Projects My Dale Velzy/Sam Conrad Roadster Build Thread

I’m having my buddy at the local automotive machine shop make me a pilot bushing so I can mate the Hydro to the Olds and mount it in the chassis.
Once it’s in there I can install the heads and finish assembling it. I have a stock 4 bbl manifold and carb that I will use for break-in. I dug out a distributor, cleaned and inspected it. I installed new tuneup stuff and it’s ready to go.
I’ll install the DuCoil distributor and the 6x2 intake after I run in the engine some.

 

There should be a "cool thread alert" on the HAMB so I don't miss out on why I signed up on here in the first place. Great build so far and lots of pictures that my juvenile mind can wrap around. Keep it up! And way to keep those chrome shops profitable.

 

Man, I don’t even want to think about the cost of the chrome! What’s discouraging is that his prices have risen a bunch while the quality of the last two batches dropped. There are a lot more scratches visible in the finished parts than there are in the first few batches. They needed another copper plate and buff. I never push him to hurry, I plan ahead and give him all the time he wants. Plus I pay cash, no arguments. Thankfully, most everything is done, including the parts for my other projects. So, yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got his retirement account fully funded.

 

Bob, who do you use for plating ?

 

I'd rather not say. I like him personally and he does stand by his work if you have something that nickel shades or something. They are local to me up here in NorCal.
I had everything done, especially the major pieces because California is supposedly shutting down all of the decorative chrome shops this year. He said they haven't set a date for the shutdowns, and it's being fought in the courts, but they are low-hanging fruit for the politicians looking to pad their Green stats.
The stuff I have left that may need plating is stuff that I can buy reproduction parts cheaper than I can have it plated, or it's small enough to ship out of state if I have to. I think all of the roadster stuff is done except for the upper dash rail. It was chrome on the Sam Conrad car, but I go back and forth on that piece. To chrome, or not to chrome....

 

Always chrome

 

Thanks

 

I decided to go ahead and chrome the dash rail, I just can’t help myself, maybe I need an intervention. Lol. Actually, I forgot to get the shifter handle rechromed and I have some rear door latch parts for the Morris woody that need plating. So, it’s off to the chrome shop Monday.

 

I got my hybrid pilot bearing back from my friend Willy’s machine shop. I sacrificed my lathe power outlet for my new mini- splits so I could work during our 100+ summer days. I need to rearrange the north wall of my shop so I can move the lathe down to the other power plug but I’m lazy and besides, my buddy likes to do little oddball projects, so I gave him a drawing and let him have at it. We settled on a standard Chevy bushing with an aluminum adapter ring.

Just a quick fit check, I’ll install it tomorrow.

I'm not sure about the depth. I’ve seen some strange Olds pilot bearings. I’ll do some more dimensional checks tomorrow and hopefully it will go together well.
Olds guys; note the plate that I made to mount the extended Olds block onto my old engine stand. It moved the load closer to the head/pivot so it’s not so quite so tippy. Even though it’s a big old heavy duty ‘50s or ‘60s stand, it was still somewhat unstable when I had the complete engine on it during disassembly. It’s better now but you still have to be careful moving it around.
It’s supposed to rain all weekend, so if all goes well I’ll have the short block and transmission in the chassis this weekend.

 

Hey Bob, you don’t need an intervention for chrome, you need an enabler. @Bandit Billy will be along shortly to explain

 

That is the question.

And that is the answer!

@bchctybob Remember the pledge " “God, grant me the sanity to accept the things I cannot chrome, money to chrome the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. "

 

"Chrome don't get ya home" but "Home is where the chrome is"!
Just ask@Bandit Billy

 

Ha, ha, ha….. I feel so much better about myself now. Thanks.

 

Well, as usual I didn’t get as much accomplished today as I hoped. We had torrential rain and wind starting around 8 this morning. The power went out about the same time as I was making coffee. It let up just after noon so I went out and set siphon hoses running on my boat, the bed of the Stude, and then swept the water out of the shop. No power until around 3:30.
I got out the ‘55 Olds torus assembly and sure enough, the guy I bought it from didn’t include the spring, spring seat, snap ring or the big nut and washer. Luckily I found my spares. I found the flywheel bolts and the torus cover bolts so I have everything.
I cleaned the flywheel carefully. It forms the other half of the torus cover and the transmission side is flooded with ATF, so the crank surfaces and the outer sealing surface have to be clean and smooth. Likewise, the torus cover sealing surfaces. The last guy used Permatex hardening sealer on the torus cover seal so I had to scrape all that off.
It’s about half done here. I found that if I soaked a rag with carburetor cleaner and let it sit on the sealer, it got brittle and scraped off more easily.


Here you can see the serrations that help it to seal. Any little piece of old sealer or nicks can make it leak.


It’s half done here. You can see the springs, like a clutch disc that help make it smoother acting. Before installing it I’ll need to thoroughly rinse that area and blow it out. Any debris can get into the trans and into the valve body.

 

I’m posting some extra photos and details for anyone who might be curious about these old transmissions. This is the difference between the Chevy torus wheels and the Olds version.
The Chevy is the smaller one.



