This message has been edited by mwzephyr (edited 10-18-2012).]
Well guys and girls of course I had a ton of fun last night and it was pretty amazing! I got to weld on my frame rails and at first i was pretty scared. i guess it's hard to get over the idea that you are not supposed to play with electricity. I was just starting to get the hang of it and i had a few pretty good beads. I think that this is one of my favorite things that i have done. And i loved the new welding mask!!!! it worked like a dream. I told my Dad and Uncle that it may sound crazy but if you put all of the other stuff i've done and put it together i still might be more proud of those three pieces that i stuck on the frame rail last night. I love welding!!!! -kathryn
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