- Wow, I'm behind in the updates... First and foremost, I took the week before Easter off, and did a LOT of work on the body. Although I don't have a lot to show for it, there are at least a few new pieces in red. Check out the Body page for more pics. Bad news is I have to replace the passenger fender. It was just too warped to try and straighten (especially for a repro at $149! :)).
- Now, for 2 big time screwups. First, during the first assembly of the short block. When I first dropped the crank into place, it wouldn't turn all the way around. The counterweights were hitting the base of the cylinders. So, out comes the die grinder... 2 hours later, after grinding and washing the block, everything was finally dry enough to try again. Guess what... It still hit! So, I had to do it again. Unfortunately, it was late, and I was tired... I didn't remove the main bearings. Yep, you guessed it. Carbide bit meets main bearing. $70 and a couple of days later, the crank was in the block. And you better believe it didn't have any clearance problems this time! :)
- Blunder number 2.. I assembled and installed the pistons rotated 180 degrees. Sigh... I knew better, I really did. I was assembling them while the block was drying above, and somehow I just missed it. So, after installing all of the rods/pistons, I got to remove them all, disassemble the rods from the pistons (Spirolox again, oh joy), and figure out which cylinders to move the pistons to, while keeping the rods, rings, and pins in the same places (yep, I blueprinted all that stuff). Argh..
- So, after all that, at the moment, I have 2 pistons/rods installed (numbers 1 and 2), and the camshaft finally showed up, so it's in right now too. The timing gear is in place, but not degreed yet. I'm waiting on my degree wheel to show up. Should be tomorrow. Once the cam is all set, I'll drop in the rest of the pistons (easier to turn the crank with only 2 pistons, can easily turn it by hand right now). Then the short block will be done, again..
- The body work is on hold due to lack of time. I'll have all the front sheetmetal painted, except the hood, by this weekend (upper/lower valences and both fenders). The trunk lid was painted, but is being redone... Had some spots we didn't catch before spraying, so we will resand it and do it again. We decided to do all these pieces first to get them out of the way to work on the body. The garage is just too small!!!
