The 283 Rebuild Begins

[MacAttack]

The motor’s done - can’t abuse it any further.

I’ve moved on to the modulator tube.

Who knew you could buy a 60" piece of 5/32" ID brake tubing, with fittings, for $5.32 (+ tax) at NAPA? Outstanding. I got a small tube bending tool on sale about 10 years ago, used it once since that time, and found it again in the bottom of one of my roll away drawers.

Figuring that I could always buy another length of tube, I got bold and started bending away - first with a full half-circle at the modulator end and then mapped out the other bends along the transmission with blue masking tape - at each predicted turn.

It took ten minutes to fabricate the whole thing. The finished units were like $30.00 (less shipping) and they were all for a 70’ Camero and ‘might have worked.’

This part of the project was easy - you just have to get someone to help hold the staring end of the tube (or put it in a vice) while you’re doing the other bends - to keep the relationship correct as you go along.

Also mounted the pre-bent transmission coolant lines and the TH350’s ready for mating to the new engine.

Mac.

[joe231]

Originally Posted by MacAttack

The motor’s done - can’t abuse it any further.

I’ve moved on to the modulator tube.

Who knew you could buy a 60" piece of 5/32" ID brake tubing, with fittings, for $5.32 (+ tax) at NAPA? Outstanding. I got a small tube bending tool on sale about 10 years ago, used it once since that time, and found it again in the bottom of one of my roll away drawers.

Figuring that I could always buy another length of tube, I got bold and started bending away - first with a full half-circle at the modulator end and then mapped out the other bends along the transmission with blue masking tape - at each predicted turn.

It took ten minutes to fabricate the whole thing. The finished units were like $30.00 (less shipping) and they were all for a 70’ Camero and ‘might have worked.’

This part of the project was easy - you just have to get someone to help hold the staring end of the tube (or put it in a vice) while you’re doing the other bends - to keep the relationship correct as you go along.

Also mounted the pre-bent transmission coolant lines and the TH350’s ready for mating to the new engine.

Mac.

alright Mac....where are the pics???

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by joe231

alright Mac....where are the pics???

Wal-Mart.

[joe231]

[MacAttack]

9.8mm starter bolt won’t fit.

It’s 4.5 inches long - with the knurl on the shank. NAPA says it’s the right one, but it’s nearly .011 fatter than the standard 3/8 x 16 (.375) and jams about three threads in. I really don’t want to have to buy a 9.8mm tap and half-ass this.

Anyone got a lead of an original starter bolt supplier, with the proper head, or should I just go to ‘OSH’, buy a grade 8 bolt and shut up?

Mac.

[ChiefRocka]

Good job....now I'm with Joe....
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[MacAttack]

LOL! Oh Man, the pressure!

[Captainfab]

Originally Posted by MacAttack

9.8mm starter bolt won’t fit.

It’s 4.5 inches long - with the knurl on the shank. NAPA says it’s the right one, but it’s nearly .011 fatter than the standard 3/8 x 16 (.375) and jams about three threads in. I really don’t want to have to buy a 9.8mm tap and half-ass this.

Anyone got a lead of an original starter bolt supplier, with the proper head, or should I just go to ‘OSH’, buy a grade 8 bolt and shut up?

Mac.

Seems like I've seen starter bolts in the "HELP" product line. Other than that a GM parts dept. or one of the pickup parts suppliers like Brothers, Classic Ind., American Classic, etc.

[MacAttack]

Ground Up, Inc. $2.95 each. Perfect replacement. Came from Meriden, CT by FedEx Ground this morning - ordered 09/23/08. Outstanding.

[MacAttack]

Back in commission and starting to work on the truck again - replacing the heater fan motor tomorrow, while the engine’s out, so getting to it will be easier. Anybody done this operation before? Do I need to pull the heater box cover off to get to the motor’s fasteners (the motor hangs down (vertically) from the box)?

The frame modification is done and the measurements for the new towers came out nearly perfectly. Used a coat hanger bent in a "U" shape to gage the distance between the two bolted up motor mounts. The cross-member’s drilled for the lower bolt holes and I was thinking I’ll just leave the new towers bolted to the motor mounts and drop the hole thing into the engine bay as one assembly, along with the transmission.

Any thoughts?

[joe231]

Originally Posted by MacAttack

Back in commission and starting to work on the truck again - replacing the heater fan motor tomorrow, while the engine’s out, so getting to it will be easier. Anybody done this operation before? Do I need to pull the heater box cover off to get to the motor’s fasteners (the motor hangs down (vertically) from the box)?

The frame modification is done and the measurements for the new towers came out nearly perfectly. Used a coat hanger bent in a "U" shape to gage the distance between the two bolted up motor mounts. The cross-member’s drilled for the lower bolt holes and I was thinking I’ll just leave the new towers bolted to the motor mounts and drop the hole thing into the engine bay as one assembly, along with the transmission.

Any thoughts?

yeah, i have a thought........................

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by joe231

yeah, i have a thought........................

Thant's just plain mean.

[joe231]

[Captainfab]

I would leave the frame mounts on the frame and the motor mounts on the engine. These are easier to line up than the original style with the bolt up thru the center. If you're concerned about ease of alignment, leave the frame brackets a little loose and then tighten them up after the engine and trans are in place.

[MacAttack]

Good call - probably the safest bet.

