That thought never crossed my mind pal! I took that more as a redundant statement and I totally agreed with you... yeah, on my end of it I didnt want to open a can of worms and now figured out how far to go before I stop; restoration wise. I plan on driving this thing for a few years before the nursing home happens COL ;-(( (crying out loud ) boo-hoo-hoo. They can park that bastard outside the window at the home so I can stare outside at it and tell them young nurses some raunchy stories,. Maybe encapsulate it in some KL 9-3 (whats that one??) Took today off and enjoyed a 3hour nap; that's the best part about being retired. What day is it anyway?? Bill in TR
So nobody got my humor. Oh well, I always was a beat off hahaha...Slowly I turned, inch by inch , I worked my way up towards the core support. Got the wife to lend a hand starting some bolts with the new REMULAC gaskets. They seem pretty fragile. Whats wrong with the first picture? So now, do some math... how many inch pounds is 20 foot pounds?? Is it 20X12 or 20X16, anyways, the bolts are nice and snug with a 10" long 3/8" box wrench. Got to do some fun stuff, like wash valve covers in the parts washer, then clean with brake kleen and zinc primer before the red went on. Being anal(!) like I am, that job had to include the fasteners too. Fingernails got polished from the bench mounted wire wheel... ws
Bill: Your work is great. The car is coming along beautifully. Are you getting the core support Wheelz is selling? Did you see the rebuilt core support the guy in Mass was selling? UticaGeoff
Thanks Geoff...cant wait to "Lightem' up" in the spring! Wheelz and I have been going back and forth, but I cant afford a NOS unit (wished I could!!) Whats the deal on the Mass. piece?? ws
I like that clock. I needed it this morning. Yesterday (Monday) was so long, this morning I thought today was Wednesday...
Just got a pair from Amazon this afternoon. I agree they are fragile. Even though the package says "FRAGILE DON'T BEND" all over the front, sure enough Amazon bent it to fit in their box. Cracked both gaskets. Back they go.
Ill tell ya... if they are cracked and not near the ports, theyd probably be OK. However, at $40 youd expect intact stuff. Mine was wrapped about 5 times in heavy corrugated cardboard and pretty bomb proof. Youd have a hard time bending it over your knee; forklifts excluded. These were all dead nuts on the money for accuracy. Sure hope they work. Don't forget the 12 point cap screws and TAP the bolt holes clean with anti seize on the bolts. I could get a 12 point 3/8 drive, 3/8" socket on 5 out of the 7 per side. ws
All good advice, I just need to get motivated enough to try it while the fenders are attached and the AC compressor is in place. Not really looking forward to this one. Mine are cracked right in the middle of a port so they're sending new ones. Bets on the condition they arrive in?
CYE... Curb Your Enthusiasm? Been playing email tag with certain parties Geoff; Thanks! Under the compressor is a cake walk Sluggo! Behind the evaporator housing above the starter is a killer. TAP the holes clean if at all possible; if ya bust a bolt, its game over!! Got the gaskets in and rechecked the bolts a few times and all stayed tight. Ill take that as a gasket compression is OK. Been busy with x-mas junk so today was the first chance out in the shop for about 3 days. Still managed several pit stops for stuff so all was not lost... I knew the Bad Lad needed a tune up; hell I haven't even changed the oil since I had it. (its still clean and full tho) But boy oh boy, what a double whammy on the tune up!! I hope GS Larry shows up on this one with some fatherly advice. I pulled the cap and rotor and surprise! Mechanical advance frozen in place. Hmm. For now its a matter of just getting it freed up and operable. When the springtime thaw happens I can get it on the road for some real timing fun. Pulled the weights and springs off, cleaned them all really good and got a few drops of 3 in 1 oil on the advance movement and all is good for now. It ran before but pretty lousy. Now I bet itll kick booty! The weights are marked 045; is that grams?? Since Cum of some yung boy is probably gonna hit us with an EMP device, I wanted to protect all the sensitive parts on the motor. Always heard aluminum was a good shielding agent. I didn't even get to see the movie and already Im a bad American... WTF?? Beats me! Gave up on that idea, afterall, who the hell does he think he is??? Some knucklehead with a bad haircut? He's not even on the same minor league team. Come over here for a Tet a' Tet chinaman. Ill sick a real sicko on yer chop suey... Sorry, that guy irks me. America held at bay over a stupid movie? Gimme a break. ISIS murdering 150 school children?? GRRRRR. The world is going to hell in a handbasket and there is just no where else to go. I am very non confrontational, but when is enough enough?? Soo. whats left other than to go out in the shop and huff some 'fumes? Brake kleen and zinc primer with a red rustoleum chaser. Yummmmm-EEEE! Hope the judges leave the paint chip guides at home. Id hate to get pinched for a shade off. Too bad; I like it! Even added some bling! OK.. OK... its time to pull the pin. Im outa here. Gold Rush is on! Bill in TR
There should be a number on the center piece also. It might be on the under side. The shape of the center piece and weights determine how much mechanical advance is built into the distributor. I haven't messed with a lot of GM HEI's, but if I remember correctly, the 375 center and 41 weights provide 22* of mechanical advance. I'm sure it is in the Power Timing thread somewhere.
