442craig

Went to the engine shop the other day. Everything is coming along. The rolling assembly is in, now it's time to assemble the heads and put er back together! Cant wait to hear her sing again! "Should be a happy motor" is the quote from the engine builder!

Craig

442craig

More pictures of the head work

Craig

442craig

Well Christmas has arrived! I got the engine back and boy is it pretty (if i do say so myself) Now all I have to do is not screw it up. I left the flywheel at the builder so it is keeping me from mounting her to the transmission and ultimately to her new home. Also, the task of fishing through the bags of bolts for everything that goes with it! I'm finding the Edlebrock intake manifold has a few different application than the stock manifold. There is no place to mount the carb choke heat riser (I think that is what it is called, a coiled spring that mounts on the intake) a few vacuum ports in different places than stock and a larger hole for the heat/ac valve. Anyone have any advise on this?

Craig

Eddie Hansen

Craig my machinist converted mine to an an electric choke instead of the heat riser, I can not tell you how it works as I have been completely slacking!!!! the kit is available at summit and other places.... you can probably go to the plumbing aisle and find a brass adapter sleeve for the heat valve

Eddie Hansen

Motor Looks AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

442craig

I've been told I probably don't need a choke here in sunny southern California. No 20 below days to worry about! Thanks for the info on a choke, I'll see if I do need it she she fires up!

Craig

Eddie Hansen

craig it seems very simple just needs a 12V lead, and what if you decide to travel cross country or something... it was like 30-40 buckaroos...

I guess you could always convert to a manual choke too....

69442C

Craig,

Your engine looks great and I'm sure it will run as good as it looks. If you want to resolve the choke with the least amount of hassle, I would go with the manual choke as Eddie mentioned especially for where you live. Your carb looks too nice to start playing with it to convert it to an electric choke.

If you decide to not use any choke, you will need to wire yours so it stays open otherwise it could get sucked closed under heavy acceleration if it was left to flap around.

Brian

442craig

Where can I get a manual choke? Is there a kit for it? Sorry for my ignorance but even Indiana Jones had to blaze a few "new" trails from time to time!
Craig

Eddie Hansen

Here ya go indy http://www.summitracing.com/search/p...ke-kits?page=2

You californians always "blazing" something LOL..... the electric chokes are on page 1 bro... manual kit on 2.. most auto stores will sell a generic manual choke kit...

69442C

Craig,

I think I need to slow you down a little on the choke issue as it is not as simple as it first appears. Your carb cannot be converted to an electric choke because your carb which is as used in 68/69 models uses a divorced choke thermostat. The electric conversions are for use on carbs that have an integral choke coil to the carb and these came into the picture on the 1970 models. That style has a choke housing on the carb with a metallic coil and hot air tubes connect from the manifold to the choke body. The conversion simply removes the coil and replaces it with an electrically heated coil using the same coil housing.

Your carb has no choke housing but rather just linkage. Your linkage is designed to operate in a vertical up and down motion and there are 3 holes in the linkage to help adjust the tension on the choke. When you go with a choke cable, you will need to be a little creative with how you would connect the cable to the carb linkage. The cable will want to naturally lay at a horizontal level yet the linkage moves vertically. You could try to fabricate a bellcrank which would be like a letter "L" and the main pivot point would be in the corner of the L. The part would be angled slightly to the left also. This will allow the cable to move The upper part of the L horizontally while the bottom would move a piece of linkage vertically. The corner of the L would need to be on a stud attached to a bracket that would have to bolt to one or both of the carb studs on that side. It can be done but some creativity will be involved. Summit sells a Dorman kit that will have most of the cable parts with some you don't need and you'll need to fabricate the balance of the parts. This arrangement will also keep most of the manual choke pieces hidden below the air cleaner. Operate the choke linkage on your carb (open the throttle blades a little first) and you'll see how it moves and what needs to be done. Now you'll really get to blaze a new trail!

Brian

442craig

As the church lady would say…"Well isn't that special!" Seems as a "PITA" project I wasn't anticipating!!!! It is sounding like "wiring it open" is the option for now. I guess I'll have to start her in the garage like the queen she is (reminds me of I girl I used to date… another story) Thanks for the great info guys. I'm sure I'll be referring back to this thread when I'm felling more adventurous!

I still have the a/c to tackle and it is like the elephant in the room I'm ignoring! OH JOY!

