It’s happening... First haul!

Love that Ramcharger! Nice green too. Bob you take the prize in the crustiest frame game.

Ok, so today was a lot of fiddling about trying to get the engine mounted correctly. I knew ahead of time that the 360 engine mount was different on the drivers side, I accounted for that by making a spacer, what I didn’t realize was that the mount can bolt on fore or aft of the engine lugs. Guess who got it wrong? I didn’t figure it out until I mounted the trans bracket to the trans and came up an inch short from hitting the bolt holes. Luckily my buddy had the foresight to take a picture of how the mount brackets bolted onto the old engine. Once we figured that out after screwing around for 2 hrs we moved the brackets and it bolted right in.

Here are some pictures of today’s progress.

HA!....I should have mentioned the engine mounts,but......Mine looked that nice when I finished it in '98
...now not so much! ...but it still only has 1500 mi. on it!  Looking good!  That green was a factory color in 1974. Also had a '74 Power Wagon that color. Don't recall what it was called offhand.
What are you going with for carburation? Did you put in new motor mount and trans mount cushions?

I rebuilt a Thermoquad about 4 months ago and ran it on the 318 for a bit. I set it up for a 360 because I had this swap in mind. Hopefully it will run as well as it did on the 318. Yes new mounts for motor and trans.

When I built mine the donor engine came with a Quadrajet on it. Never could make it run right so I slapped  a manual choke 600 Holley  on it . My engine is a stocker so it runs great and gets decent mileage for a 360. I had a 2 wd 73 I bought new that I highly modified, that was running a 780 Holley double pumper on a Torker manifold that was an absolute beast! Those were some fun times!  That Carter should be a good carb...they ran them on a lot of Mopars.

Way to roll Ron and friend , i have had the mount prob. before and it sucks when you got the engine already set / all you can think is , It would have been alot easier while it was still Out ! LOL Looking Good Brother . At least you didnt have to make the mounts like i did with a 56 Chevy 1/2 T / 283 installation . I guess you have all the other things fixed you wanted to do while out ?

Looking great Ron. How far are you taking this project anyway?

Can't wait to see the first burnout...………….Nah, don't do that. Wastes time, energy, and tires for no good reason.

Bob

Gas is cheap! Burn off the tires!......need new ones anyway! .....after proper breakin of course!  There's ALWAYS a good reason to light 'em up!  Go out and smoke some Fords and Chevys!....which isn't THAT hard to do!  When I worked in the truck shop in Montana one of the guys  in the shop put a juiced up 440 in his 1980 shortbox.....what an animal!

Ron, I wish I had your energy!!! Mark

Mark Diedrichs wrote:Ron, I wish I had your energy!!! Mark

I've met Ron, and am happy to report he has as much or more energy and
inspiration than I had 30 or 40 years ago. I quietly envy him.
Bob

Ya...I have the inspiration...but not the energy for the simplest projects anymore. I'd assume the result of 2 heart attacks.  I just finaly completed step 2 of the kit I'm building...that was started over a month ago!

OhBee wrote:Gas is cheap! Burn off the tires!......need new ones anyway! .....after proper breakin of course!  There's ALWAYS a good reason to light 'em up!  Go out and smoke some Fords and Chevys!....which isn't THAT hard to do!  When I worked in the truck shop in Montana one of the guys  in the shop put a juiced up 440 in his 1980 shortbox.....what an animal!

WhoaYeah! Lower demand, means lower prices! I might even fill up on premium!
Here’s a pic of the pump my son filled up at this afternoon:

Bah!!....1.29 here!. ...still,that beats  2.59 which is what it was when I last filled my truck.  Have only put on 40 mi. since then! Wifes enjoying burning the cheap gas up in her Hemi though ! Shes one of those "essential" workers putting on 50 mi a day back and forth to work.

Slow day today guys, it didn’t feel like I got a lot done. A lot of back and forth to the parts washer and painting and waiting for it to dry. I don’t want to go out and get stuff, but I have to. I need steel for the rad support and a few other odds and ends like oil and tranny gear oil. Nobody stocks break in oil around here which I assume is the sign of the times.

