March 31, 2000

Ported the 318s intake manifold. I ground off the Edelbrock Performer badges just in case I decide to go the stealth route. :) I haven't decided if I'm going to paint the intake or leave it bare (powder coated clear).

Porting aluminum definately goes faster than cast iron. It's pretty amazing how inaccurate the ports were on the Edelbrock. I decided to do a "gasket match" port job. I tried squaring the intake ports, then bolting them up to the heads and using the spray paint/vacuume trick, but found the gasket matching to be much more accurate. I finished up the exhaust/intake ports and have moved into the bowls. Takes a steady hand and some serious concentration.

I also squared up the 273 exhaust manifolds and did a little porting work on them but not too much. Don't want to invest too much time in them if I'm going to go with Spitfire Headers.

March 30, 2000

Put the lifters in, timing chain cover and water pump on the 318. Started porting the intake manifold as well.

March 29, 2000

Picked up the cam/lifters/timing chain/valve springs today. Was able to get the cam and timing chain installed, but that was all. Should have the shortblock buttoned up and intake manifold ported by tomorrow.

March 28, 2000

Well, I didn't get to pick up the cam today. Scheduling problem. Instead, I started porting the heads. Got the intake runners of one head pretty much done. Should go much quicker on the exhaust side and on the next head. Gotta love free horsepower! I talked to the guy with the cam and I'm picking it up tomorrow morning!!!

March 27, 2000

Picked up the "302" heads today. Totally stoked now!! Picking up the cam/chain/springs tomorrow! Will probably start porting the heads tomorrow if I have time. I also bought a fuel cell (for the 66) off of an internet auction. Brand new in the box!

March 26, 2000

Got the convertible back down on the ground and drove it around to try and get everything a little more settled in.

March 25, 2000

Checked the clearances on the oilpump and it was still good. Cleaned and blasted several parts. Installed a new rear main seal and then the oilpump. Also put the oilpan on and snugged it down in back to get the rear seal set. Didn't torque it all of the way down as I couldn't put the timing chain cover on yet since I don't have the cam/timing chain yet. Pulled the convertible back in and swapped out the Master Cylinder. Bled the rear brakes from the wheel cylinders forward to the MC lines and it worked like a charm. Finally have pedal. Still need to bleed the fronts again though.

March 24, 2000

Cleaned up the block and the oil pan to get them ready for paint. The machine shop called and said the heads will be ready on Monday. The exhaust guides were past tolerances so I have to shell out a little more money. Received my new Master Cylinder from Carparts.com. Will try to get it in tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get the brakes dialed in, do a home alignment and drive it around a little tomorrow. I decided not to get it aligned until I've got the 318 in it. No sence in having it aligned twice.

March 23, 2000

The saw made short work of the exhaust pipe and I had the heads off and paid for in 30 minutes. Dropped them off at the machine shop. Decided against milling the heads down. Yes, it would raise the CR which would be cool, but then I'd have to get adjustible pushrods or shims etc.

March 22, 2000

Tried pulling a set of swirlport heads at a local junkyard. Actually found several sets, so the ole Diplomats must be starting to break down. I only had about 2-2.5 hrs to work with as I had to go in to work early. Unfortunately, I came up two head bolts short of getting the heads today. I couldn't get to the bottom headbolts under the exhaust manifolds.If I would have had 3 more tools I would have had them pulled. A 1" 1/2" drive extension, a 1/2" swivel extension, and a "Blankin" hacksaw!!! I couldn't get to the bolts because I couldn't get the exhaust manifolds out of the way. Tomorrow, I'm taking a battery powered "sawsall" with me and make short work out of the exhaust pipes. I will be one ticked off individual if those heads are gone tomorrow morning. I placed everything back on the block to make it look like stuff was still atatched. Hope it works.

March 21, 2000

Started the teardown of the 318. Noticed some valve seal material scattered around in the heads and discovered a few seals missing. Upon removing the sparkplugs, sure enough, burning a little oil. Pulled the timing chain cover to look at the chain. It had about 1.5" of play in it. Yanked the cam and lifters and then decided to go ahead and pull the heads. There was a lot of carbon buildup in the heat crossover passages so I decided to check out the cylinder walls. There are some minor scratches but no scoring so I will leave the bottom half untouched. I am going to a junkyard tomorrow to see if a set of "302" heads are still there. If they are, I will pick them up ($20 each!!!), have them rebuilt, and slap them on intead of the stock heads.

