Graham’s Corvette Blog and Studebaker bits ‘n’ bobs

Time to put the drive shaft back in. I was careful to mark the shaft and yokes so I could get it back in the same way as it came out. Tight fit at the back. Just enough room to get the bolts back in – 7/16″ fine. The book says 70 #’ of torque. Just now way to do that with my tools. Only enough room to get a 1/4″ drive socket over the head. The saddle prevents using anything thicker like a regular box end. So I just used blue Locktite and a little extension on my 1/4″ ratchet to get it tight – likely about 20 #’ at best. I was able to get a torque wrench on the trans end. Again I used Locktite and only went to 30#’.

The parking brake lead on the right side was hidden under the old single exhaust pipe. The heat and moisture pretty well destroyed the wire. Chances are it will break, but I don’t want to replace the leads this year so…

I cut a length of copper nickle 3/8″ pipe long enough to let me use a couple of high pressure clamps on either side of the frayed line. The clamps are squeezing the wire to the pipe. Tested it out and it seems to be fine. I’ll replace it next winter.

My new UAC condenser can’t accept the original bracket screws. You need to use your old brackets and screws as neither are supplied. The screw holes in the frame are way too small.

I put a piece of flat bar stock under the bracket to keep from drilling into the condenser tubes and opened up all the holes on the left side. It looks like the screws will go in fine missing all the tubes.

Unfortunately the top screw dug into the inside of the top condenser loop. I would need to put a stack of washers under the screw to keep from damaging the unit.

Nothing lost by bending back the condenser frame and checking to see how bad it was. The little black dot in the center of the damaged tube is where a dental pick broke through when I tested it – so toast. I’m not going to try and have it welded. Just too much trouble to have to redo the job if the condenser fails later on when a new unit can be had from Rock Auto (different brand) for $153.61 delivered to my door three days 🙂

Meanwhile I can get the compressor back in place.

Installed with all the brackets in place. I’ll hold off connecting it up until I get the new condenser installed.

The 2-3/4″ stainless muffler clamps arrived from Amazon.

I needed these to keep the stainless adapter fitted tightly to the 2-1/2″ muffler pipe. All I need to do now is paint the short extensions between the adapter and the tail pipe with high heat black paint.

Next: hopefully the new condenser will be in tomorrow.

Tomorrow looks like an above zero day and good for startup. In the meantime…

The gas gauge on the ’66 Commander is a bit wonky so I decided to pull the sensor and check it out. Not to hard to get at though a hole in the trunk floor. Studebaker used good steel in their cars. After over 60 years the screws came out very easily. Copper washers under each screw helped. The clamp is holding the sender connection so I won’t lose it between the tank and the underside of the trunk floor.

This is a new sender that I had in my stash of parts I saved from my Studebaker inventory that I parted with a couple of years back. It checked out OK, but when I connected it to the gauge in the dash it was OK on empty, but not on full.

This is the original sender. I ended up cleaning it out with electrical contact cleaner and compressed air. After that it registered empty and full OK on the dash gauge. Rather than try and scrape off the original gasket that is stuck to the tank I coated it with Permatex gasket sealant and reinstalled the sender. It would have been hard to get the old gasket scraped off without getting some crud in the tank. The part of the tank that is visible through the sender opening is nice a clean 🙂 The camera flash makes the metal on the sender look odd. It is also nice and clean. If the gauge still is wonky it might be that the cork float is saturated and not keeping to the top of the fuel. If it is I can swap the float with the one from the new sender that I have or buy a metal replacement.

Today is the day to start the engine and do the break in run.

First step: using my drill on an oil pump spinner.

Next I attached the two exhaust pipes to the door outlets. I’ll use this for start up and when it’s going I”ll open the garage doors as there’ll be a lot of fumes. I have also opened windows and the trap door to the attic.

I ran the oil pump spinner until I got oil out of all the rockers. Didn’t take too long as the spinner created 40 lbs of oil pressure.

Hooray the engine started right up. No mixup with the wires or bad timing 🙂 I ran it for over 20 minutes between idle of 800 rpm and 1800 rpm. Two problems did crop up.

The fuel line at the carb leaked. I overtightened it and it still leaked. This is my $30+ nice new steel fuel line that I had to bend to fit and now I had to cut off the top of it and replace it.

