My son likes the bluing for some reason. We did get better gaskets ARP header bolts and copper gasket spray for a better seal

 

Nope! Wife's car is in the shop... She has my truck. I am forced to drive my 62 corvette all week long. Its rough:
No air
no power brakes
no bluetooth
no GPS
no *** coolers or butt warmers
no heater (bypassed for now)
no SIRUS XM bose sound system
no power steering
no air ride suspension
No A/C

But I do get:
swamp butt from the black vinyl seat.
The fine aroma of exhaust which carries me throughout the day
blown out eardrums from the offroad exhaust
upper body workout
A lead foot.
Messy hair
Lots of fresh air when going down the highway
Lots of looks and thumbs up.
Plus the occasional "WHAPS! WHAPS"
Shakes from the nice rocking and rolling idle.
Quick moves with the hurst competition shifter.
Quick right foot on the clutch

remember its always a race...

 

Picture from last night:

 

Last night, we got the engine in. We left the transmission in place. We did have to a wheel off to get enough access the for cherry picker's wheels. We went from the side and was able to get it stabbed in on one shot. Also, we had to remove the engine mounts off of the side of the engine to allow enough side to side room. I borrowed a neighbor's engine hoist. Usually, I use my friends hoist which has a larger boom on it. Taking the wheel off worked. Now, onto our list tonight. We should have three or four people working> Hopefully, we can knock out the list without getting into each other's way.

 

good luck

 

Its getting there... Tonight, its the big push to get it done. Todo:
Torque down intake bolts
Install small fuel line hose to fuel pump
Check the distributor to oil pump alignment
Install valve covers
Figure out where the spring goes for the clutch cross shaft
Install distributor
Install power steering
Install side pipes and rocker molding
Replace the starter bolts and check for fusible link
Install alternator
Install carb
Install radiator/shroud/hoses
Install fan, pulleys and belts
Hook up vacuum lines pcv
Install the coil and plug wires
Add water and antifreeze
Bypass heater for now
Check fluids
Check for any leaks
Break in
Get more fuel and remove fuel hose clamp
Tune
Install air cleaner
Check transmission
Add more power steering fluid.
Check lights and turn signals
Install hood

 

It was a mad rush but we got it running in time for prom:


Unfortunately, it kept throwing the belt. It threw the belt when we was taking his date to the photo shoot for the prom. My youngest son installed the stud in the wrong location My other son switched the bolt and stud so that the alternator alternator bracket was mounted in the correct location. My wife and I worked on it and was able to limp it home. It should be good to go.

We had our fair share of oops. Thursday afternoon, we were having problems getting the distributor to seat all the way down. A few weeks ago, one of us accidentally grabbed the wrong oil pump shaft off the shelf at my friend's speed shop. Well, we never bothered to check to see if the distributor would fit correctly. Oil was in the pan at the time. Thursday evening, my friend came over and was looking at it. He said to me "do you still have the package?". I told him nope that it went out in Wednesday's garbage. That same afternoon, I took the old oil pump shaft and compared it to the one that was still on the shelf. It was the same. My friend tells me "I always carry two on the shelf in the same location small block and big block. Well we must have grabbed the big block one. Luckily, we had to the old oil pump shaft. I really never looked at it since I figured it had the plastic part. It was all steel so the old one went back in. Sure enough the distributor dropped into place.

Next my oldest son installed an adjustable radiator elbow. on the top of the intake. He fired it up and it was leaking water. He thought it was a bad seal on the intake. So off came the intake. Now, usually we just put water into the engine for the initial start up. Luckily, we did since I started unbolting the intake without draining the engine. Oops milk shake oil. It only started for about a minute before we saw milkshake coming out of the valve cover since there was a lot of water and oil mixture. We drained the milkshake out of the engine. I let it dry out as best as we could then replaced the oil and added a bottle of zinc. Totally my fault except my son should have noticed where the water leak was coming before assuming it was the intake gaskets. Anyways, it never got over 100 when that happened.

Afterwards, it started right up and ran steadily,

https://youtube.com/shorts/THdNVBSdVYk

Also one of them forgot to put the distributor gasket so oil was leaking. We got that fixed too... I told my youngest son he needs to go through everything once more this week and make sure everything is tighten down plus clean the engine bay and see if there are any more small leaks after a few days. He said he will keep checking the oil level all week.

 

Congratulations on getting it done before the prom.

 

Thanks! I am still sore from all that work. My back is killing me.. Its cool but not as easy to bend down like it is on my 62.

He did get to pick up his date and brought her over to our home for pictures. They were driving to the photoshoot when the belt came off. My wife gave him her Jeep Grand Cherokee for the rest of the night. Afterwards, my son said it would not have been fun driving back home because the music at the prom was giving him a headache. He agreed it was better for him to take her home in the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Also, we spent at least 1/2 hour fishing out tools in the driver side fender near the firewall. That night on the side of the road, I told myself to put the tool on the top of the T-tops so no wrench would fall. Well, a cheap 9/16s did fall down after I was finished with reconfiguring the alternator bracket. Its probably still in there. My 62 has wide flat fenders so placing tools down on the fender is not a problem.

 

I will bet your son got quite an education along the way during this process!
Kudos to both of you.

 

Yep, he learned a lot not without stress. My oldest son was the one who really has taught him quite a bit. Thanks!

 

I guarantee that he will take bettter care of his cars & other stuff after that experience!

Once they know how much effort goes into repairing it.

 

Last night, I had him change the oil once more since the cam is now broke in. I did not see much metal in the oil so that's good. Now, we will check the filter after 500 miles. His speedo is not working. I know its the gear. I ordered a new gear so hopefully that will work so we can keep track of the miles.