Patrick's Twin Turbo 350 Build Thread

Interestingly, I'm having the opposite problem. The tubing flares nicely, but I did spend for one of the fancy Mastercool hydraulic flare tools which makes it easy. Only downside is that you can't really flare in situ like a small tool can, so you have to take the line off an on a bunch. The tubing definitely bends easily, I'm just bad at getting the bend perfect the first time!

Dang, there's always something I don't consider! I was planning on running some sort of scattershield, or building one. Would this be that much of a safety concern? Doesn't the fuel line have to pass the plane of the bellhousing anyways? Also, what about the brakes being mounted in the same way? I'm not trying to contest here, just learn!

 

From the factory it's inside the frame at that point. It least in a '68 ;~)

 

Yup, that's the same flare tool I have. I can't get a reliable (double) flare on NiCopp.

 

How are you folks prepping the tube before the flare process? Unfortunately, tube end prep is often a huge culprit. In production often a wet saw for a clean, straight cut is used, only requiring a tiny amount of deburr. For the nylon coated tubing, water jet is preferred for stripping back the nylon just in the area of what's to become the flare.

The hand held pipe cutters require a lot of cleanup after the cut, mostly because the pressure from the cutting wheel forces material into the ID of the tube. This can be minimized by taking more time, more revolutions with less pressure rather than more pressure and three-times-around-done sort of thing.

Devon

 

The NHRA drag racing rules ask that the fuel regulator etc be mounted at least 6” forward of the bellhousing. I think there is also something about protecting the fuel line when it passes the. Bellhousing area, many use a steel tube to pass the line through.

The idea is that fuel line getting cut through is a far bigger fire hazard vs the brake fluid.

 

So I'm using a tubing cutter and for the ID I'm deburring with a 45 degree counter sink bit. For the outside I'm using fine sandpaper to knock off the burr. I will admit that the flares with my tool can be kind of hit or miss when it come to concentricity, but I think some of it has to do with making sure the dies are perfectly mounted before flaring, and the double flare ram perfectly centered as it goes into the tube. I'm still experimenting and I don't know if any of my flares actually seal since I haven't put any fluids in the car yet. Time will tell!

Gotcha, I was googling around about it and reading up. It looks like since I'm not doing any NHRA events with the car I should be fine with a good bellhousing/scatter shield. Personally I'm more worried about my legs getting cut off if the something came through the bellhousing. I see the topic is debated online a lot. I read through the Formula Drift rulebook just now (this is closer to what the car would be doing someday) and they don't make any mention of how the FPR needs to be mounted . . .

 

Hand-held tubing cutter, with built-in deburring/filing attachment.

Doesn't matter how "prepped" the tube-end is; it's as if the flare tool merely crushes/compacts the tubing rather than producing a bubble, and then folding the bubble in on itself in the second step to produce a double-flare.

I generally end up with a misshapen mess instead of a "double flare".

Hasn't been a problem on the double-wall seamless steel.

 

I wasted a lot of time and material trying to make some lines with a cheapo "wing nut" type tool. I had the same kind of issues Shurkey is describing. I was using steel lines though... It's important the lip of the tubing is smooth and a smidge of oil on the bubble making dye

I upgraded to the Rigid tool version of the same tool like this:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Ridgid-...hRkF8CatZd5yELza-jaqg1DUAyYfXhhAaAh7zEALw_wcB

Perfect nice flares since. I know I did do a whole car in Nicop a long time ago (a Hillman), but it was over 25 years ago, and I don't remember the tool I had at that time...

 

Some updates:

Decided against my and everyone else's better judgment to give the 2004R a whirl. I'm doing slightly above the bare minimum, hopefully it doesn't bite me later. I installed a TransGo HD2 shift kit, also going with new front and rear seals. Going to keep the stock 1,900 stall lockup convertor for now. I was thinking of upgrading to a CK drop front pump ($300) mostly for the hardened stator but I think it's too much of a financial gamble on an trans with unknown functionality. I mean the HD2 is already $200 that might be a total waste . . . At least it was good practice! I decided to order an external balance SFI flexplate from TA, and it was pricey ($370). This was something I was going to do regardless of TH350 or 2004R but damn it stings. Hopefully it's worth it for the peace of mind. Had no idea of the miles on the stock flexplate.

I did decide to take the cheapo route and instead of buying an fancy expensive deep pan, I simply welded a drain plug and temp sender bung to my stock pan. The stock unit actually seems pretty beefy, not like the TH350's thin flange which gets bent super easily:











I also decided to run a 700R4 filter since it's bottom feed as oppose to the 2004R's top feed design which apparently is known to suck air more easily. The problem is that the 700R4 filter sticks down farther than the 2004R filter, necessitating a pan spacer when running a stock pan. I used CAD and the laser cutter at work (probably last time I can since I'm switching jobs soon) to cut a spacer out of 9mm acrylic. Looking back, I could probably get away with closer to 6mm, but I think this should work fine. Apparently acrylic is good to 180C (356F) so I'm hoping this doesn't melt. If so then I'll either buy CK's deep pickup kit (which is out of stock right now) or use my CAD file to get one done from aluminum. Yes I will insulate the 4th gear pressure switch on final assembly!

700R4 Filter Mock Up:





Spacer:









Got the brakes and suspension completely together, and was able to mount the front wheels for the first time in 5+ years! I was mostly interested in eyeballing the new ride height and . . . it's looooow. Might be too low, but hopefully not. Mostly I'm worried about the SRE oil pan to ground clearance. I'm not opposed to making some sort of skid plate or crash bar to protect it but I have about 6" (IIRC) of clearance below the crossmember, and that's with no engine in the car. Sorry this pictures are kind of awkward, keep in mind the rear is still up on jackstands hence the crazy looking rake:















Lastly, here's some pictures of the now discontinued (as far as I know) Scarebird rear brake kit installed:







Next up on my to do list:

Order/install trans lockup kit
Install rear sway bar
Mate engine/trans/install flex plate
Drop engine
Weld in bucket seat brackets
Fix small rust hole in floor
Build/modify trans crossmember
Measure for driveshaft
Install rear shocks/springs
Build rear brake lines
Install radiator
Install front wiring harness
Redo taillight wiring

Plus a bunch of other stuff . . .

 

Awesome

 

Nice work..

 

Looks great!!
Hopefully your new job has all the equipment to make cool Buick parts too, if not, tell them to get some

 

Thanks everyone!

I'm hoping so to, actually the new job may have access to full machine shop so hopefully I can expand my part making abilities

 

Looking good! What disc brake kit did you go with? I'm thinking about going with a drop spindle kit from summit.

 

Thanks!! For brakes:

-Up front it's the basic SSBC kit using stock height spindles and OEM style single piston calipers/OEM rotor sizes. I was lucky enough to buy this kit off of a board member for a good discount.

-Out back I have the Scarebird kit (which sadly seems to be discontinued). This uses 90s Chevy Blazer drum in hat ebrake rotors and 80s Chevy Citation II front calipers. It fits well!

-I'm using a Wildwood 1.25" bore master with adjustable proportioning valve, and a dual diaphragm 8" booster (for maximum downpipe clearance)

Not sure on how each kit will perform yet, or if the two match well. Hoping the adjustable proportioning valve will let me balance everything out. All hardlines front to back were (painfully) bent by hand using 3/16" nicopp.

Hope this helps!

 

Ok, big milestone tonight: I got the engine in!!






You may notice that I said engine, not engine/transmission. I had the two bolted up, and used my fancy new leveler to get everything almost there, but I found that my oil pan and transmission did not want to play nice. I love my SRE oil pan, it's a work of art and I'm sure it will pay dividends in the corners, but after 2 hours of trying every leveler combination, shoving, cursing, scratching paint off of my frame and firewall, and scratching the oil pan, I finally broke down and pulled the transmission back off. With that out of the way, the engine slid right in!

Some other pictures I took during the process below.

Engine right before install:








You can see I had some trouble with my garage door getting in the way of the hoist. I had to use a microfiber cloth to "slide" the oilpan across the core support




I'm worried about how my valve cover is sitting on my air box, I'm hoping once the trans is in it'll tilt everything forward and make a gap there?







SFI flexplate bolted up:





Next step is to see if I can jack up the front of the car high enough to slide the trans on the trans jack underneath, and hopefully install that thing for the 3rd and final time! Then I can start modifying the crossmember to fit the boxed frame.

 

For a moment there I thought you were going to say your SRE pan doesn’t fit.
Good news you got the engine in, you should be fine sliding the trans. Under then up and in.
I never tried installing engine and trans together.
The only bitch about installing the trans separately is loading the trans. Up onto your jack under the car, I can’t get the car high enough to slide the jack and trans together.

 

Also thank you for giving us 350 guys updates, it’s encouraging

 

I'm glad! I know there's been some drama between certain 350 enthusiasts I'm just tired of this car sitting in the garage and taking up money, I want to drive the damn thing!

I was thinking about this today, my floorjack won't lift high enough either . . . would it be a stupid idea to use my engine hoist to lift the whole front of the car (still bolted to the engine)? Basically putting all the weight on those 2 engine mount through bolts . . .

 

The motor mount bolts I wouldn’t worry about, it would be the rubber on the mounts