Hey all-
What a great weekend! I am happy (I guess) to say that I have now entered
the roadster car nerd club, spending nearly ALL w/end "playing" in the
garage. I have a somewhat high involvement job, so even "work" outside of
the job is considered "play". I didn't have any helpers, so the process was
a little slower than previous but everything still went very smoothly. The
more times you do it the easier it gets.
The engine bay frame on the recipient car received it final coat of POR-15
at 11pm Friday night. The weather was nice enough that I was able to do
this outside using a halogen light. Back inside the garage, I began the
engine removal process. This was almost painful as I had only really driven
the car twice for any distance greater than the alley-lack of exhaust.
Knowing greater things lay ahead, I pushed on. After a little work, the
engine was out. After getting everything set down, I drained and inspected
the tranny-after peaking inside the fill hole, it appears I have a "servo"
unit?? What I could see and feel seems good, the synchronizer's had
somewhat sharp edges (not all nubbed off) and there seemed to be little, if
any slack between the input and output shaft.
Being almost 4 AM, I needed some motivation, so I grabbed the keys to the
V-6 roadster and took a short ride through the neighborhood. Somehow this
"inspiration" redirected my interest! When I returned I pulled an ancient,
but built, 327 smallblock from the corner (dad originally built it in '72
for a 23 Bucket-T project that is still in the corner). Unbelievably, the
motor set down into the 69 roadster bay quite easily although it is
painfully evident that several notches would be needed to put it in the
right spot, among MANY other alterations. Surprisingly, I was even able to
shut the hood, (granted the motor had no carb installed). Obviously my
night was over!
Three hours later I was up at it again (I really value my weekends! <g>) I
replaced the engine mounts and installed a new slave cylinder before setting
the engine into the 67 shell. The motor went in really smoothly. I was
concerned about scratching my new engine bay paint, but not a scratch
occured. It would credit this to the removal of the top radiator support
bar. The engine went in without having to tilt the engine at obscene angles
to clear. Very easy.
Thanks again to you all for your insight over the past week regarding this.
I still have several questions which I will address in a following post.
Nruff
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