hi guys new to the site, been reading alot, but this will be my first post.. anyways my old man picked up a 76 about 5 years ago from a body man (he striped all the original paint). car has 80k miles. from my understanding original engine/ tranny ( how do you check that?). anyways he had the engine and tranny rebuilt, all bushings, shocks replaced and the brakes done, then left the car sitting outside covered for 4 years. every once in a while starting it.

i got sick of watching a nice car rot away and told him i'd take it on, the enterior is trashed, alot of the stuff looks unusable. whats the best way of going about enteriors on these cars?

the tranny still has fluid in it dont know if it will run even though it was rebuilt, thinking of changing the fluid/filter and going from there. any input? i also noticed the tranny shop left one of the flexplate bolts out and didnt align the plate correctly. could this have caused any damage to the rotating assembly? (the car was run only in the driveway, never driven)

the engine didnt start any more, pulled a valve cover and saw 2 roller rockers sitting to the side of the pushrods, plus the engine still had the same oil they put in it at the shop. so i decided to pull it. sludge everywhere, 2 broken pushrods (guessing shop didnt know how to adjust RR) and the teeth on the stock distributor were almost gone (comp cam) anyways i decided to tear the motor apart, inspect everything give it fresh gaskets, ARP bolts throughout, re-torque main, rod bolts, new oil pump, fuel pump, pushrods and a coat of paint. also got a new distributor, valve covers and a few ods and ends.

the frame of the car seems to only have surface rust, both floors are completly rusted through, ordered a set of floor pans and had a local guy come and weld one in, other side should be done this weekend.

the wiring and dash area scare me the most, lol anything mechanical for me is a breeze. i'm only 26 but been wrenching for about 9 years. but electrical sucks!!!

anyways sorry for the long post but i basically have a project, the old mans credit card and a go to get the car back in shape. would love some advice/opinions on things to avoid and what not. thanks!

dont know if these pic links will work but here you go:

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

http://cs.kawiforums.com/cs/cs.displ...C61457A&size=0

 

Wow, sounds like a fun project. Best way to do the interior is clean up all the rust, fix the floors, Order the interior parts that are missing/dead, oder paint for all the interior pieces to match the new stuff. Put in sound/heat shielding, then carpet and all the other int parts, easy, LOL
You could get lucky on the flex plate, check it for cracks/warp
Check out all the suapension and tranny work, if the hosed the motor that bad I wouldn't trust anything they did.
Look over the bearings while you have the motor open, make sure.
Good Luck and post pics

 

Sounds like you're on top of things. I solved virtually all of the the electrical problems on my 76 by buying a new dash harness from Lectric Limited. All the wires and connectors match the original and you don't have to worry about what may have been done to the wiring in the past. I also had to replace the turn signal switch. Jim Shea has written several papers that are the Bibles of steering column work.

 

i was also curious as to what power this 355 should be making???

350 .30 over, flat top speed pro forged pistons 9.7.1, stock crank/rods, comp 462/469 lift 262/270 dur. flat tapped with matching valve springs and lifters, stock rebuilt heads, crane 1.5 roller rockers, edelbrock performer intake, edelbrock 600 cfm carb, hooker 1-5/8 longtubes, mallory HEI distributor,

would 300hp be asking too much??!! lol

 

You'll probably be pretty close to 300 hp. The only thing that will hold you back is the stock heads. They are not made for high flow. If you get a nice set of heads, you will probably be around 350 hp.