Projects Final chapter in the crummy chop

My hats off to ya for the work you put into the car! Looks great.

 

Yup, the devil is in the details Gearhead
Badluck, will do but you have to share how you hinged the center grill

I'm playing with a few things. I went to Lowes and picked out some drawer pulls to get all the switches to match. You can see the choke cable in this pic. I need one more pull switch for the wipers.

I'm also planing out the dash vents. I've got 2 blank plates, no radio or ash tray. I'm thinking of putting the vent up towards the top where the trim piece is flat, but this one has another hole in it.

Do you guys remember the cigarette lighters that had the map light in them? Looks like Gander mountain has them, so I'll swing by this weekend and pick one up to fill that hole with.

I'm also designing a custom under dash bracket to hold the HVAC controls. The cables have a big ass 7/8" nut which I desperately want to hide somehow

Let's see, there is only 1 guy here in town that can crimp my A/C hoses, but his machine is broken. Maybe next week it will be fixed. It only took me 3 belts to find the right one for the pump.

And lastly I'm thinking about how to get a york pump on the engine also. The electric one is WAY to loud for me.

 

who crimps lines? I had some power steering lines made.. could figure out where it was if ya need me to

 

Thanks, some better parts stores do, but it's ok. I'm told that A/C hoses and fittings are different to hydraulic.
Steven's napa is suppose to get the crimper fixed, while Hillside car quest can do it but they say their dies are bad and not sealing. Worse case I ship the hoses back to classic auto air for crimping

Edit: and attached is a pic of the bracket I'm going to make for the HVAC controls. The back piece will be 1/2" thk 6061 and the front piece I'll try some 14 gauge 304 SST I have here at work. I'll see how well it will buff up.
I'll mount this under the dash, just to the right of the steering column

Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

I had some time on one of our milling machines Friday to whip out my little "G" job

I think I'll paint the aluminum black, and try polishing the SST.

I've got all my wiring sorted back out, and everything tested A-OK.

Next is running the flex hose for the ducts.
Before I hack up the radio delete plate, I'm going to see how much air can pass through the center radio speaker grill.

 

More details:
I tried using the speaker grill for the center duct by mocking up a plenum with tape and cardboard. The grill doesn't let the air blow back far enough for you to feel in the seated position, most of it goes to the sides because of the louvers.

Oh well, I'll poke holes in the radio delete plates.

And here's a pic of the defrost and heater ducts, tucked up behind the wiper motor. The one running in the foreground is for the outboard vent, it can tuck above the glove box. It's a tight fit

 

More a/c stuff.
And another good experience with Classic Auto Air Industries.

No one local could/would crimp my hoses, one quick call to them solved that.
I think they crimped my hoses and shipped them back the same day, and I got a call from them saying so. Can't ask for more than that!

Before I put the grill back on, I went ahead and pulled a vacuum on the system to look for leaks. It held 22" overnight.

I also finished up under the dash. I can did it. Oh, and I forgot I had these little speakers in a box, so I made a plate to mount them, worth a try at least.

 

gonna be rollin in no time!

 

Sneaking up on it.

No pics, but I decided that before I put the door panels on I should get glass in the sides.

A quick stop at my local glass shop with my plastic templates and they had all 6 side pieces done in a day.


For your reference, all side pieces custom cut to my templates, and setting tape ran right at $300.

 

I stayed up late last night, and finished installing the door panels.
Happy easter guys

 

I've always dug the look of that nylon tweed stuff!

 

Looking great, Thom!

 

Thanks Guys! I'm really happy with how it's turning out.
I'm about to start on the back seat.

I do have a few questions for the experts

1) how "tight" do you make the pattern? Like how much smaller would you make the face compared to the foam on the frame, 1/4" or 1/2" per side?

2) Can I hog ring the cover directly to the frame, or should I try to put listing wires along the bottom? I've seen both.

 

Lookin good Mr. Knocker! Damn i gotta get my ass in gear.. i haven't even touched my interior yet, you're going to pass me!

 

Thanks Bad!

Oh hell, wrong thread to ask the question in

 

It was nice last weekend, and I had some oil on the headers.

Rolled it out and tuned it up a bit.
still need a jet or rod change, but it's alive.