March 19, 2000

Decided not to overhaul the tranny at this point (probably regret that decision) as the budget is getting a little tight on the Convertible. I did put new front and rear seals and a new filter in it. I may break down and order a rebuild kit for it but I doubt it. Once I got the tranny back together I pulled the 318 off of its "cradle" and got it up on the engine stand ready for the semi tear down. Going to put all new gaskets throughout and do the cam/intake swap. The heads have been rebuilt at some point so I will probably not remove them, even though I have 340 valve springs for them. I will probably wait on the heads until I locate a set of swirl ports heads to have rebuilt.

March 18, 2000

Started tearing into the 904 tranny. When I bought it (with the 318), the guy said it was slipping a little from 2 to 3. It was low on fluid when we cracked the pan. I pulled out the valve body and did a pressure check on the front and rear clutches as well as the kickdown band and low/reverse band adjustments. Tried to find a B&M shift kit for it but didn't have any luck. Couldn't believe that. Guess I'm ordering it online. Bought an engine gasket kit for the 318 so I'll be ready when the cam arrives.

March 17, 2000

Cleaned out the trunk of the convertible. I was using it as storage for a bunch of parts. Had some tan weathercord in it so I decided to go ahead and install it around the convertibles doors. Of course, now the doors don't close quite as easily as they use to. The weathercord was basically non-existant before. It was good to take a break from the suspension and actually complete a job in under 4 hrs!!!! I also called around to price a tranny rebuild for the 65. Not as low-buck as I was hoping.

March 16, 2000

Installed the rusty sway bar temporarily until I can find some bushings for the one I have cleaned and painted. Also, set the ride height on the torsion bars. Finally got to clean the garage up after the last 2 weeks. It was pretty disgusting.

March 15, 2000

Picked up my Master Cylinder Rebuild kit from NAPA. After 3 weeks of waiting they ordered the wrong part. Tempted to just order a rebuilt MC and just get on with life! The pedal is still mushy but does pump up and the brakes do work. Got the car back on its wheels and pulled it out of the garage. It actually sits lower in the rear by .5"!!!! ARGHHHH!!! Hopefully the springs are stiffer though. Keep your fingers crossed. Starting to plan for the 318 swap. Going to take the 904 tranny in for a rebuild within the next week. Just don't have the time to do it myself at this point. Have a line on a new "RV" cam and lifters, double roller chain, and 340 valve springs for $100. SOLD!!! Should be an interesting month coming up!

March 13-14, 2000

Got the U bolts and shockplates attatched. Bled the brakes. Couldn't get any pedal then remembered to adjust the back brakes. A little better.

March 11-12, 2000

Plumbed in the Wilwood Proportioning Valve (much tougher and took way longer than it should have)and rerouted the brake lines. Sandblasted and painted all the brakets and hardware for the springs and put urethane bushings in the springs and hangers. Had the rearend resting on the springs again by Sunday night, even with though I spent 2 hrs. trying to remove a broken rear shackle mount bolt.

March 10, 2000

Started on the rear suspension. Was toying with pulling the axles to get the backing plates off but decided the project was already big enough. Went ahead and replaced all of the brake components on the rear pass. side with stuff from the 66 (since I'll be putting B Body brake on over there). I do need to go back in soon and replace the adjuster as it's a newer style and doesn't work with the 66's setup. Was able to get the springs loose and the rearend floating. It's another 741 case with 3.23 suregrip.

March 8-9, 2000

Sunny and 80+ degrees....and I'm sick!

March 7, 2000

In order to get the rear in the air to work on it I had to move the 65 forward. In order to move it forward I had to put the torsion bars and shocks in. The T bars were a little harder than they needed to be to put back in. The dustboots were a pain to do by myself. I ended up partially slicing them to get them on. I will seal them with silicon before it hits the road. Once I had them in, I decided to look into the leaking caliper. Somehow one of the seals had a little nick in it which was what caused the leak. Fortunately, NAPA had two sets in stock so I bought them both. I got the car moved forward and pulled the rear drums (the big finned 8.75 drums!) to find about 50 miles left on the shoes. I am definately glad I started this project!!!