Fortunately I had a bit of copper/nickle fuel line of the right size with the proper end. I put it in the double flare tool and just started the first of the flaring process which gives a nice bubble on the end of the line to help sealing. I did it also to the end of the steel line I cut off. Now I only needed a couple of spring clamps to get a good seal. After this there was no leaks!

The second problem arose when I added oil to the trans to top it up. The trans was rebuilt so I couldn’t get all the oil needed on startup. Once I added enough oil it started to pump through the radiator cooling lines and unfortunately I did have the gear clamp on one of the lines tight. There is a bubble on the end of the line from the trans, but hot oil under pressure was just too much for the connection. It is right behind the fan so oil got sprayed everywhere even to the top of the windshield and over!

My car cover was piled on top of the car so it too got a smear of oil. Hopefully the sudsy rag got it out. If not I’ll take it to a laundromat and use an extra large washer to give it a going over.

Next: now I can go ahead with getting ready for the road.

Still below zero C. Waiting for warmer weather for the startup. In the meantime…

Getting the seat tracks back on with the newly painted adjuster knobs. The knobs are pull off/push on affairs.

A quick go-back to the hood. I forgot to glue on the new rear seal. I get a better glue spread using a small paint brush – it’s best if the glue is spread thin and even. I’m using Permatex adhesive because I have it. I prefer the 3M adhesive. It seems to stick better for some reason.

Back to the seats. I tried using contact cement to stick the carpeting onto the back of the seats, but it dissolved the paint on the seat back. I went looking for some contact cement that would work on carpets going on painted surfaces, but, no luck. I did find this LePage premium glue and decided to go with it even though I had to somehow keep the carpet squished onto the glue. The instructions say to put the glue on one side only and that it would take 24 hours to set. I rigged up this setup to keep some pressure on the carpet in the main areas of gluing – I put glue all around the edges of the carpet and a strip down the centre.

While waiting for glue to dry I’m cleaning up two stainless trim strips for the ’66 Studebaker that are attached to the rocker panels. I do like this Autosol metal polish even though the last tube I bought cost over $8

The glue has set well and the carpet is firmly attached to the seat back 🙂 Now I’ll ditto the other seat frame. No news from the upholsterer on the seat cushions.

The rocker trim and rock guards all cleaned up and ready for the install. In the end I used a buffing wheel on a bench grinder motor and green compound to get a nice shine on these used parts. I added a coat of Turtle was to keep them shiny.

In place and ready for the driving season.

Next: gas tank sending unit and gas gauge testing on the Stude.

I used my brake bleeder setup to prime the fuel pump. The hand pump couldn’t get the gas up so I connected my AC vacuum pump and the gas came up right away. This way the pump will only have to fill the carb on startup. All’s good???

I came back next morning to find a huge puddle of gas under the car. Turns out the return line corroded through and broke just behind the connecting flex line. Not sure why it didn’t show right away, but I’m glad it did now and not when I’m trying the break the motor in or later going down the road. I had to move the return line from under the feed line and cut off about 1″ of pipe along with the bubble at the end. I put on a new rubber pipe and used a high pressure clamp to hold it to the line – I sanded down the line for a better connection.

New left side power window motor to install. The window was dropping too quickly and not making it to the top.

Following the instructions I wound the window to the top (with the door open – it wouldn’t go to the top with the door closed) and held it in place with pieces of rubber tubing. I then removed the cam channel and all the regulator and motor mounting screws – the original rivets had been removed in the past. Next I was supposed to be able to slide the the top rollers off the upper channel – not possible! The rollers can’t get past the mounting studs at either end. So detach the channel from the window bottom frame, remove it and then the regulator and motor cam out. Doing all this friggin’ and jiggin’ caused the window to slip down a number of times The manual suggested using fabric tape to hold the window up. This might work, but whatever the paint is on the car it is soft and I didn’t want it peeling off with the tape!

Old motor and regulator. I’ve put in a bolt and nut to secure the regulator in position while I swap the motors.

I’ve got the motor in place with a generous amount of Lubriplate on the gears an bushing and a bit on the regulator gear plate. I’ve also added a bit of chain lube to the rollers. I like it since it flow in nice and then stiffens and stays in place. I also use some on the roller channels.

