Progress on #782

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by 428street

I think it's less standard and more craziness!

This is the info for the "most correct" WS I could find. The original WS actually had metal flake/thread like material pressed into the strip itself.

Ron Leonard
Sport G T Motoring
1812 Crestview Dr
Durango, Colorado 81301-4932

Phone: (970) 259-0108 (970) 259-0108

Thanks Frank - is it fairly soft and compress pretty easily? The clearances around these opening in a fiberglass car aren't too uniform in areas - tight in some and wide in others.

Dan

[DanEC]

Well, this was a big weekend for progress. Finally got the motor and transmission in the car and I'm beat.

Anything worth doing once is always worth doing twice. I realized I pounded in the wrong pilot shaft bushing (steel) instead of the bronze one I found. So, I tried the trick of filling the cavity behind the bushing with grease and using a deep socket that would just barely slide in the hole and then pound it with a hammer. What do you know - it popped right out. Also, the trick of putting thie bushing in the freezer for awhile before driving it in works like a charm.



I didn't remove the breather from the back of the block the first time and of course it wouldn't clear. So, it had to come back out and the breather removed. After that, the motor really did drop straight in although there isn't much room around it.





Also, I knew my weak back and 170 lb frame was going to need help hefting that iron toploader into place so I figured I would sling it and use the engine hoist.



Of course that didn't work because the bellhousing is just too far up under the dash and the sling was blocked by the dash cowl before the transmission could move far enough forward. I also discovered my Muncie transmission dowels I was going to use to guide the tranny in wouldn't work because Ford used smaller bolts to secure the toploader to the bellhousing than GM. So, plan 2 was to try to use the engine tilter but there wasn't enough room for it either. Plan 3 was a flat piece of steel bar the I tied to the transmission and secured to the engine lift with a chain. That finally worked.



Finally, everything is nestled in place although I have a lot of odds and ends to put back on the engine. It looks like the exhaust headers are going to be a lot of fun to install.





It't a relief to have all that done without scratches, chips or slipped disc. Miller time has started.

[DanEC]

Not much progress lately - too hot this summer! Now I have some other projects I have to get done. But I did get my 2-1/2 inch tail pipes for my undercar - rear exit finished up. This thing will breath through the exhaust anyway. I decided to paint them with high temperature paint since they would be pretty awkward to ship off for plating. The headers, head pipes, mufflers and clamps are going off for ceramic plating. I plan to also wrap the portion of the tailpipes behind the tire since I will only have about 1/2 inch clearance on either side. I will have a hangar at the rear of the muffler and at the tip of the tailpipes (hanger is shown). I also have a bracket at the high point behind the tire that will bolt through the aluminum panel to the structural frame rail in a tapped hole. Rubber hangar material washers will isolate the hangar. This will rigidly hold the pipe laterally in position behind the wheel so it can't move around.

Also waiting on a fabricated rear intake manifold breather from Survivor Motorsports to solve the interference problem with the heater hoses.

I need to start on the wiring next and once that is in I should be close to firing it off at last.

Dan

[DanEC]

Must have dozed off at the computer and double posted.

[DanEC]

Finally - a nice Fall day. Finished up insulation in the cockpit and also most of the wiring installation. Still have to put some sound dampning on the trunk floor before carpet.