My Little 68' Driver - Page 4

rszmjt · #31 04-28-2017, 09:13 PM

You won't get the fork out without unbolting the Bellhsg somewhat, you'll be cursing those upper allen bolts now and at future clutch service, the lower 2 are required to clear bellhousing but the uppers can be normal 9/16 head bolts, so you can use a swivel with a 16" 3/8 drive extension. You could use a adjustable ball if you want , that way you can adjust the fork forward to gain floor to fork clearance as long as you maintain some brg to finger clearance, but the 3279000 ball has allways worked before but that was with no block plate. FWIW - a 980-32B is a BFH

NorCam · #32 04-29-2017, 12:38 AM

I knew that part number = hammer.

Trimmed the stock GM fork a touch, R&R'd the bell housing, and installed the GM ball with GM fork. Tons of clearance now no issue at all having the block plate. Just need to install a different boot and it's licked. I'll button up the engine tomorrow and start on the heater core right after that. Exhaust next week when this crappy mountain weather starts to smarten up.

An interesting note is that the GM Ball and the Lakewood Ball were identical lengths at 1.500 and the same ball width, but the GM # you gave me had a slightly broader (flat area) machined-face which really helped position and locks the GM fork much better than the Lakewood fork positioned itself. Never again would I ever try a Lakewood fork. Damn waste of time and resources. The allan bolts actually worked great except for one which was a pain and needed a shortened hand wrench to remove. I replaced that one when I reinstalled it before dinner. All good now.

Great clearance now but need to fit the boot better and glue it in. The stock fork made all the difference in the world.

NorCam · #33 04-29-2017, 04:00 PM

Plan for today is to finish buttoning up the engine, weld and modify the temporary dual exhaust and get things ready for a 200 mile shake down run to break in the engine & transmission. That'll include a couple runs on nearby mountain twisty's that have great elevation changes and were just repaved with fresh blacktop.

The new engine doesn't make a lot of vacuum with its solid roller cam, and stopping power is kind of important to me so I chose to install a VP series Vacuum pump from CSR. It's kinda bulky so the only place I could hide it was in the right front fender opening in behind the battery tray. I mounted it on an aluminum plate and installed rubber matting beneath to act as an insulator. I then secured the mounting plate between the inner fender support and the front battery tray using the factory fasteners to keep from making any new holes. I need to plumb it today and tee into the vacuum lines to help support the power brakes.

More on this when things are all buttoned up. Perhaps I can shoot some video of the shakedown run this weekend. If things go well today, that may just happen as soon as tomorrow.

**scuncio** · #34 04-29-2017, 06:24 PM

Is that vacuum pump made by Hella? Please let me know how loud it ends up being for you...a good friend has gone through two aftermarket vacuum pumps on his radical BBC powered car and both were insanely loud (loud enough to hear over the engine).

NorCam · #35 04-29-2017, 07:38 PM

It's mounted in an area that should suppress noise somewhat and also has rubber matting under the mounts to help quiet it a bit. I ran it when I was testing circuits a couple days ago and while it made some noise, I didn't think it wasn't loud enough to be heard over the motor?

Made by CVR Racing Products and also private branded by them for Summit.

I'll record a video of it running once I'm all connected with the vacuum line just in case it gets any noisier when it's hooked up.

NorCam · #36 04-30-2017, 04:10 PM

It isn't dressed quite like the old motor was, but it is starting to take some shape today. Looks like I can use the cowl breather but may have to take the extension ring out? Before I button up the front of the motor and add fluids to the rad, I need to find a clip for the throttle arm and adapt it to the newer style carburetor linkage. Also need to find a horizontal coil bracket so I can lay it down in the intake valley. Right now it's just thrown over to the left as it wouldn't fit under the cowl breather.

Hopefully, I'll button it all up today and get some further tuning done before some road tests tomorrow. I'm kind of anxious to test out the new Vacuum system and see how well it works. OK...let me rephrase that;

I'm anxious to test the added horsepower and then see if it stops!

**SuperNovaSS** · #37 05-02-2017, 08:41 PM

I just read through this thread. Very cool project. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Jason

NorCam · #38 05-03-2017, 01:47 AM

Thanks Jason.

It's a really fun car to drive and one that a guy still isn't buried into. It'll pick up north of 125 more horsepower with the new motor in it and should hook pretty well with new frame connectors, slapper bars, and some new shocks on all corners. I'm curious to try out the beefed-up M22 Auto gear trans that just went in and will try and get the car tech'd this summer so I can see what kind of ET it's capable of.

Just waiting for the rad to get re-cored and back here tomorrow and I'm finishing off some little things while it's down. Tomorrow I'll install a new heater core and should have the hood back on the car by sundown. Shakedown runs are slated for Thursday, and Friday it will go in for new exhaust from front to rear. Just installed the slapper bars and some new rear shocks today. Having so much fun working on this car and that's what it's all about.

novadude · #39 05-03-2017, 07:12 PM

Nice build.

I wanted to echo the positive comments on the pivot plate. I used mine again last weekend, but this time it was on a friends A-body, and we were installing a complete 454 w/ TH400 attached. Macs pivot plate made it simple, and we didn't even scratch the firewall.

Spendy tool, but a great thing to have.

**scuncio** · #40 05-04-2017, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCam

It's mounted in an area that should suppress noise somewhat and also has rubber matting under the mounts to help quiet it a bit. I ran it when I was testing circuits a couple days ago and while it made some noise, I didn't think it wasn't loud enough to be heard over the motor?

Made by CVR Racing Products and also private branded by them for Summit.

I'll record a video of it running once I'm all connected with the vacuum line just in case it gets any noisier when it's hooked up.

Thank you!