0.60 over is as far as you can go on an SBC (to my knowledge). It had great compression and didn't burn oil, not expecting to have to bore it. If it needed a little clean up, they'd have to go to 4.062. Anything over 0.63 would involve a full resleeve.

 

Engine is at the machine shop, and I was able to do some wrenching tonight. Of course I had to play with my new blast cabinet (now my new favorite toy!) . Blasted off some brackets and pulleys for my engine, and started to lay down some satin black paint





Then it was back off to stripping down the engine bay for paint, and the front end so I could get the body lifted for the frame repair. Started by removing the windshield wiper motor and the engine wiring harness:



Next I had to FINALLY remove those fugly fixed headlights, they'll never go back on this car! Chrome grills are in okay shape - one can probably be saved the other has chrome peeling.




I had to see what those OEM headlights were going to look like! Paint is a shade of blue off, but close enough until she's painted!

 

There it is! The HEART of an LT-1 !

 

Yeah I'll most likely buy this as long as I don't get any curveballs from the machine shop! Be great to have an LT-1 crank back in my LT-1!


Also, I was going to order ARP rod bolts, then google sent me down the rabbit hole of "resizing rods" for ARP rod bolts.... Is this necessary? Is it worth the trouble?

 

I replaced mine just swapping them in...I didnt do anything, but if you do swap them , get the rotating assembly re-balanced

 

The rods will really need to be resized if you want to change the bolts. The whole rotating assembly will need to be rebalanced to do the job right. Truth - you are better off for the money same or cheaper just buying some SCAT 5.7" rods. They already have the bolts and would not need any work to use them. Still need a balance job no matter what.

I basically built an LT-1 with SCAT rods here a few years ago. Cam was aftermarket but similar valve timing points LT-1 Type Build

 

I have the factory forged pink rods, guess i'm going to keep the bolts in them and avoid all that.

 

Today I started tackling the body mount bolts, and made some good progress after soaking them in Kroil all week:

The #1 mounts on each side came off easily, as they should.

#4 Mount on drivers side wouldn't budge, but was able to make quick work with a cut off wheel



I then pulled off the access covers for the #3 mounts.. bolt look pretty awful! I think a carbide bit is going to be the best bet here



I cut out some of the rust on the frame rail under the #3 mount, and to get a better assessment of the damage: not that bad, and easily fixable


A whole lot a crud from 50 years of driving came out


It's warmed up here in South Louisiana , and thought brought out a welcome visitor in my barn today: Rat Snake! Hope he's good at hunting! This big ole guy was creeping through my rafters all afternoon as I was wrenching

 

I went a grabbed an extended die grinder from Harbor Freight at lunch today, and a quality carbide bit from my hardware store to grind the top of the bolt off on the DS #3. As soon as I got off work I tackled it, and got it done quickly with that nice bit!




Next it was time to finish the driver's side and tackle #2. I tapped on it really good with a hammer to agitate it , which worked and I was able to crack the bolt with a breaker bar. I then was able to remove it with a ratchet: success!




I used the same method on the PS #2, and it came right out with a little finesse!





By some miracle I was able to get the PS #3 out with a socket!!! I agitated it with a hammer, then cracked it loose with a breaker bar, and she came home with my ratchet.




Now it's time for the PS #4: the cage on this one is badly rusted and has to be replaced. It just spun with my torque wrench, so I just cut it right off with a 3" cut off wheel.





All those pesky body mount bolts are removed! Now I have to finish getting the front bumper and brackets off. This is where I really started cursing bubba: He had [half} the bolts half in and welded tacks on the bolts to the brackets.. then tacked the brackets to the frame!! So he couldn't figure out how to align the bumper and just tacked it in!!!! I went to work with my new Milwaukee grinder and was able to break it all loose. At least the bolts on the frame support easily came off with some Kroil and my torque wrench!!




You can see red paint behind the bumper.. so did they weld it and then paint the car?! so many questions of the shady past of this poor car LOL

 

There are 2 more bolts under the front radiator support to crossmember.
Both of those could be removed before lifting the body.

 

I've got to double check these! I have the whole front gutted, and the supports that go from the bumper to the frame removed. Deciding how to do the lift.. at this point I may suspend the body from the rafters, roll the frame out front and sand blast, then bring in to POR15 then drop the body back on.

 

You're making this body-off look too easy, and giving me ideas.

 

I'm glad I can be of help to someone! Honestly, nothing has been hard so far, and all of this is a lot easier than people make it out to be. I'm going to roll my frame out , to: repair, blast, and paint next weekend, then it'll be ready to put everything back together with the new engine!

What's your game plan and current status of your build?

 

You may want to double or triple check a few things.....

 

Thanks for sharing, I actually went in and read this last night and found a couple of things I haven't done yet:

• Firewall to frame ground
• rear bumpers
• rear light wiring
• throw away my budget

 

I found a couple of frame grounds on my 73 that weren’t on that list.
* Antenna ground.
* Rear window defroster ground
* Frame to radiator support ground
* Alarm horn ground
Lift it sloooooowwwwww, because there’s probably something missed.
Good luck!

 

My plan has always been to do the projects one at a time in order to keep it on the road as much as possible, if I can drive it I stay more interested.

Currently I'm resealing the water pump, fixing the alternator brackets, removing the power steering and cutting the front springs.
This spring and summer I plan on building a spare engine and rebuilding a 4 speed. Next winter I'll convert the auto to 4 speed and install the engine.

Suspension, interior and paint are on the maybe someday list.

If I could stand driving it with the old tired engine and auto trans for another year I'd gather the suspension parts and do a body off with suspension and drivetrain swap at the same time.

 

Yeah a couple of those weren't on my radar!! I'm going to go slow, inch by inch.. Get it up slowly, and hopefully don't find too many mistakes!

 

Yeah I try to avoid having mine down for long periods too! Why removing the power steering? Are you cutting the front springs in order to lower it?

Fresh engine and 4 speed, is a great plan. What's you plan for your engine build?

 

The power steering leaked and the belt is in the way of the alternator belt.
If I'm on a trip somewhere and need to replace the alternator belt I'll be looking for some means of getting the front of the car off the ground to get to the P/S pump bolts.

Also, I don't think I'll need it, my first three pickups were manual steering, I have always preferred the simplicity.

The springs are getting cut to lower the front, when I bought it the front was higher than the rear, I suspect the springs have been replaced.
I'm getting by on the cheap in some areas for now, hence cutting the springs vs. coilovers.

Engine will be a 383 built on a 2 bolt main out of a '74 Corvette, Scat stroker kit and 180cc AFR heads.
9.7:1 compression and a custom cam from Jones cams. I have the parts, now I'm waiting for the machinist to work on the block, I'll do the assembly.

Trans is a wide ratio (3.11:1 first gear) Saginaw, it should work nicely with the factory 3.08 diff. I rebuilt the diff last spring shortly after buying the car.