I have storage units 4 and 5 right next to each other now...both of them are 15 x 30 with electricity I had fun driving the 440 Dart there but will kinda miss it..oh well it's covered up and has the battery tender on it..
I changed my mind about what I was going to do with that little 318 that has been sitting in my garage for years..I think three now..I took my stock tranny and engine out of my other car and kept it...I will also do that to the Aspen...I will keep the original motor intact and use the 69 block with forged crank and flat top pistons...the pistons are only .0780 down in the hole at top dead center so that will help with the compression ratio..It has those cast 308 heads on it from a 360 block...I busted it down to a bare block...no surface rust in the cylinders..I am taking the crank and pistons to the solvent tank at work tomorrow to clean them..I am going to strip the paint from the block and start all over the paint was peeling in some spots and had some chips...I cleaned all of the gasket surfaces for the block...heads...oil pan...and timing cover...still have some work to do on the intake..then it will go all back together...have lots more room to work now...love it but I will miss my other car..
Intake off....
piston .078 in the hole
new oil pump and pickup...the oil pan is new to..the one on the Aspen has rust on it...
Pistons out..
Heads all cleaned up....pistons and crank get a bath tomorrow..
Okay the EdelBrock and performer labels are gone...i have a question now...I would rather run the Performer RPM intake because the intake runners will better match...I ran that same intake with my 340 in another car...I want to run the same stock 4 barrel air cleaner that I have now but I am afraid of the hood clearance...is anyone running a Performer RPM intake with a air cleaner like mine and still fit it underneath a stock F body hodd with the hood insulation on...
This is what I will use to put some texture back on it....a Needle Scaler
Okay not much achieved tonight...I thought I would show you the intake runner mis-match that I will have...this is not a stroker or 500 hp motor so it's gonna be what it is..
intake runners on manifold..
Intake runners on the heads..
These items will go the blasting tomrrow...I am going to use all of the stock fasteners on the intake and oil pan...so I am going to do the factory paint job on the motor...assemble everything except the valve covers and then paint it...stock is the look..
PS the rotary style spring valve spring tool I have is not going to work on the springs...I will go to Sears and get the big clamping one tomorrow..the are double springs with a dampner
Okay 20 dollars is 20 dollars....you need a good grip to racket that spring compressor closed and after 4 spring removels the jaws started to bend..I had to put a set of visegrip needle nose pliers near the end...I finished one head and put the other springs on with my rotary type compressor..
I won't throw the tool away and I will weld some strips to the outside to make it more sturdy..I will however see what my mechanic friends have at work to borrow and finish the other head...
I got my stuff back from blasting and it was alot easier than stripping the paint off..he was doing a trailer and took him 7 minutes to do my stuff..
Today a Sears wasn't a total loss..this two drawer peice in the middle was 99 bucks instead of 149 bucks...now I have to stand on my toes to see the top of the box
I looked at Mancini Racing for one...they had a real heavy duty pro looking one for 100 bucks...Northern tools had one that looked like the Sears one for 69 bucks...for 50 cents and some welding I made my one off tool....remember this..
add a 99 buck Freight Harbor mig welder and that washer and you get this...a sturdy one off tool that actually works...didn't scare me at all un-like last night....
I also drilled another hole and inserted a 1/4 20 bolt in lieu of the visegrips..I got all of them off in 7 minutes and then 5 of them back on before I stopped...I did use it to put the locks back on and did not use the rotory tool at all tonight...what a differance that washer made...it is not adjustable now though..
Took various pictures tonight..all I got a chance to do was clean up some of the nasty looking casting lines on top of the timing cover...I am still going to do some hand sanding in the middle part and some more on the casting line on each side at the top...this it one of the very visable parts on top of the motor..
I did a little homework tonight and then got to spend a little time prepping the timing cover and oil pan for primer...I am going to try something a little different this time...I am going to use VHT high temp primer and see how it goes underneath the 500 degree paint...the bare block does not allow paint to stick very good so I am going with the primer...it is going to be in the 70's here tomorrow so am trying to get as much painting as I can get done...I intend on stripping the paint off of the block and masking it and painting it with primer..I also installed the new seal in the timing cover that's the reason for the tape covering it..
I got he pan, timing cover and motor primed...remember my goal is to paint the motor engine color when it is all assembled...I left the heads and water pump alone because the paint is very good on them...here goes the block after all the paint was stripped and I power washed it..had to spray it down with WD40 right away to prevent flash rusting..
I then taped up the top...the bottom and the front...
After three very light coats of primer I baked it with those halogen lights...
Oil pan and timing cover done....I hit them with the light also...
And as far as I can tell the primer sticked really good and will make for a good top coat...
