Roaring Forties #36 Joe's Completion Log

[Mark Worthington]

A couple more steps forward.

After finding the engine wouldn't turn over after I installed the transaxle, I disassembled the pieces again. Here you can see some telltale marks on a casting lump inside the bellhousing that needed to be ground down.

So I eyeballed the clutch disk in the center of the flywheel, bolted the pressure plate on, then by trial and error fit the unit onto the input shaft, spun it intil I found an interference area, ground some material off the bellhousing, re-fit the flywheel, and repeated the process until I was confident that there was no more interference between the pressure plate and the bellhousing. Here's what the bellhousing looked like when I was done.

And here's what the flywheel looks like after everything fit properly.

 

[Mark Worthington]

Meanwhile, I had procured some 100mm long bolts to facilitate fitting the transaxle to the engine, and it didn't take long to clean the debris out of the bellhousing, reinstall the clutch fork, and get the flywheel, clutch, adapter plate and transaxle bolted up again. I spun the engine when I was done and all was good. Next up was installation of the starter. I had been warned by my friend Hershal Byrd that there were two issues that needed to be dealt with when installing the starteri: the oil pan needs to be dimpled to make things fit and steps need to be taken to insure that the positive lead from the solenoid to the starter, which faces the oil pan, doesn't short out against the oil pan. Apparently this has happened to some of the other RF owners.

Here's the initial test fit of the starter adapter to the adapter plate. Doesn't quite make it, so here's one area where the pan needs to be dimpled.

OK, so I marked the area to be dimpled, put a big socket there, and whacked it with a hammer. This picture doesn't show it, but I also dimped the pan further forward to give me a little more room between the electrical connection stud on the starter and the oil pan.

At this point I went to put the starter with the starter adapter so I could test fit it. Another problem - it didn't fit. The spigot on the starter was about 0.007" larger in diameter than the bore in the adapter. This kind of pissed me off. If I had a lathe I could've fixed this in about 10 minutes, but I don't. So after some screwing around, I took a file and spent about 90 minutes carefully shaving the starter spigot until it fit in the adapter. I also relieved the hole through which the starter gear extends because it looked like a real tight fit and I didn't want to get the engine all ready to go and then notice that the starter can't engage the flywheel.

Gee, that was fun. OK, now I can test fit the starter. Here you can see why there's a potential for the positive lead to short out against the oil pan.

Hershal had recommended that I totally encapsulate the stud and the wire in RTV, so that's what I did. Used almost an entire tube of the high-temp stuff. Yeah, it's ugly, but it's better than a short, and possibly a fire.

 

[Mark Worthington]

After letting the RTV set up for a couple days (I think it's still gooey inside) I completed the starter installation. Note the pimpy red polyurethane engine mounts, which I got from Summit.

Finally, I wanted to get my bundle of snakes bolted up. I had to relocate the chains on the rear of the engine, but they're still in the way and won't let me get all the pipes fitted up. I'm using ARP 6-point fasteners that are drilled for safety wire, but they're a tad too long, so I'm going to have to spend some quality tine with a cut-off wheel and a bench grinder to shorten the bolts a little before I complete the exhaust. I have a feeling that I'm going to be taking another step or two back when I get the exhaust bolted up with the engine installed. I have the infamous George Cochran exhaust setup, which looks real pretty, but I'm told that the #7 pipe will interfere with the rear clip. I know for sure I have issues with my resonator and the heat shield, and I'm thinking about installing some Borla mufflers. Next step is to get the engine in the car and see how everything fits. Until then, here's the money shot.

 

[HILLY]

That's got to get you excited Mark !!
Looking really good.

 

[Jim Cowden]

Mark

Very tough

Jim

 

[Dan W]

Thanks Mark for the great descrips and pics on getting the engine and box fit up and all. This will help me greatly very soon. Dan

 

[Jac Mac]

Looking good Mark, Is'nt die grinding fun? With regard to your header bolts, I use a locking washer setup that is made of two washers with ramps on one side and serations on the other. They come with the ramped faces siliconed together and have a small OD. When installed the serations grab the underside of the bolt head & headers while the ramps act like a one way clutch to prevent the bolt loosening. Sorry cannot remember brand name, you may have to check some shops out that have specialty fasteners. These maybe fat enough to save having to trim your bolt's, they were quite expensive though!

