Because Roadkill, -or- I bought an old ugly domestic car
- Thread starter TurboMinivan
- Start date
D
Deleted member 12904
Guest
Love the progress #becauseracecar
- Location
- Grantsville, Utah
I thought you were supposed to write the list on the hood?
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Love the progress Dempsy!
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Oh, I know exactly how much I am into it so far. I have been keeping very careful track of my total spending on this car.
... though I'm kinda embarrassed to say it publicly.
NYCEGUY01
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Willard, UT
Thats never a good idea...lol
There is no shame in that.
RogueJeepr
Here!
- Location
- Utah
I wrote a spending list on the floor where the rear seat goes when I got the 32 running. Since then there's more to add but its all improvements on safety and drivability.
Sent from my Z740 using Tapatalk
Sent from my Z740 using Tapatalk
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Since I still need to buy a locking dipstick plus a couple other random items for the transmission, I decided to begin at the front of the engine. The aluminum water pump was a simple bolt-on affair, though I did have to use some washers as spacers to make its pulley properly line up with the crankshaft pulley. The 3" aluminum radiator dropped right into place after I spent an hour carving out the four rubber 'cushions' to fit it. In the past, I saw where someone said radiator hoses from a Monte Carlo SS would fit, so I already had them on hand... only to now find out that, no, they won't work. The lower hose is close to working; the problem is my water pump has a 1.75" fitting but the fat lip at the end is a full 2.0" in diameter so my 1.75" ID hose doesn't want to slip on over it. The upper hose is way too long.
As for the the accessory brackets, my plan (of course) was to use the ones off that junkyard truck. However, I somehow managed to lose the upper alternator "clamshell" piece. Initially, I was very upset about it. I soon came to realize this may not be the disaster it sounds like, because that bracket is designed to bolt onto the intake manifold in a place where my RPM AirGap does not have a threaded hole. Hmm. I ended up swiping a chrome arm from Mike's pile of parts for the top piece. Here is how that turned out:
In that first photo, you can see the truck's lower PS bracket bolted to the engine. I was hoping to use my car's PS pump and bolt it to the truck brackets, but my pump has its mounting holes in the wrong places so it's a no-go. The truck's pump was in poor condition, so I won't be returning to the junkyard for it. Instead, I'll order a new truck pump and mount it in my car.
I'm still working on the radiator hose problem....
As for the the accessory brackets, my plan (of course) was to use the ones off that junkyard truck. However, I somehow managed to lose the upper alternator "clamshell" piece. Initially, I was very upset about it. I soon came to realize this may not be the disaster it sounds like, because that bracket is designed to bolt onto the intake manifold in a place where my RPM AirGap does not have a threaded hole. Hmm. I ended up swiping a chrome arm from Mike's pile of parts for the top piece. Here is how that turned out:
In that first photo, you can see the truck's lower PS bracket bolted to the engine. I was hoping to use my car's PS pump and bolt it to the truck brackets, but my pump has its mounting holes in the wrong places so it's a no-go. The truck's pump was in poor condition, so I won't be returning to the junkyard for it. Instead, I'll order a new truck pump and mount it in my car.
I'm still working on the radiator hose problem....
Last edited:
I've watched a whole slew of "Hot Rod Garage" in the last four days and I appreciate this a lot more since then. I can't help but have KSL open on one screen while watching the episode on the other cruising the car classifieds trying to figure out what I could pick up to do something like this with. Regardless, I've enjoyed the show and feel like I understand your motivation to do this a lot more now. Rock on and thanks for the update.
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
There was a CLEAN '83 Regal on there the other day. Swapping a Buick 455 and Turbo 400 into one of those would be just as fun as this
. I think there was an '85 T-Bird with 5.0L that'd be kind of a sleeper rig like this as well. Bolt on some 5.0 Mustang goodies on the T-Bird and go
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Yesterday was my day off work and the weather was beautiful, so I spent most of the day outside working on the car. I began modifying the wiring harness, installed the last two sensors, then routed and installed most of the harness. I finally found two radiator hoses which could be sufficiently modified to fit my application. I also found two heater hoses, each with a pre-formed bend to facilitate attaching them to the intake and the water pump. Then Mike showed up, taught me how to rebuild the Edelbrock carburetor he loaned me, and we installed that. He had a drop base air cleaner lying around, so he massaged it with a hammer to make it fit over the carb. It looks like a 3" air filter will fit under my closed hood (perhaps requiring me to remove a few spots of the support braces), which amazed us both.
