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

The mains and journals are showing minimal wear. The journals are at 2.1″ which is the original dimension and the mains are at 2.447 which is close enough to the original 2.448 for me to go with standard mains and journals.

Just a bit of sanding and polishing to clean the mains and journals. I’ve used 1000 wet paper followed by wet 1500 and then dry crocus cloth to clean them up a bit. This should do the job nicely for my DIY engine job.

The rear seal mating surface is not nice at all. 20 years of sitting and some condensation rested on the crank in that spot and I can’t get the pitting out with hand polishing. I may have to live with a little leakage at that point. Although the engine when it was running, didn’t leak excessively from that point. More came from the trans front seal – red oil.

Last task in the crank cleanup is running a brass wire brush and WD40 through all the cross oiling holes. With that done the next job will be to set the crank in place with the new main bearings and check the play with plastigage.

I’ll want to hone the cylinders before I start setting the crank in place.

I tried using my bar hone to do the cylinders but for some reason the cross hatching looked course even with lots of oil. The oil may have been too heavy.

I borrowed a ball hone from my buddy Don and went at it spraying varsol on the ball and in the cylinders.

I came up with a nice fine cross hatch. There are still some minor imperfections, but the engine ran fine before – baring the burnt valve – so I don’t see why it shouldn’t with new rings..

The out of round measurements are all 0.0015 or less and the taper is .002 or less. That is a bit outside of the limits in the GM manual, but what I am reading online about GM 350 engines says that I’m OK with it’s present shape – not perfect, but likely serviceable for a good may miles.

Next: getting the crank in place.

I couldn’t put newly upholstered seats back into the rusty chipped seat frames. So I’ll take a bit of time and clean them up a bit. and put some black rust paint on the metal parts.

Next warm day I’ll get a couple of coats of light beige paint on the frames and hinge covers.

The stainless on the seat tracks is rusting a bit, but I won’t worry about that too much. The mounting plates have some more serious rust so time to clean off the rust and coat with black rust paint. Good time to lubricate the little ball bearings with WD40 and they now run smoothly.

Next: Back to the block

Back from R&D all cleaned and with new cam bearings installed.

I”m using some Permatex thread sealant on the frost and oil plugs just to sure of a good seal. I’ve used this on head gaskets as well.

I needed to get the frost plugs, cam hole cover and oil passage plugs in place before putting the engine on the stand for re-assembly.

Ready for re-assembly. Before I fit the crank I’ll hone the cylinders with engine oil and a bar hone to remove any glazing. I have a new cam and lifters, pistons and full gasket kit coming from Rock Auto.

Next: back to interior

The ‘proper’ antenna for the Chevy to replace the generic 3 part mast on the car.

First problem is that the tabs need to be bent inward for the antenna base to fit properly.

Here it is finally in place. The original setup didn’t allow enough treads to show above the fender to allow the big top nut to fit. In the end I had to use a dremel tool to cut the mounting plate grooves lower to allow the antenna base to rise farther up the hole in the fender. It should have been an easy fit, but as is often the case with aftermarket stuff the fit is bad. Also the parts book and some venders show a large ground plate of thin aluminum that should be mounted between the ground plate and the fender. No way I could have made that fit. As it is I was just able to get the big nut on the top to fix the antenna in place!

Getting the soundproofing in place. A real bear of a job getting in all the tight corner spots at the back. Lots of sharp edges so lots of scrapes and cuts.

Sorry for the poor image. This is the 120 mil product I’m using. One package covers about 30 sq. ft. that was enough to get the back done and the front sections of the foot wells. I plan to use it on the hood as well so I’ll need to order another package. The total will be about $200 by the time I’m done. Oh yes, not made in Russia, but in a country that used to be part of Russia – Kazakhstan.

Next: the engine block is back 🙂

Seam sealer applied to all the seams where the original material came loose. Not as neat as the factory work, but functional. It was the end of my can of seam sealer and it was not as soft so it didn’t want to go on with a brush. In the end I used a putty knife to apply it.

While waiting for the paint to dry I sandblasted the seat hinge covers and will paint them in fawn vinyl paint. This was the winter to do the interior work. I wasn’t planning on doing the engine as well. I still hope to have it all together for the spring. My work on the “66 Studebaker will have to be delayed. It’s working fine, but I did plan on replacing the rear end with a rebuilt twin-traction unit. That’ll be next winter’s project.