After I got it all back in it still doesn’t want to lower slowly and it still won’t go to the top with the door closed – bummer. I think maybe a new spring will help with the fast lowering, but I’m not sure about the window going to the top. In time the new door rubbers may compress some and help with getting the window to the top. I’ve tried adjusting the door out, but that didn’t help all that much. I think the real problem is that the aftermarket door rubbers just aren’t close enough to the original dimensions.

Next it’s time to get the hood ready for re-installation. I previously removed the sound deadening mat attaching thingys before doing a repaint. Here I”m making patterns for the back corners. I’ll do the same for the front corners.

Before I try to stick the new sound deadening materials I cleaned it all with Spray 9 and then with Windex just to be sure all the oils were off.

I decided to use what I have to do the job. Some thick matting and some thinner butyl. The thinner butyl matting had the manufacturer name plastered all over it. I don’t want to be a billboard for the maker so I removed the black writing. I used Circa 1859 household paint remover. It’s an eco-friendly product so not a lot of fumes while using it.

Next: still waiting for a warmer day to get the engine started – minus 22 this morning, brrrrrr!

I really couldn’t bend 3/8″ pipe to make a nice line from the fuel pump to the carb. So I sprung for a custom pipe ($43). I don’t know what shape of fuel pump that this pipe is supposed to fit, but it doesn’t fit my 350! The lead to the carb is fine, but the lead going to the fuel pump isn’t even close. So more bending needed. Thankfully there is a spring cover which should help me get it bent to fit.

I don’t know what it is about aftermarket parts for Corvettes, but it seems they all sorta just about fit. I had to do some bending and twisting on the 3/8″ line to the carb and the ‘S’ formed hose between the main gas line on the frame and the pump barely fit. It just went on the end of the pump. The nicest fit was the return line using open stock 1/4″ line.

Ran into a bit of a head-scratcher here. For some reason the new nicely painted fan wouldn’t fit inside the shroud. The fan blades were tight against the top of the shroud and I couldn’t get the lower clips in place or the upper support screws. At first I thought that I had mixed up fans with the 305 Caprice unit., but after some thought I did figure it out.

The left engine mount was sitting on top of the frame bracket. The bolt slipped in easily so in the dim light I figured all was OK!

With the engine properly seated the shroud fits nicely and the fan spins freely 🙂

Torque converter bolted to the flex plate and the cover in place. I won’t attach the driveshaft until the engine is successfully broken in. I’ll just put the yoke in the trans rear to keep the oil in.

Trans lines in place. The small 1/2″ crows foot on a 3/8″ drive is perfect for tightening the lines to the trans.

The chrome fitting at the end of the muffler is a 1-1/2″ OD to a 2″ ID adapter. After that is a 20 degree bent 2″ extension to join to the true dual exhaust pipe. Without them there is no way to connect to the muffler. Another case of aftermarket items needing work to fit the car. In this case quite frustrating since I paid $500 for the 4 true dual pipes – a lot of money for something that doesn’t fit out of the box and they aren’t even stainless!

My welding skills are horrible so I opted to use 5 pop rivets to hold the raw steel extension to the chromed adapter.

With the band clamps in place, the exhaust snugged up to the exhaust manifold and the crossmember bracket the whole exhaust line holds nicely in place.

Darn hard to get both mufflers to lie in the same position. In my case the back of the left muffler lies lower than the right. It makes a bit of a difference in the position of the tail pipe, but that shouldn’t be noticeable across the street on a dark night 😉

2″ true duals in place. I figure they provide about 23% more capacity than the original single 2-1/2″ centre pipe. The two band clamps are ahead of the crossmember and the support brackets are at the back of it.

Lastly I torqued the exhaust bracket clamp studs to 25 ‘# Some folks say it should be as high as 60’#. That’s way crazy for a 3/8″ stud and brass nut. If I sense any leakage I can snug them up a bit more if necessary – using new doughnut rings that should not be a problem.

Next: it’s 18 below zero right now and we’re expecting cold temperatures for the next week. I’ll need to have the garage door opened when I start and break in the engine. So I’ll be waiting for a warmer day to do that job.

If I have to do another engine install I’ll put the spark plug shields in place first. The left shield wasn’t too bad, but the right shield was a pain to fit behind the starter. The starter support strap had to be removed which allowed the shield to be squeeeezed in. I thought that I would need to drop the starter which would have been another step backwards.

Connecting up the shift cable. Easy-peeezy. The rubber thingy is my answer to replacing the accordion shaped boot that covers the sliding parts of the cable. To get one you have to buy a whole cable which seems crazy when the original cable is fine. I used a short length of bicycle inner tube and a couple of zip ties. Works just fine.

Putting the original exhaust manifolds in place. I like the exhaust gaskets supplied by Mahle in their engine gasket set. They have ears on each end so the can be slipped over the bolts easily with the manifold just off the head.

Ready to paint the fan blades. I’m going with Chevy orange which should brighten things up a bit and also stand out when the engine is running.

Exhaust and mid pipes test installed. I need to wait for my mufflers to dry before I can continue with the exhaust fitting. So far so good.

Looking a lot better with a coat of Dupli-color semi-gloss black engine enamel.

Hard to see, but I’ve put a thin coat of Permatex sealant around each of the openings in the carb gasket – both sides. This gasket was new when I installed the carb on the 305 engine so not much use. I want to be sure I don’t get air leakage at this point.

Carb in place and trans TV cable attached. I forgot I had to attach the TV cable before its bracket is in place so had to take a step back. The bracket is attached to the back two intake bolts that I have been extended up about 1″ with brass sleeves so that the TV and throttle cables are pulling straight.

A nice coat of Chevy orange engine enamel.

Next: Yet more engine assembly (part III)

Positioning the engine over the engine bay.

There is just enough room between the hoist and the fender to set the engine down in the middle of the bay.

I installed the starter this time and it was a bit of squeeze to get it past the frame’s engine mount.

Moving the engine hoist legs sideways under the car is difficult. This time I decided to try a length of stout wood and an eight pound sledge. Worked well. I only had to use reasonable taps to move the arms slowly sideways.

Engine in place with mounting bolts and trans mount bolts installed. The left side slipped into the frame mount OK and then I had to shift the tail of the trans to the left to get the right mount to slide in place. All done with minimal damage 🙂

Best time to hook up the starter without the exhaust manifold in place. I’ve added an extra 10 gauge wire to the big solenoid connection to run to a power point if I need it later – it’s the line with the yellow connector on the end.

Crank pulley and PS pump connected. The next photos are a bit blurry for some reason?

Alternator bracket in place and getting ready to install the water pump.

Guide pins in place to help the water pump to fit without chancing a shift on the gaskets. Gaskets are treated with Permatex thread sealant and gasket maker. The engine is sitting at TDC. I did this after torquing down the crank pulley bolt. I found TDC by checking the #1 valves then backed the engine just enough to get a long bolt in the #1 plug hole. I then torqued the crank bolt which moved the piston up to where it was stopped by the bolt in the plug hole. When done I backed the crank a bit, removed the bolt in the plug hole and then used the crank bolt to move the engine back to TDC. I need to do this before I can set the distributor in place.

Water pump in place with the upper pulley on loose. I’ve fitted the alternator adjuster arm and the AC pump bracket to the upper two water pump mounting bolts so I won’t have to loosen and re-tighten them later.

Unexpected trouble. When I installed the heads I knew they could be fitted to either side so I didn’t give it much thought. Unfortunately the temperature sender opening that was used previously is on the wrong side. The factory plug is still in place on the left side where the temperature sender should fit. I tried a long handled power bar and ended up twisting the 3/8″ socket. Next I unbolted the engine mount and PS pump, lifted the engine a bit so I could get my impact wrench on the plug. Still no movement. So rather than cause damage to the block I decided to move the temperature sender to the right side.

Yet another problem. The temperature sender opening on these later heads is larger that that on the original ’70 heads. A brass bushing did the trick to get the original sender fitted.

Sender installed with Permatex thread sealant. In my last motor job I used red gasket maker in a lot of places. This time I’m opting for the Permatex thread sealant. Seems to do a good job. With the temperature sender in place I ran the sender lead to the right side. I was able to get the wire fitted inside the factory looms for the most part with a bit of effort. I then used 3M double sided tape and some small plastic wire brackets to run the lead over the heater box and down to a point where the lead goes straight to the sender – that way it should be far enough away from the exhaust manifold.

Next: more installation work

I went under the car to do a bit of a clean-up around the mid-crossmember and realized that there was just too much crud that I couldn’t get at under the car. Fortunately there are only four short and two long bolts to remove so an easy removal – especially since there was plenty of oily residue over them. ( and the parking brake mechanism needed to come off too)

Freshly painted with a coat of Tremclad satin rust paint. I’ll let it dry and give it a final coat of Tremclad gloss black – both are oil based.

While the paint is drying I went back underneath the car to clean off the thick oily crud from the floor pans and trans/driveshaft hump. Messy, but nice to have it cleaned up.

In between times I sandblasted the fan. I have a new fan clutch on the way. I’m puzzling now what colour to paint it – black, Chevy orange, silver???

My adapters arrived to fit the 2″ exhaust to the 2.5″ mufflers. The band clamps came in also so I’m pretty well ready to install the exhaust once the engine is back in.

Got a set of hangars for the C3, but as usual they needed mods for them to work right. Extra holes needed.

Lining everything up so the pipes are held in roughly the centre of the crossmember opening.

Using a scrap piece of 2″ pipe I’ve got the hanger in a nice spot. Now to do the other side.

Crossmember back in place and all is ready for the engine install:-)

Next: Getting the re-built engine in place.

This is supposed to be GM corporate blue. The original colour for this engine. A bit dark, but OK all the same.

Flex plate back on and tightened to 60’# in two stages.

Using the proper tool to put the harmonic dampener back on. I coated the inner seal surface with red engine assembly lube.

Crank bolt in place temporarily until the engine is in and they I can put the pulley’s in place.

Time to get the engine ready for the install.

Trans slipped on nicely once I got the engine in the right position. The trans is a TH250C and is rated for 275 ‘# of torque. This engine with flat top pistons and stage 1 cam should be about the same as a L82 which is rated at about 270’# torque at 3500 rpm. I’m thinking GM was conservative in their ratings for the trans so all should be good. I wouldn’t want to use it if I tended to spin the wheels or put the car on a drag strip.

I should have put the engine mounts and fuel pump on the car when it was on the engine stand – oh well! I like to put the fuel pump on early as it is a bear to get on with the engine in place. Only problem is the engine mount bolt has to come in from the back and spacers are needed to keep it from hitting the fuel pump – not a biggie.

Likewise for the filler tube and TV cable. The cable is also a real pain to install with the trans in place.

I hate the way the mufflers show under the back of the car. I’ve decided to give them a coat of black engine enamel so they don’t stand out so much.

Pipes and mufflers all painted with high temp and engine enamel. The mufflers didn’t come out as dark as I wanted. I mustn’t have shaken the can up enough when I did the two exhaust pipes and I used us most of the black pigment. I’ll leave them for 7-8 days ( paint has to sit that long to cure before painting over) and then give them a coat of semi-gloss black engine paint.

Next: getting the engine in.

In order to get at the back of the pan I had to remove the flexplate – not a biggie.

I’m using small balls of dum-dum to fill the bolt holes to keep paint out of the threads.

All primed up using Tremclad rust primer and regular Duplicolor automotive primer. I’ll need to add another full coat of Duplicolor primer – see problems below.

I went on to paint the seat bodies and hinge covers with doeskin spray paint I ordered in from Corvette Depot. The hinges came out fine, but when I put the paint to the seat bodies it dissolved the primer and wrinkled. It seems the Tremclad primer is not compatible with this vinyl paint. So it’s back to sanding and prepping again. I tested a patch on the inside of the body with regular Duplicolor paint and then the vinyl paint. It works fine. So I’ll have to re-prime the seats with regular automotive primer.

A little spare time so I went on to clean up the exhaust manifolds – they got a good coating of oil when I adjusted the valves and didn’t put the oil clips on the rocker arms! I’m also cleaning up the exhaust pipes and will paint them with VHT high temp black engine paint. For the price of the duals ($500) you’d think they’d be stainless. They’ll rust up very quickly unless I get some paint on them. All the band clamps and regular clamps are stainless.

Next: More painting