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Reminds me of the incorrectly imbalanced flex plate that drove me nuts on the Maverick. Since I had replaced the harmonic balancer, flex plate and torque converter all at the same time it was a puzzle discovering which one was messed up. The flex plate was determined to be to blame by comparing the balance of the old flex plate to correct, larger one. I wonder how the commercial shops deal with the high percentage of defect parts these days.

Racin'Jacin wrote: Seriously though - holy smokes - you're tearing this thing UP! You're making me feel like a slacker!!!!!

Keep up the great work!!!
Jacin

I am sure BP would rather be driving it than working on it. : )

EDIT - I had the same thing on an EGR block off plate for the 1988 Z71 TBI 350. I ordered the part from Summit. WRONG. Went to AutoZone, WRONG. Went to AdvanceAuto Parts, WRONG. NAPA, WRONG, O'Rielly, WRONG. Guys on the internet say to make your own, WRONG. So one night I am surfing and I see what looks like the right one. WaaaaaLaaaaaa..........mid 1990's LT1 EGR plate it is. I carried that dam EGR valve and gasket in my car for 2 weeks trying to find the right part (match them up).

So I'm not the only one... Hopefully when I start driving it, I'll forget about all this nonsense. At least when it's done, I'll know exactly what I have. I sure hope this thing is fast.

-BP

Patience BP, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was the Fringe.

GM

Hmmmm, the Fringe. I wonder if it's for sale??? I AM friends with Charlie on facebook...

-BP

Basement Paul wrote:So I'm not the only one... Hopefully when I start driving it, I'll forget about all this nonsense. At least when it's done, I'll know exactly what I have. I sure hope this thing is fast.

-BP

All of your frustration will drift away as soon as your first pair of smokey burn-outs fill the air of Lake or Geauga County.

Today the motor went back in with the help of 32V, but not without it's hiccups. The transmission crossmember I bought won't work. It's either too high or too low, depending on which way you flip it. It's not even close... So I'll have to go back to Summit with that one and get a more stock type.

It turns out that I'll have to run the 1/4" riser plates under the motor / trans mounts for the oil pan to clear the steering rack, but the parts I cut out seem to clear OK. The headers are hitting all over the place, but they are hitting on both sides on the new, bigger bell housing. It's also hitting on the floor of the passenger's side footwell. There will be some serious massaging going on. I think it's hitting the floor because of the riser plates. I also had to disconnect the steering to get the header on the driver's side. They're both back out and marked up for a beatdown this week sometime.

More to come.





-BP

Paul Ask Stan about tweaking headers. On his '55 he bought the wrong headers and didn't realize it until AFTER he had them coated!!!

He put the car on the LIFT - put a ratchet strap on the collector to the OPPOSITE side of the lift and CRANKED away - I think he said he moved the collectors - 8 or 10 inches! Never cracked the coating!!!! He did both sides. You might try a similar trick to gain some floor clearance.

I might be able to do something like that on the driver's side, but I need to be careful of the steering shaft when I pull it away from the bell housing. On the passenger's side, I'm touching on both sides... Now, there's potential to pull them down away from the body / bell housing. I don't think doing that will be quite as easy as these are 3/4 length and not full length so there's not as much leverage. Plus, I can't bolt them to the block the way they are right now, so getting leverage might be tough. Again, this only applies to the passenger's side. I might be OK on the driver's for strapping / bending.

Good idea, I'll see if it helps.

-BP

So Saturday brought another trip back to Summit Racing for the cross member exchange. I turned in the tubular one that didn't work, and brought home the Ford Racing double hump one. After test fitting it and tacking it together, I pulled it back out of the car and did a final weld in position, and then threw a coat of flat black at it. This one is significantly stronger than the cut up one I pulled out of the car. I also learned the one that was in the car was from the '79-'81 cars that had a smaller mounting area, so it flexed more too. I'm sure this contributed significantly to the broken bell housing.

With the cross member installed, I got the torque converter finally bolted to the flex plate. I also noticed the oil pan drain leaking even though there was no oil in the pan... I guess the oil left on the crank was still dripping and the drain plug was still loose so I tightened that up.

Then I went after the passenger's side header clearance issue. After some monkeying around, I gently beat the crap out of the passenger's side floor and made space for the header. As it turns out, I didn't have to dent the header at all as it clears the floor and the new bell housing by about 3/8" on both sides. I made this cool chunk of wood in case I had to smack the header to make sure the flange stays round, but I really didn't need it. We'll see about the driver's side as the week progresses.














-BP

I would definitely "uncork" those headers at your earliest convenience.

Seriously, though, it looks like things are starting to go your way....and that you've got a real chance to drive this to and from TRP this season.

I'm not going to start counting chickens or getting my hopes up quite yet, but I am going to keep plugging away. Either way, by the time winter hits, I want it done, so next year all I have to do is turn the key. In reality, I think you're right, but I know how things go and more things could pop up as I go. Which is cool, I'll get them sorted out too.

-BP

My S-10 has sidetracked me for almost a month. So today I finally got back on track. I was able to get the steering joints all put together, and then rechecked the clearance to the header on the driver's side. I had to pull the header out one more time, beat the crap out of it, and when I put it back in it was close, but still hit the one set screw. So I pulled the set screw, shaved it down on the grinding wheel (precision, I know) and ta da!, it worked.

So I pulled the driver's header out for hopefully the last time, cleaned up both side headers, and put a final coat on both of them to clear up all the abuse of clearancing and fitting.







Hopefully I'll get back on track and get this thing done before it snows.

-BP

Last weekend the headers went back in for hopefully the last time. I also got all the steering linkage hooked back up. Once that was done I put the driveshaft in, the tranny shifter cable back on, and the speedo gear in. I set the car on it's wheels and rolled it outside just to blow all the grinding dust off it, and to clean up the garage floor.

This weekend will hopefully be the starter, tranny lines, and reinstall the tranny cooler. None of these items are just reinstalls since the mini starter will need to be rewired as it's never been in the car and takes a different wiring configuration than the stock starter. The tranny lines will be bent from scratch and the tranny cooler needs a new mounting setup. Once those are done, I'll start feeling pretty good as I'll be really close and all of my fab work will be done.

-BP

Looking good, Mr. Kotter!!

All we need now is the snow to hold off until December....