Now the fun part really begins, The 455 short block build! The 455 build for my 69 Sklyark will consist of a 72 block, crank and rods. .030 overbore, align honed, square decked, cleaned, yada, yada, yada. Forged SpeedPro 10:1 pistons, Clevite bearings, .010 under crank, TA cam bearings and TA288-92H cam. I'll be ready to send it off to the machinist next week. The very talented Gary Paine(Greatscat) will be putting the engine together for me.Plans also include TA Stage 2 heads and SP1 intake, Holley 950, electric water pump and Mallory ignition. I'll post more pics when I get the block back from the machinist...cheers!
Hi, I tried to look for a pic of your model car in this color but I found this... http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13317684045 :grin: (joking) Do you have a pic of a 68-69 in this color? I have to repaint mine, and first option is white, second charcoal, and third ? If you have a pic in charcoal please post it. Thanks.
What did you clean it out with? Mines a mess. I should have cleaned it out better BEFORE powder coat, now it's old cooked on lube with some blasting media thrown in.ou:
First thing I did was just use a bunch of old rags and wiped as much crud out as I could. Then I used paint reducer, it stinks, but it works great. I followed that up with a hot soapy water bath and then blew it all out with an air hose. I wire wheeled the caps and bolts then a light spray of WD-40:Smarty:
I got the steering gear box back from Chip at Power Steering Services. The thing looks amazing. I had him rebuild it with a 12.7:1 fast ratio conversion, his extreme detailing and a new rag joint. The block, crank and rods are at the machinist along with some forged pistons getting worked over. I have been spending hours at the wire wheel getting bolts cleaned up and painted. Some bolts get hit with a self etching primer then paint, some are left their natural steel color with a shot of clear coat. I like to use the natural steel color when bolting on something that is a darker color, like my oil pan which is black. I have painted alot of the bolts black since they will go on something a lighter color like my timing cover which will be a silver metallic color.
I posted this on The Bench also...but here it is anyway. Just a video of what I have done so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd-lyxjF9JM&feature=youtu.be
Since the engine is at the machinst till probably the end of March, I have plenty of time to start doing some body work. I spent some quality time with a wire wheel on my 4" grinder and had my way with the firewall/cowl area and got it stripped. I also cut out the previous owners handy work and put in some patch panels to smooth things out. A little more grinding and a lil filler and she'll be nice and smooth. I have lots of parts being delivered tomorrow, new floor boards, trunk floor, lower windshield channel and a lower cowl patch panel. So stay tuned, LOTS of progress coming. I loaded up another video to Youtube, this one is a walk around of the convertible body shell showing what I had to start with, so click on the link and check it out. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTVNJa9iFis&feature=youtu.be
I'm knee deep in body work now! Passanger side floor pan is in as is a patch panel I fab'd for the passanger side rocker panel. I have some body filler on the cowl and firewall along with the pass. side rocker. I want to get as much on as I can before I lay down some epoxy primer. I also fixed the rotted out lower windshield channel. For such a small piece I have alot of time wrapped up in it. I had to make sure I had the top of the replacement piece even with the top of the dash along with where the cowl mates up with the bottom of the channel. The tricky part was making sure I keep the curvature consistant along the bottom for when the winshield goes back in so that there is a nice fit.
nice work collin, i can relate to your story. i had two 69 gs`s one stage 1,400 and 1 gs 400,back in 85 at 16. and my mom was bull sh*t with the cars in the yard. if thay only knew what a gs is going for today$$$$$$. I have a 72 stage now.but i do love the 69 the best..ray p.s i like to see you restoring this car,like you said not alot of people would have done so. and the car is in to good of shap not to get done right...
Awesome build Collin, I'm really looking forward to seeing more. I've had my 69 Skylark convertible since 1998, and I've been working on my slowly ever since. I haven't yet gone all the way and takled a full frame off resto like you, but perhaps one day. Keep up the good work!
Check wrist pin clearance on these speedpro cheap pistons. I bought also a set and now i use JE Piston... here my thread Robert
I finally have been making progress again after remodeling our sunroom, fixing damage from a land hurricane, haveing surgery and losing my father in law to lung cancer. I have been working on the car for quite a few weeks now and can report progress. I finally managed to get the driver side front floor pan in along with the LH/RH rear floor section under the back seat. For the floor sections under the rear seat I had to cut the support braces out replace the floor section and then weld the braces back in. A friend of mine does powder coating on the side so I took apart my door hinges and had him media blast them and powder coat them semi gloss black. He did a great job and they look awesome, of course I rebuilt them with new pins and bushings.
I've have been putting ALOT of work into the trunk, it was a mess. The trunk floor was rotten as were the frame mount brackets and the gas tank strap brackets so I ordered up a kit that had all of that and got busy getting it put in. All the brackets line up and fit really nice as did the floor sections. I also had to replace the bottom section weatherstrip channel and a board member had one from a donor car, so I had it media blasted, took lots of measurements and welded her in prior to the floor. It seemed like it took forever to weld in all the trunk floor. Next time I spring for the more exspensive single trunk floor section vs the three piece.ou:
While I was on that end of the carou: I also needed to replace a section of the driver side trunk floor extension drop off. The passanger side is in great shape but the driver side needed some help. The problem is no one makes a 68/69 Skylark trunk floor extension drop off..BUT, after looking at pics for hours on the internets:Brow: I realized I could make one for the 70-72 Skylarks work. Lucky for me the lower section is what was rusted out on mine and it just so happens that the bottom section on a 68/69 is very similar to the 70-72's. So I ordered one for a 70-72's, hacked it up and welded it in. I also had to replace sections of the rear inner wheel wells. These are readily available and were a piece of cake.
When I got the car the PO had bought some other doors and fenders because the ones original to the car were rotten. While I was working on the trunk I dropped the doors and fenders of to a local media blaster that I always use to have them strip the paint and primer that were on them when I got the car. Of course there are always some surprises and I found a few, but nothing to major. They did a great job stripping them so all I had to do was weld a couple small pin holes and all the trim holes on the fenders and doors. I wont be putting the trim back on that runs along the fenders/doors and quarters. So, the holes got plug welded. A little more grinding and and they will be ready for epoxy primer sealer. I am gonna seal them(and the rest of the car) in epoxy primer before any body filler because winter in setting in here in NW Ohio. So, I need to beat the rust. I'll use what body filler I need to once I know the metal is sealed. When I got the car it didnt have any front inner wheel wells, I was lucky anough to find a drivers side from a board member that got it from a Texas car, it didnt have a lick a rust on it. I just found a passenger side front inner wheel well from another board member but havent picked it up yet. I cut out the antenna hole on the passenger fender and made a patch for it to eliminate the hole. As you can see in the one picture, the rot in the lower fender was the surprise I got when I got the parts back from the media blaster...its just another patch panel...:rant:
