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- Appomattox Va 24522
- My Car
- 1973 Mach 1 FI
The Snot Rocket: Green '73 fastback
- Thread starter giantpune
- Start date
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This weekend I got on cleaning up some of what's going back on the motor. Oil pan cleaned up real nice. It does have a dent where somebody has hit something. Otherwise is good. 1 of my valve covers is in reusable shape, but one of them has a bunch of rust holes on the flange. I tried zapping it with my welder. Even with all the knobs turned all the way down, the welder is still burning through. There just isn't much metal left. Maybe a new set of valve covers in my future. I didn't realize how stupid expensive some of those things had gotten till i started trying to price them out.
And I got a bunch of to-go containers and started pulling brackets and screw baggies out and soaking them in evaporust. Below is a picture of some of the bolts. These are bolts that were so rusted I had to use PB blaster to get them loose. After soaking 18hr in the evaporust, they are rust free.
Engine shop is picking up the engine sometime in the next couple days. I reckon I will occupy my time cleaning things up and ordering stuff so I have everything ready to bolt to the outside of the engine when it gets back.
And I got a bunch of to-go containers and started pulling brackets and screw baggies out and soaking them in evaporust. Below is a picture of some of the bolts. These are bolts that were so rusted I had to use PB blaster to get them loose. After soaking 18hr in the evaporust, they are rust free.
Engine shop is picking up the engine sometime in the next couple days. I reckon I will occupy my time cleaning things up and ordering stuff so I have everything ready to bolt to the outside of the engine when it gets back.
- Joined
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- Erie, Pennsylvania
- My Car
- 72 Mach1 4spd Qcode Now: 427C Titus CHI top end TKO600 4whl disc
About how long will the machine shop have your engine?
They said most of their OEM style rebuilds are running 3-4 weeks currently. Mine could take longer because I went with one with more torque. They aren't sure exactly how long it will take to get the cam shaft in.
EDIT -
And just like that, they have already had their man out and picked up my motor. It was 2 hours ago I called them up, put down my deposit, and told them lets get the ball rolling on this. Their man has already showed up to my house and collected my old motor.
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My project has mostly transitioned from soaking things in degreaser and evaporust to painting. The evaporust did stupid good on these parts. The accessory brackets and pulleys all came out real clean. They went from half dirt, half black, half rust to clean bare metal. My timing cover has a bunch of pitting, but will probably be serviceable. I also managed to revive a bunch of nuts and bolts that was gonna cost me $100+ to replace.
In the engine bay, I took some of the stuff loose from the sides and gave it a degrease and pressure wash and then a coat of that Eastwood Rust Encapsulator plus paint. Its far from perfect, but at least its mostly black now.
The more I think about it, the more I lean towards not even putting the C6 transmission back in. If I eat ramen for the next month, I may be able to place the full TKX order from modern driveline. That would save me hours of work, and a bit of money that I would spend putting the C6 back in and then pulling it back out. This leaves me with a bunch of parts I wont need to bother cleaning up. Transmission, torque converter, flexplate, engine backing plate, transmission cooler lines, linkages, driveshaft, etc. I think even the starter is different for the manual/TKX swap.
In the engine bay, I took some of the stuff loose from the sides and gave it a degrease and pressure wash and then a coat of that Eastwood Rust Encapsulator plus paint. Its far from perfect, but at least its mostly black now.
The more I think about it, the more I lean towards not even putting the C6 transmission back in. If I eat ramen for the next month, I may be able to place the full TKX order from modern driveline. That would save me hours of work, and a bit of money that I would spend putting the C6 back in and then pulling it back out. This leaves me with a bunch of parts I wont need to bother cleaning up. Transmission, torque converter, flexplate, engine backing plate, transmission cooler lines, linkages, driveshaft, etc. I think even the starter is different for the manual/TKX swap.
@Cleveland Crush
It looks like the 4-6 week estimate was pretty close. I just got off the phone with the engine shop. The computer is showing all the parts have come in for my little bullet. All block and heads are cleaned, the machine work is done, and all my stuff is in the assembly room ready to put together.
Meanwhile I have been piddling around. After seeing the price for new valve covers, I decided to give JBWeld a shot at fixing my existing ones. If I can save $200 here, thats money I can spend somewhere else.
They ain't perfect. But once they get a little dirt and oil on them, they'll look fine. 
It looks like the 4-6 week estimate was pretty close. I just got off the phone with the engine shop. The computer is showing all the parts have come in for my little bullet. All block and heads are cleaned, the machine work is done, and all my stuff is in the assembly room ready to put together.
Meanwhile I have been piddling around. After seeing the price for new valve covers, I decided to give JBWeld a shot at fixing my existing ones. If I can save $200 here, thats money I can spend somewhere else.
They ain't perfect. But once they get a little dirt and oil on them, they'll look fine. 
JB weld is amazing stuff. I have used it repair stripped threads and fill ventilation holes in stainless steel boat propellers.
When I was about 20, I learned the hard way not to use it on lines that carry certain fluids. Brake fluid dissolves JBWeld.
