caprice total redo

thought i would start a post on my winter project. some off the stuff was done over a year ago toward getting it done this winter. i have a 9c1 rear that i cut the perches and lower control mounts off and moved them. here is what i started with.
9c1

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my wagon

how many pics can i put on a post? but here are some more.
when i was welding the arm mounts

after powder coater

i picked a black that has a little texture to try and hide the pits from rust

i also got a mike harris tubular crossmember and got it powder coated same black and i picked up a used alu. drive shaft and had it coated.i weighed the crossmember old was 26lbs and the new is 10.5. i also weighed the drive shaft old was 16.5 and new was 14lbs.

John,you do beautiful work.Are you sure you wouldnt want to make up another one for another
wagon fanatic HINTHINT?

thanks jim. the problem with me is i am slow. i like to take time and only work on it when i am in the mood. i will post some more pics of supplies and parts if i get a chance tomorrow

Any close ups of the before/after perch move? I got one of these on the side of the house, I need to start moving on for the t-56 conversion....

i will check if have any i did have it written down but i did this part last year. hopefully i did not throw it out. i did put the empty rear back in and hooked up the arms and ran it up and down with the floor jack. i did mess up when i put the spring perches in the 1st time. i used a angle finder and had 1 perch set and the other set both wwhere reading the same angle but i could tell by eye one was off compared to the other. checked a couple times before i noticed one was a positive # and the other was a neg #.daaa

i did some work today with my helper nicholas. sprocket forgot to take pics of old rear next time i go up i will take them sorry; here are some pics of rear coming out. say goodbye to 3;23 rear

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i was trying to run a hose down filler neck to pump out fuel and the hose would not make it into the tank. took filler neck off and found this in tank has a ball in it i guess to prevent fuel from being stolen or is it for roll over reasons?

i really wish i could pull the body off frame and do it right but cant do that. i need i bigger garage. i am using my dads 1 car now. here is pics of rust befor i grind and sand the rust down then i will por 15 the bottom. looks like all surface rust, no holes.

has anyone strengthened up the lower control arm mounts they look weak. was wondering if they flex or if they can be boxed to give some more strength.

just thought i would post some progress on the under side of wagon.










all the spots are bare metal the orig. paint just lifted off when i hit it with a wire wheel

Looks good John,looks like you have a great apprentice to help you with the heavy lifting!

Very cool that you have the kiddo out there with you. I also am a big fan of child labor!

-Mike

Doing the underside is lots of work man!! But it will look awesome when you are done! Impressive!

Chris

i pay in gummy bears. not sure what to do about the top of frame. was thinking of maybe unbolting frame and just jacking up body a few inches. i figue i will have to unbolt the brake lines and steering colum. not sure where to say when.

John,
I'm curious about the rear end change. What did you go to and why get rid of the 3:23 posi?
Dick

the car came with 2:56 open end rear. so i got the 3:23 posi out of a tbi olds. later the posi died so i put a newer one in and used the bearings from the 256 rear {they only had about 30k miles on them}. i am a bit of a drag racer so the 256 was a bit of a dog out of the hole plus spinning 1 wheel sucks so that is why i went 323. it made a huge difference in the seat of the pants feel and the 323 and electric fans dropped me quarter mile times. now i want to go 373 it usually is a good alround gear and i want to go 13's in the quarter mile. i am putting a 9c1 rear in because i want the 4 wheel disk and also want to put a deep dish wheel {old school] in the back and the 9c1 rear should do that nicely

hey chris didn't you do the same to yours or was it one of your other wagon? Is the build of you doing yours still around i kind of remember it. would like to read it again for some insight i am always looking for tips

John,
It's lookin good! The Por 15 does the trick. I've been using it where ever i dig up rust.