March 3-5, 2000

Well, the suspension swap went fairly well, but not as easily as hoped. I did have the suspension swapped in about 10 hrs total but added some more time to it by cleaning up the frame rails and PORing them, and also "unrigging" what the previous owner had done to the kickdown/shifter/steering mechanisms. The frame rails were completely filled with sand and dirt. It was a wonder that the frame wasn't rotted away! Unfortunately there seems to be a leak in on of the caliper pistons, but I wont know for sure until I can get the rear up in the air and bleed the back brakes. I almost swapped out the engine because the slant 6's pass. side motor mount was sliced in half and it would be next week before I could get a new one in. I decided the brake job was enough for now and made a temporary solid mount out of the old one.

March 2, 2000

Bent up the transfer lines for the calipers and installed the pads so the brakes are ready to bolt up! Thought I would leave them off so that the suspension isn't as heavy to lift during the swap. I also pulled the pitman arm off of the 66's p/s box and cleaned/blasted/POR'd it. I'm pretty sure I'm ready for the swap. A few odds and ends that I have to buy like brake and P/S fluid, brake line ends and extra tubing, and some 7/16 lug nuts since the rotors have all right hand studs. Pulling the Convertable into the garage tomorrow after I move the 66 over to make room. Going to heat up the control arm bolts and soak the heck out of them with penetrating oil.

March 1, 2000

Worked on the calipers and brake lines and blasted and painted the brake line brackets and pad retainers. Looks like the swap this weekend will be a go! All that's left to do is bend the brake lines and remove the pitman arm from the 66's old p/s box. I'm going to use the 65's p/s unit since it doesn't leak (yet).

February 29, 2000

Pressed in the new races in the 65s rotors and installed the new bearings and seals. Also figured out how to get the front "piston" out of the master cylinder. Air Pressure! Can't believe that I hadn't thought of it before. Ordered two flexible lines and also got the bleeders and more brake line fittings for the caliper lines.

February 28, 2000

Assembled the 65s entire suspension. Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. Bought the bearings and races for the new rotors and plan on pressing them in tomorrow. If all goes well, I will be doing the suspension swap this weekend!

February 27, 2000

Drilled out the ball joint mounting holes and ran a tap on every castle nut and bolt I could. I had a problem with one of the ball joints studs and had to use a special die for it.

February 26, 2000

RePORd the K frame for the 65 as well as the tie rods, centerlink and idler arm. Started assembling the suspension when I figured out the difference between the disk brake and drum brake lower ball joints. The numbers are the same, but the spindle mounting holes are larger in the disk ball joints.

February 25, 2000

Quite a productive day today!! Sandblasted and then PORd the lower control arms,sway bar mounts, and several bolts and things, and rebuilt the disk calipers. The dustboots gave me a little trouble on the calipers until I quit following the directions. They say to install the boots after the pistons are in. Yeah Right!!!! I went ahead and installed the boots then installed the pistons through the boots. Worked like a charm!

February 24, 2000

Baked the calipers and they turned out well. Pressed in the Moog offset bushings in the 65s uppers and found that the second set was missing the metal inserts. Had to run to the NAPA store and order another set. They had two other sets there, but both were missing the inserts. Watch out for that if you are buying them! Picked up an Upper Balljoint while I was there and finished off the control arms. The lower control arms should be done tomorrow.

February 23, 2000

Cleaned out the brake calipers for the 65. I sandblasted them over the weekend as well as grinding off all of the casting flash. The less stress risers the better! I then painted them with POR/Eastwoods exhaust manifold coating. I will have to be really carefull reassebling them so as not to get brake fluid on them. I plan on "cooking" them to get the coating to harden up before assembly. I also cleaned and coated the upper control arms for the 65. They look really good in POR gloss black.

February 22, 2000

Painted the 65's disk spindles with POR15. Pressed out the old bushings on the 66s "old" upper and lower control arms that will be used on the 65. The older control arms were a little different than the 73s I did before. Should have them cleaned up and press in new Moog offset bushings in the uppers before the weekend. Going to paint the entire suspension/brake system with POR 15. The 65 will be a driver and I want it to stay nice and as chip and rust free as possible.

February 20, 2000

Went to a swapmeet in "Cape Garagedoor." I bought a snap ring plier set for when I tear down the 65s tranny for the V8 swap. Also bought a triggered sandblasting gun for the blast cabinet. That thing was well worth the $12!!! Its almost enjoyable to blast now, and much faster.