How far do you plan on going? Is this going to turn into a nut and bolt restoration?
At this point I think it's hard to know when to stop.

 

Yeah it's hard to say considering 6 weeks ago I said I wasn't going to do a frame off! LOL I'm stripping the frame down, sandblasting, repairing rust, POR-15, then reassembling. My front suspension and steering is already new, and my trailing arms are already new - so I don't need to touch them. Going to blast the rust off all the old bolts and re use them. Changing the brake lines, and putting new clips on the frame. So it's going to look like new , and everything is going to be done except for paint - which will probably be done over the winter.

 

A couple things I noticed:

• You have a single fuel line on the pass side as it should be for a real Holley equipped LT-1
• But If you EVER may consider fuel injection in the future, now is the time to put the return line in, even if you never use it. Unless you want it to stay original. Choices.
• You have a vapor return line on the driver side, as it should be in 71, should also have a vaopr canister, and valve on the gas tank, and a sealed cap. Stops fumes in the garage!
• You have the old VBP dual mount spring system in the front. Works well...but...that a-arm right where the spring attaches and holds the weight of the car, is not a strong point and has been known to crack the a-arm there. Now is the time to inspect that point, and/or reinforce it. Think of a roll cage: no force is allowed in the middle of an unsupported tube. That's what you have there. It will crack eventually, it's just a matter of when, and where you are when it does.

 

That's a good idea about a return line in case I want EFI in the future. I'm not planning on it, but who knows about the future. What is typically used on return lines? High pressure hose or factory hard lines ?

That VBP suspension is actually NOS that I got last year, so I've only put around 500 miles on it! It's a fantastic setup! I didn't know that about them cracking, I'll check it out!

 

Just a little FYI regarding a return line.
You may find that hooking up a fuel return line with a carburetor will help with any hard starting when the engine is warm, vapor lock or boiling off fuel issues.
There has been several threads over the years where the return lines were added and helped or eliminated the problems.
You may not worry too much about it if you haven’t had issues, but it can easily happen on a warm summer day and then your stuck.

 

I live in Louisiana, and that problem has surfaced before during our hot summers! I may go ahead and a return, there certainly isn't a down side!

 

You are correct, there is no down side,

 

I got some new parts and tools in, so it was time to get to work assembling my engine. Rings, connecting rod bearings, and main bolt tools are in. My issue with the main bolts is that I have the long ones in the middle for the windage tray. A deep socket isn't long enough, and I had nothing that would fit. My first attempt was at crow foots wrenches on my TQ wrench.. second one slipped and rounded the edge of the bolt: NOPE! My buddy had stopped by after work while I was doing this , and had a great idea: "do you have a MIG and some sockets you can sacrifice?!" so we made an extra long socket!



Our "custom" socket lol




Now my mains were properly torqued, it was time to move to my pistons: The new rings had proper gaps (averaging 0.25) - so it was time to get them installed on my pistons:




I had a new tapered ring installer for my 4.060 pistons, as I've been wanting to try them out: OMG what a time saver! It compresses the rings right on the piston and you can easily tap the piston home! I was able to easily get all the pistons installed and rod bolts torqued down.



Next was to figure out my pushrod length - I started with this tool, which was a first for me too: made it super easy, and the pushrods came out to 7.250" just like Howard's recommended!








I also measured my Piston to Deck clearance once I had them installed - I checked all the pistons and it was different on the DS vs PS : 0.18" on the DS and 0.21" on the PS.... I guess it was decked different amounts? Any recommendations on head gaskets?

 

I've never seen this situation before, this ought to be interesting.

I'd suspect you'd want to go with two different thicknesses to even up the compression and quench.
I'll be paying attention to see what the more experienced engine builders have to say.

 

I discussed it with some engine building buddies and they agreed that 0.003" isn't enough of a delta to cause a concern - but agreed that it is unusual!

I ended up ordering the Mahle 5746 head gaskets with a 0.26" compressed height. I got these mainly due to the height, and the excellent reviews. I have some buddies that aren't friends of graphite, but this engine will never see power adders and I think it'll be fine.

