stan 65 cutlass

good job clay, next one will go quicker, and the weather is gonna cooperate for a while now

VI Cutty

Thanks Stan, hope you're right on both counts! I'll be at that Laketown Rock festival all of Saturday and Sunday but took next week off to concentrate on getting this job done.


I'll probably move the cars around tomorrow and start prepping the '70 on the lift for another combined removal. This time I'll pull that crossover pipe off from the start...if it's gone then I don't think the exhaust manifolds will create any issues.


I will likely attempt a one piece installation of the 260/trans in the '72 and decide on my approach for the '70 after that. It was pretty challenging for one person to guide the engine/trans in there.

RROLDSX

I think you've figured out the "angle of the dangle" now. Good luck.

stan 65 cutlass

Im goin to laketown tommorow night, a volunteer freebee, preview a band i guess, in tofino tonite for work, nice bar here, wings are on their way

VI Cutty

Rough life! I was hoping to be there Friday as well but we couldn't get enough cars together to make it worthwhile. We'll be displaying a bunch of the club and friends cars there on Saturday and Sunday though...looking forward to having those bands propel me back to my youth!

VI Cutty

Had to knock together a quick engine cradle to free the stand up for the 350 which will be getting cleaned/painted. Couple chunks of 2x10, 1x6 and a wheel dolly later, I have this ugly but effective solution. I wouldn't want to use it for long term storage but it will do for a couple weeks.

Cars are switched around and the '70 is now on the hoist, exhaust crossover removed. Sheared 3 bolts though. I'll deal with them once the engine is out.

Most of today's effort was cleaning/organizing the shop to setup for the next sprint. I'll hit it hard tomorrow and we'll see how close I am to pulling the engine/transmission by the end of the day.

VI Cutty

Just realized I never posted photos of the 350 coming out of the '72.

Going to have to see about using the swivel hook on this next pull so I don't have to fight the natural swing of the chain under load. This car has disc fronts too, so I'll have to use the spare rims again to lower the front end.

VI Cutty

Moving right along...plans changed a bit, but makes my life easier. I don't need to get the '72 running with the 260, in fact I don't need to put the 260 in it at all. I decided to pull the transmission and engine separately this time and I think I prefer this method particularly while working alone. Having the lift, transmission jack and engine crane made this approach a lot easier than if I had to crawl under the car on the ground.

Transmission came out on Monday night, engine came out tonight.

Lift clearance wasn't as much of a concern this way and I was able to leave the tires on the car. Good thing too as my engine lift jack seemed to be acting up a bit, not wanting to go to full lift. No fade though.

Now for the longish to-do list:

- degrease/clean engine compartment
- prep/paint core support, upper rad support, exposed frame (which will probably involve removing the grills etc)
- clean/repair/replace wiring. Some cracked/exposed wires and some just don't look too healthy
- swap intakes/carbs (Dualjet with intake will make it easier when I rebuild and install the QJet. No lifting intake with engine in the car!)
- thinking I might replace the freeze plugs while the engine's out
- prep/paint the engine
- install Holley aluminum finned valve covers (yeah, I know they might leak but I like the look)
- re&re Transmission front and rear seals
- replace kickdown cable o-ring
- clean/paint(?) transmission...that might be a little OCD I suppose.
- install new master cylinder
- replace front brake lines with correct disc brake lines
- inspect/bleed brakes
- install engine
- install transmission
- maybe get enough concurrent activity going that the OAI hood will also be ready to install. Oh yeah, I bought a Tamraz OAI hood...it needs some glasswork to repair a bit of shipping damage then I'll need to colour match the car's paint and get the hood painted.

There's a lot more I'm seeing that I'm tempted to tackle, but I've been adding layers of tinfoil to my anti-MAW hat and it mostly seems to be working. So far.

Anybody have a good used set of hood hold downs and brackets?

RROLDSX

I went to the dollar store and picked up two spray bottles, a couple of dishwashing brushs, and a package of 10 of the little yellow sponges with the green scrubby side. I used one spray bottle with hot water and dawn dish soap to scrub grease with one dishwasher brush and the other spray bottle with straight water to rinse. The sponge scrubbers are disposable and can be used anywhere. I also sprayed lemon pledge on the spongy side to degrease and clean all the wiring. Any cracks I applied shrink tubing but most of my wiring was in surprising good shape once I cleaned it. I also spray brake cleaner on the sponge (watch your eyes) for stubborn tar/grease. I have a tray to catch the debris under the car. It worked great for cleaning the firewall,frame,rad support,transmission etc. Once everything was cleaned and dried with the air compressor I used POR15 on the frame and semi gloss paint everywhere else. Good luck, It's a big job. You've seen the before pics, here are the after pics.

VI Cutty

Great tips, thanks! Time to go buy some supplies, I do have my work cut out for me. I like the heatwrap tip, I was wondering the best way to go about replacing the wires but that might make it unnecessary.


I'll probably aim for "good enough" vice perfection in the interests of completing this project in a timely manner. I'll be doing other work in the next year or so which will give me a better opportunity to get into the extra detail and the MAWs.


