Head Bolts and Body Brackets

All of the coolant leaks are fixed.  Every head bolt was removed, cleaned and reinstalled using Permatex High Performance Thread Sealant.  This required the removal of both exhaust manifolds and the valve covers.  Part of the air meter assembly (intake) had to be removed before the drivers side valve cover could be removed.  The exhaust manifolds were sand blasted then painted with high temperature paint.  Antifreeze is in the engine and it's ready to be started.

The shifter boot backing plate was installed.  This is looking up from the transmission tunnel.  Alignment bolts were installed in all the threaded holes that will hold the shift boot.  The bracket was clamped tight near both of the rivets.

Using an air hammer with a blunt attachment and a piece of rubber hose to keep the tool on top of the rivet...

The rivets were hammered flush while holding a heavy piece of metal on the back side (I used a body dolly).

The 10 alignment bolts were later removed and the passenger compartment side was cleaned up.

Using the same general technique, Ty replaced the hood support brackets.  This is inside the right front wheel well.

Ty also replaced an old body bracket located inside the engine compartment.  This is on the fire wall behind the right wheel well.  This bracket used 5 rivets and the backside was almost impossible to gain access.  I think some of Ty's DNA is back there somewhere.  The installation looks great and it's very solid.  Thanks Ty.

The rolling chassis and the body are now rust free.  If I can figure out a way to spray paint in the garage while controlling the over spray I might paint the two passenger side wheel wells next.  Stay tuned.  Thanks for watching.

Installing the Cooling System

I started with a 185 degree thermostat then...

Modified it by drilling two  3/8" holes as shown.  This will allow some water to pass the thermostat should it ever fail closed.

A water temperature gauge was installed...

Then the oil gage was reinstalled. (I know, it's not part of the cooling system)

The fan shroud was sandblasted then later painted with Por 15

A new aluminum radiator was installed.  The original would have been copper.

 It looks good.

The lower radiator hose is worth talking about.  It took me 30 minutes to install this thing.  Can't imagine what it would be like with the body on.  Look how it snakes around everything.

When it was all done we ended up with a motor that was ready to be run.  And that's just what we did. We ran it for about 10 to 15 minutes and found a few issues including:

• A couple of the head bolts leaked because sealant wasn't properly used on the threads.  Each bolt will be removed, cleaned, sealant will be applied, then re-torqued before moving to the next bolt.
• The paint on the exhaust manifolds cooked off within 30 seconds.  These will be repainted with high temperature aluminum exhaust manifold paint.
• The timing and fuel mixture needs to be adjusted.  We will start that work after we redo the head bolts.
• We found a threaded hole behind the idler pulley that leaked like a sieve.  It was lacking a plug.   A quick trip to Ace Hardware made this a quick fix.

The engine ran nice, sounded nice, and it's throaty.  My neighbor even came over and jokingly mentioned the noise.  I am not sure we'll ever be able to drive this thing without getting a ticket.  If we do get tickets we will frame each one.

More body work should be next.