Transmission Hump Almost Complete!

Both sides of the tranmission tunnel have been welded down from the top side now. Came out very nice.


Next I will be welding the tunnel from below. I JUST ran out of gas for the mig welder so I will getting that filled tomorrow after work.

Reworking the Tranny Hump!

Started working on raising the tranny hump up about 2 " to provide better clearance for the transmission. First I cleaned up the transmission hump to prepare it for the new metal. I then used some cardboard to mock up a template that will be cut out of metal.

Once transfered to the metal, I cut it out using my cutoff wheel on the hand grinder.

Another shot of the piece of metal that will be formed into the new transmission hump. Transmission tunnel prepped for the new metal.

Another shot showing the lip all the way around of the tranny hump.

Placed the piece of metal over the hole and started welding it down. So far about half way done, coming out nicely.

Tomorrow night I will finish welding down the other side.

Been A While.... Some Progress!

So it has been a while since I've had an update. I've been dreading having to lay under the body of the car and wirebrush the rust away. Well, the time finally came to do that. Took about 2 days to get it all brushed down. Surprisingly good shape. Only uncovered a few tiny holes that were easy to fix with some fiberglass resin & mesh.

With the bottom mostly patched up, I started on the firewall. Plenty of no longer needed holes that I will patch up and smooth out the entire firewall. Previous owners really did a hack job on the firewall especially around the steering column.
Started to patch the big hacked up hole by the steering column. Kind of a tricky patch but started out well. Some overlap welding and butt welding.

Most of the holes all patched up. Need to grind smooth and skim coat with some filler.

2 more spots to fill in by the brake pedal and then I will smooth all the welds out.

Picking up some body filler tomorrow along with some sandable primer. Preparing to put on an addition, so the sooner I can get the body back down on the frame and rolled out of the garage the better.

Rebuilding the Small Block Chevy 350!

This weekend, with the help of my brother-in-law Joe, we re-assembled my Chevy 350 which was just picked up from the machine shop. The engine received a complete overhaul. The heads were rebuilt with hardened seats to run unleaded gas, block was bored 2 over, new pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets, crank was ground, and a new mild camshaft was purchased.
1st we attached the freshly bored / honed block to the engine stand.
Shot of the gasket set.
Shot of the new flat top pistons pressed on to the rods.
The first thing to get installed in the block was the new camshaft. This was lubed up a lot to help during its break in period.
Another view of the block with the camshaft installed (you can barely see the cam).
With the camshaft installed, we moved on to the crankshaft. First we set in place the new crank bearings. With the bearings snapped in to place, we set in the crankshaft. Lots of oil to lube it up.
Litterally a "parts" car.... We just used this "under $500 race car" as a workbench to layout our parts on.
Once the crank was set in place, we put on the upper crank bearing caps and torqued everything to spec. Next we flipped the engine over and prepped for installing the pistons.
Shot of the drivers side with pistons all installed. When in doubt, hammer it in... NOT!
Flipped the engine over again and torqued all the rod caps to spec. Temporarily bolted on the oil pan to prevent oil from dripping out from this point on.
Shot of the passenger side with all the pistons installed.
We then installed the new timing chain / gear set.
Upper gear is the camshaft, lower gear is the crankshaft.
Lifters were then set in place. The lifters ride on the camshaft.
Next we bolted on the heads and set the rocker arms and connecting rods in place. Rocker arms ride on the connecting rods which ride on the lifters which ride on the cam.
Rocker arms all tightened down.
Another view of the new timing chain & gears.
View of the lifters & connecting rods.
We finally temporarily bolted on the new Edlebrock Performer aluminum intake. Where the carb will bolt on, we hooked a bracket made for lifting the engine. This will be used to lift the engine off the stand for transportation back home.
Final view of engine. Next will be installing the oil pump and then prepping for paint!

Test Fit - Body to Frame!

SUCCESS! The body fits perfectly on the frame with the wider rear tires and newer Chevy 350 engine. The ONLY modification that needs to be made is to the tranny tunnel........ and that is just very slight to allow a little more clearance than is currently there. Very easy fix. No widening of the rear fenders is going to be required which is a relief. When all is said and done, I should be able to drop the rear of the car 2-3" to give it a lower stance..... but I will worry about that in the end.
The body has now been removed from the frame again. Engine will be pulled out of the frame and mocked up on the engine stand. Pressure tested, cleaned up, painted, and shiny chrome parts added.

Body work will begin shortly with the fun part of wire brushing UNDER the body. Patching a few tiny holes.......and then repainting / undercoating the car.

I'm currently modifying my el-cheapo creeper that I picked up for $5 at a garage sale to have a tilting back so I can sit more upright when under the car (like a recliner).

Rear Exhaust Hangers Fixed...

It was pointed out from my previous post that the rear exhaust hangers would likely be a problem to access once the body was placed back on the frame. Luckily for me this was mentioned now before I found out the hard way later (Thanks Glenn!) To fix this, I simply welded nuts to the TOP where they used to be sitting, and attached the brackets BELOW the frame. I will easily be able to bolt the hangers right up from below, and not have to worry about the nut spinning or accessing the top at all.
With the nuts welded into place, I tightened up the hangers and cut off the remaining bolts sticking up with my cut off wheel.

Exhaust FINISHED!

The exhaust is finally all mocked up! Everything is welded & hung. Next up will be to drop the body back down on to the frame and test fit everything with the exhaust & new engine.

Fabbed up brackets for the exhaust hangers to bolt to. They came out perfectly fine. These will get primed and painted to match the frame color.