We never had any problems with water temps running our boats directly off a bucket.
When the water came out the back it was always steaming.
The whole idea of this is to be able to just run the engine for a few minutes for tuning, adjustment, circulate the fuel, oil or to put a little time on it.
If you’re going to run it hard then set it up with temperature controlled water or a closed system.

 

Yeah, you know how long it takes the water to come up to temp in the car?
That's about how much time you have. Roughly 5 min.

 

On a boat you never run them dry even for a couple seconds.
The water pump impeller is rubber and is lubricated with the water.
A couple seconds dry and you’ll burn it up.

 

After some thinking, it seemed the simplest solution was to install my radiator to my engine so I could safely run it. First I had to figure out all the plugs in the heads and water pump (3/8", 1/2", & 3/4") , then put my alternator and belt on so the water pump would drive. Got the old radiator back on, filled it with water, and happy to see no leaks! Then it was time to rig up a fuel source.. I got really Bubba here and of course it didn't work well lol Engine ran great, no funny noises , but the oil pan has a couple of leaks. Need to get a proper fuel source and really be able to play with the tuning. Think best bet is connecting fuel pump and running lines from pump to fuel can.

 

It’s looking great.

 

Yep it's looking great and I'll bet it sounds good.
That's the way most guys start up a C3 here.
It is way easier than most cars to hook up the rad on the bare frame.

 

This weekend I had to pivot from the C3 and devote most my time to cleaning and organizing my barn because It looked like a disaster from this project! I went to town and got a lot done! I feel a lot better about it and ready to make a another mess doing body work! lol

Here's a peak: I can see the floor again!



But I had to tinker with the Vette, so I finished the rear brake lines and put the rear wheels on: The chassis is complete!






As my chassis and drivetrain build concludes, i've been gathering supplies to start body work: let the sanding begin!




I decided to go ahead and sand some spots down to understand what I'm working with: It appears to have one repaint on top of the original red paint. Interesting to see how far down the paint "pimples" go - was this water or solvent causing this?



It looks like the deck lid was stripped when painted - I'll found out more soon enough.



And when the PO painted is Bridgehampton Blue, they removed everything from the car but the front bumper LOL why be so lazy??





So I've done a lot of research on paint stripping, and have talked to several painters and C3 restorers to figure out what my approach is going to be. (I've done body work and painting in the past). I think I'm going to use the DA with 120 to work down to the primer, then block away. I'm sure there are going to be areas I have to use stripper, and any advice I'm open to from you guys.

I'm also going to have to remove the windshield to do some rust repair on the frame. This is straight forward and easy it appears, the windshield frame doesn't look bad. Now when I pulled the dash last year, I saw that one of the corners has some rust damage and I have to do some repairs. I was flirting with removing the front clip, but Mercury 20 talked me out of that and into the method of cutting off the fender corners to gain access. Seems like this will save me a LOT of labor getting the clip off and back on. What approaches have y'all used on this?

 

I don’t know on the corners, but I’ve read many threads that strongly warn about over sanding at the fenders top sharp edges so they don’t get rounded.

 

Yes - you have to steer clear of the edges with a DA and hand sand them.

 

Another method that's caught my attention is "Coopers Strip Club" car stripper. I've done some research on the forum and it has excellent reviews. Seems like it'd be a whole lot less work than sanding and I don't have to worry about mistakes. Anyone use this product?? Check out their demo on a C3:

 

I got some parts in so I could plumb in my fuel pump and set up a safe fuel supply .

5/18-18 UNF to AN6 to run AN line from my fuel pump to my fuel log:



plumbed in 3/8" feed, 1/4" return, and the 6AN line to my Holley




I ran 48" of fuel line to a 2gal fuel tank



Timing checked



Everything set, now it's time to get her running again with a cooling system and fuel system! She fired right up and after some warming up I checked the timing: way off! set it at 16 initial with a 675RPM idle: ran beautifully and damn that cam CHOPS! Love it!!! Engine idling at 65PSI too! This thing runs great!! Here's a video, audio doesn't do the cam justice but you get the idea:

 

[QUOTE=Arg0413;1607071219]


[/ QUOTE]
You never want to put plumbers tape on a compression fitting.
You are setting yourself up for failure.
It’s required on the pipe threads side but never on compression.
It looks like you applied tape to all the compression sides of the fittings.
Always make sure you wrap the plumbers tape in the correct direction, the tape in this picture looks like it’s wrapped in the opposite direction.
You want the tape to be installed so the tape is pulled in the same direction as the fitting is screwed in, otherwise the tape will just get pushed off the threads as you install the fitting.

 

Sounds awesome.
Great work as always.

 

[QUOTE=OldCarBum;1607073612]What's the issue with teflon on compression fittings? This is my first time to use the AN fittings, so I'm not familiar with the do's/don'ts of them.

 

I'm still researching what methods and steps to take with body work on my car , below are some topics I'd love advice and input on:

1. Chemical Stripper vs Sanding
2. Should I go ahead and put the body back on before I start any sanding and stripping?
3. What methods did y'all use to clean/degrease the underside of the body? Did you paint black or leave bare?

 

[QUOTE=Arg0413;1607087876]Generally you would go by the manufactureres recommendation. Pipe thread neads sealant as it seals on the thread. Most other types dont initially require sealant as the seal on a machined surface, ie compression fittings, AN fittings, flanges that use a gasket, etc.. When those surfaces wear they leak and should be replaced but most folks cant afford that and some use teflon style tapes. For low pressure sysyems its probably okay but for high pressure systems i would replace the fitting as the teflon can get blown out and a potentially dangerous sittuation may occur.

Just ask the question," could this fail? if this fails whats the worst that can happen"...
Most low pressure sytems have a very low risk of failure


Good job on your resurrection!!!! Love your work

 

[QUOTE=Rescue Rogers;1607088754]
That makes sense, thanks for the tips!

Appreciate it! Weather is finally cooling down a little (80's to 90's) here in the swamp so I'm going to be able to get back in beast mode for the fall!

 

Had some good tips on my next steps from other people in the process, and this is what the current plan is:

1. Remove and bag up interior
2. degrease and clean whole underside and engine bay
3. paint engine bay satin black
4. strip paint off body and get into primer
5. put body back on frame to get aligned and start blocking her out

I shot myself in the foot by not building a proper mobile body cart, so I'm going to have to better stabilize the body as it sits to do the above. If we got any advice, i'd love to hear it!

 

Here is a picture of the body dolly I built for mine.
I used Alan71’s dimensions and it fit the body perfectly.
There are a ton of threads.
If you search through some you can find several excellent examples.

 

just be sure to support the nose so it doesnt sag would be the most important part