Jason's 70 Big Block SWB Project

[Xeen]

Fatmat rattletrap is some great stuff.
Do you hear that?
Hear what, I don't hear nothing...
Exactly!

[jeh]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Fatmat rattletrap is some great stuff.
Do you hear that?
Hear what, I don't hear nothing...
Exactly!

I've never used it before. I got a good deal on it off Amazon.com

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress on the inside, I remember how time consuming the sound deadener was... Edges are sharp too

[Bennett68C10]

Nice job on the sound deadener and the carpet install. Especially that back panel, looks really good.

[jlsanborn]

Looks great!

[jeh]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very nice progress on the inside, I remember how time consuming the sound deadener was... Edges are sharp too

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Nice job on the sound deadener and the carpet install. Especially that back panel, looks really good.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Looks great!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments. Last night I had my wife out in the garage with her steam iron and a towel to remove the wrinkles out of the carpet. She did a great job on it, she told me I'll have to give her some of the credit on the build for that and all the parts and pieces she's help me hold and install I did get the carpet looking pretty good and installed a little set of speaker boxes behind the seats, and started putting the seats back in yesterday evening. Getting a little closer everyday!!!!

[mud.man.rj]

Nice to have the wife helping, mine helps me bleed the brakes now and then and checks on me to make sure I am not dead sometimes.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by mud.man.rj

Nice to have the wife helping, mine helps me bleed the brakes now and then and checks on me to make sure I am not dead sometimes.

I'll have to say, even though she complains, she has been a lot of help on getting it back together.

[mud.man.rj]

Well she can't let you think she likes to help build hotrods, but must be nice to have her around, just glad mine puts up with my addiction.

[texasld]

Interior looks sharp!

What gauges did you use?

[jeh]

Originally Posted by texasld

Interior looks sharp!

What gauges did you use?

Thanks, I used Dakota VHX. So far I really like them. I'm going to try to calibrate the speedometer this afternoon.

[jeh]

Today was a good day. This morning I installed the Custom Autosound radio and finished up a few loose ends here and there and went for a first drive!!! I drove it out to town fueled it up and cruised around for 3 or 4 hours. It ran cool and drove good, Happy, Happy, Happy. This evening the wife and took it out when we went out to dinner and we put another 30 or so miles on it. The one thing I don't like is how I turned the exhaust down in front of the rear end. It makes a dust cloud everywhere the road is dusty, and with the black paint you know what that looks like.

[sduckworth13]

Cool cool cool! Glad you have got the bugs worked out of it and you get to drive it now. Nice work Jason.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Cool cool cool! Glad you have got the bugs worked out of it and you get to drive it now. Nice work Jason.

Thanks Scott, I plan on driving it all weekend while I'm off to double check everything.....

[jeh]

I did put about 100 miles on the ole truck this weekend, advanced the timing a little Saturday morning and it ran great. I did notice when I parked it back in the garage that evening that I had a little drip from the rear main seal area. I'm not very happy about that!! I'm going to put a 4th gear "lock up" switch in the transmission so when I do that I'm going to try to put another rear seal in it. Does anybody know if one brand rear seal is any better than the other? I just hate that everything on the truck is brand new then look under it and see oil. Other than that I had a nice weekend cruising

[sduckworth13]

Jason, here is what Vic used on my engine. It's a rubber solid core one piece oil pan gasket.
http://m.summitracing.com/search/bra...ece-gasket/yes

[Bennett68C10]

Sorry to hear about the rear main leak but it is awesome news to hear your are out driving her around and enjoying all the hard work you put in. I bet it feels great.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Jason, here is what Vic used on my engine. It's a rubber solid core one piece oil pan gasket.
http://m.summitracing.com/search/bra...ece-gasket/yes

Scott, I think it's leaking around the rear main seal at the crank instead of the oil pan.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Sorry to hear about the rear main leak but it is awesome news to hear your are out driving her around and enjoying all the hard work you put in. I bet it feels great.

Thanks Keith, it was a blast this past weekend getting to drive it some. Just keep at yours and you will be driving it before you know it!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

I'm going to put a 4th gear "lock up" switch in the transmission...

Don't do like I did and put a pressure switch in the 4th gear port on the tranny. I wish I'd done a plain old rocker switch so I could control it from the dash.

