Projects Cutting my Hotrod Teeth (57 Chevy Budget build/revival)

Might take a bit of crank rotation to finagle it out, but I’ve never done one in a tri-5 before.

 

You know. Tearing the 265 down and slowly overhauling it would be good practice for the 283

 

Been wrenching all morning and just taking a break while my oil pan paint dries. Yes you can take the pan out pretty easily on a tri five, just have to take the idler arm off the frame and the pan comes right out.

RE the main seal… I’ve decided to leave it alone for 2 reasons. 1, I see no evidence of leaking from it. The flywheel has a small amount of dried oil on the engine side, but no streaking from the center. And 2, the oil pump bolt REALLY doesn’t want to loosen, and the last thing I want right now is a broken off bolt inside the engine. So for now, it’s going back together with a new pan gasket which I know for sure was leaking. If I have to add a quart of oil now and then, fine.

Since this is a “forever” car for me, chances are the 283 won’t be the last engine I put in it. The ultimate goal is a 327 4 speed and a 2 door conversion but for now I just want it on the road. The pan was pretty clean, just about a 1/4 inch of sludge just in the sump area, and no sparkles. The bearings feel okay to me, no major movement. The oil pan gasket was almost nonexistent. It looks like a paper gasket with rubber at the ends, and not much of it was left.

 

I’ve been on the lookout for an engine to rebuild just because I think it would be a good learning experience and I’d probably enjoy it. I even mentioned this to the guy I bought it from and he said most of the work is probably already done for me on it lol. I am going to do a compression test on it and if it has any weak cylinders, I’ll plan on tearing it down at some point.

 

Yeah and early SBC aren't quite like late 60s+ engines. So an early SBC like that 265 would be good to get familiar on.

 

You might as well build an engine run stand while you're at it!

 

Got her back on the road this afternoon and went for a test drive. The way the clutch feels now puts into perspective just how out of wack it was before. It’s MUCH lighter and I can feel it really bite down, whereas before, it didn’t have as much feel when the wheels started turning. As for the oil leaks, so far so good, but I won’t be surprised if it still leaks a little bit.

 

Think of how much smarter you are now than when you started. That’s called education.

 

It’s sure been a good learning experience. Eventually the head bashing turns into real mechanical understanding

 

I just got back from an extended drive since it’s such a nice day here and after driving almost continuously for over an hour in a combination of traffic, highway, and side streets, the car ran like a dream! It stayed cool, didn’t backfire a single time, and the clutch feels much much better. If I step on the gas, I get immediate speed increase now instead of a few seconds of slippage before the speed started. I’m also running at much lower RPM now, since the clutch grabs easier and I don’t have to give it so much gas to get up to speed.

A couple more photos with local surviving neon signs:

 

Yes, the three speeds are about 99% the same. The input shaft is different, though. A six cylinder input shaft necks down between the clutch disc splines and the front main bearing. A V8 input shaft has the same diameter in this area.

By the way, if you ever decide to swap in a four speed, here is what the shifter should look like. It's a bit hard to tell from the angle of the photo, but the stick is "C" shaped. This particular shifter is a Hurst Compe***ion Plus and is mounted on a late 1960's Muncie four speed. The shifter is from the late 1960's to late 1970's, with a welded on stick.

 

Excellent. Glad to know it's fixed, and glad you posted updates of exactly what you did to solve the problem. These build threads can stay on the internet for decades, and they're a great resource for other builders who may have similar problems and want to know what other people did to solve them.

I know I've personally benefitted from other people posting stuff on the web about issues they had and what they did to fix them, and at least a few have gotten info from me that way. The key is not to just post the problem, but update later what the fix was, and pictures help a ton.

Threads like this become more than just a build do***ent and place to BS, well updated ones are a troubleshooting resource for the future.

 

Man, these tri five sending units are GARBAGE! I installed my 3rd one over the weekend, and again it stopped registering on the gauge already! I’m sick of being under the car with grime falling on my face, so I guess I’m rolling with no gas gauge, and just filling up first thing every time I take the car out…

 

Absolutely! Some of the best resources for working on this stuff are random 15 year old forum threads. I’ve certainly found some answers that way.

 

A lot of new stuff is **** right out of the box these days. But if you've been through 3 of them, I have to wonder if the wiring between the gauge and tank doesn't have a short or too much resistance or something, 3 in a row is pretty odd.

I have a new one in my car and while it's not very precise (once it dips below 1/4 tank it doesn't seem to have any accuracy anymore, I always fill it as soon as it reaches 1/4), it at least still does something.

 

I’ll try running a new wire directly from the sender to the gauge. I know the gauge itself is fine because it goes to full when grounded, and empty without a ground.

 

You might also want to try running a ground wire from a sender mounting screw to the frame, to see if that may help anything.

 

This is a good idea too, it never hurts to have a cleaner path to ground for stuff like that. I've used jumper grounds in a couple spots on my '57 and has cleared up issues.

 

Well what do you know, the fuel gauge is working mostly fine this morning… I say fine because it tends to deviate from where the level actually is as fuel sloshes and whatnot, but it was close to full this morning after I topped off the tank right before I parked it last night.

 

This gauge acted like that. The sending unit would ohm correctly.

Note float held all the way up by a coffee mug and gauge reading.

 

Where are you getting your sending units? Guy I bought my 53 from had a 57 4 door I did some work on in trade for some parts. I used a sending unit from O'Reilly and aside from having to modify where it hooked to fuel line(possible that was on whoever installed new fuel lines in car) gauge worked nicely and still works five years later. Wasn't even trying to fix the gauge. Was fixing a fuel delivery issue as whoever built the car installed new tank, lines, and pump and carb yet left the original clogged sending unit. When I was done the gauge just happened to start working lol

 

This one did the same thing when I bench tested it. It does actually go to full, or close to it when it’s in the car though.

 

I’ve bought all of mine from rockauto, but have used 3 different models/brands. This newest one was highly praised over on the trifive forum, the brand is spectrum? I think? The float is plastic on this one since i thought the issue might have been the br*** floats.

 

That’s the one!

 

D’oh! I think I just figured out why I was losing oil! I forgot to install the actual PCV valve! I had the crankcase vent tube installed and a hose ran to the intake right behind the carb, but no actual valve! I kept having oil come out from either the fill tube or the intake around the fill tube and that would be why!

 

I know fir a fact the 283 in the car does not have the baffle in the oil valley needed for a PCV valve, so I popped the intake off the 265 and luckily it had the baffle still in place. Not thrilled to have to take the i take off the 283, but at least I have a full PCV system I can rob off the 265. Considering swapping the entire intake onto the 283 as well since it’s square bore and the one in the car now is spread bore with an adapter plate.

 

That'll do it. Glad you found it and you have been learning well.

 

You forgot the valve and the baffle!?