Here is what $5000 buys you.

[Kern Dog]

My welding skills are inconsistent. I did fine with the frame rails and fender aprons and with the trunk floor. Sometimes I have trouble with the thin body sheet metal. I try to get the welds flat but I burn though too easy. I have a Lincoln MIG with 75/25 Argon. I'm sure it is just a matter of getting the amperage and wire speed right.
Anyway....
I welded it up today. I still need to dress the welds a little more. After I do the left side, Ill spray both sides with etching primer before shooting on the new undercoating.
This was a fairly easy modification that will ensure that I don't get tire rub if I decide to use big wheels and tires like I have on my red '70.

[ACUDANUT]

 Welding things on your back are theeee most crappy welds I have done.

[Kern Dog]

Ha ha...I agree. I was standing while doing these!   

[Kern Dog]

All welded up, smoothed out, primed and seam sealer applied.

[Kern Dog]

On the left side, I decided to deviate a bit. Since this is a learning experience, I decided to try something different. I did cut along the ridge as before along with making perpendicular cuts. Yeah, it still looked like a zipper but instead of welding up every slit, I made 2 metal strips for patches. This allowed me to reduce the amount of welds. One big rectangular perimeter weld and a few other sections.

[Kern Dog]

Pictures tell the story.

[Kern Dog]

Almost 2 1/2 months have passed and I still am waiting on the engine. The machinist is "retired" but still works occasionally. Yeah...What? ONE day a week ?

[Kern Dog]

A friend is buying a 65 Valiant convertible of mine so the other day, I took the 8 1/4" axle that I pulled from this car and relocated the spring pads IN 1/2" per side to fit the Valiant. That car is getting 73/later front discs so thebolt pattern on the rear axle has to match. He wants the car to be a cruiser so the 2.71 gears ought to be just right!
Last week I started working on a rear sway bar install. I could just open the wallet and order something new but my nature is to use what I have nearby.
I had a 13/16" bar from an '82-92 Camaro Z28. The levers had banana bends that needed to be bent straight for the bar to fit. I considered going to a spring shop but abandoned that plan. Looking in the parts stash I found a 3/4" bar that my Brother in Law bought at a swap meet 8 years ago. No brackets or hardware but it did have the D bushings.
I started mocking it up using some leftover hardware I had from other projects. It mounts to the axle using 3/8" U bolts and thin plates....somewhat cheesy. I'm going to make brackets to weld to the housing, a better and more secure way to mount the bar.
For the end links, I started messing around with some scrap steel to see what might work.

[Kern Dog]

That last pic was just a mock up! I had no intention of using a bracket so weak looking. Check out the flimsy Addco bracket:

[Kern Dog]

Mock up #2:

This design turned out to be too small.

[Kern Dog]

Mock up # 3 was a better fit. I used 3x3 .120 box steel that I had in the scrap pile.

[Kern Dog]

These will be welded on 3 sides and be plenty strong.

[70 sublime]

I wonder how your 3 x 3 would have looked if you turned it over with the opening down instead of up ?
Might be easier to put the nut on the link and would also not make a space for road junk and grit to accumulate ?

[nvrbdn]

I am seeing what 70 Sublime is saying about the crud trap, but I am feeling that the bracket is much stronger the way it is. Please correct me if I am wrong. But then I don't know if the added strength is needed for the sway bar mounts? Just enjoying the project.

[Kern Dog]

I wonder how your 3 x 3 would have looked if you turned it over with the opening down instead of up ?
Might be easier to put the nut on the link and would also not make a space for road junk and grit to accumulate ?

Good point. I think it needs a U shape for strength  so it either needs to be inverted or to have some way to drain.
I don't drive the red car in rain or mud so no crud gathers on that car. This one may be driven differently though. Thank you.
Accessibility to the bolt head on top isn't bad as is though.

[Kern Dog]

Fellow member Derwud gave me an idea...
For the mounts on the axle, I was going to buy some more 3x3 metal stock and cut some brackets from it. He suggested using 3" muffler clamps.
I took his idea and changed it a little.
I cut the brackets down the middle....

[Kern Dog]

I welded that gold metal section between them...

[Kern Dog]

Test fit.

[Kern Dog]

These will get welded to the housing to prevent movement.
Look at how much better theses look compared to the way that ADDCO shows to mount the bar:

[Kern Dog]

All welded up and spritzed with some flat black to cover the bare metal.

[darbgnik]

That looks legit, KD!

[Dano 1]

Nice job making stuff work from the parts bin, I bet those are stronger than the mounts on my mystery aftermarket rear bar!

[Kern Dog]

Thanks. I had an ADDCO bar on the rear of my red car. The brackets were flimsy. I'd tighten them to the point of distortion and they'd still move around.

[Kern Dog]

Sorry for the delay. Updates have been few. I'm still waiting on the 383.
The Machinist at the shop that I have used for 18 years  retired a year ago but isn't completely retired. I thought I was being accommodating when I told him that I was in no hurry  but jeez, he really took advantage of that. I dropped it off May 22nd. It needed to be bored .030, square decked, the crank only needed to be polished. The heads were already rebuilt but I wanted him to inspect them and do a 3 angle valve job. He messaged me on Monday....He said he should have it done tomorrow.
I wanted to have the car up and running by the 1 year mark of buying the car but that came and went on September 5th.
I busied myself with another project. I sold a 65 Valiant Convertible and as part of the deal, I converted the front to 11" disc brakes, changed to an 8 1/4" axle, made new brake lines and put in a transmission. Now that my 383 is almost ready, I need to get back to this car.
When I got the car, the firewall was stripped. There was no wiring, brackets, brake lines, steering column or anything. The bulkhead plug shows signs of the dreaded overheated Ammeter.......

[Kern Dog]

My plan is to eventually change the wiring on the engine side to match what I did with the Red car, Ginger.
This diagram shows the changes. I followed it except I left off the red wire they show in the inside. It made no sense to me to keep it in a loop like this.