Jac Mac

 

[Ron Earp]

I thought I replied, at least, I wrote a reply....

Ditto Jack's thoughts - put a lock washer assembly under those and skip cutting a lot of bolts....

On the starter - can't you index it around to different locations in that adapter? I could on mine, as I recall.

#7 pipe on those headers will have problems as I recall on that rear clip. But the bigger problem was the cross brace between the suspenion mounts. The headers need to go right through it! So, I took my cross member to a welding shop and had it modified which worked well.

Another thing that can help #7 problem is the transmission mounts. Take the RF stuff and throw it away, then, make your own (Hershal idea) out of solid plastic, about 1" thick. Use those to bolt the ears of the transaxle side mounts to the frame and you'll be good to go. What it does is lowers the ass end of the transaxle, and motor, so it gets closer to level. The stock mounts for the RF tilt the front of the motor down at like 15 degrees. It looks funny, and is unnecessary with a little work.

Ron

 

[HILLY]

Jac,

NORD-LOCK
http://www.nord-lock.com/

They seem to work very well especially in heated areas where nyloc's and loctite are not suitable.

 

[Jac Mac]

Thats the one, Go get them Mark !!!!!!

Jac Mac

 

[The Dutch(Jos Vervoorn)]

Nice Car, .. nice images but...

Very, very nice job. But what's with the signature ...?

I don't feel it as personal (you don't know me (yet) and I don't know you) but is that how you feel ...?

 

[Peter Delaney]

Mark, I had a similar problem with the header bolts being a bit too long. When I checked things out, I found that the threads in the AFR heads simply didn't go all the way in - a quick run through with a bottoming tap & all was ok. The hole depth was fine, but it looks like they just ran an intermediate tap into the holes - plain lazy !

It might be worth a look - sure beats cutting the bolts !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

Peter, same deal as you with my AFR's, a quick turn with the tap and everything fits.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Mark, sorry about the slight diversion on AFR heads here, but it might be useful to some :

Big $ for AFR heads which have a good rep & flow rates, BUT you still need to do some work :

- header bolt holes need re-tapping
- intake port matching is required
- springs need checking & shimming to get them even
- valve stem seals are r/s - replace them with decent ones

A bit like crate engines - don't believe everything you are told, just pull it all apart & do it right !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Mark Worthington]

Here's another update. I've been making a fair amount of progress over the last several weeks.

First the fuel system photos...

Here's a view from under the car of the front right corner of the engine bay. Fuel hard lines visible on left, clutch and rear brake hard lines to right, with low pressure pump and filter, lower right trailing arm, and RHS fuel tank/swirl pot visible.

Here's a view of the left front engine bay from under the car. You can see the low-pressure supply and return lines to the LHS fuel tank, as well as the water pipes (to be connected) and the front of the engine and sump.

Here's a view of the fuel pumps, filters, hoses and solenoids and valves under the RHS engine sill, looking forward. Lots of stuff under here and it was a tedious task to plumb everything without interference or rubbing, complicated by the fact that the lower right trailing arm and shift linkage rod also occupies this small space. One of the nuts holding the RHS LP pump is loose because I'm about to remove the trailing arm, and doing so requires that the LP pump be moved, but not disconnected.

 

[Mark Worthington]

The final piece of the fuel system was installation of filler caps and swan necks. Here I've laid out the RHS filler cap so that it doesn't interfere with the holes in the front clip.

THis was done by marking the outline of the cap and the holes, drilling two holes, and then temporarily installing the cap and using the cap itself to drill the remainder of the holes.

Here's how it looks with the front clip closed.

I'll post engine install pics later.

 

[Mark Worthington]

My brother came out from Albany a couple weeks ago and helped me install the engine. It really wasn't a big deal. We had to reposition it on the lift, remove the rear clip, reposition the jackstands to let the hoist come far enough forward, and it dropped right in. That's my brother John on the floor moving the jackstands around.

It was a little tight in a couple places getting it in but, once installed, there's plenty of clearance. I was worried how much room I'd have in front of the engine and between the sump and the chassis cross member - there's plenty. Here's the left hand side:

And the RHS:

 

[Mark Worthington]

Here's how things look from the rear. If you look carefully you can see the two 1-inch-thick Delrin blocks I used under the transaxle mounting brackets...I ditched the RF mounting scheme in favor of the one recommended to me by my friend Hershal Byrd. Hershal also informs me that with this mounting setup and the rear of the transaxle lower than the stock RF position that my exhaust header pipes (particularly #7) won't interfere with the rear clip.