So the center part of the advance unit is what was stuck (able to move by hand but probably not by centrifugal force). That took a little exercising and a few drop of 3 in 1 oil and it feels like new. If I pull the springs and weights back off should that piece lift off, or will I need to pull the whole distributor out? Please bear with me Larry, this is where we started last year and I promise I will go back and re-re-read the advance thread LOL. I know yore gonna recommend pulling and going through it but I have my hands full right now. Its bound to run wayyy better than befoe at any rate... Also, the vacuum advance pulled the unit a full stroke with the suction thang on it, and held position with the tongue tip indefinitely. Last summer, just driving around town it seem OK after an extremely long warm up. Had to drive like granny going to church. After the warm up it was kinda OK but would still snort back through the carb. It was also pretty rich in the garage and would leave a puddle of unburned hydro carbons on the floor at the tail pipes. Heres the old plugs I pulled out today. R44TS and the new replacements (also R44TS) seem to have been changed in the heat range design. Hmmm ... All 8 plugs were really sooted up. Sure is getting nicer to work on a cleaner motor! Bill in TR Continued on with cleaning, painting, and putting stuff back together and then put in the new plugs. Gapped them at .040" as per the 1973 (1972 car, '73 radiator shroud; did '73s run an HEI?) spec tag on the radiator top, and also what came out.
Happy Birthday Smokey !! Peel out Daddyo!!! Didja get that new upper radiator hose you've been wanting??? LOL... Bill in TR
Its 0830 hrs and we are on our way out to finish shopping at Wally World and Festival foods up here to beat the start gazing walmartians... and they actually let those people DRIVE???? Anyways, Sunday is usually a good day to get the weeks part list rolling. There are really only a few things left to get and one is the seal strip (KIT ??) for around the engine side of the evaporator box. Would I be way off the wall to get a roll of 3/16" round weather stripping and fit it in with some spray glue? Seems theres a 1/2 round channel around the housing to facilitate this. I need to get this finished up and the start on the, ahem, core support repair/rebuild/replace job. Also need an O ring set compatible with R12 and 134A Freon. Havent quite decided which way to go on that issue, but I am gonna run the OEM style compressor and drier etc. Lay some input on me kids! Ive got a running take out compressor and condenser coming this week so Id like to get a grasp on the plans. Does that Harrison compressor need the oil drained before the install? Anything I can do with the POA valve and expansion valves? Love to exchange thoughts and ideas... remember, this is a budget job after all! Bill in TR
So... no AC exspurts here these days eh? Oh well... Got the evaporator shroud cleaned up and painted 3 times today. Did it in dark gray that wasn't nearly dark enough, so I dusted it with some satin black. Turned out too dark; Hmm... dusted over that with the gray again and BAMM! Looks OEM. The pics are after the black and its still wet so its pretty shiny. Picked up a roll of AC duct putty and will initiate the install tomorrow. Had to make my own foam seals around the 4 studs. Should turn out well... If that goes well, Ill probably pull the seats and rear side panels out tomorrow and start on that phase... Im gonna start hammering the want ads here for a decent used core support. I know theres one out there with my name on it... Bill in TR
Hey - at Tom's suggestion, I have used the remflex gaskets on my Nailhead and BBB cars (strangely, only on the passenger side of each, haven't had any driver's side leaks, and I'm not fixing what's not broken) Had them on since summer and they work great, no leaks or re-torquing
I'm with Larry on the checking and retightening regardless of what the magical gasket is supposed to do. To say it wouldn't be wise to check the 20lb torque setting to see if is really working is foolish. Especially working with a new or unknown product. There is a lot to say for the old saying. " Better safe than sorry " Do we really know how many times the new gaskets will recycle before they fail? No Bob H.
Ive got all 12 fingers crossed! Mine leaked on the passenger side as well. Too tough to get to the magic #7 bolt down in between. Not an issue anymore with the long 3/8" 12 point wrench tho.. You can bet Ill check them frequently, and report back here. I do think that with the surface area between bolts and the amount of crush involved that they are gonna perform better than the old style gaskets.. Tapping the holes and being able to run the bolts all the way in by finger is a giant plus as well. With the bolts down finger tight, each bolt only took about one full turn to achieve that 20# figure. Bill in TR
Just cruisin' along... Always got something going on, and as usual, plenty of questions... Got the master cylinder bench bled, mounted and the pedal feels good. Hell of a time with stop light switch; woulda played heck with the door on, glad its off. Should have pulled the seat which is on the agenda soon. Should I do the new seat covers or have them done? I did a bunch of trim work 40 years ago and only need a box of hog rings and some HR pliers... Got the AC evaporator installed. Tried to do it one piece at a time but it finally went in as an assembly. Never would've happened with out the fender being off. Ha a new/used condenser delivered and am waiting for the compressor. Every piece washed, cleaned and blew out with air. Look at the alternator swing bracket. I think it was straightened out and sure could use some good pics of how it mounts with the AC Comp. HEEEELP!!! The book shows the arm BEHIND the alternator. Also the cond. has some different mountings than the spare I had/have. Mine came WITHOUT the cond. so its a crap shoot going back together. . May hafta get fancy with some hose work. All the lines are simply installed loose with no O rings yet... just a mock up. Need to pick up a fin comb and a new drier/filter unit. Seems all the knock offs are from the chinaman. I have 2 that are dirty as heck, and been opened for a while and WELL used so I feel that's a given to replace My take is there were several changes to mounts and hoses etc for 1972. Anyone got some close up pics? You show me yours and Ill show you mine... Happy holidays, Bill in TR
