Hello,
Since my project is in progress now I thought I’d start a thread to keep everything in one place.
My car is a 69 convertible, Lemans Blue with a blue vinyl interior, white soft top, and body colored hard top.


My uncle bought the car new, drove it as his daily driver in Cleveland, OH till 74 and parked it with just over 46k on the odometer. It’s been mostly garaged since then although it did spend several years sitting in a field next to his house while he was building his garage. He changed the lifters and timing chain in 76 and was never able to get the car running, so it’s been sitting like that since. It’s a low option small block car, 350hp L46 engine, wide ratio 4-speed, 3.36:1 posi rear end, transistor ignition, and that’s it! I got the car and am going to bring it back to it’s former glory.


The engine is seized so my first task is to get power back into the car. To that end I pulled the engine and trans to see if I could free it up. It’s locked up pretty tight. I have one piston out, and another I could remove but because of the position of the crank the big end of the rod won’t clear the block. I can’t get the others to move at this point so I’m using PB Blaster to see if I can get them loose. I have been doing research on getting pistons unstuck and have a couple other witches brews in mind if I don't see progress fairly soon
While I was dissambling the block there were several markings I was curious about and thought I’d ask here if anybody knows what they are...

Along the bottom of the block where the oil pan bolts up there are numbers stamped near the bottom of each cylinder. Ideas as to what they mean?

Cyl 1 and 3



Cyl 2 and 4



Cyl 5 and 7



Cyl 6 and 8


There is paint (I think it was white and orange?) on the cam


And there is paint on the crank?


There is also a blue marking on the bellhousing where the trans bolts up.


I will try to update this thread as I make progress and look forward to future discussions.
Jeff

 

Looks like a great car to start a resto on. Best of luck with it and keep us posted.

 

Awsome. Nice to see a family heirloom given a second chance.

 

Good luck on your build.

 

Car should be a keeper when it's done. Good luck un-seizing the moment.

 

Great colors too!

 

Another piece of history is saved! Congrats on the car!

 

Very nice Vette. This is a 4 bolt main? Is that common on a small block?

 

 

My '69 300 hp 350 is a 4 bolt main, I do think most were 4 bolt mains in the early C3's.

 

Nice car, great project you have there......
Tank sticker ??

 

Yep, I have the tank sticker and a bunch of other documentation my uncle kept. Original Dealer Order Form (He put $5.00 down to order the car), Dealer Delivery Form, Proct-O-Plate, Owners manual, original title, original license plates, etc. Pretty much any paperwork associated with the car. I even have a Midas Lifetime Guarantee Certificate from when he had the exhaust replaced in 1973! The documentation is pretty cool in and of itself.

Jeff

 

Just a quick update...
I got another piston out last night. So I have #5 and #6 out. Now I'm kind of stuck because I can't get any more pistons out until I can rotate the crank to get rods to clear and access to the other rod bolts. The penetrating solution drains out of #1, so hopefully that one is fairly free now, but is still standing in #3 and #7. I have #4 loose, but can't remove it because the rod hits the block, and I'm still soaking #2 and #8 from the inside... Hopefully with patience, persistence, and a bit of luck and I'll have the pistons and crank out of the block in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Jeff

 

Hey Jeff, try taking a short piece of wood 4 x 4, round of the corners til it fits in the cylinder bores and give it a couple of easy raps with a hammer. If may help separate the rings which have rusted themselves to the cylinder bores and free up the pistons.

 

I spent the evening doing a little of that, and I took a .006" feeler gauge and was able to work it between the pistons and the cylinder wall down to the top ring on all the pistons. More soaking from the bottom tonight and we'll see what tomorrow brings...

 

Jeff,
Good to hear you are making progress! On your picture of cylinders 2 and 4, it looks like there is the grease pencil GC under the Orange paint on the block, which corresponds to your stamp pad suffix. The metal stamps along the oil pan rail having something to do with factory bearing sizes, if I recall correctly. Doesn't your car also have the PO2 wheel covers? Keep reminding yourself this is fun. And keep us all updated.
Mike

 

Hey Mike,
Thanks again for spending time with me to go over some things on my car, and for allowing me to visit you and view your beautiful setup. I have some pics to post of the specific original goodies you pointed out. Hopefully some on here will find them interesting. Thanks for the info on the stamps and grease pencil.
Yes, I do have the PO2 wheel covers. Those and the valve covers are safely tucked away in the "luggage compartment" of the car.
At this point I don't need to remind myself it's fun, it still is, Always something new to learn and discover!
Jeff