Joe, I was also admiring your oai system. I assume it is oem. The lips on the scoops look like they have a silver trim(??) Is it paint or a trim piece? I don't recall seeing this on any others...I like it. My repos do not have it so if it is correct I will attempt to duplicate it. I will also have to make the brackets. Thnx, Mike

 

The scoops/bezels are repro. I got them from Curt Anderson many years ago. The silver you see is just a flash reflection from the camera. They are all black as originals were. I bought the bezels for my 67 conv. I was going to cut and weld 2 toro air cleaners together for the dual quad setup I have on it and install OAi but the project never happened....

 

Since we got a major snowstorm ( at least it is for NJ 12 " ) I have been huddled in my house and got serious on the dash. The center plastic part was like working with egg shells! I made a putty out of shaved plastic bits and liquid plastic weld to help firm up some of the plastic mounting posts that were broken. I think it came out pretty good and am satisfied with the color match of the pad. I am hoping to install it in the car tomorrow. Valve spring kit is here but am waiting for my non stock stem seals to arrive.

 

Joe, I need a favor if possible. Could you give me the approx locations of the trak-pak horns (moved to the fender) and the battery tray in trunk? I have the factory install instuctions but do not have the template for the horn location and it doesn't give the location to drill for battery tray bolts or the vent tube grommet. I know the cables go thru the trunk drain plugs.
Thanks for any help! Mike

 

Miked, sent a PM..... It feels good when a major puzzle piece goes on!! Dash is installed and just need to add a few more items and repair a few wires.... why would someone slice thru the 3 wiper switch wires and then twist em back together and tape?? Got those to fix too. Steering wheel installed too.

It looks like the fender from the white 4dr is better than the 442 fender!

 

Heads are assembled! Long time coming they were... Gonna be a lot of wrench turnin this weekend!! ( I Hope) Rockers, pushrods, bridges are ready. Guess I will go with the steel shim head gasket.... no sense saving em and thats what GM used back in 67.

 

Sounds great, Joe!

How 'bout a few pictures when you've got it together?

- Eric

--by the way, you goin' to that auction down near you on Saturday?
Looks like darn near anything could pop up...

 

I looked hard and long at that auction stuff.... would be interesting to see if there is any hidden gold but right now I see nothing that isnt already in my basement! lol

Will get some engine picts sure this weekend!

 

 

Assembled C heads

 

Spent Saturday doing little stuff, new heater core, installed heater box, radiator side seals, glovebox.... Today the heads went on. Used a steel shim head gasket sprayed with the copper sealant. Cleaned and oiled the head bolts before torque-ing them down. Next time I hope to get rockers and pushrods on. Have to see if stock pushrods will work. I have a set of 3/8 adjustables if they don't.

 

Where do you get a steering wheel restored. Need my 77 cutlass done

 

Try here: http://www.73-77olds.com/forums/index.php someone on this site might have a good one for your car.

 

I love this kind of stuff, You found a great car that not everyone has. You don't mess around,you have allot done, and quick.

 

Thanks, I am lucky... I have heat in the shop, AC in summer and most every weekend to myself and my man cave! Love the w33 Video!

 

not to hijack Joe's thread, but know several people that have used Gary's for steering wheel and they are very nice, though maybe pricey:
http://www.garyssteeringwheel.com/

and Joe - nice work - can't wait to see the Trac Pac at one of our shows soon!

 

Tom, at least things are coming together but I dont think it will make the fall show this year! Too much still needs to be done, the paint is a big one!

 

Is the shroud diffrent on the w30 or in your case the trac pac?

 

All the 67 shrouds are the same to my knowledge wether it was a factory W car or Track Pack.

 

Slow progress this weekend as I thought I would be able to drop the pushrods (425) in and bolt up the rockers. Turns out the 425 pushrods I have and the 455's I have are too long for the lifter preload I desire. No problem I thought I will whip out the Crane 3/8 adjustables.... Hmmm, with them at their shortest they still are over 9.500 inches. I did not want to excessively shim the bridges so I ordered a set of 9.500's by Comp Cams. Got busy cleaning and painting alternator brackets and need to rebuild the 37 A alternator. Also need to do a High Torque starter. I also had a set of Autolite plugs. Tried to gap them at .030 and WTF they came gapped at like .090 and would not accept the way smaller gap very well. I wont be using them and have a set of AC 44s on the way.

 

Whose bronze engine paint did you go with? Looks really nice.