It's starting to look like an actual engine:
The heater hoses were... interesting. As some of you know, the big block Chevy engine has a small piece of heater hose (the water pump bypass, I think it is called) going from the intake manifold coolant crossover down to the water pump. On my AirGap manifold and aftermarket water pump, these two hose barbs don't come anywhere close to pointing at each other. I made a couple parts store runs, trying to find some goofy pre-bent hose that might connect the two, but no luck. So we decided to get creative. My intake coolant crossover has two outlet barbs on it; who says the one pointing forward has to connect to the water pump? I decided to instead route that forward hose barb to the heater core. The barb that points up and usually routes to the heater core would now be used to connect to my water pump... and, amazingly, I found a pre-bent hose that actually connects the two.
I admit, the hose area looks a bit... busy. You know, because Roadkill.
Soon.
It's starting to look like an actual engine:
The heater hoses were... interesting. As some of you know, the big block Chevy engine has a small piece of heater hose (the water pump bypass, I think it is called) going from the intake manifold coolant crossover down to the water pump. On my AirGap manifold and aftermarket water pump, these two hose barbs don't come anywhere close to pointing at each other. I made a couple parts store runs, trying to find some goofy pre-bent hose that might connect the two, but no luck. So we decided to get creative. My intake coolant crossover has two outlet barbs on it; who says the one pointing forward has to connect to the water pump? I decided to instead route that forward hose barb to the heater core. The barb that points up and usually routes to the heater core would now be used to connect to my water pump... and, amazingly, I found a pre-bent hose that actually connects the two.
I admit, the hose area looks a bit... busy. You know, because Roadkill.
Soon.
Last edited:
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Looks great! What distributor are you going to run?
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
I already have a Summit HEI distributor, new in box and ready to go. I figure that will be installed very late in the game, after I prime the oil system. I already have some Taylor 8.2mm plug wires as well, but I obviously won't be installing those until after the distributor.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I love how the 454 fits in there with room to spare!
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
I unexpectedly had to fly back to Ohio last week. My older sister (who lived in Ohio) committed suicide, and nobody saw it coming. It was a great shock to the entire family, and it was particularly difficult for my mother. Us remaining kids who live out of state all dropped what we were doing and went home for a week to comfort Mom and help her through this. This certainly wasn't the occasion any of us had ever desired to get together, but it was good for the whole family to be united again. It made a noticeable difference.
If I were selfish, I would complain about how that trip made me miss out on a week of beautiful weather in Utah. Lucky for me, our Indian summer continues. The weather is perfect for a day of outdoor wrenching, so that's exactly what I did yesterday. As the project nears completion, I am constantly amazed by how long seemingly-simple processes can take. In other words, I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I had hoped. Even still, I have managed to cross some things off my cardboard list.
My initial goal was to get the power steering pump installed. Once it was in place enough to judge a proper belt length, I made parts run #1 to O'Reilly for a couple belts (because you always buy two or three sizes to ensure to have one that fits properly) and also to Ace Hardware for a couple short bolts to finally attach the transmission mount to the crossmember. Back at the car, one of the belts did work. This meant I could tackle the very last PS issue: hoses. The return hose just clamps to a barb on the pump, so I just reinstalled the stock V6 hose. The pressure hose looked like it could still work, until I tried to install it on the pump... only to learn my pump wants the flare style fitting rather than the o-ring style fitting of the hose. Hmm.
Back to O'Reilly I went for parts run #2. I returned my unneeded belt, then inquired about a PS hose that would fit the pump. They didn't have anything on hand that would work. However, my parts guy** gave me an idea: I'm gonna see if I can just snip off my current fitting, flare the tube, and install it that way. I don't have a flare tool of my own, but he does and he offered to help me flare the tube. Now I was wishing I had brought my hose with me. Oh, well, I can tackle that another day.
But, hey, the front of the engine is almost entirely done:
Now it is time to focus on the transmission and the underside of the car. Up on jackstands it went. I used the floorjack and a chunk of wood to gently lift the trans off the crossmember, allowing me to loosen and slip the crossmember side to side to get the holes to line up with the trans mount. This is when I remembered one of my crossmember bolts was missing and I need to buy one. Anyway, as I went to install my shiny new trans mount bolts, I now decided I wanted ones that were 1/4" longer than the ones I had just purchased. So it was back to Ace Hardware for parts run #3: longer trans mount bolts plus the last bolt/nut combo for the trans crossmember.
Back at home, the sun was setting. I had to grab a flashlight to install my latest purchase. At last, the transmission was lowered and its mount was finally bolted to the crossmember, and the crossmember is now fully torqued in place by all four bolts. At least I could say I accomplished something today.
As I left for work this morning, I took the two photos above plus this one just to post in this thread. Next up will be the starter and oil filter, fabbing up the trans cooler lines, installing a trans dipstick tube, a floor shifter, and the TCI EZ-TCU. Oh, and measuring for a driveshaft.
