TireSmoke.org

Love it, that's great! I might do the same thing on the Blazer.

-Dave

We bought another oil priming tool, one with a collar that is supposed to force oil to the valve train. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1 But, the collar was not positioned right. Some mods to reposition the collar and it works -- rocker arms are getting oil.

The first attempt for a right, rear leg on the engine cradle that doesn't interfere with the starter or header
was abandoned (it interfered with the header) and replaced with this.
This one, made from 2X1/8" angle iron, attaches to the inboard starter bolt.

We used up all of WXO's acetylene in ancient tanks while making the legs. My 100+ year-old tank was already empty. Managed to get both our old tanks exchanged with modern new tanks. Should the need arise, we won't have a problem exchanging them for full tanks.

An old 20" fan was cleaned, painted and attached to the radiator. A NASCAR-like panel with start button, ignition switch and other switches was attached to a fiberglass sheet. Oil pressure and coolant temp gauges were also mounted on the fiberglass. That control panel and the radiator/fan were then attached to 1.5" PVC pipes that replaced the handle on one end of the cart. The headers and Cherry Bombs, with restrictions added to the mufflers to force most exhaust thru the fiberglass packing to quiet them down, were successfully test fitted. Good clearance with the cradle legs, cart and handles. We made a upper radiator hose by cutting an unused new hose from the stash. A lower hose will be be made from a 12" 1.5" ID flexible hose, a 1.5-to-1.75" exhaust adapter, and a 13" 1.75" ID flexible hose.

Spark plugs were gapped and installed. DELCO wires are installed. Zip tie wire separators, a la BP, will neaten them up. Distributor was installed and positioned for approximate timing.

We're getting close to start up. My wife thinks our project is "cute". She approves.

Photos added to previous post by Maverick

Thats a really nice looking setup. All the fun of putting together an engine and starting it without all the installation hassles. What's sticking out of the passenger side cherry bomb?

-Dave

I think its a socket and extension but, whatever it is, its on the floor and not attached to the muffler.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 3194258066

Asking $300 for the test stand

Got the wiring for gauges, ignition, and start button done, installed the lawn mower throttle cable, bolted the engine cradle to the cart, finished installing the headers and mufflers, filled the radiator and cranked it. The $13 flex plate sits 1/8" too far back and hits a washer on the nose of the starter. Angle grinder removed an unused part of the teeth on the ring gear and it's ALMOST fixed. Could use a little more trimming. Cranked it again and, ...

IT'S ALIVE!!! Without changing the initial stab of the distributor or touching the carb adjustments it purred. Then, it died and wouldn't start. No spark. WXO took the HEI module to AutoZone and, along with the counter guy, read the manual and learned how to test the module on their machine. Module failed the test and an old one he took along passed. The failed module is the same one used for the trip from NY. So, why did it fail almost immediately in the rebuilt engine? WXO bought a new module, with lifetime guarantee, put it in and it starts instantly and runs smooth and quiet. Readjusted the lifters with the engine running.

Caps in the Cherry Bombs make it quiet as a kitten. My old, cheap 20" box fan isn't providing enough air flow to cool the engine, even on idle. We shut it off when it hit 210*. WXO is checking to see if he has a flex fan in his stash.

Woohoo, first fire up is always fun! Regarding the fan, do you have it configured to pull air through the radiator? (not push)

I have a few spare electric radiator fans here. If Walt is interested in dragging one home, you can have it. (if he's flying, I guess that won't work)

-Dave

Link to first start video added. I can't seem to make the inline youtube function work.

The fan is pushing. WXO found his flex fan so maybe that will fix it, even without a shroud.

Change the fan to pull instead of push and I'll bet you'll have better cooling. Flex fan without a shroud won't be better. That's how my Blazer was when I first got it. Drive-thrus were a no-no because of no air-flow.




Walt, I fixed the YouTube link. Here's how it works:

Your URL: Since you have a youtu.be URL (as opposed to a youtube.com URL), click the "YouTube2" button. If you hover your mouse over the Youtube2 button, you'll see it says "for youtu.be urls" Use the regular Youtube button for YouTube.com URLs.

When the editor inserts the [Youtube2][/Youtube2] markers, paste your URL in the middle of them. Click the Preview button. If everything is correct, you'll see your video in your draft preview.


Hope this helps..

-Dave

Today was about tending to some leftover issues...set timing, overheating, and rewiring the start button to include a relay. Jim worked on the wiring while I struggled to make my 40 year old flex fan work on this water pump. I had to make a trip back home to locate a fan spacer to move the fan back. I found the spacer, but the holes didn't match the pulley so I had to drill more holes in the pulley. Finally it all came together. The fan is in exactly the right place up close to the radiator and misses all the other dangling things after we used up a few of Jim's zip ties. The relay wiring was accomplished nicely and we set the timing at 12°BTDC and this thing runs beautifully. Cooling issues were resolved with the addition of the flex fan and YouTube issues were resolved with great help from "THE Tiresmoker".

Finally, we couldn't resist removing the mufflers for some racing music:

Every time Maverick would blip the throttle, the front wheels of the engine stand would lift off the ground.
It was not time for me to turn my attention to my trip to Cleveland. Maverick is left with a small oil leak showing up under the oil pan and re-torquing the heads.

Everything about this project is cool. I'm glad it all came together with only minor hiccups. Nice job guys!

-BP

Oil leaks were fixed by re-tightening the pan bolts. The reusable, one-piece pan gasket must have compressed -- the bolts were REALLY loose. Intended to re-torque the heads but can't do that with the headers on. NOT taking them off till we sell so re-torque can wait till then. Checked one bolt and it was still tight.

We couldn't resist a $13 Chinese tach to add to the test stand. Should be arriving soon.

Changed the oil and filter. Quite a job with the engine on the test stand. We had competing inventions to get the oil into a drain pan, not on the floor. WXO's invention won.

Engine is ready for the sale.

Engine is sold. WXO's Craigslist ad caught the eye of a guy in PA that builds custom trucks for resale. He was thrilled with the engine and the price. Says we should charge more.
Its going in a $50K 1966 (?) C10. Wants us to build more engines for him but he needs them in 8-10 weeks. Kinda hard to do with our one-day-a-week work schedule and my puttering during the week. We'll talk but seems unlikely we'll make another deal.

A really nice feature of this transaction is he gives no guarantees on his builds so our "as is" sale works well.

The engine stand was really effective as a sales tool. The buyer wanted an engine to drop in with no tuning. That's what made the deal.