Originally Posted by jeh

...I'm going to try to put another rear seal in it. Does anybody know if one brand rear seal is any better than the other? I just hate that everything on the truck is brand new then look under it and see oil.

I agree, but replacing it after the engine is built will be a tough job. I generally use Fel-Pro gaskets/seals, but two piece main seals leak by design. Which is why the factory changed to a one piece unit. When I install them, I put a thin bead of red RTV in the groove where the seal mates to the block and the cap. Then make sure the parting line is up 3/8" on one side and down a corresponding amount on the other. Fit the seal in the main cap the same way and gently tap it into place. That way, the cap parting lines and the seal parting lines are clocked about 10 degrees apart. Then hold your breath and hope it still doesn't leak.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Don't do like I did and put a pressure switch in the 4th gear port on the tranny. I wish I'd done a plain old rocker switch so I could control it from the dash.

I agree, but replacing it after the engine is built will be a tough job. I generally use Fel-Pro gaskets/seals, but two piece main seals leak by design. Which is why the factory changed to a one piece unit. When I install them, I put a thin bead of red RTV in the groove where the seal mates to the block and the cap. Then make sure the parting line is up 3/8" on one side and down a corresponding amount on the other. Fit the seal in the main cap the same way and gently tap it into place. That way, the cap parting lines and the seal parting lines are clocked about 10 degrees apart. Then hold your breath and hope it still doesn't leak.

Vic, I talked to my buddy this evening that built the engine and he talked about doing the lock-up with a switch also so I can lock and unlock it myself. As far as the rear seal, I'm not sure if it's even with the block of if he "clocked" it like you said above. I hate to mess with it in a way but it aggregates the crap out of me for one to leak. We'll see what happens???

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Vic, I talked to my buddy this evening that built the engine and he talked about doing the lock-up with a switch also so I can lock and unlock it myself. As far as the rear seal, I'm not sure if it's even with the block of if he "clocked" it like you said above. I hate to mess with it in a way but it aggregates the crap out of me for one to leak. We'll see what happens???

I understand completely and don't get me wrong, it's do-able ...just messy and the end result is a crapshoot. Good luck and great work! I'm envious that you're out there putting miles on it.

[mud.man.rj]

Have seen the seal put in backwards, quite easy to do, did it once only a lot of years ago, learnt the hard way, leaks a lot.

[jlsanborn]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

I understand completely and don't get me wrong, it's do-able ...just messy and the end result is a crapshoot. Good luck and great work! I'm envious that you're out there putting miles on it.

Agree with Vic here. Trying to stuff a seal "half" around the crank, even if it was on an engine stand will be a challenge. Those can be "cheese grater" sharp edges if they weren't chamfered and it'll be way too oily to think about using RTV with any success. If the seal is in backwards (which I doubt), then maybe it'd be worth a try. Are you sure it's coming out of the bell housing? I had a leaky dip stick on my 454... I'd just do your best to keep the mess cleaned up and put a few more hours on it. It may ease up, or get worse.

Again, agree with Vic on "clocking" the seal. I've heard both sides of the story but it just seems obvious and easy to stagger the joints.

[mcbassin]

Bummer about the rear seal. I hope you get that sorted out.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by mud.man.rj

Have seen the seal put in backwards, quite easy to do, did it once only a lot of years ago, learnt the hard way, leaks a lot.

I don't think it's backwards, but with my luck you never know!!!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Agree with Vic here. Trying to stuff a seal "half" around the crank, even if it was on an engine stand will be a challenge. Those can be "cheese grater" sharp edges if they weren't chamfered and it'll be way too oily to think about using RTV with any success. If the seal is in backwards (which I doubt), then maybe it'd be worth a try. Are you sure it's coming out of the bell housing? I had a leaky dip stick on my 454... I'd just do your best to keep the mess cleaned up and put a few more hours on it. It may ease up, or get worse.

Again, agree with Vic on "clocking" the seal. I've heard both sides of the story but it just seems obvious and easy to stagger the joints.

I did consider driving it some more and see what happens.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Bummer about the rear seal. I hope you get that sorted out.

Thanks Mike, I am going to take it to my buddy's shop one day next week so we can put it up on the lift and really check it out.