1981 El Camino

[Maverick]

I'm back ... Got the water pump, wp pulley, and crank pulley cleaned and painted. The torque converter and some other stuff arrived about 2 PM. Got the TC instructions out and it said to check the fit of the TC nose in the crank and TC-to-flexplate bolts. TC nose is the same size as the crank hole but when I checked the TC-to-flexplate bolt diameter, it's different.

Spent the next 90 minutes thinking about what to do. Called Summit tech support. The little things you don't know can drive you crazy. I thought it was strange that the flexplate had six TC bolt holes. Maybe some flexplates have 6 bolts?? NO! The six holes are to accommodate two different bolt circles, three holes for each. Just had to rotate the flexplate to the next set of holes and all is well. Happy hour started early today.

[Maverick]

Engine and trans are mated up. Getting all the threads chased and everything test fitted. Clocked the Powermaster mini starter closer to the block and the right header clears it nicely. The left header clears the 4.X" WIX oil filter. Getting the accessories mounted. The chrome aftermarket bracket for the alternator needed some messaging to fit with the new manifold. Still need to clean up the alternator.

Got the "rust bucket", aka electrolytic bath, going to de-rust the headers. Put the first header in it this afternoon. Bubbles were coming from the end of the header so it's cleaning up the inside too. Ceramic treatment would be good after it's all cleaned up but I'm not springing for that. VHT flat black is supposed to arrive Tuesday so that timing should work out. Ordered a dual inlet carb feed line and fuel filter from Amazon which could arrive as early as Thursday.

[Maverick]

"Massaging" of the alternator bracket got the bolts to all fit but the pulley is mis-aligned. Ordered a new bracket. I think the problem with the fit is caused by a small difference in the Edelbrock intake and a thick water pump gasket. If the new bracket has the same problem I'll slot the hole for the bolt on the intake which should keep the pulley aligned.

VHT paint came Saturday. Got the left header de-rusted and painted. Right one is drying before painting.

Pictures are with my new smart phone. Focus was good on the header picture but sucks on the engine pictures. Maybe I'll figure it out someday. Mocked up the engine for pictures while the right header is drying.

The plan is to put the engine/trans in tomorrow. Still some details to sort out before it can be started.

[Maverick]

WXO and friend, Jim, came over yesterday and we got the engine on the mounts after a lot of difficulty. It looked to me like the engine/trans would go in with headers attached and save us a bunch of problems. That was a really bad idea. Maybe with just the passenger side attached? Nope. We tried both ways and FINALLY gave up and removed the headers. Then it went on the mounts pretty easily.]

However, the transmission mount appears to be an inch plus off to the right side. I suspect the problem is the V8 engine stands (which replaced the original V6 stands) aren't just as they should be. I'll try loosening the bolts fastening the engine stands to the frame and see if maybe there's some play that would let the engine yaw a bit so the trans mount will bolt up to the X-member. If not, ... oh, boy!!

The Allen head header bolts that I picked up work great EXCEPT under the tube bends. Gotta find my header bolt stash and get some hex head bolts under those bends.

[Basement Paul]

Maybe asking a dumb questions, but is it possible for the new tranny mount to be mounted in there 180deg off? Some Ford ones can be put in there backwards... Any chance the hole in the crossmember is off center?

-BP

[Maverick]

There is a front and back to the trans mount but the holes are symmetric. There's a bulge in the rubber that goes toward the back of the car.

The G-forcej X-member has been used by a lot of El Camino guys with no complaints about off center trans mount. Eye balling the drive shaft tunnel the trans appears to be off center a bit.

I"ll try shifting the frame mounts. If that doesn't work, I'll think about what to try next. Sure hope I don't have to struggle with those headers again. But, if I have to, I now know the sequence that works and I'll have some more convenient header bolts.

[Maverick]

False alarm. Only one of the two X-member-to-trans-mount bolt holes, 1+ inches apart, line up with a bolt hole in the mount but that's OK. The instructions for the mount say only one bolt is used for some applications. The old trans mount only had one bolt there. Installed the drive shaft and it fits in the tunnel OK. Another hole could be drilled in the X-member and the second bolt installed but I don't think its necessary. X-member is in and trans is mounted.

Swapped the header bolts out for some locking bolts. The locks will be installed when the bolts are re-torqued after a few heat cycles. The locks on some of the hard to reach bolts are a PAIN to install. Doubt I'll get a lock on the rear-most bolt on the right header.

WXO and Jim came over yesterday and we got all the accessories and brackets figured out. Tightened that all up today. We also got the power steering hoses routed yesterday and tightened up today. AC/PS belt is either too long or the sides are worn so much its going too deep in the pulleys. The adjusting bolt hits the end of the slot and prevents that belt from being tightened. A 1.5" shorter Gates 7550 V-Belt belt has been ordered.

Ordered a heat shield for the starter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C ... UTF8&psc=1 Ordered 25' of FI fuel hose to replace the cobbled up fuel supply and vent lines. The vent will be capped and a vented gas cap will be used since the carbon canister is gone. The fuel supply line will be switched to the right frame rail which will keep the line to the fuel pump away form heat. Ordered braided transmission cooler lines. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/add-23-1501

[Maverick]

Found the old temperature sending unit by searching for an image online!! Not on the intake manifold where I expected it.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/attachme ... gine_4.jpg

There's an extra plug where I could put it on the intake. Where do you guys put them on the SBCs, on the intake or on the head?

