Ok, here it is, just finished spraying final coat of satin clear. Turned out fine. It's drying overnight then reassembly can begin. Ordered a few new odds and ends, wire clips, radiator isolators, and windshield molding screws to make it right. My biggest goal is to stop and control corrosion. Eventually I will do internal frame coating and would like to separate the body from the frame to clean and coat the under side before any corrosion starts anywhere else.
New cowl weatherstrip came today. It was a GM Goodmark reproduction and it came with no clips and didn't even have the holes for the clips in it! Buyer beware! Luckily I had all my old clips still, but had to go buy a leather punch to make the holes for them. Installed a new pilot bushing in the virgin crank, had to sand it out first a little then went in easy. Then put on the lightweight aluminum flywheel and new 6 puck clutch on. It's ready for trans stabbing. Also sanded down and painted the used headers I have for it. They were wrapped but it was falling off. I used red high heat 2000 paint and clear. Turned out more orangey, but its fine.
Andy, just out of curiosity, what was the brand and part number of the pilot bearing? All the ones I've used were not exactly the right size. Almost like they were a few thousands too big. Last one I had to bring to my clutch guy and have him machine it down a little
Cook- Here you go. These are the correct ones. I've successfully installed (2) of the Chevy size in 455 cranks. Looks like the oversize it for a crank that wasn't machined like the old Dick Miller piece. http://www.autogear.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/pilot_bushing_chart.pdf
It came with my clutch kit from Oreilly Auto Parts, Power Torque Part # K5552-03CB. The old pilot bushing in the original engine fit loose in the crank and pulled out by finger. So a new one in that will prob have to be oversize a little unless I can get some sealant to hold it in place maybe. They make those roller bearing type ones too but harder to get those in without damaging the bearing on install.
All my cars have taken a back seat for a while due to being extremely busy at work for the last two months. Should finally be slowing back down to enable getting back to work on cars at the end of this week. I have the temp 455 back in the engine bay at this point. I wired up some new gauges as the old mechanical ones needed replacing. Also installed headers only to find out TA headers don't clear the trans cross member with a 4 speed car because it mounts in the most forward holes in the frame vs autos that use the further back holes. So I also had to buy a Summit racing cross member. Holy cow is that thing beefy. It's probably double or triple the weight of the stock one! Hope to get the car start-able by next weekend!
Started and took it on its first drive yesterday. Pretty much spent the whole day making the exhaust. I pieced together a 3" system by buying the tailpipes first for around $80, then the universal x pipe kit for $100, then thehangars for $40 and mufflers were around $80. Saved a little bit of money this way. Turned out perfect though. Used v bands before and after mufflers so the system comes apart super easy and quick with only collector gaskets to deal with. Runs good, but there's a vibration I need to find. Could be from the headers being so close to the frame or the cross member that got rid of some of the rubber mounts but it feels like it's something on or in the engine cause it vibrates when you rev it. Hopefully not something stupid like the flywheel or clutch cause that would suck immensely. Did first drive with hood off and also found and fixed a leaky radiator cap. Nothing else just yet. Got the hood back on last night so I can go for a longer drive after I peek around and ensure everything is still good.
Fixed a few small things here and there, drove it around a bit more. Then one morning it started popping and backfiring at idle and thru the gears. Got new cap, rotor, wires, and American Autowire SE ignition because I am 90% sure it is ignition related and needed all these things anyway. Going to go install today and hopefully get to test drive before bad weather moves in this afternoon. Then I can start working on replacing the turbo on my 240sx and get that back up and running. One thing I can say though is that the Buick hauls pretty darn good!
God I wish I had never even attempted to use the electronic ignition kit! Car started up fine, ran good, went to pull out and it died and wouldn't start. It was getting intermittent voltage for some strange reason. Took it off, found some looseness in the base plate, tightened up, put back together and it ran, so drove it to gas station, filled up, went to leave and it died in middle of road, once again wouldn't start. Saw sparks between module and base plate so pushed car to parking lot, started raining, put points back in, car was still throwing intermittent voltage to the coil and points and wouldn't start. Started dumping rain, kept trying and it finally cranked up so hauled ass back home except now it's stuck in first gear and I can't get it out. Parked it, initiated refund on POS ignition, and calm down before messing with it again. Sucky day and I blame it all on that ignition !
Andy sorry to hear of your troubles. Keep in mind, you are not alone in having troubles, we all do! What brand of ignition module do you have?
Got it all fixed up and running right with a new set of points. Fixed the trans being stuck in first gear. Also installed some boxed lower rear control arms with polyurethane bushings. Old ones were a little worn and unboxed. Discovered the car has an Olds 12 bolt from a 1970 Cutlass. Looks like a 3.08 open. I thought it was a bit rough to get going...lots of revs, kinda a mismatch for a 4 speed. So guess I'll keep my eyes open for a 3.23 or 3.42 posi.
