Projects Plan II - 62 Chevy II Drag Car

I'm thinking your guide to stem clearance measurements will influence your path forward.

 

What's with all the negativity, Man???

 

Jim ,
I understand,,,,,,but I believe the valves sealing will be of the most value ,,,,,and the guide clearance will make them last much longer .
That is a very nice car in my opinion,,,,,,and you don’t want it to let you down somewhere .
And besides,,,,,you might decide to make the trip to Bowling Green next year,,,,,,it would be great to see you here in the Southeast below the Mason/Dixon line sometime .
Lol .

Tommy

 

"You gotta ask yourself"



I'm sure Jim does.

 

A standard head service should be all they need. I forget what the going prices are, but a buddy had the aluminum heads on an OT Corvette freshened to the tune of $500, nothing was replaced. My 1st set of heads I had gone over was in 1973, $22 a head + parts. Cost me $57 to get them back. I was back on the road for under $90.

 

Yup, that's all they need.

 

I think todays' machine shop pricing mentality is based more on you paying them ahead of time for a warranty claim.

 

I deal with a shop that has been around since 1963 and he has a guy there who does nothing but performance heads. Every price he's thrown at me has been fair. Older shops have that cafeteria style of pricing. I had another shop did work on my stock car engines, however the owner passed away too soon and the shop folded up.

 

I talked to Ross, he said he'll be around his shop next weekend, and I can do some guide and seat work.

I pulled the transmission apart today....hmmm....only a little time and a bunch of miles on this thing, and already getting a little toasty. I did find another pump in my stockpile, which might help the buzzing when it's cold. I ordered some new clutches.

 

Nice build!!
Common sense is in short supply....... now-a-daze!
6sally6

 

Jim ,
Yeah,,,,but how many hard launches has it seen,,,,,,an automatic behind a blown big block !
I’m sure it’s due for a refresh,,,,,,,I don’t see how those clutch packs hold up as good as they do .
You did good .

Tommy

 

Back to work, after some distractions. I put new rod bearings in. I also ended up working on the heads at my friend's shop. Measured the guides, they were one or two thousandths worn at the bottom end, but most of them still measured 2 or so thou clearance, so I decided to leave them alone. I ground the valves, and the seats. New springs and seals installed, and they're back on the engine. Time to get back to work on the transmission. I got some new clutches for 2nd and 3rd.

 

This is a great thread! One question, I was looking at your blower manifold, where does the upper radiator hose go?

 

Some where at the beginning of the thread you were thinking it might weigh around 2800 when finished. What did it end up at , and do you have the front and rear axle weight ? Just curious.

 

The thermostat housing, is where the upper hose connects. The thermostat was remote on the early intakes like this.



The car itself weighed right at 2700 when it was done, but I've added a bit of weight since then, less than 50 lbs more.

Also, I weighed the front/rear, and it was 50/50 split. I thought that was pretty neat.

 

I think you have another season at least; just enjoy it.

 

Good job Jim,,,,,did you decide to freshen the blower ?
It’s really easy for someone with your ability ,,,,I promise !

Tommy

 

I haven't got into it yet. I can do it any time...it's easy to take off....just need to round up the parts.

 

It was freshened after it locked up leaving st.Louis during a drag week event. The car was in the sealed hood class. Not wanting to break the seal took some doing to get the blower off the engine. It was lifted through the hoods. A friend of mine met him on the highway to pick it up and bring it to the shop for repairs. This was around roughly 3 pm. Around 11 pm it was ready to hit the road again. The drive still needed to be made with all the required stops. Arriving at indy the next morning with one hour of sleep day two of racing began. Then off to union grove for day three and sleep. Squirrel won his class again. It was a great effort.

 

Now that made me smile. Only a bunch of car-nuts would attempt to remove a blower, overhaul, and refit with the hood still in place. Pretty damn cool.

I attended a BBQ in the mid-90's with a similar bunch of people. One gentleman had arrived in a (O/T) 70's Datsun rally car. Road registered, but used for racing on weekends. His car ended up wheel-clamped. Around 100 car-nuts stood around, drinking beer, while he pulled the front suspension apart and removed the clamp. The parking authority were none too impressed.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Jim is my hero, everyone should have as much fun with old cars as he does.

 

AGREED!!!

 

That thermostat housing is very cool and interesting! Thanks for sharing it!

 

getting it back together...engine/transmission back in place, just need to connect everything together.

And I'm freshening up the header paint, it's been a long time

 

I’m very impressed with how the old paint has held up. I would have thought it would burn off very quickly.

 

It's missing little flakes all over, but yeah, they're still sort of white.

Still a lot of parts to install....but it's coming along.

 

I have to ask, what's with the old schlitz beer can?

 

Fun post to watch Squirrel, thanks for that. In the last photos of the floor I see no reinforcements, is it still a unibody car?

 

It's still a unibody car. I added some "torque boxes" to tie the rocker to the front subframe, and added sill bars in the roll cage. It's a rather stout tin can.

The beer can...is my coolant catch can. NHRA legal 16 oz.

 

And period correct, too!