I really hate suspension work and I am a day away from that. I hope to fire it this weekend.

Ken I have heard of LMC truck, they don’t have everything for my truck, but they do have some stuff. LMC was originally just Victoria British. I was in tune with them in the 80’s and working on my MG.

Tires... the ones on it are shot so yes I think a good tire roasting is appropriate after the break in. It’s going to be lame because I have an open differential. I do have a Sure Grip unit that I need to put in.

So just one picture. It doesn’t look like much, but that was 12hrs of work! Energy? Yeah maybe, but I do notice how sore I am when I wake up and my hands are trashed. Mostly because of bolts being fired back into me when using the bench top wire wheel. Hurts something awful when that happens. Yes I wear eye protection. I hate gloves though as I lose to much dexterity.

Shes definitly taking shape! Mine took me a year...but I went through the entire drivetrain and gutted the cab and started over!.....basically a bumper to bumper refurbishment. Literally...front and rear bumbers were replaced!

Cribbs74 wrote:........... Nobody stocks break in oil around here which I assume is the sign of the times.

Ron.  For what it's worth, if you have a small engine (mower) shop nearby, the SAE30 Briggs & Stratton oil is just what you need for break-in.  I questioned my Valvoline rep. and he assured me that the standard mineral SAE30 they sell for use in small engines is identical to what they then marketed as "Running-in" (Break-in) oil.  I don't think they sell it any longer, and the Valvoline SAE30 is now marketed as a diesel oil.
Briggs & Strattons are pretty fussy about oil, but the plain mineral 30 without friction modifiers really helps the rings to bed-in and seal well.  Use a multi-grade car oil in a Briggs & it will smoke.  Go back to the 30 and no smoke.

EDIT:
Just found this.  Read down the bottom where it says "Running-in". (Aussie term)

It looks Good setting in there and see you monted the Carb. and some other odds and ends

Cribbs74 wrote:

So just one picture. It doesn’t look like much, but that was 12hrs of work! Energy? Yeah maybe, but I do notice how sore I am when I wake up and my hands are trashed. Mostly because of bolts being fired back into me when using the bench top wire wheel. Hurts something awful when that happens. Yes I wear eye protection. I hate gloves though as I lose to much dexterity.

]

Your last paragraph, so descriptive and accurate.  Been there.  I think my hands are just now healing up and the grease evacuating my fingernails after my MG rebuild of a year ago.  You know your in trouble when you drain the transmission and a 10 to one ratio of water to oil comes out.  Also the differential when it's just rust.  

Such a nice rebuild of your engine Ron.  I notice the little things you did that mean so much.    

Bob

Edit add:

Thought you might enjoy some pictures of my 1959 Corvettes engine rebuild.  Only part original was the block with the correct CQ code.  Everything else was wrong.  Headers, aftermarket valve covers, 327 heads, etc. etc..  Nothing special, base 283 with a single four barrel.



Jerry Pings of Plastic car Parts and a good friend did the rebuild.  One cylinder had to be sleeved.



Mark looking on.  



Everything was correct 1959 Corvette when it went back in.

OhBee, Cab is soon then paint. Hopefully this year, My other car is a 1966 Beetle, dead reliable, but not nearly as comfortable on the highway as the pickup. It also doesn’t like Oklahoma heat. So I say all that because this is more of a rolling restoration, can only do a little at a time.

Bob, wish you would have kept that Corvette, beautiful car and you did a great job on the restoration. Wish I could put you up while you did your magic on my MGA.

Sometime during all this I need to take time to fly some toy airplanes!

awesome Ron . I Love seeing old things brought back to life. I have a 1977 Jeep J 10 that needs an engine replaced. It is also is a 360. It will Probably my first project when I retire in a few years.

AMC 360...boy I have a lot of experience working on those! Had a 79 Wagoneer,still have my 85 Grand Wagoneer. Rockers and rocker bridges get wallowed out on those! Had to replace the heads on my 79. My 85 is still going strong with 189,000 on the clock....

Are you going to stick with that State Department of Corrections yellow color?