[TireSmoker]

I've used both locations over the years, and I think the factory has too. Use whichever makes the wiring easier/neater. I'll note this though-- for many years I had a mechanical water temp gauge with the sending unit into the head. If I had to take the headers off, it meant removing that sending unit and having to drain coolant. I was stubborn back then about not using electrical gauges for some dumb reason.

-Dave

[Maverick]

Thanks, Dave. Since it doesn't matter, I'll probably put it on the intake to keep one wire away from the headers.

[Maverick]

Came down with a cold or the flu Wednesday. Parts have been arriving but they're just piling up. Today I did bring the new carb in on the kitchen table and installed the kit to convert it from manual to electric choke. That's about all I can do for a few days. Trans cooler lines, new fuel line, fuel pump, new ac belt, ... all just waiting to go on.

I was supposed to get a flu shot but not sure I did. No pick; no sensation of anything being injected. Suspicious old coot that I am, I wonder if the young thing messed up preparing the shot and just pretended to give me the shot. I'm not a good patient ...

[Maverick]

Still coughing but I've been poking my head out into the garage for a few minutes at a time. Today I installed the new fuel pump and push rod and started making the fuel line. Slid underneath to make sure that the installed fuel pump cleared the motor mount OK. It does but I'm looking up into the block at the push rod!! Another GM thing to know. Didn't notice there's a fuel pump mounting plate that goes behind the pump. Its still on the old block. Could have reused the old plate but, since I don't have a gasket, I ordered a new plate and gasket from Amazon Prime.

[Maverick]

Seems like everything I do lately has to be redone.

Fuel pump has been removed, mounting plate installed, and the pump reinstalled.

Ordered a new heater hose nipple for the intake. After its installed, I see that hose is 5/8" not 3/4" like the other. Picked up a 5/8 nipple, installed it and the heater hoses are connected.

The bracket for the throttle cable and TV cable mounted with two bolts to stabilize it on the original carb. Edlebrock intake doesn't have the second bolt so a bracket had to be fabbed to get a stable mount. Welded a piece to the original bracket to let it also mount on a second bolt on the intake. Somehow that got screwed up and didn't fit. Had to redo it. Its now soaking in the Evapo-Rust. I'll paint and install it tomorrow.

Got WXO's seal remover in too far when pulling the rear seal out of the transmission and scored the bushing. Discovered my error when the drive shaft wouldn't go in. Removed the tail housing, cleaned up the burr with a fine chain saw file, reinstalled the tail housing, replaced the seal again and I think it'll be fine.

Now, on to the hacks by the previous owner. I wondered why the left exhaust pipe was not tight to the header. Now I know. When the exhaust pipe is tight to the header, the pipe is jammed up against the shift lever and the shifter will only go into P thru N. I knew part of each exhaust pipe would have to be redone because of the hack job on them and to take advantage of the replacement, dual exhaust X-member but wasn't aware of the interference with the shifter. The loose exhaust pipe will get me to the muffler shop to get the exhaust system fixed up,

The fuel lines, both supply and canister, have to be redone. There are original-looking rubber sections that are soft and some of the original, rusty lines have been bypassed and left in place. I'll remove all the old stuff and replace with new lines.

Some front brake lines are hard up against a header. Wish I'd noticed that before the engine went in. I'll have to re-route and replace some of the lines. Had to reroute the Lincoln front brake lines because of the headers but I did that while the engine was out.

Not the previous owner's fault but the fuel gauge isn't accurate or consistent. The sender will be replaced. Have to drop the tank to do that. Decided to replace the 17 gal fuel tank with the optional 22 gal tank and get the matching 22 gal sender. New tank, sender and straps are arriving this week from RockAuto. Then the entire fuel system will be new.

Doing things right the first time is a lot more fun than recovering from mistakes and fixing other people's hacks.

[Basement Paul]

After buying the Tubstang and fixing what seemed like everything, I'm not sure I'd ever buy anything but a stock vehicle again. It's worth the extra money starting from scratch so you know what you have and eliminate a ton of aggravation. I'm not sure ultimately you save any money buying a "done" project.

I love the 22 gal fuel tank. I wish my S10 had an optional tank, I'd get it for sure. Mine is "18 gallons" but it's hard to get 15 into it.

-BP

[Maverick]

Yeah, fixin' OPs hacks isn't fun. I like the (F41) stiffer sway bars and frame/body supports the PO added. Other than that, I wish it were stock.

A 17 gal tank, a fuel gauge you can't depend on, and an unfamiliar vehicle makes for frequent gas stops on a road trip.

The new fuel tank arrived today. Comes with filler tube attached and threaded for the gas cap. Just remove the cap from the old filler tube and screw it onto the new one.

Siphoned 12 gallons of gas out of the old tank and removed it. Body looks good above the tank. The sender and straps will be here tomorrow and the next day. Next job will be to get the old fuel lines out and make new ones. Haven't decided what I'll do for a vent. Don't know if it makes sense to use a carbon canister with no purge mechanism.

At some point I'll have to suspend work on the EC and do a brake job on the Explorer. Brakes are scraping at 67K miles so can't use it till its fixed.