Customs finishing off my pre-war cheveee project

pace is slow but parts are 2000 miles away .tRUMP is complicating every thing

 

found the time to install the inlet manifold i thought.had new gaskets after all permatex black and a set of arp bolts .offered up the gaskets .looking good.offered up the manifold to check the gap on the china walls.looking good.the cork gaskets on the ends fitted in applied the permatex and tried bolting it up ran into problems here.all the bolts wouldnt thread in.looks like a combination of a light skim off the head combined with different thickness gaskets have stacked up against me.i was disapointed the cork gaskets were nt self adhesive like the last set i bought.so now im looking at loosening up the holes in the manifold to make some wiggle room.here we go

 

drilled the offendiing hole in the manifold a little and offered it up.started with a bolt in that hole and screwed the others in. all fitted well and left them all nipped up overnight.tested the cork seals they might fit but ill use the permatex black for the front and rear seal.tomorrows another day.there is a pint of beamish calling me

 

since im using the permatex to seal up front and back,i want to be sure of getting a good seal and not spreading the sealant all over i made 2 screw in dowels from 3/8 set bolts with 7/16 of thread and 7/16 long plain shank.i cut a slot in the tops so i can screw them back out.this should locate the manifold while im installing it .gave it a trial run but need to taper the top a bit more.hopefull it will do a neat job,till tomorrow

 

made time to fit the manifold.the dowels worked very well.i offered the manifold up with it sitting in the valley the cork seals 3mm thick didnt want to fit in.i needed a 4.5 mm bead of sealant i thought.wouldnt you know it the nozzle on the permatex wouldnt thread on to the tube.i tried a nozzle from a tube of silicone it fitted like a glove.cut the end to 4.5 mm and applied the permatex dropped the manifold in situ the dowels located it ,just leaving a small bulge in the sealant .great to have the valley closed up at last.yeehaw

 

got a valve cover gasket question.pic shows a serrated internal edge on the valve cover gasket(cork )should this serated edge face the top near the intake manifold or on the downside above the exhaust ports in the head.cant find instructions anywhere HELP

 

or are the serrations near the exhaust ports

 

never seen the serrations before. don't look like it matters in your configuration

 

will fit them facing up where they correspond to the notch in the valve covers .

 

started fitting the carb.better have a look inside to be sure all is well in there.opened up the float bowls to find a lot of tiny rust particles in there.the issue is the fuel pump a mild steel part in the pump has rusted from the motor being idle.my fuel filter is between the tank and the pump not catching this debris.need another filter between pump and carb.its a holley petrol pump and i expected more how much would a small stainless part cost in the bigger picture.a black mark for holley disapointed.borrowed a ultra sonic parts cleaner will clean up the carb with it.jets are 70 on the primaries and 78 on the secondaries.damaged the 70 s getting them out.ive ordered a selection of jets they are on the way.ive allways felt the carb was running rich so ill have the opertunity to lean it a little when the jets arrive some time soon

 

wasnt able to ultra sonic clean the carb.its not working.flushed it out with wd 40.still waiting for jets.discovered the demon rebuild kit in an old container.it had a new vacuum diaphram i had to order from stateside and plenty gaskets.anyway put that away where i can find it again.mounted the carb,new gasket and stainless locknuts.home made tv cable brackets and modified throttle bracket fitted well.it was difficult getting the carb springs located but eventually got them there.job left is to solder the cable ends and tidy up. i had made a bracket to hold/protect the mechanical temp gauge pipe.it was a litttle long so wound it around a piece of 1/2 qualpex pipe .and treated the probe to some sealant .there was a slight weep there for a while.hoping for the best

 

for today considered wrapping the headers.after arsing about decided against it .rubbed the headers down with wet n dry and polished up on the mop looks passable installed with stage 8 bolt kit to try keep them tight.one done ,one to go.hot rod assistant tightened a few arkward nuts n bolts with me.no sign of the choke cable if i had it id hook the choke up.looking forward to getting that done.

 

other side done.i had borrowed a sonic cleaner couldnt get it to work.emptied it and was packing it to return when i spotted another switch on the back of it.started over and its working well with the switch turned on..so cleaned the metering blocks since it was working.threw 2 spanners in as well they came out nice and clean.heading down the pit to connect the exhaust back up.

 

today got a notification saying the jets are here and due for delivery.didnt arrive today maybe tomorrow.so started bolting the exhaust together drivers side went well.used gaskets made locally at the collector very happy with those can feel it squeeze tight.stage 8 bolt kit fitted well.coated the threads with copper ease.passenger side proved more difficult with the starter in the way and reduced access.didnt get this side completed.will give it another go tomorrow.i will need an assistant to finish assembly.bolts on the collector are 3/8 x 1inch x 16,with 9/16 hex head with a groove for a c clip.ill convert to stainless bolts at some stage,with stainless c clips.purchased a stainless c clip kit on ebay. thats the plan

 

Get it Chris! I wanna hear that engine purr.