[MacAttack]

'Wall of Voodoo this morning on the heater blower motor replacement. Little, rusted fasteners can be a real b%*ch.

Took the cover off the heater box to check the core's condition and it was half full of leafs. After getting the small screws out - with much cussing and time - made sure the new motor's flange plate pattern matched and bolted the squirrel cage to it and put the side plug in the housing.

Because everything is painted flat black and it was an overcast day today - couldn't see well enough, even setting directly on the ground below the assembly with a drop light, so my kid came up with an idea to use a bottle of 'white-out' (the kind with the little pressure tip applicator) to mark white dots on the outside of the fan housing - indicating where the little sheet metal screw holes were.

Piece of cake after that.

The back two (over in the corner) have to be "felt" in and take some time.

If I ever do this again I'll put sheet metal studs in the bottom of this fan housing and simply use nuts to hold the fan motor in. I'm sure it was easy at the factory - in the initial installation, but serviceable - it is not.

[joe231]

yeah I've had ours out a couple times. mirror and a flashlight works pretty well

[MacAttack]

Finished the ‘smog tube’ over the weekend. This is the vent pipe that runs from the back of the block near the distributor. Connected a PCV valve to the end of it - via a brass fitting - and "T’d" off two smaller tube fittings from there to the two openings in the bottom of my triangle shaped Edlebrock air cleaner.

Ran into a bit of a complication though on using one of the (stock 2-barrel) intake manifold bolts to hold this pipe down - by the little tab that’s spot-welded to it. The #5 (in the torqueing sequence) bolt is used for this and the tube covers the last bolt back on the passenger side.

Question is - should I remove all the bolts and start over? And to get to the rear bolt should I go buy a ‘crowsfoot’ to reach the one that ends up under the ‘smog tube?"

Do these type of extensions work with a torque wrench?



Or should I just forget about it and move on?

[MacAttack]

Decided to just retighten the single bolt on the intake manifold and move on - fighting the HEI distributor stab presently - having a real time getting it to line up TDC - piston #1. Doesn’t seem to fit like the OEM point distributor.

Got some frame lay-out pictures back in the mean time.

[MacAttack]

Length shot from centerline of rear bolt mount for transmission on crossmember.

[MacAttack]

Channel-Lock motor tower to frame for lay-out (with primer spot) and center punching location of upper holes prior to notching frame.

[MacAttack]

Notched (passenger side) frame and redrill of top mounting holes. Will use big machine washers (.18 thick) on top of bracket to bolt them to frame.

[MacAttack]

NO WIRE HANGERS!!! EVER!!! *

* Except when you’re trying to calculate the distance between your new towers and where they’ll end up on your frame.

Vice-gripped the initial tower location to get forward/backward location, sprayed grey primer through the mount holes, notched and radius’d out the frame, remounted the towers and used them as a drill jig for my clearance holes.

Bought extra thick McMaster-Carr machine set-up washers to cover any sloppy looking holes and trial bolted the hardware to the frame.

The wire hanger routine was to reach around the block - from below - to get the distance between the two motor mount slots. Just a common hanger with the hook cut off - small loops bent at both ends - and then bend the whole thing into a "U" shape, allowing measurement with a tape and a double check against the towers bolted on to the frame.

It’s within a quarter of an inch of being dead-nuts, and that’s plenty close enough for this application.

[MacAttack]

Before cracking the TH350 case,

......got the smog tube assembly done - along with the Taylor wires routed through the GM Performance looms, using a 1-inch long set of stand-offs to get them over and away from the exhausts. Over-kill to be sure, but who cares?

Mac.

[MacAttack]

Update on ‘The Tan’s’ Power Train Installation.

The engine & transmission are in the truck. They are not bolted in, however. Wrestled the entire assembly into the C-10, with her rear-end stuck up in the air with my jack-stands fully extended.

Routine until it came time to push the TH350 transmission up on the cross-member and the "Ginnie" shift kit rails interfered with the folded sheet metal lip that hangs down in the transmission tunnel. I was supporting the automatic with a mini-floor-jack and a block of wood at the time and simply removed the right and left hand rails and back the assembly came.

Now we're stuck just forward of the cross-member with the tranny’s foot pad pushing right against it and the engine tower mounts are exactly where I re-drilled and notched the frame rails for.

The GM HEI distributor cap is about one-finger width from the firewall and I really don’t want to mangle the sheet metal there to clear the cap - allowing for timing rotation and engine torque movement.

The drive shaft yoke is only engaged about 1.5" into the tranny’s tail presently.

Here’s what I was thinking my options might be for this bolt-up situation:

1. Purchase a slide brace to secure the TH350’s tail, rather than moving up the cross-member (about $100) and have a longer drive-shaft yoke installed - to make up the difference.

2. Move the present cross-member up about an inch and a half and have a longer drive-shaft yoke installed - to make up the difference.

3. Slot the motor mount towers to allow the entire assembly to slide further back - which would put the HEI right up against the firewall and create a whole new set of clearance problems.

The motor mount towers are exactly where they need to be right now and I’ve got all the bolts sticking through the various upper and lower holes. The lower pads of the towers are just beginning to sick over the back of the truck’s front cross member - so I’d really rather leave the block where she is and deal with the other fit-up problems accordingly.

What do you think guys?