Ok, so to bring this up to date, I have wanted a 289 for longer than I want to admit and have tried to get this off the ground a couple of times before but other things ( life ) got in the way, I am sure many of you can relate to this. I was even considering the 289 USRRC package from Factory Five but it was really not what I wanted, nothing against their products, just not for me and if I am going to spend that kind of money ( it’s less of the kit and a lot more money to get one into Canada) I want what I want.
In early 2019 I came across an online classified add for a 289 slabside body shell at not an unreasonable price or distance from my home and after talking it over with my wife I decided this was my best chance to finally do this.
I made a post here asking for any info on this body as I have no idea who made it, I put the body away for a year, or I thought for a year at the time,
I got to work getting things in order in the shop, I needed to finish up a couple of other projects( need the space) and add some equipment.
I had been working on a 1973 Massey Ferguson MF12 garden tractor off and on for quite a while , it was a very well-loved example that was given by a friend. Who assumed (wrongly) that I needed another project and in the end after sourcing another MF12 tractor wreck with different problems, dismantling both completely, picking the best parts, fixing pieces, making new parts that I did not have or were way beyond, upgrading the engine, sandblasting, priming and painting everything it is a lovely little tractor and quite useful.
I built a press brake and a metal cutting jig saw mostly from junk around the shop, I also found a tube roller on sale and got my old Pro Tools 105 bender out of mothballs among other things to get the shop ready.
I gathered some other suspension pieces and a 302 Ford and T-5 gearbox that I mentioned in my mystery 289 body posts.
I then started ordering things, some blank hubs and AC spinners from MWS in England, I few small items from Finishline Accessories (before they disappeared) and went ahead with a set of chassis drawings from Chuck Lindquist.
Let me say, in my opinion, if you are planning on going down this road Chuck’s drawings are a definite asset! For me there will need to be some changes made to accommodate my body shell and other things but for the major pieces and understanding the relationships between different things they are my best asset as I have no direct access to an original or replica at all.
The amount of work that has gone into these and is still ongoing is amazing and if you can support what he is doing please do so, these are an amazing resource.
During all the weirdness in the world I also managed to order 5 beautiful 15 x 6 knock on wire wheels, also from MWS.
Then with drawings in hand I worked up a steel order for my favorite supplier and without too much trouble given the state of things (other than the price being almost double!) I got an order of steel delivered here in the first week of March and built myself a quick jig / work surface. It has adjustable feet so I can keep it level even if I need to reposition it in the shop.
Then I got to work on the main chassis tubes and front and rear towers and tacked them together and squared them up on the table and added some clamps to keep them put.
I also laid out some key points for mounts that will become harder to measure later on.
I laid out and formed the cowl hoop and if you have never tried rolling 1 ½ x.120 DOM tube in a small manual tube roller be ready for a fight! About 4 hours! Man that stuff is tough, my wife thinks that is good and I agree. I also formed the rear support hoop and then got the body down from the ceiling and set it over top.
This is another place the plans are incredibly helpful, I started to realize my body was a bit out of shape from sitting around for who know how long but by knowing the heights of various supports and other structure I managed to make some key supports and figure out some work arounds for a couple of different issues and got it secured in relation to the main chassis for the next steps.
I now know there will be some body surgery later in the build but it won’t be a surprise. The more problems I figure out now the less reworking there will be later, lets just say for now there are issues around the cockpit area.
Next up was building some brackets to hold my hub assemblies in relation to the body and chassis, I slipped a tire onto a rim( ever “walked” a tire on to a rim at home? Lots of soap!) to be able to check the real life clearances and see how it looks in the wheel arch, looks really good, by the way!
After all that I have taken the body back off the chassis and hung it from the ceiling again. I have taken all the relevant measurements on the hub mountings in relation to the chassis and other things and now I can start laying lines on long pieces of paper and get working on some suspension details, oh boy!
I also wanted to mention that I got in an order from Cobra Performance / CSX Parts and if you have never dealt with them it was a great experience. The parts are excellent and things were in stock! The packing and shipping were also excellent. It was mostly small parts for the pedal box and steering, including a beautiful new Moto Lita wheel, WOW!
I do have the dimensions in Chuck’s pans for all the pedal box parts but the time to machine and fabricate them vs the price to buy them just did not make sense this time. But I will get to them later.
So that’s it for now, I think this will be the longest post but I just wanted to get this started right and up to date, so thanks for reading all that. I will do my best to make these more regular and keep pushing ahead in between other things like working and the summer” honey do” list.
Take care and stay safe my friends, I will update again soon......I hope...