Lots of bits to paint. The pan bolts tend to rust so I decided to paint them and the whole pan as well. It’s stainless, but it was actually starting to rust on the front side.

The package shelf trim needed a repaint and I did it in Tremclad satin black.

Hard to get a good shot of black paint. The paint came out OK. I put it on thick so it took a day or so to dry. As soon as my sound deadening mat arrives I can get the interior finished.

Next: antenna install and on to putting in the sound deadening mat.

The security blind is mounted with three 1/4″ bolts across the front and one on each side – above is the left side. they are all mounted in brass rubber insulated nuts. If the screws had also been brass they would have come out nicely, but they are steel and they rusted of course. The three back bolts came out through the 1/2″ holes in the fibreglass. The end nuts were also seized and just spun in place.

My answer to the end bolts was to use a metal cutter to free the frame from the bolt head. Worked well as there was a raised area around the bolt head and so I didn’t cut into the fibreglass.

A much bigger hole, but I can handle that with large body washers that have small holes to handle the 1\4″ bolts

With the head free from the frame I was able to push it back and then get a hold on the rubberized nut on the back with vice grips.

Bolt out and no damage to the 1/2″ hole.

I had to expand the three blind holes holding the main body of the security blind so I could get these plaster board 1/4″ screw fittings in place. The grommets will seal the holes in the fibreglass. The two other bolts will hold the ends in place. I’ll push the bolts in from the wheel well(with sealant around the hole) and use nuts to tighten it all up. The grommet will fit in the fibreglass 1/2″ hole to help keep the bolt steady.

The body mount bolts on both sides are a bit rusty, but still quite solid. I’ll give them a good coat of heavy rust check once the sound deadening material is in place.

A layer of 50 mil sound deadening mat covering the area behind the security blind roll and frame. The mounting holes have been expanded from 1/2″ to 5/8″.

I’m using the left over Kilmat product here. I won’t be buying anymore as it’s produced in Russia. I’ve ordered another product (120 mil) that is likely made in China, but could be from the US. It’s a Siless product.

A bit of work and the security screen and bracket are in place 🙂

Next: more floor work.

Seats out once again and cushions removed and ready to go the upholstery shop.

Besides the engine work, which I had not planned on, I was planning to add sound deadener to the interior panels. All the carpeting needs to be removed for that.

A previous owner had fitted 1/2″ foam to help keep the noise down. I’m told that foam is good for absorbing sound inside the car to keep it from reverberating, but you need heavier buytl like stuff to keep the sound from coming into the car.

Lots of crud build up on the floors and most of the paint was loose . This year of Chevy used the metal floors. I’m surprised they lasted so well. Some surface rusting, but still quite solid. Just need a cleanup, resealing the joints and then a good coat of paint.

Lots of scraping needed.

A lot of the seam sealer came away with the crud on the floors. Looks like a factory drain hole in the floor – likely helped to save the metal. I’ll keep that open just in case…

Not sure what happened here. The hole may have been there or maybe I did the damage moving engines in and out.

First layer of fibreglass in place. I’ll add another layer to the inside and then two to the outside.

Ditto as to crud on the passenger side. Although a lot less paint peeled away.

Not showing was a layer of felt like material that was on the flat area and the back up to the security blind. The nice factory insulation over the wheel wells is still in place and in good shape.

Next: problems getting the security blind out.

The top shot shows the nicely rounds cam lobe. The second shows another lobe on it’s way out (second lobe from the left)

Lifter on the right is the one that ended the engine. Four others show that they are on the way out. Typical 305 soft cam problem. However, the original owner must have kept up with the maintenance to have the engine go over 200k.

So I’ll put it up for grabs including a used 350 cam and lifters in case anyone wants to use the motor. I had compression between 130 and 160 so not all that bad and it may have many miles on it yet.

Trans emptied of oil and ready to go to the rebuilder. It actually went yesterday. I also found out then that it isn’t a TH350C but rather an TH250C. The band adjuster just behind the cooling line ports is the give away. The trans has a band for second gear rather than clutches. No matter. I won’t be putting undue stress on the trans and I like the fact that it has a lock-up converter.

Next: on to other things while I wait for the block, trans and new parts.