 

That thing rocks... Even with the green tires and wheels lol

 

Thanks,
Saving up for wide whites, and finishing up all those little things lol


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Slight SNAFU with the rear bumper.

It turns out that the wagon center piece is much "straighter" than a sedan one. It doesn't follow the curve of the tail pan quite as nicely.

I'm modifying my brackets today so I can pull the bumper away from the body a bit more. pics to fillow

 

looks badass in the driveway!

 

Still playing with the little things.

The Taurus electric cooling fan pulls more than 30 amps LOL It fried the breaker I got from summit. Replaced that with a pair of 50s. At least it runs now but I need to run heavier wires to it.

It's starts fine when cold, but BARELY turns over when warmed up.
Little background on the engine: Pontiac 350 YB block, '75 bird, 7.6:1 with 89cc heads but it has #13 heads, '70 400"s, 72cc.


Pulled all the plugs out and did a compression test and looked for water in the cylinders (No water) I couldn't get my compression gauge on one cylinder, but the rest were all 125 to 135 psi.

It came with platinum plugs (which I never had any luck with) so ran out and got standard AC delco's. It had tapered seat plugs in it, but 70 heads should have gasket style plugs. Yup, sure enough. It had the wrong style plugs in it Runs a bit better, but there is a little miss, and it still wouldn't crank hot.

Pulled the starter off (first time ever) and the nose cone is broken. DOH! thar's yer problem Waiting for a starter to come in to town now.

 

Thom,

Is your alternator big enough? I have a brand new, chrome, 200 amp Chevy one sitting in the garage.....

 

Talk with you soon Flatty good luck this weekend.

So, I dug deeper into the motor.
I really haven't screwed with it much, it ran good enough to get it in and out of the garage LOL

The HEI distributor is shot, lot's of slop in the bushings and rusty.

But the worse news, the Pontiac 350 that's in it is all sludged up I poked a screwdriver down the distributor hole to move the oil pump. It came back with a big glob of jizz on it.

Hmmmm
Should I look for a 400 or 455 to build.
Or switch over to a Chevy?

 

NOPE, not yet!

Stop and get a dizzy at the junk yard. When I get home, we'll clean the sludge out, and see what happens when we fire it.

Don't panic yet, this may well be a minor issue!

 

Lol I'm retarded, literally
I keep forgetting the damn rotor turn counter clock wise in Pontiac's
I was a tooth off.

New cap rotor and wires today, even swapped the module out just cause I have a few laying around.
Timing at 14 deg B, with out vacuum hooked up

Helped a bit, idle is a little better but she doesn't really like to idle in gear yet
12 to 13" vacuum, doesn't jump around much
120 to 135 psi compression on 7 cylinders (can't get my push on gauge on #7)
I've sprayed carb clean around and no vacuum leaks.
Any other ideas?




Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I swapped the edelbrock 1404 off and put the holly 8678 (spread bore) off dads chevelle
It idles a bit smoother, still doesn't like to idle in gear
13" vacuum (I'm at 5000') slight flutter in the vacuum gauge


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Between a motor flush enema and some water down the carb, I've picked up some manifold vacuum
14 to 14.5"
The vac gauge flutter goes away right after I put water down the carb, but come back after a little bit of idling?
That's a new one on me


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Sitting on the front porch with dad, sipping a pbr, and trying to think up a next step.
Hmmm, valve lash maybe. With #16 400 heads on a 350 maybe the stock torque the rocker nuts down won't work anymore and I'm holding a valve open just a bit.
The interwebs say bb Chevy rocker studs and Polly locks is the solution. I'll also check if my push rods are "hard" for the guide plates


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Im really not much help, but maybe try some sea foam down the carb, that sure makes a perdy cloud coming out the pipes.

I dinked with my 302 long enough i finally caved in and took it to Finish Line Performance and they made it run for me

 

I was close to getting some sea foam when I picked up the engine flush lol thanks
I've had good luck with just water from a spray bottle.

When I first got the car, all the rocker nuts were loose, so I tightened them to 20#. Who knows if these heads have been milled. Polly locks are cheap I'll try those and also check for broken valve springs


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!