They brought my motor back to me today. The guy also had a box of break in oil, oil pump, gasket set, and a box of old parts that came out of it. I'm not quite sure what to do with the original parts. Some may be worth selling, and I guess others get turned into art/wall hangers, or junked.
I have ordered some of the parts that are going to complete the motor like intake, water pump, front seal. There should be a small fleet of delivery trucks headed my way in the next week so I can get this guy together.
Here she was a month ago.
I have ordered some of the parts that are going to complete the motor like intake, water pump, front seal. There should be a small fleet of delivery trucks headed my way in the next week so I can get this guy together.
Here she was a month ago.
Looks great brother, can't wait to see and hear it running.
Tom
Tom
I got a few parts back on the motor.
I just painted the thing with a brush like Bob Ross. A happy little engine. You can see brush strokes all over it, but I dont think it matters. I still need another coat on it, and then maybe start plopping it back in the car.
- edelbrock intake
- melling oil pump and pickup. I got them lined up and tack welded the pickup to the pump
- ARP oil pump shaft
- front seal
- timing cover
- water pump
- valve covers
- oil pan
- dip stick
- harmonic balancer
I just painted the thing with a brush like Bob Ross. A happy little engine. You can see brush strokes all over it, but I dont think it matters. I still need another coat on it, and then maybe start plopping it back in the car.
This afternoon's project was getting the thing back in the car. Its in there far enough to get the motor mounts bolted in. I also got a couple of the smaller things on it like oil filter, fuel pump, dip stick, and a pipe plug for the vacuum doodad hole in the water pump.
Way to knock it out! You're making short work of this project!
Yeah. If you dont keep on it, then all of a sudden you look back and you're that guy who has a car thats been disassembled for 15 years. Half the parts are in the trunk. Half the parts are missing. And you are listing it as "ran when parked".
Today's progress -
I started out by having to swap my motor mounts. One of them had been ground a bit to fit the headers. I had them on the wrong side and it wouldnt let the motor sit down far enough. Then I installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge, filled it up with cam break in oil, and ran it till the drill was smoking. She made 80psi for about 5 minutes. Then the drill was begging to stop. There weren't any oil leaks visible, so I went ahead with putting more parts on.
Fuel lines are on, throttle bracket and cable, alternator with its brackets, crank pulley, battery and cables, and the thermostat with its housing up front. On the back side, @vintageman brought over a spare bellhousing. I put back on my old flexplate and that bellhousing to hold a starter until I get around to a new transmission. The engine leans rearward without the rest of the transmission and crossmember in place to hold it up. Thats next on the list to fix, which will allow me to bolt up the headers and starter.
I decided to quit screwing around with the old AC compressor. I'm likely never going to fix the oldschool AC. If anything, I'll go with an aftermarket one. I pulled the anvil of an AC compressor out.
Your motor looks great.
I had to use a HD 1/2” drill to prime my motor. I also had 80psi cold with the std oil pump. The oil pressure dropped to 40psi at idle, when the motor warmed up.
I had to use a HD 1/2” drill to prime my motor. I also had 80psi cold with the std oil pump. The oil pressure dropped to 40psi at idle, when the motor warmed up.
I got some angle iron and made up a T to take the place of the missing transmission. It holds the motor in the right spot. That let my exhaust bolt right up. Then I got the rest of the pulleys, brackets, and accessories up front. Heater hoses are on, radiator is in. Its getting close to being able to fire it up to break in the cam.
I will need to come up with something to hold the power steering cooler. That used to sit on the AC compressor that isn't going back in.
I will need to come up with something to hold the power steering cooler. That used to sit on the AC compressor that isn't going back in.
Its alive!
I got enough of remaining parts installed this morning to fire it up and then right into breaking in the cam. That off with almost no drama. There's a couple power steering related leaks I already knew about. And after about 15mins of 2000+ rpm, the upper radiator hose started to leak. I tightened the hose clamp and the next 15mins went fine. No other visible leaks, smoking, or flames. It held pretty steady at 190F.
Then after the break in, i dropped it back down to normal idle. With 10 degree of initial timing, Its idling at 890rpm with 70psi of oil pressure and 18 in hg of manifold vacuum.
I got enough of remaining parts installed this morning to fire it up and then right into breaking in the cam. That off with almost no drama. There's a couple power steering related leaks I already knew about. And after about 15mins of 2000+ rpm, the upper radiator hose started to leak. I tightened the hose clamp and the next 15mins went fine. No other visible leaks, smoking, or flames. It held pretty steady at 190F.
Then after the break in, i dropped it back down to normal idle. With 10 degree of initial timing, Its idling at 890rpm with 70psi of oil pressure and 18 in hg of manifold vacuum.
Today's project was an air cleaner. I ordered an edelbrock drop base one and a 3" reusable filter. I painted it with the same blue from the rest of the engine and then slapped a sticker on it so it kinda looks like it belongs there.
Nice, glad you got it running brother.
Tom
Tom
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