 

not as much as me eric

 

we have dry sunny weather at the moment,but no heat,its good weather to get things done in the garage..so tore into the exhaust today.i didnt like the 9/16 bolt heads in confined spaces.tried to see if i had stainless c clips in the right size didnt .the clips were getting thin and rusty.the 9/16 bolt that wouldnt go in last night wouldnt go today either.had a look around my arp drawer.i had 3 arp bolts 3/8 x 16 1"long in stainless with 3/8 reduced heads for tight spaces.i drilled 3 for lockwire the difficult bolt went straight in as did the other 2.ended up with the top half of the stage 8 kit with the drilled arp bolts lockwired together.a tedious job up and down the pit for the day but happy how it turned out the way i wanted,and went together easy when i did the work.a mini starter would have sorted it too.but thats a starter plus shipping plus import duties plus possible tarriffs.im glad im near the end of the big spend

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/arp-623-1000 . used these bolts the 3/8 heads meant smaller stubby spanner and 1/4 drive ratchet did the job.nipped up the bolts and drilled the heads as i needed

 

ive had a weep from the speedo drive in the trans since wayback.i googled the thread on the speedo drive.its 5/8 x 18 unf .ordered a stainless dome nut to seal the small weep for the time being from ebay. hopefully a little permatex black will seal it.no jets today..........waiting

 

jets arrived swapped out the 70 s for 69 s on the primaries .have a few other sizes as well but need to get some miles up before i change anything else.went on a mission looking for the oil pump priming tool.located and on standby for the big day.

 

for today wiped the gasket surface on the heads with brake cleaner.wiped the surfaces on the valve cover gaskets.set them on the heads with permatex black.dropped on the covers and nipped them up lightly.

 

yesterday went looking for assembly lube .the containers are small,hadnt used for a long while .no sign of them drove to the local motorfactors they didnt have any but said they would get some in but it would be a week or more.no good to me this time around .went on ebay ordered a 8oz Lucas oil bottle from germany regular post and no duties from germany.ill have it in 10 days or less..i hate waiting tried to find the assembly lube again today and found 2 4oz bottles.1from clevite and 1 by spectro oil.2 4oz bottles over half full.cleaned off the dust with white spirits.look like new..started fitting the new comp cams rocker nuts coating where needed with assembly lube.got some done but ill be back to it tomorrow.after i break the cam in ill need to add the dual valve springs.its my intention to get a tray made up that bolts to the rocker cover studs in case of a dropped collet.be doing up the drawings for the tray and giving to a local fabricator who does nice work .that will be the next special tool in my collection.

 

visited that fabricator to see about getting the tray done .he wasnt interested in doing the job.left dissappointed but undeterred.purchased a piece of 1.5 mm aluminum sheet 1m x .5 m .spoke to my buddy mick about getting the tray folded up..can do will do attitude..i must cut roughly to size and drill a few holes and cut out the centre with my new jigsaw with hacksaw blades..hope we will get that done soon.tried priming the engine with my jegs oil pump primer at least i purchased from jegs.got oil to drivers side and some oil to pass side had a problem.it kept working itself loose in the drill.on inspection i discovered the end slipping in to the drill was ribbed, a bad design.we skimmed it in the lathe today it looks good. shaft is 3/8 at drill end .at this size the chuck was hitting a circlip on the shaft so we cut a new groove and moved the circlip about 3/8 away from the drill end. that should be good now.other alteration needed. we duplicated the end of the distributor so it would fit with less slop just like the dui distributor.well pisssed to have to modify the product.hope it will work properly now just like i expected it to.tomorrow will tell just needs some engine oil where the shaft runs through the bush.fingers crossed till tomorrow .there sure is some substandard products on the market .

 

seams everything made these days needs to be finished or repaired

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forum...age-your-engine-jegs-did-not-care.html.turned the motor for a while theres only a little oil on pass side.must have bought a defective part from jegs .pissed off again

 

looked at shipping a comp cam or an arp primer.arp=50 $ at summit .but would cost a multiple of that shipped plus customs and i wouldnt see it for 2-3 weeks.im comparing the lower bushing on the primer with my DUI distributer shaft.looks like the primer bushing is smaller in diameter and the grooves are in different places a new lower bushing with the groove in the correct location may well fix it. i hope so .made a start on the tray stuck the development drawing to the sheet of alloy.could move on that tomorrow

 

Damn Chris, can’t catch a break.

 

you said it eric.on closer inspection today the diameter of the bushing is close enough but its the groove in the lower bush is the problem.its not corresponding with the groove in the distributor .theres no oil coming across to the pass side.its a pain in the ass

 

upon further examination we decided on a new lower bushing with a new groove in the correct place.it worked ive oil at 15/16 rockers.need to investigate further.the tray is folded and tacked at the corners.it fits the drivers side but needs clearance for the trans dip stick .thanx mick you are the man.need to post photos

 

Haha…yes!