Craig

rob1960

Hi Craig, Your engine looks nice!! I ran into the same problem with the choke on my '68. I'm running an old Edelbrock O4B intake that I found on ebay. It's the closest looking thing to a stock intake. The carb sits a little higher as it's a semi hi-rise but it has all the holes,close to the factory locations in it for the vacuum & water fittings,etc,but I had to get a brass adapter fitting to go from 3/4 to 1/2 from homely-depot for my heater valve also. It has the later '70 & up tube style plate for the choke. I made a larger mounting plate out of aluminum to cover the opening for the choke tubes & used a big block chevy choke coil & tin cover. I made my own linkage rod out of 1/8" round stock & it works great(actually better than the original). You can just see it in the eng pic I posted. I know your new intake has no provision for a choke what so ever & the heat crossover passage has to be open(the intake comes with optional block-off plates(If you or your engine builder used them when installing the intake the choke won't work anyway) but I'm sure you could fab a small aluminum plate to mount a choke.Of coarse you'd have to drill a couple of small holes in the heat crossover to mount it & I would not want to do that with the intake on the brand new engine. I doubt you'd want to do it since it looks like you had your"251" carb nicely restored but another option would be to get a '70 or later qjet with the round choke & just put an electric choke coil on it,it just depends on how bad you want the choke to work!!I personally was not impressed with this latest Edelbrock intake,as you've found out it needs allot of extra fabrication to make it work plus the carb sits so high(you can't use it on the '70 & up OAI cars with the factory air cleaner). I hope you didn't toss all your factory engine bolts as you'll need to use the head bolts with the studs for your rear a/c & alt brackets,also the ones for the power steering & lower a/c bracket on the water pump & timing cover. I see you don't have the original "notched" valve covers,you may want to look into getting a pair since it'll be a very tight fit back by the a/c box & brake booster without 'em!! Good luck with your build!!!

442craig

Thanks for the info Rob!

It seems like anything you change becomes a headache! I didn't research the
Edlebrock enough when I ordered it. Don't know if I would do it again with all that I know. Fortunately I live in southern California and I think I can get away without a choke. I'll get her running and see how it acts.

I did save all the bolts for the brackets. (I'm going throughout those dirty plastic zip locks as I write! No fun)

I got the engine back in this weekend so steady as she goes. I'm just going to tread forward slowly till I hit a snag. Probably be asking a few questions in the near future.

I wasn't aware of the "notched" valve covers. Was that an option? It fit in and is a little tight but that is what was on the car.

Thanks again!

Craig

442craig

Well, she's home! After over a year and a half the engine is in her final resting place. Got the trans and engine mounted together and put it in! Now on to all the fun of making her run!

Stay tuned!!!!!!!

Craig

rob1960

Hi Craig, nice to see your eng & trans back in the frame. That's a good feeling isn't it!! The notched valve covers were standard on all Olds "A" body cars from '67 to '72 with big blocks. Lucky for us Olds lovers they are reproduced now & are easily available from all the Olds parts suppliers. As with anything these days they're not cheap but they're brand new factory correct stampings. You can get 'em in unpainted or chrome if you'd like. Try Fusick or Thorntons. Thorntons has them on their ebay store right now for $179 for plain ones,$229 for the chrome. I've been wrestling with buying the chrome ones for mine,since Olds only used factory chrome ones twice,'67 W30s & '69 H/Os. My originals are in awesome shape no rust, no dents & they look great but some more chrome under the hood would be nice!!

442craig

Thanks Rob,

I'll check into them!

Craig

442craig

Well a little more progress on the build. I got the core support and top plate powder coated. I love dropping off a crappy rusty part off and getting this beauty back! I found a deal for a set of Coys wheels and Goodyear tires for 800 bucks! Couldn't pass it up. It ended my debate in my mind whether to go stock or aftermarket. Easy fix back to stock if I want to.

Having fun with the Edlebrock manifold. Seems to be more that a bolt on and enjoy thing. No Choke housing, you have to modify the bolt boss for the AC bracket and the Heater/AC valve needs a bushing! Oh the joys of modifications! The bright side is I'm saving weight and it should breath a little better!

Looking forward to getting her started!

My next dilemma is and exhaust system. I was thinking Magnaflow but lately I'm thinking it has too mellow of a tone. Thinking of Dynomax turbos. They have a "VT" muffler that sounds intriguing! Anyone ever try these on an Olds?

Craig

sammy

I put the Magnaflow 2.5 x pipe on mine, and I was surprised that it was so mellow sounding..do not know about the VT system, but I was kinda disappointed with the Magnaflow...

Sampson

Those wheels are going to look awesome on your car

442craig

Well you just solidified not getting Magnaflows!

Thanks can't wait to see them buttoned up!

Eddie Hansen

Looks great Craig, I'll be watching what exhaust you select I kinda like a low mellow rumnle you must be getting itchy to drive that bad boy lol....... nice work

442craig

Good to hear from you Eddie! She's coming along! I've been talking to a few car guys around here about starting a Cars & Coffee club, so I need to get her running again! I am finding the assembly part a bit challenging! When you start adding aftermarket parts the items don't play nicely together! Here's to a little seat of the pants engineering!

So how's yours coming along? Still too cold to turn a wrench?

Hope you are well!

