Well went to slap the intake back on the block tonight after paint and clean up and my 4th bolt in the torque sequence is stripped! Of course its one I cant get at with a helicoil...It really pisses me off since I checked the threads with new bolts before I put the intake back on. The bolt threads nicely but when it hits about 20lb/ft it just keeps spinning! I guess I'm gonna have to pull it and put a helicoil in the p***enger side head! I'll be pulling the harmonic balancer and timing chain cover tonight so I can put fresh gaskets and seals on it! Then I'm gonna drop the engine in to test fit a set of headers I might buy off a buddy. They are short camaro headers that dump in the rear and I think they might clear the stearing box. A pic for the record! Its starting to look a lil better!
I smashed the hell out of my thumb in the process but I got the timing chain cover and balancer pulled in no time...now I have to find a new cover I don't really want a chrome cover but I can't really afford a fancy cover so we'll see what I can turn up!
I have vague recollection of slightly oversized bolts being available - maybe McMaster Carr? They are for situations like yours; if the bolt does not have to hold up to compression (just vibration) the little bit oversize will work in the existing threads (with proper sealant, etc.) In a home repair situation, I once just wrapped teflon thread tape (plumbing application) around a new bolt in a stripped hole until I got a 'good enough' fit - but I was just ***embling a shelf unit.
Yeah I've heard of several cheapo repairs, wrapping copper wire around the thread and things like that I just really don't want a vac*** leak. Its not in a watter jacket, and it only has to hold 30 ft-lbs
Anybody got any suggestions on a good way to fix this...Short of pulling the whole thing appart again and putting in a helicoil...I know thats probably the right thing to do! I just don't think it would be that big of a deal if there is a good fix (Hey if it comes with 12 than 11 will hold it right! JUST KIDDING)!
Seriously, try the strands of copper wire idea, high-temp silicone sealer on the manifold, and give it a try. If it leaks, then helicoil it. If not, count your blessings. Not much to lose except some time if it fails, right?
Better to fix it correctly now, while the engine is out of the car. It'll be a whole lot easier and you will have more piece of mind. Bandaid fixes are for the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Just grab a frosty one and go to it. Or two frosty ones...
I'm gonna drop the eingine in this week to test fit the headers and some other little stuff then I'll buy a new intake gasket and pop er back off!
well the headers didn't fit, and I'm gonna need to get new engine mount bushings...not sure how I forgot that! I'm gonna have to take my old exhaust manifolds and have someone extract the studs I snapped of during removal! I'm affraid of damaging them even worse! On the positive note I did get the bottom of the firewall spatter painted, and its coming along nicely.
What about getting a universal header kit from Summit or Jegs etc? The factory exhaust manifolds are pretty restrictive and that motor needs to breathe!
That will probably be what I go with at some point just don't have the money right now! My brother could weld up a nice set for me at some point! I'm just getting the itch to get it back on the road ASAP!
Got a few things done today! I realized I should not have painted the firewall yet! It was far from straight...I decided to leave the holes for the heater incase I decided to put it back in this summer so I wanted to make a removeable heater delete panel and I found a piece louvered anuminum I picked up at a swap meet last year (I think its from a model A inner door pannel?) and decided to put it to use. Shouldn't be too bad when its all done. Any way I got the firewall most of the way straightened up and got the panel cut out to cover it. I'm thinking about mounting it with standouts, not sure why just seamed like a good idea we'll see! I also finally finished the fab work on my removeable panels for the inner fenders and got a coat of spatter paint on them, should come out cool in the end! See what I mean...I didn't get a pic of the dents straightened out, this was half way through. I didn't realize when I clearanced for the valve covers I bulged out that whole area...I was wondering where all that material was going to! After the butchery! We'll see what it all looks like after touching up the firewall paint and letting this hammer finish paint dry! If it looks good it will all get coats of clear to set it up hard as a rock! I'm pleased with the way they came out for being formed on the hillbilly break!