I couldn’t get the engine out of the car with the exhaust manifolds in place. They snagged on the exhaust pipes. Also I needed to remove the water pump and the crank pulleys.

The manifolds are smeared with oil because I forgot to use my oil clips. These mount on the pushrod end of the rockers and stop oil squirting out over the manifolds. I bought them long ago to help setting the solid lifters on the ’67 427 I had back in my hay-days.

With those items off it came up quite easily using the adjustable lift mechanism. I did have some problems getting the engine to move forward off the rear trans mount until I realized that the upper bolts on the mount needed to be removed as it was also an attachment point for the exhaust mount. Once I got that out of the way it was a matter of slowly inching it forward and up until it cleared the rad frame.

Fortunately I had just enough room under the ceiling to get the engine out of the car.

This is a shot of the caster wheels I put on the end of the engine lifter arms. They are metal and don’t swivel all that easily when the engine/trans are on the hoist. I ended up putting a rope one one end and pulling the leg out from under the car when I wanted to move the engine trans forward.

From here I’ll separate the engine from the trans and get it on an engine stand. I’ll then drain the trans and get it to a trans shop to be checked.

Engine and trans separated. Now I’ll get the fluids out of the trans and get it ready to go the Earl’s trans shop.

Next: replacing the cam and lifters on the 305 before it goes back to the original owner. His son wants to put it in their International Scout when they do a restoration on it. Personally I’d rebuild the Scout engine to keep that classic original, but many many folks want to stuff GM V8s in their trucks, cars and rods no matter what the make.

Once again I’m out of sequence. Hope this all makes sense.

Arnold Legrow an old mechanic who passed away some years ago, knew I was interested in engine building and he kindly gave me this handy tool I can use to measure cylinder taper and bore out-of-round. The taper limit is 0.002 – 0.003 and all the bores were 0.002 or less. The out-of-round came to less than the .014 for 4″ cylinders based on 0.0035 per inch of bore. So all OK with the worst being 0.002 at the top of cylinder #7.

The pistons measured 0.002″ under 4″ so standard pistons. This is all very confusing since the car is supposed to have 144k km! Either the engine has been changed at some point or the car really only has 44k km. The block still has the remains of the GM corporate blue paint on the block that was correct for the ’79 models. The car supposedly sat for 20 prior to 2022 so it was only driven from ’79 to 2002 or 23 years of driving which is a long time to put only 44k km on the dial. So all very confusing and I’ll likely never know the history as I don’t have the contacts to check.

My machinist caliper is only a 2″ unit so I couldn’t use it for the crank. But the best I can figure is that the rod journals are standard at 2.1″ and the mains at 2.447. So good news here. So far it looks like an engine block refresh only needed. I’ll change to flat top pistons and also install a slightly better camshaft. and new lifters.

I’ve decided to remove all the frost plugs. The last thing I need is for one to start leaking after I have the engine back in the Chevy. They are all showing some serious pitting on the inside edge of the lips. I had to use an old piston pin – it has a sharp edge – to rap on the outside lip of the frost plug to get them loose. They tended to fall into the block, but were easy to take out. When I tried to tap on the inside of the plugs they just split.

Meanwhile I’m still trying to get the bugs out of the 305 install. One issue is that the original vacuum switch and vacuum delay aren’t working as I would like. The Chevy locks up too soon after going into 3rd gear.

The problem I think is in the vacuum delay unit. These are, as my friend Jim Bartley says, unobtainium – no longer being made by GM. I looked at a number of replacements, but couldn’t be sure they would work. I came across this unit which says it is for non-computerized transmissions like the TH350c, 700R4, etc.

It doesn’t have a vacuum delay, but rather works by the level of vacuum coming from the intake. It can be adjusted up or down to suit the application. I’m thinking that setting it for a bit higher vacuum will delay when it engages thus allowing the car to speed up a bit more in 3rd before engaging the lockup. I had to make up a little aluminum bracket that I was able to mount in the holes I had made in the firewall for the original setup. the switch can turn on current or turn it off. I will run power to the unit and choose the connection to allow current to go to the trans when vacuum is applied.

Before I had to take the 305 off the road I did manage to see how the new lock-up switch worked. It is pretty good with its original setting. It delays some before going into lockup. I’ll increase to vacuum level a bit when I get the Chevy on the road with the rebuilt 350.

Next: more on the 305 engine removal