So much to do....
** -- The AF O'Reilly store has an awesome employee named Eric. Even though he is considerably younger than me, he is a total old school car guy. He has a '71 El Camino that he engine swapped to a big block, plus he owns one or two G-bodies from the '80s, and he just bought a '64 El Camino for pennies and is getting it on the road. Anyway, he is the dream parts store employee for a project like this. I can walk in and explain what item I need in my hodgepodge vehicle, and he instantly knows exactly what will work and he find it immediately. He never asks the annoying "what year, make and model?" question because he simply doesn't need to.... not that it would help in my case anyway. My co-worker Mike and I go to this store almost exclusively even though we both have other O'Reilly stores closer to our homes; if we walk in and Eric isn't there, we just turn around and walk right back out. I love this guy.
If I were selfish, I would complain about how that trip made me miss out on a week of beautiful weather in Utah. Lucky for me, our Indian summer continues. The weather is perfect for a day of outdoor wrenching, so that's exactly what I did yesterday. As the project nears completion, I am constantly amazed by how long seemingly-simple processes can take. In other words, I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I had hoped. Even still, I have managed to cross some things off my cardboard list.
My initial goal was to get the power steering pump installed. Once it was in place enough to judge a proper belt length, I made parts run #1 to O'Reilly for a couple belts (because you always buy two or three sizes to ensure to have one that fits properly) and also to Ace Hardware for a couple short bolts to finally attach the transmission mount to the crossmember. Back at the car, one of the belts did work. This meant I could tackle the very last PS issue: hoses. The return hose just clamps to a barb on the pump, so I just reinstalled the stock V6 hose. The pressure hose looked like it could still work, until I tried to install it on the pump... only to learn my pump wants the flare style fitting rather than the o-ring style fitting of the hose. Hmm.
Back to O'Reilly I went for parts run #2. I returned my unneeded belt, then inquired about a PS hose that would fit the pump. They didn't have anything on hand that would work. However, my parts guy** gave me an idea: I'm gonna see if I can just snip off my current fitting, flare the tube, and install it that way. I don't have a flare tool of my own, but he does and he offered to help me flare the tube. Now I was wishing I had brought my hose with me. Oh, well, I can tackle that another day.
But, hey, the front of the engine is almost entirely done:
Now it is time to focus on the transmission and the underside of the car. Up on jackstands it went. I used the floorjack and a chunk of wood to gently lift the trans off the crossmember, allowing me to loosen and slip the crossmember side to side to get the holes to line up with the trans mount. This is when I remembered one of my crossmember bolts was missing and I need to buy one. Anyway, as I went to install my shiny new trans mount bolts, I now decided I wanted ones that were 1/4" longer than the ones I had just purchased. So it was back to Ace Hardware for parts run #3: longer trans mount bolts plus the last bolt/nut combo for the trans crossmember.
Back at home, the sun was setting. I had to grab a flashlight to install my latest purchase. At last, the transmission was lowered and its mount was finally bolted to the crossmember, and the crossmember is now fully torqued in place by all four bolts. At least I could say I accomplished something today.
As I left for work this morning, I took the two photos above plus this one just to post in this thread. Next up will be the starter and oil filter, fabbing up the trans cooler lines, installing a trans dipstick tube, a floor shifter, and the TCI EZ-TCU. Oh, and measuring for a driveshaft.
So much to do....
** -- The AF O'Reilly store has an awesome employee named Eric. Even though he is considerably younger than me, he is a total old school car guy. He has a '71 El Camino that he engine swapped to a big block, plus he owns one or two G-bodies from the '80s, and he just bought a '64 El Camino for pennies and is getting it on the road. Anyway, he is the dream parts store employee for a project like this. I can walk in and explain what item I need in my hodgepodge vehicle, and he instantly knows exactly what will work and he find it immediately. He never asks the annoying "what year, make and model?" question because he simply doesn't need to.... not that it would help in my case anyway. My co-worker Mike and I go to this store almost exclusively even though we both have other O'Reilly stores closer to our homes; if we walk in and Eric isn't there, we just turn around and walk right back out. I love this guy.
Last edited:
D
Deleted member 12904
Guest
Sorry about your loss. Its defiantly cool to find a good car guy at the auto parts store.
Last edited by a moderator:
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Thank you both.
I have really missed working on a car project, so this whole swap has been very therapeutic in a number of ways.
- Location
- Smithfield Utah
Really sorry to hear that sorry for your loss
Love seeing this build come together--lookin' good.
Love seeing this build come together--lookin' good.