Well I got a little done every day since Friday, and its amazing how much progress gets made if you do a little every day! I've got the p***enger side of the trans tunnel welded up. I did it my self (first real welding on my car)! It doesn't look as good as my brother's welds but he's got a kid on the way any day now and I want to save his services for my tig welding duties on the engine mounts! I have to address the floor where the steering column goes through, and thats the last major(for me) hurdle on the floor pan that I've been putting off because I'm not sure how I want to handle it! I don't want to got overboard welding everything in because I'm going to make or get a new steering column some time in the next year, and I'm sure I'll have to re-do it all. I cut out the hole for the shifter where the old one was all jacked up and made a panel to weld in but I want to wait till I see where the gennie will sit so I can get it right the first time. The front suspension is all degreased, under coated, and painted. The firewall is straight, painted, and clear coated. I don't really like my heater block off plate so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that? I clearcoated the engine after pulling the intake and putting a helicoil in the head where the stripped hole was. Got the fuel pump block of plate on. Re-installed the intake. Mounted the brackets for the Genni shifter. Now I need to get the broken studs out of the exhaust manifolds (not sure how I'm gonna do that?) and get the trans ****oned up when the new transmission pan comes in along with the timming chain cover from Speedway. I noticed a bolt in the transmission where the kick down cable used to be and when I tried to check and make sure it was tight I realized it was just a screw stuck in a rubber grommet and was probably where the leak I had was coming from! Now I've got to get a broken kick down cable to cut appart or make a block off plate. Any ideas are appreciated! I will gladly buy a frosty tall boy for anyone with a good cheap way to plug this hole without diss***embling the trans! 2 sets of intake gaskets later! I know the Edelbrock Isn't exactly a period correct piece but neither is a 350 and I'm kind of attached to it so **** it! Maybe when the 283 gets re-built I'll find a nice period intake and multi carb set up! Ok enough rambling!
Since you already have a threaded hole and bolt, just make a block off plate and gasket the same shape as the area around the kickdown hole and retainer bolt. Drop the pan, dig out the grommet, clean the area, and install said plate & gasket with rtv. The trans isn't pressurized so if you let it set up real good you should be da kine good to go.
Thats what I was thinking...I don't have the pan permananty installed yet so tht wouldn't be too big of a deal...I think I can get the grommet out any way with out breaking it!
Got some more stuff painted today...Engine mounts, throttle linkage, alternator bracket, oil pan, etc. I'm going to make a piece to cover that kick down cable hole off tomorrow.
Well I'll get some more pics posted soon...I'm trying not to bore you all too much! I got a plate over the kick down cable hole. I got the timming chain cover and trans pan in from Speedway today. I also got a few other things painted, and prepped...Of course I ran out of cast coat grey (the only color I need right now) so I can't ****on up the engine! I got my exhaust manifold studs removed today by some guys at work and they had to drill and tap them from 5/16 to 3/8 so that should be interesting!
Well the engine is almost ready...I've got to figure out the details of mounting my alternator. I have the old alternator mount bracket but its big and ugly. I need to gasket up the transmisison and plug in the torque converter, then bolt it together and drop it all in! I also need to clean up the old starter and the alternator to get it all ready to mount! Oh and I never got my transmission cooler! Oh and fixed up some of the ugly-ness around the steering coulmn as part of getting the firewall all sealed up...The fumes were getting pretty rough last summer! You can also see the throttle linkage all painted up.
Ok were getting close to touch down! I had an issue getting the torque converter bolted to the fly-wheel! Till a call to my cousin(who already bailed me out on the kick down cable cover up!) helped me realize that I had the first 2 bolt tightened down and the 3rd was loose and I had the whole thing in a bind so I couldn't spin the engine around to get to the last bolt. As soon as I took the bolts loose the whole thing spun into place and I got it all tightened down and flush at the bell housing and the fly-wheel! This engine and transmission is leading me to change the name of this car or look into a sponsorship from Heli-Coil! I've got 7 of them in it between the intake bolt, the exhaust manifold bolts, and the transmission mount bolts! I'm a master at the use of the helicoil now...Trust me I didn't strip any of these bolts(this time) I may have stripped a couple of them the first time I built the engine! But the others were not my doing! Had my helper in the garage again all night! Next time you see this motor it will be in the car!
Yep Its been some priceless memories...He's only 2 I cant wait till he gets a little bigger but at the same time its awesome to watch him trying to figure everything out! I'm already in the market for another roll around so I can give him the one my dad handed down to me. Plus he's a tool theif!
Well go it all in...been having a few issues with the Gennie Shifter and I just realized that I'm gonna have to get a new water pump pulley, and I also need to come up with a new alternator mount...I'm thinking about trying to mount it down by the timing chain cover with a low mount alternator bracket, theres more room down there than I thought. I'm also gonna need to get a better fan I hate the flex fan that I have! The shifter is proving to be a ***** to adjust! But its gonna look bad ***! You can see the miss alignment, any body know what application would have used this water pump and had a double groove pulley if any!
The Jalopy Journal
