Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

Tweet

Glad you took the time to find molded hoses to fit............I've never been fond of the "ribbed tickler" look..............I have a friend who refers to them as the reproductive appendage of a donkey...........only not in so many words.

AHAH Chocolate chip cookies I want I want now
Sorry brain leaking
Brad

Glad you don't have any of your usual pictures of THAT ONE Bob.


Yep Brad, I've gained 10 pounds since this thread started.......all this talk about food and beer.............

Don

Don,

They're concave . . . unless you flip them over, then they're convex.

I knew I shouldn't have fallen asleep that day in class. (one of MANY) Thanks for the clarification Jack.


Don

I think I see a "baffled grommet" on your valve cover...true?
I have similar valve covers and am told I should get one for my pcv valve.

I am on pins and needles with this build, looks great so far.

Don, I like your idea on stops for the steering. That looks like it will definitely save your paint.

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Don,

They're concave . . . unless you flip them over, then they're convex.

Con'cave'......when its got a 'cave' in it, has a 'cavity'; bends inward, convex; bends outward.
A little tip my Form 2 teacher Mr. Sinclair gave me fifty years ago....and it stuck.

I think so Duane. I hated to cover up the stainless stops I paid extra for, but I would rather do that than mess up the backing plates.

Gusaroo, thank you. Yep, there is a baffle under each side. They came in the box with the valve covers, and just screwed in place. I didn't have baffles on the 302 in my '27, and it did tend to suck oil out of the cover, so I made up some simple plates and pop rivited them in.

Don

Don, I can hear it run already it's so close to being done.
Brad

Originally Posted by BradC

Don, I can hear it run already it's so close to being done.
Brad

Brad, you have no idea how accurate that statement is. Tonight we fired up the engine for the first time !!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't plan on doing that, but my Kid kept saying things like " you know we could get this running tonight if we tried." I really didn't want to, but he kept insisting, so we went to the auto parts store and picked up a coil, some spark plugs ,oil, fuel line, etc, etc. I first prelubed the engine after putting 5 quarts of Rotella T in the crankcase, and got about 65 pounds on the temporary gauge I hooked up. After making up some temporary wiring and hoses we turned on the electric pump and started cranking, but it wouldn't fire.......no spark. Found that I had two wires wrong going into the distributor.

Once that was corrected we tried it again, and suddenly my leg was getting blasted by flames from the drivers side header.......... IT ACTUALLY STARTED AND RAN !! It sat there and idled, and took gas pretty well when goosed, but we shut it down right away to check for leaks and stuff, and found that the starter gear is not releasing all the way out of the flexplate. For some reason either the flexplate is a little too far forward, or the starter is too far back. Not a lot, just an 1/8 of an inch or so, but enough to keep it engaged when the engine starts.

Let me ask the Chevy experts a question. Is there supposed to be any kind of a thin spacer between the crank and flexplate? I didn't get a flywheel when I got the engine, so I have no idea what is supposed to be in there. I just bolted the flexplate right to the crank. In any event, I am not too unhappy with having that little problem to deal with.....at least the engine fires right up, and I saw no leaks or smoke. I can solve the starter issue.

So tonight I am on cloud nine, but I know I am going to have to install baffles in the headers, that baby is loud. Here are the only two pictures I had time to take today. First one is me prelubing the engine, and the second is the oil gauge showing about 65 lbs.

Don

Thats Great Don, I love the color of the driveline.... Your almost there...That car is going to look killer....

Thanks Chevyboy. Once I get by this little starter issue it should be all downhill from here. I went to our archieves because Jag454 had exactly this problem, and I called Powermaster for him. The senior tech from Powermaster posted this response:


Hi guys John Brady from Powermaster here. I am the senior tech for them and this an unusual situation here. The gear looks to be retracted all the way from the picture. What I would suggest is the check the distance from the centerline of the mounting holes to the engine side of the ring gear. It should be 15/16 of an inch. To get an accurate measurement take a straight edge and lay it across the centerline of the starter mounting bolt holes in the engine block. Then take a ruler or tape measure and measure to the engine side of the ring gear. By the looks of the converter and flexplate it may be a situation where the converter is not seated in the trans all the way or the flexplate is on backwards. To check for the converter being seated all the way, take out the converter bolts and you should be able to "slide" the converter back into the trans about 1/4 to 3/8 inch leaving an air gap between the converter and flex plate. If you take the bolts out and the converter will not slide back in and you cannot spin the converter freely it is more than likely not seated and is pushing the flexplate forward into the starter. To have a starter that far engaged at rest and not have a flexplate/converter issue is HIGHLY unlikely.


So tomorrow I will see if I have 15/16ths of an inch, and go from there.


Don

Don,
A good friend of mine had problems with one of those little starters on the Model-A he is building. In his case, the starter fit too close to the block and wouldn't engage. At first he thought he had the wrong flex plate, but a count of the teeth proved it was, indeed, correct. He tried shimming the starter farther & farther from the block, but ended up with an ugly stack of spacers and it still made nasty noises whenever the starter engaged. He finally determined that the darned thing was just machined wrong and took it off. He put an original style starter on there and it works perfectly with no shims or other modifications.

My point is, the problem might be with the starter and not the flex plate. While you are measuring things, measure the snout length and mounting holes on the starter. It would be helpful if you have a stock starter to compare dimensions with, or, better yet, bolt it in place and see if the teeth disengage properly...

Where's the "youtube" video of this event...?