Head games

It's been over four weeks since I sent my cylinder heads of to be refurbished. Every week, I check in

Moving on with a new relationship

to see what the progress is, only to be told that "it'll be a few more days". Last week, I was told that they were done, only there was a slight problem. It seems that upon "final inspection", a crack was discovered in one of the heads that would have to be pinned. The guy said he would look at it and figure out what it would take to fix it and get back to me on the cost.
That was the last straw. When I initially dropped them off, they told me that the first thing they would do is magnaflux them to check for cracks and determine if they were usable. This was really starting to feel like a bait and switch deal!
Scanning through Craigslist to see what my options were, I stumbled upon an ad for a pair of small block power pack heads, completely rebuilt, for $100. I called the guy up, got a good vibe from him, and stuffed a $100 bill in my pocket.
Turns out that he had a similar experience with the same machine shop, only to the tune of $5000 to rebuild a motor, which was

And moving on with the project

originally supposed to cost $2000. That gave me the confidence I needed to blow off this shop and move on. I suspect I'll never hear from them, as I've had to call them every time.
In the meantime, I've got a pair of nice looking heads bolted to my block. I'll have the rockers adjusted by tomorrow, and the exhaust bolted in by Thursday.
This weekend is the Spring Turkey Run here in Daytona. I've got a small list of things to look for, as well as a long list of things to photograph on finished cars, for reference.

Prepping, painting, and...waiting

Well, the cylinder head restoration that was promised to be done in "four to five days" is now

E-brake pulleys after and before sandblasting

stretching into the fourth week, with no end in sight. Last week, they were being reassembled and would be ready on Tuesday. Friday came around and still no call, and when I checked in I was told that they were assembled, but upon final inspection a small crack was discovered around one of the bolt holes. Now, they have to figure out what it will take to pin the crack against further damage.
In the meantime, I've busied myself with prepping a number of parts to be painted with black epoxy. I also took time this week to set the block on the frame and mock it up with the transmission and driveshaft in place. I've always

More parts cleaned and primered

assumed (never a good thing) that the aluminum Powerglide I've been storing for 20 years would be a direct swap with the old cast iron one. Wrong!
When I installed the driveshaft, it turned out that my Powerglide has a 6" tailshaft, and the original had a 9" tailshaft. The yoke barely reached the driveshaft of the transmission.
I spent a day in frustration trying to decide what to do, then concluded that since I can't use this tranny,  I'll just find a Turbo 350 to install. More confusing choices when I learned that there are three different TH350 lengths.
I finally went to see the mechanic who wil be doing the rebuild for me, who gave me direction on a

Some finished, some ready for the epoxy black

number of measurements to take to ensure I get the right size. It turns out the the TH350 I need is the most common of lengths, and he had three or four he could choose from for a rebuild. It's going to cost around $800, plus the cost of an aftermarket mounting kit to use the original Powerglide mounts, as well as a kickdown cable. Oh yes, and eventually a different indicator for the dash.
Last week I also pulled out the driver's side fender and prepped it for paint. There were three areas of rust to attend to, all very small and relatively easy to patch. After the welding, I took it outside and gave it a good sandblasting,

After sandblasting the front fender

followed by a good coat of etching primer.
Yesterday, I decided that I had enough parts ready to warrant mixing up and spraying a batch of epoxy black paint. On Friday after the work day ended, I commandeered the shop that I run my business out of and set up a number of racks to suspend all of the parts to be painted. Yesterday the paint went on, and today I have a good pile of finished parts to be wrapped, boxed and cataloged.
So tomorrow brings another week of waiting for my heads..and looking for other things to work on in the meantime.

Goodbye rust!

Ready for primer and bondo

More rust cut out and patched

New headlight brow

Whole bunch of stuff ready to be painted

Odds and ends

Work has slowed somewhat over the past few weeks. I decided to send the cylinder heads off to be rebuilt, so I'm stuck on my engine restoration until they come back--which is supposed to be sometime this week.
Once I get them back, I can complete the reassembly of the motor and mount it on the frame. Not having the motor in place is holding up other steps I need to take to wrap up the frame and move on to the body, as I don't really have the space to work on both at the same time. Installing the motor and transmission will allow installation of the exhaust system, which in turn will allow me to figure out what I need to do to fab a transmission bracket that will also accommodate the exhaust pipe.
In the meantime, progress creeps forward as I clean and paint small parts, along with some sheetmetal. I've got all of the emergency brake components done, wrapped up and stored away. I've also re-stripped the front splash pan and left front fender, and sprayed a good fresh coat of etching primer on everything. These parts are safely stowed in our upstairs guest bedroom, much to the dismay of my wife!
Hopefully my next post will chronicle the installation and test start of the motor.

