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Chevy small blocks should be painted orange. As for building it and selling it,......I wouldn't have the interest or reason to go through rebuilding anything if all I was going to do is sell it. Its not worth it,....and you will lose money. Driving these cars is the best part of owning them.
Mission Accomplished: Block completely disassembled. Onward… All bearings & cylinders looked pretty clean. Will be looking around for a used block this week.
I’ll second the keeping it when you get her finished. But, your vote is the only one that counts. Best of luck.
Yep, anything can happen. Who knows how I’ll feel after I drive a Corvette for the first time?
I’m getting a used short block from Sauer’s Machine in Medford, with resurfacing & cleaning, followed by reassembly of new beatings, engine kit & flathead pistons.
Old Chevys always were painted Chevy orange. Then in 77 they changed to corporate blue. Kinda a teal color. In my mind very ugly. So Mr. Corvette Passion may disagree with me. But I painted my 77 engine black.
bottom line, I would never powdercoat a engine block. So little of it is actually seen once the car is all together. Big waste of money in my opinion. Spray can of engine enamel is more than good enough.
Old Chevys always were painted Chevy orange. Then in 77 they changed to corporate blue.
I’ve always been non-traditional, opting in favor of “form follows function,” so will be painting it silver, to reflect light around the engine bay & help reveal any fluid leaks; & contrast with engine components added onto it.
I met my new short block at the machine shop yesterday. Cleaned & ready for surfacing. Since I’m not going to be racing, or hot-rodding, I’ve been advised that the two hole block will be okay. Trading out the cracked four-hole for a two-hole; Switching to flat-top pistons & a different cam & crank to boost hp.
New development… A 4-bolt block was found & has been surfaced & prepped for assembly, perhaps by the end of this week. Though I would have been ok with the other, 2-hole block I’m glad it worked out to replace the old four-holer with one that’s similar. As squeaky clean a ’vette block as it will evermore be. Just some thing cool about anticipation of the potential beginning to come alive in this critter.
Lowering the new engine into place… …onto new Energy Suspension motor mounts front & rear… …in place, unwrapped…uh oh… …close, but not snugging up. No Büéñô. I’m going to remove the transmission & replace the seal. I should have done this before. 🙈 Good thing I’m not in a hurry.
Last edited by 78Corvetter; Oct 9, 2023 at 11:31 AM.
Without lifting Transmission, seals & filter replacement would be next to impossible
Old seal looking old. Transmission hung from straps & a come along Out with the old… …in with the new. It was tricky pounding the new seal on straight, but this worked. 🥸👍🏿 mission accomplished…
Rear seal was easier to remove. New seal went on with some difficulty Glad that’s done. Old filter looked nasty, but there were no metal shavings in the pan. Replacing the filter is another task that would have been a bear without the transmission removed. Transmission pan clean & shiny I flipped the transmission over onto an old tire to make sure the filter & pan went back on without any problems. I can’t imagine doing this without removing the tranny. What ever works is fair. New Energy Suspension rear mount Pan cleaned, wiped down with mineral spirits & painted New filter in place. Got a lot done today. Tomorrow I’ll get the radiator & oil cooler hooked up… Bell housing snugged up to the block after I finally got the notches in the torque converter lined up. I tried doing this with the converter bolted to the flywheel, but couldn’t get it to go. I finally got this done after removing the torque converter & sliding it onto the shaft. I’ll connect the converter to the flywheel after I get the bell housing bolted onto the engine.
Last edited by 78Corvetter; Oct 13, 2023 at 12:21 PM.