Won't the smaller axle bearings be a problem? The stock wagon axles have bigger bearings.

the 9c1 rear does have smaller axle bearings i cant imagine it being a problem. the wagon weighs around 400 pounds more not much at all. the only time i haul is to wagon fest and its only suite cases. i dont load it with sheets of plywood or anything like that

I haven't had any time or space to do anything to my wagon. I have two Passat TDI VWs I'm working on. I have a 97 that needs to get some mechanical work done so my wife can start using it for work. Your wagon is coming along nice though. Witch axle parts of the 9C1 did you move? Just the spring pads on the axle?

i moved the the spring perches and the lower control arm mounts

I do have a posi to use in my rear. I need to find some gears with reluctor.
Will the 9c1 give you more room for wider rear tires? That would be awesome!

the 9c1 is 1.5 '' shorter on each side

The restriction for tire width is not the rear end, it is the frame and the fender.

jayoldschool wrote:

The restriction for tire width is not the rear end, it is the frame and the fender.

i know but the shorter rear will give me the deep dish wheel i want. the wheel can have less back spacing i want and give me the old school deep dish wheel. i think now they call it staggered look

not much going on went a little backwards. my friend has his own little 1 1/2 car auto shop but he is moving into a bigger shop and he has alot more room in it. he said i can bring the wagon down and work on it there so my project will get bigger. i am going to pull the body off of the frame. i put the rear back in it. put all the bolts in finger tight. i will have to tow it to his shop.
i am going to pull the front end off and pull the mtr out at my dads so it want be in the way at my friends shop then trailor it to his shop. so next week i will have some pics of the work. i hope to have it back on the road for summer.

Wow, the body off!! Man that will be a lot of work. What are you going to do? Powder coat every thing? or Por15 it?
It's going to look cool I'm sure.

i think it will be por 15 but not set in stone

I would not bother with POR15 on an undercarriage. I did three whole cars that way, and learned this: Once you get one pinhole in it, the whole thing just rusts from the inside and you'll never see it until a big flake of it comes off. I would use a different paint.

Oh wow! That's not good! Rust-oleum? Use some acid treatment first. I acid treat before POR15. Maybe that's better. IMHO

i worked on it a little today. the front bumper cover took 2 hrs to get off. i was about ready to cut it off. the 2 bolts that bolt it on the fenders where tough. i got the hood, dr fender, bumper and bumper cover and headlight off today here are some pics nothing great.

Going to WF this year John?

Tom

tom thats my plan. hopefully i will be done by then

got to work on wagon today. i pulled the rest of the front end off today and pulled the mtr and trans.

That's such a pretty drivetrain!

thanks, i have to clean it up. when i was trying to get away with not removing the body and was grinding the frame and floor boards the rust dust has covered everything in a brown dust. should clean up with soap and water.

Show them the powder coated driveshaft. That's car is going to be gorgeous. You will have to powder coat yourself to sit in it!!!!

I thought this was a rear end project? Guess it went a little too far lol.. nice work.

Gastt wrote:

I thought this was a rear end project? Guess it went a little too far lol.. nice work.

my projects tend to do that

Very cool engine/trans stand.

OCD is a terrible disease!!

CDO is worse (it's like OCD, but in the correct alphabetical order..)

the engine stand is a home made one. i got the basic design from hot rod mag. and made mine so it can come apart instead of being one whole unit that takes up alot of space. its made from aluminum xray machines. i cut it all and a friend welded it up for me. its wierd it glows in the dark, from the x-rays i made it so i could mount my clutch on my camaro's mtr

John,
Almost there! It's going to be cool!!! You will have to put mirrors under it!

Randy

Would love to see that engine stand glowing in the dark,guess that the aluminum was not
suppose to be available to the public because of its heavy exposure levels?

i took apart the rad support today. it has some rust mostly surface but one part has a spot that i will have to cut out unless i find a better one. the spot is the part behind the battery. the headlight part i should be able to cut it out and replace kinda easilly. i also got the rear mounted on the engine stand. almost forgot about the rear and this is how it all started.

i got the rear gears set up have to work on the brakes for the rear soon.




got my wagon towed to my friends shop yesterday and got the body and the frame apart the rear is out and little less than 1/2 the front. the body bolts all came out. one was stuck and sprayed with pb blaster and it came out. the only bolt so far that would not come off was one of the steering box bolts but after some torch work it gave up and came out. will post pics in next post

here are some pics of the frame









my help

Making real progress,great to have patient friends with big garages and lifts!Reminds me of
Gerry's LS-7 wagon up in western canada a little.