Part of me wants to use the Chevy wheels in the Olds cover hoping for a little more stall rpm, but everything I’ve read says that the Olds wheels provide 1800 rpm stall speed. That should be ok with my mild Ross Racing cam. And I don’t exactly relish the idea of draining the trans and swapping out the wheels if it doesn’t work like I want it to.
Now that all of the parts are accounted for and clean, I’m hoping to assemble this mess tomorrow.

 

This picture takes me back to the ‘60s and my C&O Hydros….

 

Two steps forward and…. Well, you know that old saying. Check out the last photo on post 159. Notice anything ugly, Walt (@vtwhead) did. He sent me a PM and saved me a bunch of embarrassment and work. The rear pan seal had squeezed out. Actually, in and out. I don’t know what happened to the little nubs that are supposed to help keep it in place. No, they aren’t in the engine.
It was really a mixed blessing, I had also forgotten to install the new oil pressure relief valve spring I got from Ross Racing. It’s in there now and the pan’s back on with the seals installed properly.
Much better…. Thanks Walt!

 

Man that hydro is cool!

 

I got back on track getting the engine and trans ready to mate up. I cleaned the flywheel and installed it with sealer on the flange and bolts.

I put off installing the pilot bearing until the engine is off the stand, I’ll have better (straight) access.
Then I did a final cleaning of all of the torus parts and assembled it.

So hopefully I’ll get them mated up tomorrow and into the chassis.

 

Looking really good!

 

I think I saw a chrome dash rail in the HAMB classifieds.

 

Thanks alchemy. Mine is at the chrome shop now, along with the gearshift lever and a small pile of Morris woody parts.
The good news is; the latest on the closing of California decorative chrome shops went from 2024, to 2027. So there is still time to take out that home equity loan and get that chrome work done. Lol.

 

After the oil pan debacle, and since it stopped raining, I switched to the Stude pickup for a little while. I reached a stopping point on the Stude this afternoon and since the sun was shining I took the opportunity to open the big door and bring in the cherry picker. I got the Olds off of the engine stand and the Hydro off of the bench and staged for assembly. I installed the new pilot bearing.

I'm not looking forward to wrestling with that big ring gasket that goes between the flywheel and the torus cover.
I think I'll leave that for tomorrow, it's wine time.

 

I'd use some right stuff on that gasket to hold it in place .wine time!

 

I used good old Gasgacinch and a small brush, trying not to get it anywhere but where it's needed. No problem.
The burning question: Now that they don't sell Toluene to the general public anymore, what thins Gasgacinch?
One final wipe down and the fun begins....

I put the transmission on a small car dolly so I could roll it around easily, the engine is hanging on the cherry picker with a ratchet strap set up so I can easily change the tilt. The torus cover doesn't fit through bellhousing surface at the back of the block, the engine has to go up and over the torus cover flange. Then, line up the pilot, two dowel pins on the flywheel and the bellhousing pins, and push. Did I mention that this all happens while lying on the floor next to it. It went together with no drama, just as Oldsmobile intended.
Next, you install a million 3/8 bolts. I got to use my handy-dandy flywheel turner. Here you can see the dowel pin (there's two - 180 degrees apart) and the torus drain plug. Remarkably, all of the bolts went in, no problem. Keep turning and slowly cinch them up.

Torque them up in increments - more turning, still lying on the ground. All torqued and retorqued.
Now there's a milestone (for me). As I got up and put the torque wrench away, my mind decided to screw with me. Did I torque the four big bolts that hold the little bellhousing to the trans case?? Aw, come on....
A few minutes later, I remembered cleaning the surfaces and the bolts, applying some LocTite and torquing them with my big old Harbor Freight torque wrench. Whew. I hate those moments.

 

I got out the bellhousing mounts that I fabricated earlier and went to install them. The lower bolt on each one actually goes through the bellhousing and screws into the starter housing. So, I have to install the starter housing so that I can install the mounts. Man, this stuff is beefy, big casting and lots of big bolts. I have an old Hildebrant starter crossover adapter that puts the starter on the passenger's side, but I was able to get the engine mounted in such a way that I could use the stock starter housing and starter.
That's the last piece that I needed to install before putting the engine and trans into the chassis. Sorry about the crappy picture, the sun was shining through the windows in the big door.

 

I had a little steering box work to do before I install the engine, so I quit procrastinating and got it done. I had previously made a "nutplate" to make the box installation easier, but I never attached it to the box itself. I attached it with two 10-32 stainless bolts. They bottom out and let the nutplate move a little to self-align. Much better.

I had been going back and forth about painting the steering box or leaving it gold cad. I painted it black and installed it once it dried.
That's the nutplate down in there. It was a bitch to hold the steering box and get the nuts on before.

 

Well, there it is, resting comfortably in its new home. I've gotta say, it's pretty exciting and motivating for me. Now I can finish assembling the engine, install the headers and build an exhaust system. With a little more room in the shop, I can now bring in the body and get it ready to go for paint.

 

Killer. It’s been great watching the trans go together, I learned a lot. The nut plate on the steering box is pretty damn smart!

 

Sanitary!