Block party

The motor I have for my '55 is a 283 that I purchased as a part of a bunch of stuff removed from a '57

Ready for breakdown

BelAir. The whole lot was $400, which included the motor and a complete '57 rear axle, so I figure the motor cost me around $200. I was told it was a 1963 motor. It was running when pulled from the car, and it spun over good and the plugs were in really good shape, so I earmarked it for use in my '55.
I also have another 283 coupled to an aluminum Powerglide that I pulled out of a '63 Impala that I bought for parts back in 1996. It was a four door that had been parked in someone's back yard in Atlanta since 1982, when a tree fell on the roof.

New double roller timing chain

Before starting on freshening up the motor earlier this week, I researched the serial numbers on both motors and discovered that they are both 1958 models. The one connected to the Powerglide was built as an automatic transmission motor, and the one I'm putting in my car was built to couple with a manual tranny. Not a big deal for me, but interesting nonetheless.
Since the motor seems to be in good condition, my plan is to simply freshen it up, replacing all of the parts that typically wear out. I have a complete gasket set that has been sitting on the shelf for 15 years, so I decided I may as well use it on this project.

Oil pan and timing cover reinstalled

I pulled the manifold off and the valley looked pretty good. Very little sludge build up. Both heads came off to reveal some carbon build up, but nothing out of the ordinary for a motor this old. The timing chain was really loose, so it had to go. It was probably impossible to get the timing to set right. Pulling the oil pan off, again I found a minor amount of sludge and debris. So far so good!
I sandblasted the oil pan, timing cover and intake manifold. I also scrubbed the block with Gunk and Dawn dishwashing detergent (to remove the oil residue).
One nod to modernity was to install an oil filter adapter, so I can use a readily available screw-on filter. I learned that the original canisters were prone to leak and messy when changing he cartridge. It's something that would be easy to refit back to original if desired.
There is the expected amount of carbon buildup on the piston tops. A few swipes with the wire wheel cleaned them up quite nicely!

oil filter adapter

At first I was planning on cleaning up the heads and reinstalling them, but after some clearer thinking, I decided to spend the $400 or so and have them rebuilt. They'll get cleaned, inspected, and new seals and hardened valve seats installed. I should end up with a pretty decent motor by then.

pistons cleaned up nicely

Bringing up the rear

There's not been as much time available this past couple of weeks for restoration work, but I've still

New brake lines to the new discs

found some time to keep the project moving forward.
Last weekend I tackled the installation of all new brake lines. I purchased a bulk roll of 3/16" steel
tubing and went to work. Since I am installing a disc brake setup, the original routing for the front and rear lines won't work, so that absolved me of trying to accurately recreate the original look. Instead, I focused of getting the lines as neat and straight as possible, and after a few hours I think it all came out pretty nice. The three lines that will eventually terminate on the proportioning valve were left sticking up with enough material to make whatever bends will be necessary to make the connections.

Rear lines all done

I was also able to get the steering box and linkage blasted clean and reinstalled.  Digging through the old boxes of "restored" parts, I found the tie rods and adjusters that I had stripped and painted fifteen years ago. With my improved skills, I stripped and repainted them with the CastBlast gray that I've been using on many of the parts that I want to appear as bare metal. Up until now, I've had a piece of steel pipe connecting the two steering knuckles, but now with the steering box and linkage in place, I can use the actual steering wheel to guide the frame around the shop.
One thing I've been trying to finish is the rear axle area. I wanted to replace the rear pinion seal to ensure there would be no gear oil slinging around the underside of the car. My old restoration handbook made it seem pretty easy: remove the nut and washer, pull the yoke off, pop old seal out, tap new seal in, reassemble.

Steering box and linkage installed

The 11/8" nut came off with a little resistance, but I had no way to remove the yoke without a puller. Fortunately, I have a great mechanic who is happy to loan me his specialty tools when needed, as well as dispense advice when requested. As he handed me his puller, he casually reminded me to make sure and count the number of revolutions when I removed the nut. My alarms went off in my head and I asked "Why? I've already removed it." With a look of disdain reserved for idiots who have just enough knowledge to get themselves in trouble, he explained to me that I couldn't simply crank the nut back down without knowing where to stop, as the crush sleeve in the pumpkin would then be incorrectly distorted. That in turn would change the interaction of the pinion gear to the ring gear, thus causing a grinding noise when turning. Yikes!
Frustrated with myself, I went home and--after the fact--did some Internet reading to learn that it is crucial to mark where the nut is in relation to the yoke before removal so you can put everything back the way it came off. It had seemed so simple before all of this!
Feeling betrayed by my manual, I gave it some thought and decided that since the yoke had been on the pinion gear shaft for 60 years, it was probably set pretty tight. Therefore, if I cranked the nut back on

Oops.

before I removed the yoke, and tightened it almost to the specified torque, it wouldn't compress any further and I could then mark everything and feel pretty confident that I hadn't screwed everything up. So that's what I did. I won't know if it worked out until many months from now when I finally get Old Yeller back on the road.