 

The bronze is from Fusick, I think they finally got a good color match as people I spoke with said their old mix was more gold than bronze.

 

Yeah, i like the color better than a lot of the other bronzes i've seen.
I need to get some to paint up a Tricarb intake a friend of mine has having me "mock up" for him - i'll probably get a can of that.

 

It was more like pink! My engine builder spread my 69 400 with the old Fusick and was not even close! They did refund all my money. I went to Hirsch as was the best available match I could find a few years ago, but think the new Fusick formula is probably the closest now.

 

solve ur pushrod dilemma yet? Could you possibly have lifters that are longer than stock? I never knew of their being any different length lifters? With a correct length lifter, you should be able to achieve the proper preload with around .060 shim under rocker stands?

 

I have some ammo for the weekend, new 9.500 pushrods and a shim kit. Will post results. I like to keep preload minimal, just enough to keep everything quiet.

 

The new pushrods worked well along with the shim kit. I ended up with .025 preload on the lifters. As things wear in I have the option of removing the shims if needed. Got the turkey tray intake gasket ready to install. will be using a 67 cast iron stock intake. Rounded up a set of bolts for that but need to clean em.

 

Made some progress today, intake and valve covers are on. Rebuilt alternator is on. Have to find that rebuilt Toro carb I have stashed somewhere.... Drivers side exhaust manifold has some pitting so I will see if the machine shop can true it up some. Its almost time to bolt up the flywheel, etc and lower the engine in place. Trouble is I have to reverse how the car is sitting and there is too much snow on the ground for that....

 

Snow still here but had a pretty good melt off yesterday and today. On a project like this I never realized or took into consideration that every bolt, screw, bracket, or device needs to be made like new before it can go back. This takes lots of time. Got the engine mounts on, thermostat bypass hose, starter. Cleaned and painted the radiator hold down plate then worked on de-griming the starter wires. I am trying to put most everything back as it was when new. I am hoping next weekend to set up the engine crane and remove the engine from the stand to enable bolting up flywheel, clutch bell housing and trans and lower it into place. I decided to have the flywheel resurfaced just to be sure.

 

Well the engine is in!! It did not go as planned. I realized it was too much hassle with the tight quarters in the shop to put the engine and trans in as a unit. I also could not find the disc alignment tool so rather than waste time I decided to drop the engine in. Got the exhaust manifolds on, flywheel, and installed the crank pilot bearing.

 

Looking good. Kinda wish I painted my engine bronze.

 

Thanks, but your engine is far from stock so its your call on the color.

 

Looks like its coming along great Joe
is the body work wrapped up now?

 

I wish it were. Got to strip the entire body yet and repair the rot on the white fender. Once all the mechanicals are done I will start on stripping paint. Thanks Wes.

 

Well another weekend and some progress. Pressure plate and bell housing are bolted up. Everything is new. Figured out how to mount the repop stick starter cable tube (back of head). As soon as the jute wire loom arrives I can run the starter cable and wires to solenoid. Acquired a radiator shroud and will be using the Ac style cooling setup with 6 blade fan and thermostatic fan clutch. Have an original style radiator (3 row manual trans) on order from PUI. Its just brass and copper but ya might think there was gold in it for the 433.00 it cost me! I have to look into some exhaust piping and decide on mufflers. I will contact Classic Exhaust for the headpipes. I am thinking some turbo style mufflers will give it a little throat but not sound too harsh. I absolutely need a set of Walt's repop tipped chambered tailpipes. I degreased the Muncie today and tomorrow I will clean up the shifter..... Hope to grab some pictures tomorrow.

 

Some pictures. I am happy to say the Muncie slipped right in. Usually the pilot bearing alignment gives problems. Now that the trans is in, I was able to hang parking brake cables, bolt up cross member and driveshaft. I checked out the original shifter and there were bushings missing on the levers so I replaced them and used the correct spring clips and tossed the cotter pins. The linkages are a lot tighter now.

 

Looks great, nice to make some progress isn't it.

 

Absolutely, since I got it in pieces, it is like a puzzle. But first I had to disassemble even more. Now that things are going back and am gaining on it, it feels great!

 

Who is Walt... Are these being repopped and available somewhere or are they a one off by someone only to people "in the know"?

 

Walt Vallelunga has been repoping them for years. He does 65 too. I see now Year One carries em but I dont know the quality, and Gardner Exhaust ( I think) however theirs are too exquisite to purchase or for them to quote a price.... At least thats the feeling I got when I asked.