Yours looks fantastic, nice job!

VI Cutty

Not much progress between work, family and motivational challenges lately. Hoping to spend some time cleaning then starting with some clear direction of purpose being as there are numerous jobs calling.


In the meantime, a couple lessons learned.


- If your torque converter has been leaking down, remove it from the transmission when the engine/transmission is out, and store it horizontally. Yes, it will leak down again. I have the long messy puddle of red fluid proving that one. Sigh.


- Regularly check the condition of lifting equipment, and don't trust cheap *****. I bought a new Powerfist Engine Leveller rated at 1500 lbs, from Princess Auto (I think that's Canada-speak for HF). Used it to lift the 350 and trans from the '72, then just the 350 onto the engine stand. I discovered this critical and almost catastrophic failure when unbolting the leveller.

stan 65 cutlass

jeezus, good catch on the chain yikes, that oil spill reminds me of when i changed oil once and the trouble light cord moved the oil catch pan and didnt notice till all the oil drained out on the floor and it started seeping around both front tires

VI Cutty

Not much progress lately, life has a way of getting in the way of things as we all know! A few small advances though

- I was debating how far I was going to go cleaning and painting in the engine compartment as the inside part of the core support looked like it really needed to be removed, sand blasted then painted. I was more than a little happy to discover a couple nights ago that the rusty looking surface was really red paint dust, either primer or from the car's original colour. A bit of cleaning and satin black shone through.

- Got the 2bbl intake off the 350 and the valley looks really clean, happy with what I see in there. I anticipate the rockers will be similar but haven't pulled the valve covers off yet

- Just dropped the 4bbl intake off for hot tank and blasting the surface rust off the bottom, should be ready for pickup tomorrow.

Won't get much if anything done this weekend...enjoying some birthday adult beverages tonight then loading up VW parts for a Sunday swap meet. Gotta make these Bugs pay for my Cutlass addiction!!!

oldcutlass

Since the intake is off, its a good idea to inspect the bottoms of each lifter and the associated cam lobe for wear. Return each lifter to the bore hole it was removed from.

stan 65 cutlass

hey, happy birthday old man
dont worry, it will get done eventually

VI Cutty

I think I'm learning who's actually responsible for pushing us deeper into the MAW vortex around here

VI Cutty

Thanks Stan. It's getting there...and I plan to drive it in August if not in July!

oldcutlass

I'm here for you man.

VI Cutty

Haven't seemed to be able to snag much play time in the shop lately but at least I've been able to put plenty of miles on my '71.

Finally got out there for a while tonight and spent some time cleaning the engine. Started on it, anyhow. Cleaning up real nice and I probably wouldn't need to paint it if I wasn't changing the intake. I pulled a valve cover and it looks pretty clean inside. Had to test fit my Holley cover while I was at it.

I had the 4 barrel intake hot tanked and glass beaded, nice and clean now and ready to get bolted on. Decided not to bother messing with the dualjet and I'll just rebuild the QJet and be done with it.

Question: All the rockers were tight, but two had some sideways movement. Is that normal or something that needs to be addressed?

Finally looked at the engine's VIN derivative, 31Z...so a '71 Fremont engine, which is what I expected based on a conversation with a previous owner who had swapped the interior, engine, etc from his wrecked '71 into the '72 I wound up with.

VI Cutty

First up, can anyone answer my question on the rocker?

Realized I hadn't posted a photo of the valley with the intake off, so here's one now.

My friend was over the other night and commented on how easy it is to remove the inner wheel wells and how it would make things more accessible. So yeah. Damn you, Steve, I'm supposed to be putting it together not pulling more parts off!

stan 65 cutlass

looks clean in the valley, the rockers may be loose if the cam is on the low side of the lobe, normal i would say

VI Cutty

Just a quick catchup...

After stringing me along for several months and agreeing to receive the '72 without the engine/trans in, the guy said he was definitely buying it flaked out on me and left me holding the bag in August. Needless to say that left me more than a little pissed off and having to rethink my entire work plan. Thought I knew him well enough to go on a handshake, but obviously not. From now on, it will be non-refundable deposits required.

I got busy organizing a major local car show, realized that although I might be able to have the '70 ready for the show it would mean likely rushing a few things and not doing a couple other jobs on it I want to do, only to park it at the show and not spend any time near it until the end of the day. So I focused on other stuff.

Something else I needed to take care of was dismantling a '73 Super Beetle that's been in my way and on my list for a year...just in the final throes of that then I'll be able to turn my attention back to the Cutlii.

Last month I bolted the 260 to it's transmission and lifted them into the '72 with the car on the floor, not on the hoist. It went very smoothly and I'll likely take the same approach reinstalling the 350/350 combo in the '70.

Tonight I moved the cars around, putting the '72 back on the hoist to facilitate reconnecting everything. So that's what I'll be working on for the next little while, turning the '72 back into a running car and swapping parts that I want to keep for the '71.

Longer term goal will be to do the cleanup/detail/paint work on the '70 and have it ready for the road in the spring. Unless I get sidetracked again.