Craig

Eddie Hansen

[QUOTE=442craig;653451
So how's yours coming along? Still too cold to turn a wrench
Craig[/QUOTE]

all good Craig, this morning it is a balmy 12 degrees in central jersey, a bit nippy for me but Allan would be wearing shorts ( a disturbing thought lol)

I have a propane heater for the garage, so I could and should be out there but it is finding time, with all that is going on work, family, honey do's etc I am girding my loins ( another disturbing thought lol) for the next assault on the project,


I haven't quit nor will I ,' might have to surprise you one day at your cars and coffee lol

442craig

Eddie,

Glad to see everything isn't frozen back there. It was 85 here today. Rolled the Olds out of the garage to get a better perspective on the new wheels! They look great! I am really happy with them! It was off the jackstands for the first time in almost 2 years! Milestones! I thinking of pulling the trigger on a Pypes exhaust system with the pro street mufflers! They sound great with what I could tell on a few youtube clips. I want a little more grunt than stock to match my new "bling!" I think they will do the job!

Hope to see you at the Coffee and Cars (I better organize it!) Just a little trek for you!

Craig

442craig

Ordered!!!!!!!!!!!

2 1/2 Pypes system with pro street mufflers!

Christmas in February! Can't wait

Craig

Eddie Hansen

Craig are you going to run oversized 442 trumpets ? Only two years lol. Your only dabbling in procrastination lol. Great going bud

442craig

Eddie, I forgot about the trumpets! I have stock ones but they are 2 1/4" aren't they? Pypes has them too, guess I'll be ordering them later! Details, details!

442craig

Bought an alternator today to finish the accessories package. Modified the A/C bracket to fit the Edlbrock manifold. I ended up cutting a slot in the a/c bracket on the head bolt hole. worked well!

Started putting the hoses back on. The last owner put braided lines on every thing... they were looking shabby I went with the stock look!

The wiring harness should be here this week, then the fun begins!

The Pypes exhaust system should be here at the end of the week.

Progress, progress! I can't wait to fire her up! Patients!

Craig

sammy

Patience Luke..........

Looking good.....!

442craig

I need the force!

Thanks!

66-3X2 442

Looks great and I love it when somebody goes that extra mile.

69442C

Craig,

Looks like it is coming together nicely. Before you get too much installed in that engine bay, you will want to rotate that AC expansion valve so the fitting is pointing a little more toward the front of the car. It shouldn't be straight ahead but it looks like its pointing too much toward the engine which will make connecting the AC line difficult. You also might want to cover the open AC fittings to keep dirt and moisture out.

Brian

442craig

Thanks Brian,

It is just mocked up for now. I'm pretending I don't have AC, not looking forward to putting all back together! I need to find a reseal kit with the O rings. Any suggestions? I do have the connections covered.

Thanks!

Craig

69442C

Craig,

Here is a source for the o-ring kit for the AC lines and connections. They also offer the AC lines too

http://www.oldairproducts.com/catalog/hoses-tubes-fittings/90-7201/ring-kit-p-3863.html?osCsid=9a205fc127f10b539a56966957d38f81

Here is another one in Florida and I'm sure they also sell an o-ring kit. Classic Auto Air also makes the AC lines and will also modify your stock POA valve to work on R134A if you plan to run that refrigerant. Your existing POA must be clean and rust free inside or else they will charge you to cut it apart and rebuild it first and it will not look the same. If you need a clean, rust free used POA, I have one. As an FYI, R134A will not work well with your original AC hoses. If you have the original AC line with the factory muffler, they will build you a new line and reuse the factory muffler since the reproduction muffler does not look the same.

http://www.classicautoair.com/catalogfactory.html

Brian

442craig

Thank Brian, your are AWESOME!

The AC worked when I tore it apart. I tried to seal the lines as good as I could. I don't know what the previous owner did with it, if it had R-12 or 134 in it. It didn't run ice cold like GM AC usually does. I would suspect it had 134 in it. I started down the road of rebuilding it and converting it and some of the threads I read scared me! I cleaned the compressor and painted it and I think I am just going to put it back together with an O ring reseal and think about it at a later time. Besides who needs AC in a convertible in SoCal!!!!!!

I'm sure I'll be bugging you when the time comes to fix it!

Thanks again for the advise!

Craig

69442C

Glad to help and let me know when and if you decide to get the AC working again. Yeah tough to beat SoCal and a drop top.

jozw30

Looking good!

Is your engine builder helping with the startup and break in? I did this by myself for the first time on my W30 and was terrified.....

Get the big fan out front, and don't clear coat your aluminum intake as it'll look like crap when your done breaking it in. Had to tear mine off, and strip it after break in.

Just take your time and don't get ahead of yourself when it's time to fire her up!

Good luck!

Joe

442craig

Thanks Brian! We sure pay for out here! Sunshine tax!

Joe,

Nope I'm on my own! He's a phone call away if i need him! i'm taking my time with it. It's always that panic when your firing it up for the first time… did I tighten that bolt??????

Thanks for the advise!

Craig

69442C

We don't have that tax in MD.....yet!

Brian