Bob's Retirement Build - My '55 TF

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Kim57

The engine looks good.
Nice 55 also.
Kim

Thanks, Kim. You're always there giving me support, and I appreciate it.

I put another 6 hours in on the manifold today, and I'm through with the 400 grit. I think the 36 grit was a mistake, so when I do the 3-deuce that's on the Belair I'm going to start with 180 grit. I spent a lot of time getting heavy scratches out of the corners. Anyway, here it is after the 400:



And here is the pocket I ground in for the oil pressure sender:



I plan to go 600, 800, then 1000 grit, then onto the buffing compounds to see if it comes out better than the 6-deuce manifold did. Trial and error...

[ChuckDriver]

Nicely done!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Nicely done!

Thanks, CD! Things are gonna slow down with Easter coming up. (Translated: The wife works on Monday and Tuesday, and it's Wednesday. If she's not playing cards, etc., she's directing my activities!)

[Kim57]

That's going to be one nice manifold when done.
Kim

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Kim57

That's going to be one nice manifold when done.
Kim

Thanks, Kim. I should have kept track of the hours!

[Low Elco]

Oy Gevalt! The polishing! Glutton for punishment! It'll look killer when it's done, though!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Oy Gevalt! The polishing! Glutton for punishment! It'll look killer when it's done, though!

Thanks for the encouragement, Low Elco! I did get the manifold polished (yea!), and the engine has run on the test stand. There's good and bad news about that, but I need to post a video before I get into the details.

The video FAQ is 10 years old and most of the hosting sites it mentions are gone. I tried Snapfish and they require a paid subscription. I successfully loaded to Photobucket but the vid won't play. Initially the video was sideways but I flipped it using Movie Maker. It changed it from an MOV file to an MP4, but I don't think that hurts anything. It plays well on my PC. If anyone has had any recent success posting an MP4 file, let me know.

[DransportGarage]

I've pretty much given up on posting the videos. Here's a pic of the engine on the test stand:



On the first attempt to start it I didn't have 12 volts to the distributor. On the 2nd attempt it fired and ran for 13 minutes without adjustment as I broke in the cam. Everything was spot on and I didn't even have to touch the distributor. For some reason I pulled the dipstick, and there was OIL IN THE WATER. Here's the pic of the Brad Penn break-in oil (it's supposed to be DARK green):



I did a re-assembly without the rotating assembly and oil pan. The cooling system - with radiator and coolant - held 15 PSI for hours. No drips.

I'm using an alternator/compressor bracket that has the intake bolts go through it. I have a feeling that caused the front two bolts of the manifold to not be tight. The crank is having the mains turned .010" under. The rod journals are OK but the water in the oil wasn't friendly to the mains.

The engine is torn down right now, but I should have time to get it back together over the weekend or next week. It really sounded STRONG, so I'm encouraged that this will have a happy ending. I just hope I don't have a "hot only" problem.

[Baldeagle SR]

That really sucks. I hope it is something simple. Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=576185

[Kim57]

That sucks.
Hope it was just a one time fluke.
Kim

[DransportGarage]

Thanks for the sympathy, Rich and Kim . My buddy that was filming the startup said he expected me to be throwing stuff, but I was pretty philosophical about it. I was just glad it was on the test stand and not in a fully-assembled shiny truck!

The block was one of six that me and a buddy bought 25 years ago. When I pulled it out of storage I noticed it had no ridge, and I was really happy. Then I saw the reason why. It had thrown the #2 rod early in its life and was never reinstalled after the sleeve was put in. However, this thing passed the pressure check, so I'm still optimistic.

The heads were a swap meet find but another buddy and I crack-checked them. If there's a cast iron problem I hope it's not the heads, 'cause that's where all the $$s are in the engine build.

The intake manifold was a $40 swap meet find, but it has little wear. I hope it's not the problem because I have a gazillion hours in polishing it. We'll see.

[_Ogre]

well... that sucks big time

[DransportGarage]

Thanks, Ogre. I will say that I got amazing support from Brad Penn. I wanted to be sure that this was a "wet oil" problem as they called it. I went to their website and sent a note with picture. It was about 6:00 PM. At 7:30 PM I got a CALL from their oil monitoring analyst from his house! We talked for quite a while and he was ready to send me a sampling kit for both the unused oil and the wet oil. We eventually said that wasn't necessary.

The next day I got an email stating that he had the engineers review the picture and that it was indeed wet oil. I can't tell you how impressed I was with the customer service.

