Whoo Hooo! I have a 1965 400 engine for my 1965 442 project done. I purchased the car as a basket case maybe 6-7 years ago and it's just been sitting. The engine that came with it had two rods that had lost their caps and caused all kinds of problems! Then the owner let it sit outside under the oak trees for several years. I did find a short block from another member here and took it to my machine shop. With the ecomony like it is, I told him to work on it between other jobs as I had plenty of other projects to keep me busy. Well, that was last fall! He's been busy and finally decided he have to just do my engine now or it wouldn't get done. I did have him drill out an automatic crank for a pilot bearing I got at Supercarsunlimted. It's a timken bearing so I was a little disappointed to see the "made in China" printed on it. Oh Well....

I just had to share a picture before unloading it from the pickup.

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Its like christmas!!!

 

Awesome news...another step closer to getting her on the road!

 

The Supercars bearing I know about does not require boring the crank, unless you mean a relief hole for the trans snout to go past it. Far, Far Far better would be to bore the crank for either the Bower 7109 stock bearing (or use Dorman 690-023 bushing in that hole), or bore it .55" deep to the diameter for a Chevy Dorman 690-014 pilot bushing. That supercars bearing is a "fix-it" to use an automatic crank and others have had mixed results with it.

Next, buy the Lakewood offset bushings and pull the stockers from the block. I drill them and tap then use a slide hammer to pull them. You will need to index your bellhousing. Stacked tolerances or aftermarket housings almost always result in the housing bore being off anywhere from .007" to .021".

Hope this helps.

 

Run to Rund, I did look at the automatic transmission crank fix bearing but the one I bought required the crank being cut/drilled out to the stock dimensions for a manual transmission. I got the spec's from someone on this site and I'm not sure if they did this with a lathe or drill. It came in a Timken box and here's a picture of it in the crank.

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Next time I convert an automatic to standard crank I'll look at the bearings you described in your post. John

 

If it was me I would copper coat the head gaskets from that gasket set you have in the picture. I would spray them and let set over night and then install them.
But that is just me.
Gene

 

Thank you for the tip Gene. So that's the spray can of copper coat gasket sealer? Light coating on each side? John

 

John,

Does this mean you're going to get one done? Congrates man, you one step up on me

 

Well Pat at least I'm making progress I had hoped to have it drivable this summer but it will still need a lot to be nice enough for a car show!

 

Personally I would skip the copper coating...No need for it...if it doesnt go on even your thickness is going to be all over the place...Cant take a chance with one year only engines... Use the Felpro gaskets as is and all will be fine

 

Story of my life !

 

Hey Johm, great news! I've managed to wrangle up two 400 B blocks so far. Getting ready to take one down to the machine shop to get going on the second car. Good Luck.

 

Cool! So your going to build the yellow one you got from down near Lebanon?
Any pictures you can share with us of your two cars? John

 

No, still haven't figured out what I'm gonna do with the 442 from Lebanon beast. It's pretty tough shape so maybe parts. I've got a another 65 442 from Texas so probably use the two to make one good one. Here's a couple shots of the Cutlass:

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Here's the other two:
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REALLY nice looking Cutlass!

Well, if both of the 442's can be verified as real 442's it'd be a shame to part one out. I personally know of six 1965 442's that have gone to scrap metal around the Rogue Valley. I still have two 4 door parts cars, the remains of the 2 door race car and a 2 door post 1964 F85. I've been a little hesitant to sell parts until I know for sure what I'll need for the 1965 442 project and my 1964 Cutlass project. So if you have the resources to save them both I may have parts you can use. If you decide to not restore them both, maybe I could come up with the parts you would have had to pull from the rougher of the two in some kind of trade? John

 

Both verified with correct frames, cowl tags, etc. The yellow ones a Freemont car and the primered one is a Lansing. Maybe your right or maybe there's someone out there that wants a 65 442 project.... orrrrr maybe a trade for parts. Whacha got to trade

 

I got more stuff to trade than the need for another project!

But that's not stopped me from dragging home other project cars
I know I'm an optimist, but if it's possible to save the yellow car I'd like to see it done, either by me or someone who has the time and resources to do so.