 

One of the great things about having a good friend that lives in your neighborhood that's an professional level car builder, isn't just their advice, it's the awesome equipment they let you borrow! I went by his house to borrow his sandblaster to blast my frame this weekend. He was working on his 1970 Cutlass convertible Resto-Mod he's currently building, and I helped him by grinding while he welded on it.

Nice proven sandblaster - looking forward to playing with this!



Seth welding on his Cutlass



Check out the twin turbo LS in this car!!!




Then another neighbor pulled up in his '66 Chevelle. He just got done installed Edelbrock Pro-Flo on the 502 and a TKX 5 speed... this car was GORGEOUS!






For those interested, below is the latest resto-mod my neighbor, Seth, built that broke the bank at Mecum for $300K this January:

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0123-53...custom-pickup/

 

What can you tell me about these head gaskets?
I've been looking at the Cometic at .027" compressed height for my build, I think I like the sound of the Mahle's better.

 

Well the attraction everyone has to these Mahle gaskets is obviously the 0.026" compressed height, but i've read nothing but amazing reviews about them all over the interweb, so I went ahead and ordered a set!

 

I just started a new thread so I can lift the body off my 73 the same way you did.
How did you start lifting the body to get the 4x4’s and blocks underneath the body.
If you used your floor jacks, where did you place them to get started?
Are your floor pans fiberglass or metal?
Did you notice and deflection in the floor or body getting started?
Did you use 8’ or 10’ 4x4’s?
Thanks, Greg

 

I used two floor jacks on the same side and had cut out 12" sections of 4x4 to lift on the body edge with the two jacks at the same side. I got the drivers side high enough to slide two 4" sections of 4x4 into the channel and sit it on the frame. I then did the same to the passenger side. I then went back to the drivers side and jacked it up high enough to slide in the 4x4's. and then worked side by side until I got it high enough to get the 4" pieces of blocks on top of the full length 4x4's. Took my time and worked slowly, but it wasn't bad to do! In retrospect, it'd probably be easier with body lift straps, but I didn't have a set and made this work.

 

I was able to finish stripping down the frame Friday afternoon: differential, trailing arms, steering box, brake lines, etc.. So she was naked and ready for repairs!


Ready to start cutting!


Starting to cut out the cancer and get ready to cut out the frame section



Another car building buddy (Hebert's Hot Rod's) offered to come help with the frame repair, and I was certainly not turning that down! He's done these repairs before, and gave great guidance through the process.



The frame is in two C shaped sections that are stitch welded together - measure the 22" that match the frame repair panel, cut the stitch welds, and was able to remove the offending metal. We did find a small section of cancer behind it in the kick up, that we had to repair as well.




Cancer inside the frame rail cut out


I ended up using a piece of metal that I had removed from the frame as the patch - I sandblasted it in preparation and FINALLY found my VIN: 7025! It matches my VIN and engine!



Burning in the patch I made





I was now able to burn in the actual patch : I set the frame back down on the ground and welded the whole seam in



Fitted the end cap : never seen my end rails without rot!



Grinded and blended in the welds: will never see the repairs once the frame is blasted and painted

 

I bought the straps and was thinking about lifting it using my 2 ton HF engine hoist.
I’ve seen others do it with success but I’m worried about the straps damaging the new paint when the body goes back on.
Thanks!

 

skillz

 

Thanks!! It's not that hard to do!

 

We had good weather Sunday, and I attempted to sandblast my frame... My air compressor thought otherwise , and couldn't keep up the demands of 100PSI and massive CFM! It worked really well for a minute, then pressure would bleed down and I'd have to wait for the compressor to pump up... so I decided to pivot back the frame repair left on the passenger side, and was able to get some blasting done around that area where I'll be working.

Looks like the PS may be worse than the DS?








Rust in the same location as the other side. Will have to create a patch again to reinforce this area.

In the below picture you'll see where I welded in a patch on the frame , after cutting out the bad metal before hand.


New fram rail panel fitted in and starting to burn it in



This is as far as I got tonight, will have to finish burning and grinding tomorrow!

I did get some quotes on sand blasting and powder coating - what kind of cost have ya'll seen on this and whats the long term durability of powder coating?