My daily driver 67 Coronet wagon

[ckessel]

I'm a pooped pup after today. The trans goes to the rebuilder Saturday, will get that off the engine tomorrow. I'll spend the next couple of days cleaning parts/fasteners/tools etc. Some of the bolts will get replaced with stainless ones, so I'll make up a list of lengths needed. The MP covers I asked my neighbor to blast must have been powder coated as the black isn't wanting to come off. He'll take the sheen off the black and I'll just use it like a primer since its stuck like that.

 

[ckessel]

Got the engine and trans separated today. Pulled the mounts and brackets off the old one. The nuts on the mounts were loose, not good. I have new mounts plus a cable torque strap for the reassembly. Put a tub of fasteners in the solvent to soak. I covered up the old engine some for storage, went to move it and then remembered I wanted to strap the engine to the dolly. TIMBERRRRRR! Have a big divot in my floor now, will fill that with some epoxy. Now the engine is strapped to the dolly with ratchet straps! DOH! Glad none of my appendages was cushioning the engine to the slab.

 

[Nxcoupe]

The idea to use the 4 post lift as a paint booth is pure genius! Mind if I copy that idea?
That engine really needed to come out. Those plugs like like the ones from my 66 361. It's just plain awful.

 

[ckessel]

I just use plastic masking/bag material. Works great and inexpensive.

 

[ckessel]

Washed up fasteners, brackets, mount etc today. Deslimed for the reassembly. My honey sent some action photos of me working.

 

[ckessel]

Dropped the trans off this morning for the rebuild. He's got other jobs in front of mine, so it'll take awhile till I get it back. After soaking the water pump housing, t-stat housing and valve covers overnight in purple cleaner, I rinsed them off, hit the water units with a wire toothbrush, cleaned out old silicone, buffed off the gasket surfaces, blew them off, then sprayed aluminum metal prep on. The covers got the old silicone scrubbed off with a wire wheel, hit a few areas with a scotchbrite disc that showed corrosion under the coating, blew them off, spritzed them with the prep too. Probably paint those items tomorrow. I removed all of the plugs I'd installed into threaded holes, to keep paint/grit etc out, then put antisieze in all of those holes. Gapped the plugs and threaded them into the heads, but not tight. Will remove them before engine install and put in for good once the headers are on. The plug wires are too long for some of the cylinders, so I'll hang the headers and get those taken care of. Plus dent the tubes if need for clearance. I did notice the dipstick tube needs to rotate 90*, so after the mounts/brackets are on, will get that spun around. The tube was really tight going into the block, so I may have to cut it, make a sleeve to join the two portions and get it where it needs to be. During the down time while waiting for the trans, I have lots of stuff to do to get prepped for the install. The down time won't get wasted.

 

[theman440]

I noticed your BFG Hemi 'Cuda poster. I have one also, The owner of the car is a close friend of mine. I've actually driven it.

 

[ckessel]

Cool. I got that several years ago at the Fling. Both he and Roland Osborne, RIP, were there. He signed it for me too.
My fan shroud showed up today, courtesy of @kyle340. Going to do some more cleaning on it, the give it a spritz of black. Motor mounts are on. The drivers side showed where the dipstick tube needed to be, so I cut the tube with a cutter. This because it was an extremely tight fit into the block. Made a sleeve for it so it could be rotated, put some epoxy on the three pieces, ran the mount bolt through it. Should be good to go tomorrow.

 

[Kern Dog]

Looks clean, Sir.

 

[ckessel]

Today I painted the covers, water pump housing and t-stat housing. From there, scraped the old gaskets off the header flanges and started fitting them up. Want them in place so I can look for interference issues and take care of plug wire issues. On the rh side, #6 needs a heat and beat.

 

[ckessel]

Today I took my razor bladed gasket scraper to the tops of the covers and gasket surfaces of the housing. Since this is a single stage, non hardener/catalyst enamel, it takes a few days before fully curing. I'll wait till then before sanding the tops of the covers off, then treating the raw aluminum to a wipe of Sharkhide for protection. On the lh header, no issues other than needing to tweak the dipstick tube. On the rh header, did the heat and beat session and now I can get a plug socket on the plug with wiggle room around it. Going to work on the plug wires after lunch.

 

[ckessel]

Got the plug wires squared away. I had two cooked ones but I was able to put them on other cylinders once I clipped them off. I was hoping to reuse the Taylor boots on the plugs but couldn't get them off. I used 3 straight boots from my electrical inventory on the rh side. Put a fabric sleeve on #6. Will see how that lasts. May have to go ceramic there. Lh side was fine as is but I may put one straight on #7.

 

[ckessel]

Working away on tasks while waiting. Oil sender, idiot light, is in along with the mechanical line block fitting. Made up my fuel line. I need to reconfigure my fuel log some, need a 90* 1/4"mp to 5/16 hose barb for that. I'll roll it 180*, put the 90 in the bottom, shorten the secondary hose and cut a longer one for the primary. Then it should mate up fine with the filter. Spread some thread sealant into the block for the pump housing fasteners. I'll put more on the bolts when It goes together. Scuffed my fan shroud, hosed it down with alcohol, let it dry, shot it with adhesion promotor then hit it with some black.

 

[ckessel]

Picked up my 90* fitting and took care of the fuel line dilemma. I ordered up a roll of NiCop 5/16" line so I could make new trans lines. Then since I wanted/needed one, ordered up a tubing straightener off Amazon. Covers 3/16" to 1" tubing. Got the two 4' pieces I cut ready for forming when I get the trans back. Going to use an auxiliary cooler and skip the radiator this time. I also took the opportunity to sand off the tops of the valve covers. Looks nice! I'll coat the raw aluminum with Sharkhide next week.

 

[Kern Dog]

Those valve covers came out really nice, Carl.

 

[BSB67]

Those valve covers came out really nice, Carl.

Yep.

But I do really like the look of the ones that are on the motor now, too.

 

[ckessel]

I like having the steel ones too. However, they're leaking. Got oil coming out when priming. Snugged them down some which slowed the leak down but it still happens and it's not running yet. Going to nip that in the bud. When I put the gaskets on the covers, put sealant on the covers then laid the gaskets in place. Put the covers on the floor with weight on top of them while the sealer was curing.

 

[BSB67]

When I try, sometimes a second or third try, I can get everything to seal on a BB Mopar engine and transmission, ……………except the stamped steel valve covers on aluminum heads. I just live with it now.

 

[ckessel]

The 440 that I pulled out had an appetite for oil, 1qt every 500 miles or so, plus leaked. I kept flattened cardboard under the car plus shredded paper insulation to act as Depends in its parking spot. I want that new one to be dry.

 

[ckessel]

After taking care of homeowner duties, watering/vacuuming/poo patrol/dog walking/refill Hummingbird feeders/sanitize exchanged feeders, I worked on some more engine stuff. Put the gaskets on the covers and have 40lbs of litter sitting on each one. Put the water pump housing together.