UPDATE:
It's been a while since I've posted an update. In my last post I mentioned that a fellow bolter hooked me up with the rear door I needed and also with enough spare latch parts that I can get the latches working again. After getting the door ready to paint, we blasted the hinges only to find that they too were nearly rusted in half. After almost 6 months of searching I've finally located a pair, which should be here any day now. This was critical for all of the obvious reasons, plus because we can now complete the final straightening and alignment of the rear sheetmetal. I'm pretty jazzed about this because once this is done, the phantom will be ready for paint. The interior is partially painted in that all of the silver is done and ready for the brownish color that was on the doors and dash. The one part of the bodywork that still is lacking is rear fenders. The fenders I have are rusted so thin, especially the drivers side, that I'm concerned about how well they will hold up in use. I've thought about diverging from orignal and going with fiberglass as have many bolters. I might have a lead on a pair with a guy in MN, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
The engine is coming along too. It turned out that while the original motor was complete, it too suffered a lot of rust in some unexpected areas, to the point that even the head is questionable. I was fortunate to find a running motor locally that we are using for parts. I am having a few tweaks done to the motor while rebuilding that include hardend valve seats, new light weight pistons w/billet rods and a custom cam that will make it run better on unleaded gas and move the power band up a few hundred RPM, which will make running at todays higher speeds a bit easier. I'm having the crank polished and balanced too which will make running at higher speeds a bit easier as well. Not that I have intentions of driving at interstate speed, but for the occasional burst I'll need to avoid being run over, it shoud work out pretty good. Everything is machined and painted and awaiting assembly. It won't really have anymore power so to speak, but it ought to rev up easier. I've located all of the parts needed to overhaul the tranny, so soon I'll be taking that on.
The one area that I've not looked at too hard are the brakes. The lines all look to be in good shape, but until we pull the drums off there are a lot of questions. There is a local company, Air Brakes and Controls, that specialize in truck brakes who are confident that they can rebuild the old huck brake wheel cylinders and think they may even have all the springs in stock. They can reline the brake shoes too, so as long as the drums are servicable, I'm thinking the brakes may not be too much heartache.
Electrical.... TBD
Thanks to the bolters how have help along the away and keep the advice coming...
Thanks
Ned