Out with the old...

With the new seal in place, I was able to clean and paint the yoke,
and repaint the pumpkin. At least it all looks pretty!

...and in with the new. All finished!

Eating the elephant

Fresh coat of epoxy paint

When my son and I were restoring his Mustang, there were many days, even weeks, where he was discouraged and overwhelmed by the task at hand. Since he had never gone down this path before, he couldn't see what I saw. That is, that each thing we did, no matter how small, was one more step towards the finish. Equally difficult was the inability to see further down the road, and how the completion of one or two tasks would lead to more progress later on. I used to remind him that it was like eating an elephant: you have to take one bite at a time, but eventually the task would be complete.
I was having some of that despondency last week, but after my little cry over how monumental this project seemed, I put my head back on my shoulders and refocused.
The first thing I did, which always helps me in other aspects of my life, was to make a list. Using the calendar on my phone, I entered
two or three tasks for each day of the week. I kept each day realistic so as to not get bogged down with one thing. The goal was to get the frame back on the ground with wheels by the weekend, and it appears that it will happen. I also pulled out a number of small items that needed restoring to fill in the gaps, so as to have a sense of moving forward at all times.
I had started repainting the frame last week, and by Sunday there as a good coat of epoxy black on the whole frame. In the interest of time and effort, I decided to forego disassembly of the front suspension. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with compressing springs. Besides, the control arms were in pretty good shape to begin with.

Spark plug heat shields before during and after cleanup

The biggest step this week was installation of a new front disc brake setup. I was a little wary when I started opening the boxes, because I bought this kit from a vendor at the Thanksgiving Turkey Run, kind of on the spur of the moment. The price was good and t
he thinking was, at the time, that by making a large purchase I would be more inclined to get to work on the car. I guess it worked!
Anyway, as I began laying out all of the parts, I was more and more impressed with the kit. There was no issues with fitting. Ever part needed was there, right down to the cotter pins. The bearings were a quality name brand. As a result, I had both sides installed in about an hour! Of course, there's still the mater of brake lines and master

Hood hinges, waiting on steel finish paint from Eastwood

cylinder, but that's for another list.
I planned on getting a number of larger parts out for some outside sandblasting on Friday. We have rain forecast for Friday, so that task is moving up to tomorrow, but otherwise the list worked great.
If I can stay on task, I should begin stripping down the motor this weekend. I found a complete gasket kit in my searches last week, so I've decided to pull the heads and oil pan. That should give me a pretty good picture of what condition the motor is in. My plan is to
basically clean it up, paint it, and replace any exterior components (fuel pump, thermostat, etc.) that normally wear out. The aluminum Powerglide is going to the transmission guy this week as well. It's been sitting for probably close to 35 years, so I'm bracing myself for a big bill on that. The good thing is, the aluminum Powerglides are popular with racers, so the parts are readily available.

The old drums get their last day in the sun

 

New discs installed. A really nice kit

Feeling overwhelmed

I'm working from the rear of the frame-the easier end-towards the front as I strip and repaint with epoxy.
Yesterday, I decided to go looking for the brass distribution

Hubcaps, dome light, trunk emblem...nothing organized

block for the rear brakes that mounts on the rear axle. I began pulling old dusty boxes out from beneath the shelves, and with each box opened my heart sank a little more.
The first box wasn't too bad. Each part that came out was familiar to me. Window regulators. Seat trim. Steering wheel. Even the complete front brake line assembly with blocks and straps.
The second box had a few familiar items, but just as many oddities that I can't place, neither in my mind nor on the car. The next box was

More disorganization

the same, only I started recognizing parts from the '57 that I had back in the 90s (the red overspray identifies some of those pieces). Other parts look nothing like anything that goes on this car. A mixture of odds and ends.
Another box yielded the same pile of confusion, and still I hadn't found the distribution block. I then turned to the two buckets of bolts that hold a mish mash of nuts, bolts and brackets. Many of these things have nothing to do with the '55, they've just found their way into the bucket over the years. Dumping them out on the floor was like pouring a thousand  jigsaw puzzle pieces out. How will I ever sort this stuff out?
I have four or five more boxes, but I'm pretty sure most of that stuff are parts that I restored and wrapped up for safekeeping. I never found the block, so I turned to eBay this morning and ordered a new one for $13. Money well spent to avoid frustration and lost time.

What a mess. How could've I been so stupid?

The goal this weekend is to get the front half of the frame stripped and repainted. If all goes well, I may even have time to start installing the new disc brake setup. A lot of time lost last weekend was due to a gimpy paint gun and other annoyances that slowed me down--things that shouldn't happen again. One step at a time...