Getting ready to finally tackle the engine detailing on the 67 Vista Cruiser.
Current engine state. Someone painted it silver at some time. I'm hoping the valve covers are not too pitted. Will see after they are stripped.


So I've got the engine paint and will be removing and restoring all of the accessories. One question I have is the what do people do with the graphics on the air cleaner? See next image.



This doesn't seem to be a decal. Was this screen printed? If so I assume it is not replaceable when repainted?

Thanks,
Jim

 

IIRC someone was selling a decal or a stencil for that...maybe check the classified ads

 

The originals were screen printed .
Fusick Automotive sells a decal to replace it , as well as the other decals .

 

Charlie,

Thanks, I looked at their site and didn't see it. I went back and found it. Cool.

Another decal question. My vista Cruiser is the 330 4 barrel version. Should it have the valve cover decal? If so, where does it go? The research I've done looking at engine bays, I don't really see them on the valve covers.

Thanks again,
Jim

 

Personally, I'd just tape over the original stencil and paint the rest of it. Only original once.

 

There were no valve cover decals .
The engine size , etc was on the "pie plate " decal on the top of the air cleaner .
Here's a page from the Fusick catalog ;
http://www.fusickautomotiveproducts....s.asp?dept=982

 

Charlie,

Thanks, I saw this on Fusick's site which is why I asked.Thought maybe mine had it at one time but was removed when they painted it silver.
Valve Cover Decal From Fusick
Cool if I don't need it. One less thing to have to get.

Jim

 

Here is an update:
I got to work on the air cleaner.
After sand blasting



Painted.


Sitting on engine with decal and new top tin.


Getting most of the auxiliaries removed.

 

So I have a couple of questions about the engine detailing.
The research I've done says that the crank and fan pulleys should were not on the engine during painting so they should be black. But look at my pulleys.


You can definitely see the bronze paint on the contact surfaces. So what's the verdict? Black or bronze?

Also, does anyone have a source for these plugs/caps? It is under the hood near the fire wall. There is one on each side. I am missing the one on the right side.
Here's an image of the one I have.


Last question for now. I bought this clamp kit.


So I know that the large clamps are for. Are the smaller band clamps for the bypass hose? I assume the black spring clamps are for the long heater hose and the smaller steel looking spring clamps are for the short hose by the fire wall. Am I right?

Thanks,
Jim

 

I have some questions on the repainted air cleaner. i need to do one.

Did you sand blast inside and out. What method did you use.

What did you use for primer.

Did you paint the color inside and out.
Thanks
Wayne

 

Wayne,

I only sand blasted the outside since one, no one will see it and two, it wasn't all rusted. I didn't show it, but I also sandblasted the air cleaner tray (outside only also).
I did not paint the inside for the same reasons. Just didn't see the need.
As for primer, the paint I used (Dupli-Color DE1632 Dupli-Color Engine Paint With Ceramic ) said to not use any so I didn't and it worked out fine.

Jim

 

Jim, thanks very much for the info. Now I just need someone to blast the air cleaner.
Wayne

 

Jim,
Yes, indeed the smaller double wire clamps are for the T-Stat bypass hose. The constant-tension AKA spring clamps are for the heater and other small OD lines.
Do you have the J shaped bypass hose or the metal line with the two jumper hose pieces?
Keep in mind on the single J shaped hose the double wire OEM style clamps will bottom out before the hose is tight. The repro supplier used the thick wall hose dimension to make the clamps and yet only offers the thinner junk bypass hose.
The original hoses had a larger OD. These repro hoses are much smaller on the OD. They also swell when you throttle up the engine(new hose!). Not good on either account. Country of origin...likely...ummm...shocker!
I was forced to dig through my parts hoard to find a good serviceable pliable used hose. Someone needs to repro the correct OD thick wall hose. Chineasium won't cut it here...or anywhere on American Muscle IMO!

 

Thanks for the information. I have the "J" shaped hose. I bought a new one from Fusick. I will check to make sure it is clamped correctly. What do people do to mke the clamps work if they bottom out? is there anything special to do when installing the constant tension spring clamps?

Any idea about the pulley color question?

Thanks again,
Jim

 

I had a heater hose blow off the heater nipple with a spring clamp, so I put two clamps together. Still going strong.

 

 

So I took out the new thermostat hose that I got and matched it up to the old one. See photo below.



They look to be the same thickness and OD. I wonder if they are making them better.

Jim

 

Engine detail update. Got the engine painted and wires cleaned. Now reassembly and more detailing. Still need to finish valve covers too.

 

That looks nice

 

Finally done! Started right up after about 6 months being dormant. So far no leaks!

Thanks for everyone who helped answer my questions.

Jim

 

You did a terrific job! Looks totally sano!

 

Thanks, In my book, engine detailing is one of the more fun things to do on a car. You don't need a loot of special tools and it's always cool to see the pieces all come together. Now the trick is to keep it this way.

Jim

 

Completed the air cleaner restoration for my 66 Cutlass vert. Had the air cleaner blasted removing all of the old paint and seal. The blaster also primed it nicely for me. Painted with paint I prchased from Fusick at Homecoming. I installed the new seal correctly applying it to the top part. Installed new 'pie pan' decal and the new side decal. It's nested nicely on the engine aging so I can cruise this saturday. I think it turned out nice. Thank you to all of those on OC and others for their help. Couple pictures attached.
Wayne

 

Hello everyone,

First thanks for everyone's advice on my engine issues.

I decided to not do the rebuild but instead took the whole engine bay apart leaving the engine intact. With everything out, I was able to clean the engine, remove the exhaust flapper in the driver side manifold and go through all of the wiring. On my detailing, I made sure both ground straps to the engine were reestablished. New battery cables and all new radiator hoses.

After getting everything back together, I checked the timing and it was about 6 to 8 degrees. The car ran ok, but continually kept getting worse. It started to really hesitate on acceleration. Ughhhh!

After getting the engine good and hot, I wanted to check timing and vacuum and I saw this by cylinder 5.



A little pool of oil and with the engine off, I noticed a little bubble at the the intake/head gasket in this area. I checked the vacuum and it held 21 inches steady. I checked the intake bolts and I was able to tighten about three of them around #5 cylinder. I checked vacuum and timing again and adjusted the timing a little to get 7.5 degrees. Went out for a drive and major hesitation on acceleration still happened. The only good news was that the intake oil issue disappeared. Frustrated I gave in and gave the car to my mechanic friend.

He felt the hesitation and checked timing. He told me it was way off. I told him that I had just checked it and it was at 7-8 degrees. He told me when he tried to bring it into correct timing, it would barely run. He also noticed that the harmonic balancer seemed to have a little wobble to it. So he decided to find TDC and the the balancer mark was no where near zero. He set the timing by ear and the car ran great.

So there you have it. The ring on my balancer must be loose and has spun out of TDC. God only knows how long I've been running with the timing off thinking if was set. So I got a new balancer from Speedway

Here is the new balancer. Not an exact reproduction unit, but all the major dimensions are the same.



Here they are on top of each other with the key-ways matched and you can see that the timing marks do not match. So I installed it and knock on wood, it is running better than I have ever had it.

So, this is one to remember, check TDC when timing!

Jim