Project Motivation

[Torchie]

When I was growing up one of the older cool guys on my block had one of these.
He had a built to the gills 396 in it with what must have been a pretty radical cam.
I can still remember waking up to the sounds of him repeatedly cranking it over waiting for it to fire. And when it did the windows of our house literally rattled.
Adults neighbors hated it. But we kids thought that it was way cool.

Torchie

[TruckRat]

My dream car. I had a 69 Chevelle after high school. Had a few guys older than us that ran around together. 1 had a Chevelle like this one and the other guy had a 69 442. I been wanting 1 ever since. But wouldn't mind the 69 442 either.

Enjoy it.

[christcrusader13]

Thanks for all the comments guys. Things have been busy, busy, busy at the 'Ranch'.

I managed to get the ignition cylinder fixed. Drilling out the old one and installing a new one. So with a hot battery got the old 327 to turn over.

After swapping to another carburetor, because the one on it had a bunch of plugs missing and was sucking more air then I cared to fool with.

Setting up a temporary gas tank with a 2 gallon can and a hose directly to the fuel pump. I was able to get her at least running for a few minutes.

Low and behold we spring a leak! I guess this is a pure example of 'Chrome Don't get ya Home!'

So next will be replacing the thermostat housing with another Chrome one because I can't let one leak chrome thing stop me from using another one, right?

Well the boys love the sound of the chevelle, because the heads are all bashed up, so it may as well have open headers, the exhaust is a bit pointless right now. Fortunately I have new headers and some mufflers, so hopefully we will get those on the car soon.

The short list is....

Thermostat/water neck replacement
Trans pan gasket
Headers and mufflers
Get is mobile so I can test the old drum brakes (YAY ME!!!!)
Then maybe take ti to cars and coffee next month

OH I forgot I need to fix the huge hole in the drivers floor!!!

That's it for now

[christcrusader13]

So, I got the water neck off, and man, what a mess, I am glad I didn't run the car long, or else the coolant would look terrible, fortunately it's all clean and green.

I replaced it with an aluminum one I had in a box with a bunch of other stuff from when I moved back in November... yeah still unpacking...

Well until next time...

[christcrusader13]

Finally got the car mobile enough to get it in the garage. I have one brake that grabs much quicker than the other, so it was a bit tricky moving it around, but she's in there.

Now it is time for disassembly enough to get the car mobile. Then see if the engine is going to need a rebuild. After that we will take it all apart and make it 'shiny'.

On the to do list...

Remove trans pan and remove the broken bolt out of the turbo 400. Probably an easy-out will do, if not the old tap and die will be implemented.

Clean up all the oil/fluid/filth

Repair the floor pans

Remove the old smashed up headers

Find the oild leak

[christcrusader13]

The old headers on this 327 were in rough shape it looks like at from point the PO drove over several things in the road, or did some serious hill hopping. As the bottom of the headers were all bashed up.

In the process of removing them it became clear some of the bolts, were very stuck in place. So after PB blaster overnight and no success on a few tight area bolts, I decided the safest route was to cut the headers away to gain access with a quality socket. Once I got the socket on, they came right off.

And while I was at it I found what I believe to be the culprit of the oils leak, which was a lose valve cover or back gasket on the back of the passenger head.

Did a little mock up on the old floor pan that came with the car, so hopefully it will be going in soon.

[Bamamav]

Check the rear gasket on the intake while you're at it CC. They're bad to slip out of place when you put the intake on. I always just leave them out and seal the ends with a big line of silicone.

[christcrusader13]

Originally Posted by Bamamav

Check the rear gasket on the intake while you're at it CC. They're bad to slip out of place when you put the intake on. I always just leave them out and seal the ends with a big line of silicone.

Thanks for the tip! I will have to take a peek and see what the story is.