Do you plan to pass this way anytime soon? It might be easier for you to look through the clutter and see if there's anything your looking for. Or make a list of what you need for the Texas car and I'll see what I can come up with.

John

 

Ditto if you get up OC way.

 

watcha want for the primer 442. I'm very interested.

 

John glad your getting some stuff going not sure If I have seen pics of the 65 you have holiday or post car?

 

Congrats John! I know how you feel. I still have your 4 bbl intake sitting in the garage, carb on top, all nice and pretty waiting for that darned throttle braket. It gives me the warm fuzzy seeing engine parts all cleaned and pretty waiting in the garage, soon to be prowling the streets again.

Have fun.

 

Not sure I want to part with either yet..... The primered one is off the frame, frame is completely restored with new springs, bushings, brake lines etc.... Got the final parts for my 400 B Block couple days ago so getting close to putting it back together. The yellow one I may sell but probably not until I get the grey one done. But who knows
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Thanks Wes, Kevin. Yes it does feel good to see some progress. I still don't have the 1967 driving, but it's really close!

The story on the 1965 was I found it on a Craigslist ad. Previous owner was a Pontiac guy who decided to focus on the Poncho's again and sell his Oldsmobile stuff. I was happy to help The owner before him pulled the 400 out of the 442 and put it in his circle track car... then threw 2 rods. After that the engine sat on a pallet under the oak trees with the heads and oil pan off. The picture below is what it looks like. The block still may be salvageable, but I've not been able to get the pistons out yet to really see. Soaked ATF on top of them for about a year. I may just have to bust them to get them out. You can see one rod with a bent cap bolt, the opposite rod was snapped off at the narrowest point.
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The car had a heavy layer of dust on it from sitting in a carport. I should have taken a photo before wiping some of it off. It also had provided a roosting place for his chickens, so it had lumps in the dust
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There is rust around the bottoms of both the front and back windshields which rotted the floorboards. The previous owner tack welded in floorpans from a 1966 Chebby, but he didn't fix the windshields first which I still need to do

The trim tag says it should be a bench seat car, but the ratty buckets are the right color and the console brackets still have the factory tar over the tack welds. So... I don't know if it was a goof from the factory or what.
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I still need to do some work on the engine compartment before I think about placing a freshly painted engine in there
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Sounds like good progress so far John - think it will be up and running when i come visit you in 2 weeks?

Oldsproject, SWEET 65 you have, too! Another Oregon jewel!

 

Try soaking the block in evaporust...that will probably free the pistons etc up...And if you ever want to part with that steering wheel...mine is missing (the correct woodgrain one)..Im interested...

 

Factory goof since buckets were mandatory with the hardtop.

Check this one out, sat in a junkyard with the hood and carb off for who knows how long. Two pistons were spalled like 100 year old concrete. Could not get it unstuck.

 

Rob, we'll probably not be able to take it for a spin but if you've got a good imagination I'll describe plans for that one as well as the other project cars
I'm looking forward to your visit.

Scotty, evaporust, what store do you buy it in your part of the world?

TK-65, it's sad to see hard to find parts like that going away. Not to mention if it was still in a 1965 442 About 7 years ago I looked at a 1965 442 that had spent much of it's life on the California coast. A rust bucket would be an understatement. But I still wish I'd bought it as there were a few scarce usable parts such as the motor block/heads, etc. and the carb with correct tag on it. I lost track of it but it likely went to the melting pot.

 

Bummer...

Tell you what, I do have a pretty good imagination...
Just get the radio to work and i will bring a recording of some muscle car racing sounds.

Oh - make sure the front seats are installed, too...

I should be there on Oct 2 at about 3-4pm. PM me how to get there off of Hwy 5.

 

Scotty, evaporust, what store do you buy it in your part of the world?



Eastwood has a similar product...Evaporust is hard to find up North...some of the resto shops have it but i would think its easy to find in your area...check it out online...works great!

 

It was in this car, hit something in the front and bent the frame pretty good. Had a lot of rust too. Cool thing was it was Sterling Mist on the bottom and Ebony black on top.

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Mopar spray rust penetrant works well.