[Baldeagle SR]

Bob I read on here about a year ago and someone else had a problem with the intake manifold leaking water. If I remember they discovered they had a Chinese copy . Replaced the manifold , problem solved.
I know you have a lot of time in your manifold. Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=576185

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Baldeagle SR

Bob I read on here about a year ago and someone else had a problem with the intake manifold leaking water. If I remember they discovered they had a Chinese copy . Replaced the manifold , problem solved.
I know you have a lot of time in your manifold. Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=576185

Thanks for looking out for me, Rich. Seems like I'm never the first to do anything, even if it's wrong. I do know, however, that the one I have is a genu-wine Edelbrock Performer RPM:



It also looks like it''s never been milled, and it matches very well without the gaskets. I will check the straightness though, now that you mention possible problems.

[DransportGarage]

While waiting on the crankshaft I decided to do a little work on the stainless exhaust. I mooched some TIG time from a buddy late last year and fab'ed the pipes from a universal Pypes 2-1/2" kit. For those of you into self-flagellation, here's the process I'm using:

Original weld, also showing the 24-grit 4" grinding wheel I use first:


After grinding with 24-grit wheel:


After grinding with 36-grit disc:


Then I use the burnishing pad:


After using the burnishing pad:


After that I go to a series of 3 green buffing bars (cut, some shine/some cut, and high shine) that I got from Busch Enterprises at the NSRA Nationals last year. Here's the high shine bar...


...and some of the buffs that I use:

The yellow one is for coarse buffing.

Here's a finished joint (the marks are tape marks):

[STOCKISH]

Nice work man, love the positive outlook! Keep at it.

[Baldeagle SR]

Bob nice work. You have a lot more patience than me. Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=576185&page=5

[Kim57]

Very nice.
Kim

[Low Elco]

Sorry about your motor! Hope it's better round 2. Pipes look great!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by STOCKISH

Nice work man, love the positive outlook! Keep at it.

Just read your entire build thread, Josh. Ho-ooly cow! Good luck on the rear re-work. You'll be on the road way before me.

Originally Posted by Baldeagle SR

Bob nice work. You have a lot more patience than me. Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=576185&page=5

Thanks, Rich. Throughout life I've found that patience gets me through until I develop the needed skills. I've sure learned a lot from this board...

Originally Posted by Kim57

Very nice.
Kim

Thanks, Kim. Hope you're back on your build soon...

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Sorry about your motor! Hope it's better round 2. Pipes look great!

Thanks, Low Elco. I'm pretty sure the front of the manifold wasn't quite torqued enough because of the accessory bracket. I'll know in a few days. (That might be why they don't make that bracket anymore.)

[DransportGarage]

Just a note on the exhaust pipe polishing -- This time around I've just done the steps through the burnishing pad. I thought I remembered from last year that I could go straight to the cutting compound, but that shows you how good my memory is. More sanding will be needed on the joints. I'll probably try wet sanding 220 - 320 - 400 - 600, then the compounds. Nothing is ever easy.

[Billys68SS]

That frame looks great. I really like the way the intake turned out. I've got a Performer RPM that I've had for awhile that I want to do the same thing with. Can't wait to see you tackle the body. Real nice job sir!

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by Billys68SS

That frame looks great. I really like the way the intake turned out. I've got a Performer RPM that I've had for awhile that I want to do the same thing with. Can't wait to see you tackle the body. Real nice job sir!

Thanks for the good words, Billy. Good luck with the manifold! If you get bogged down pop a post here and I'll try to help. I'm trying to get to the body but need to put the frame together and into mothballs so I can have room to work. Things are starting to spill over into the basement!

I'll finish the exhaust (i.e., cross-over) tomorrow. Here's a pic of the tail pipes:


While I'm here I'll give you the sequence that I ended up using. Discs can be 2" or 3":
1) 24-grit disc on the welds
2) 36-grit disc on the welds
3) 60-grit disc on the welds and on any other imperfections
4) 3m scotch-brite roloc disc EXL 2s FIN (Google to see disc)
5) The 3 buffing compounds mentioned in post #116.

The 3M EXL 2S FIN disc is MAGICAL. They're silicon carbide. Don't worry too much about the $6 price per disc. 1 disc did the entire exhaust system. When you come to a scratch that you want to remove, try this disc first. You'll soon learn whether or not you need to drop back to the 60-grit disc. Once you start buffing, don't be afraid to drop back to step 3 or 4. It only takes a minute to make an improvement.

[Billys68SS]

I understand the space issues all too well. I'm working in an 18x21 carport shed. I have to go outside to change my mind! Pypes look great. A friend of mine had a free set of Pypes put on her 71 Chevelle SS awhile back just for showing it at the Auto Fair once.