Speaking of Hershal and his exhaust system, he has the same set of headers manufactured by George Cochran in Idaho and he sent me some pictures of his exhaust setup. I was having trouble figuring which way the pipes fit. It's like one of those CHinese wedding puzzles. I've gotten really good at installing and uninstalling the header pipes. I'm using 12-point 3/8" stainless steel ARP exhaust bolts with Nord Lock washers, and the trick that makes it easy is to use a 12-point 3/8" universal (swivel) 1/4"-drive socket on a 1/4" drive nutdriver handle. I've already had to put a small dimple in the #2 pipe to allow sufficient clearance with one of the adapter plate bolt heads. No big deal I guess.

Now this is interesting...here's a little schematic of Hershal's setup, as viewed from the rear, at the point where the header pipes merge into the two 4-into-1 collectors:


8 3 7 4
5 2 6 1


The only logical way my exhaust would fit was similar to Hershal's, except the number 3 pipe on mine is under the number 2 pipe, which is opposite of how Hershal's exhaust is set up:


8 2 7 4
5 3 6 1


I tried fitting my #3 pipe above my #6 pipe, but the upward bend in #2 just ahead of the collector prevents a decent fit.

Go figure. I would've thought George Cochran would've made all the sets the same. At least I'm still getting the two middle cylinders from each bank crossing over to the opposite-side's collector, and I guess that's what matters.

Final picture of the exhaust setup shows the collectors up next to the pipes. Even though my current setup is close, it's going to be a pain to get the pipes fitted to the collectors. That #3 pipe and the #6 pipe might need some persuasion. I'm also going to have to fabricate a bracket to fasten the resonator to the transaxle.

 

[Mark Worthington]

Here's what the engine looks like from below. You can see in the upper right of the photo that there's ample clearance between the Armando's oil pan sump and the chassis cross member, and you can also see the flywheel/clutch rain guard cover I fabricated from sheet aluminum. There's probably only 1/4" or so of clearance between the bottom of the transaxle case and the aft chassis cross member, but it's enough. Also note that the emergency brake cable is a little hung up on the adapter plate and the flywheel/clutch rain guard cover. I'm not really bothered by it, although I may eventually cut a little groove in the adapter plate to accomodate the E-brake cable.

So the good news is that I've been making progress. The bad news is that I have a lot of body work to do and winter is coming (it's going to be in the low 40s here tonight). Mechanically, I have the car mostly together, and pretty soon I'm going to entomb the powertrain and most of the chassis in masking film to keep the dust out as I start to go to town on body work and paint prep. Right now the car is pretty much where I wanted it to be back in April or May, and I had planned to do the body work and painting during the warm summer months. I'll take full advantage of any remaining warm weather we get here, but I may need to go to Plan B, which involves a heated (sort of) garage and a curtain of poly sheeting on the left side of the garage in an effort to control the dust. I do have access to a heated paint booth - I can either rent a big one or use a small one for free and paint the car one section at a time.

Meanwhile, I celebrated the transition from mechanical work to body work last weekend by getting in a solid 8 hours or sanding and filling and sanding...etc., on the rear body work. Here, I'm using my nifty new AFS flexible sanding blocks to break the gelcoat on the rear end of the rear clip. I keep sanding either until the low spots disappear or until I break through the gelcoat on the high spots. In that case, I rough up the low spots and add a little body filler. I feel pretty good about this now, after I took my PPG paint class, because I know what I have to do, I have the necessary tools to do what I have to do, and I'm no longer intimidated by body work or paint prep. I just need to find a couple hundred spare hours. The cold weather setting in complicates things, especially the ability to cure body filler and shoot primer-surfacer.

 

[Jac Mac]

Mark,

I wonder if George takes the raised position of the exhaust ports on some of these later cylinder heads into consideration when making these up. That along with stress relief when coating the primaries would explain the mismatch. Note how # 2 & #7 which cross over are the two pipes out of square with the three others from each group of four.

Jac Mac