Here some of the trees are blooming...especially the red maple in my front yard..being outside all day Saturday and Sunday....nose and throat burn started Saturday evening and I felt like hammered dog poop today...I came home and took a nap then a shower and then cut put the decals I am sending back to Pheonix Graphix....3 for them and the rest for me..
Usually I wait too long with a sinus issue then it leads to ear infections or bronchitis...not this time..I meant what I said yesterday about how I fealt so went to the old Air Force doctor this morning..always a good shot in the rear end...I felt good enough tonight to stab the new 260/260 duration 440/440 lift cam in there...I won't go into great detail about putting the motor back together..I will however share some of tips that I do...first I always put the cam shaft in with the motor flipped upside down and before putting the crankshaft in..this allows you to hold the front of the cam shaft with my left fingers while inserting it from the front with my right hand...I also made my own handle...1/2" all thread and some wood...makes for a good holder in the vise to lube it down...
And yes my barbacue pit does serve different purposes...vise attachment base and A/C hose line crimper attachment base...cheap wood handle and all thread...I also cleaned off all the lobes with laquer thinner because the cam shaft is coated with some kind of sticky protective anti rust coating..
thrust plate on with a couple of drops of blue lock tite on the threads of the bolts..
First of all I will type exactly like it is written on the ad for sale to the previous owner by the second owner who was the first's owners son....
Asking Price $11,500
Original Owners This car was pruchased new by my parents in 1977 from a dealership in Warren Ohio. It has never been driven in the winter and has been stored in a climate controlled garage. I have been in possession of it since the early 90's.
Location This Aspen currently resides in Virginia.
Paint This Aspen has NOT been repainted and has had No body work. The paint and stripes are original. My parents originally ordered a black super coupe, however at the time the dealership was unable to locate a black one with the wheel flares and front and rear spoilers. Therefore, the dealership assembled this white one making it a one of a kind.
Modifications The only exterior modifications to this car are the keystone classic rims and the side pipes. The interior is completely stock except for the Hurst shifter handle, and still has the new car smell due to being stored in a garage for it's entire life. It even still has the factory AM radio as I never had the heart to cut the dash for new stereo or the doorpads for new speakers. The California emissions package has been removed from the engine, an Offenhauser intake was added as well as a Holley 4 barrel carburetor. I still have the original intake, carburetor, and air cleaner.
Now for some pictures......original certificate of title with the sales amount...
Some older pics of the car...no decal on the rear spoiler...check out those side pipes
Last time I built this motor I checked the crank and it was just within specs..but since it's going into this car I decided to take it to Pete's custom crank..I had him shave .010 off the mains and the rods...I then took the whole rotating assembly back to G & G Performance and had them re-balance it...50 for turning the crank...220 for welding on the crank and balancing the rotating assembly..money worth spending...everything checked out with bearing tolerances at .0015 on all mains and rod bearing journals...the rest of the story is just pictures..short block completed...hope to be done this weekend with everything bolted back together and maybe even paint..
Mainly just pictures of long block build as I went along today...only foul up was with a new can of that high temp primer....it shot all over my hand and wouldn't work right..I went to the auto parts store and all they had was the flat white so now the motor is in three colors..all factory bolts on top and bottom...I have to get a water neck gasket and some valve covers from my storage before I can paint tomorrow..still great 76 degree weather tomorrow..I am going for that factory paiint job painting over all of the gaskets and bolts...I used my needle scaller air tool to give texture to the spot on ground down on the intake..I will take a better picture of that area after paint tomorrow..
Lots of painting today...moved the car outside and shut the garage door some....three coats of color and one coat of 500 degree clear...I am going to sand down those chrome ones on the car now and use them...the other switch the breather to the other side and that won't work for me...oh well you learn by your mistakes..
Here's what happens when I slow down and think about it
I love these valve covers because I can loom the wires straight to the plugs with stock exhaust manifolds...I will think about it overnight but I may break these wire retaining clamps off at the spot weld and do what body work is neccesary to use these valve covers...JAT...that way I can swap them to the other side
I wanted to get more parts out of my bedroom...so I got one exhaust manifold lightly tightened on to find out what bolts I would need...I am going to paint them with the same high temp...por 15 when I snug them down...
I got to use the new clamp pliers...I found out lubing the hose with some dishwashing soap works wonders when trying to slide the clamp over the hose and into final position..
and last but not least I got the harmonic balancer installed tonight...
Got these wiring clamps off of the one valve cover...a couple good twists with a needle nose pliers and they twisted off right at the spot weld...hit the spot weld with my die grinder and just have to strip the paint off and repaint..
Got the radiator drained and out tonight and alot of other stuff off the top of the engine tonight I also got all of the right bolts for the exhaust manifolds..I may finish the top tomorrow night and get after all the stuff on the bottom in preparation to remove the motor and tranny..believe me I am really glad to get to this point finally...
I also got my NOS rear spoiler from Marty at Arizonia Parts....
