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  • Too Many Projects

    Ok, so I think I'm a typical car guy with too many cars, not enough time and not enough money. Every weekend I'm working on something, but what that is depends on funds and priority. It would be nice to have a place to chronicle all that we are working on, my partner in crime being my oldest son who is currently 17. Projects include my 1964 El Camino, that I have had since 1990 when I was 16.



    My son followed in my footsteps and bought a 65 Camino when he was 13. We had it running and driving before he turned 16, but it has been an ongoing project ever since I dragged it home for him.



    Both of these cars see plenty of strip time, but with him running and me getting tired of beating on my Camino for all these years, I've decided to more or less retire it and build a dedicated drag car. Enter the Henry J project.



    In addition to that I have a 1970 F100 that technically belongs to the wife. It's a nice, clean original truck, 2wd longbed with a 360 and 4 speed. I swapped out the original 2bbl manifold for a factory 4bbl manifold and a Holley 600. It has almost no rust and only 1 repaint as far as I can tell, and about 80k on the odometer. It really needs a healthy 390 or 410 FE. No pics of that one though.

    Then there's the latest project for my oldest daughter. I really should enter it in the under $5k challenge, but it's easier to keep everything in one place 'cause I'm lazy like that. It's a 1993 Camry that I got for free because the engine overheated (badly,) but it was free and the body and interior are nice. No pics of this one either yet.

    Anybody interested??

    Devin

  • #2
    Yup. Excepy the Camry unless you put a real motor in it

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    • #3
      Oh yeah, join the fray!

      You have some cool stuff going on. Even the Camry is cool as it saves gas money for the hot rods.
      Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

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      • #4
        Glad to have you here . My entries are fairly boring . My vette , my old vette ( now my youngest son's and my youngest daughters . And now I have another v8 S10 project . ) My postings are mostly for me so I can remember what I've done and to which and when I did it . Even though none of my stuff is wild, being 300 horses or down it's fun sharing what I've been up to . I'd recommend having a separate thread for each so that people searching for ideas or help with there projects can more easily find things . Since the Comino's are virtually the same car combining them wouldn't be too bad . You can of course do it your way. better than nothing .
        Last edited by Dan Barlow; November 27, 2016, 02:40 PM.
        Previously HoosierL98GTA

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        • #5
          This weekend's projects started with a friends' Astro van that I had put a transmission line in recently. He bought the least expensive line he could find, so guess what? It was leaking at the radiator end. I spent a couple of hours fiddling with that again, and since the place he bought it didn't have another in stock and wouldn't warrantee it anyway. I did the unspeakable and put a little goo on it to seal it, but provided no promises that it would last. I have a few people I help out with free work now and then, just because they can't afford to pay a shop and this was one of them.

          After that, it was on to my son's 65 Camino. Long story, but he lost his engine this spring after just installing it. It was a freebie hand me down from another guy I knew who was trying to step him up. The oil pump pickup fell out and he lost oil pressure which wiped out the cam. We spent the summer rebuilding it, but there have been so many trials and tribulations with his stuff that we just did the bare minimum to get it to run when we put it it about 2 months ago. With it getting cold recently, we decided it was prudent to get his heater working. The manifold had been used previously with a long water pump, but we needed a fitting on the front for a short water pump. So out came the radiator to make room for the drill.



          Then drilling and tapping





          And finally going back together



          Heat is nice to have to keep the windshiled clear.

          After that we looked at his carb. We did a rough quickie tune on it upon getting the engine running, but he was telling me it was dieselling when he shut it off and it wouldn't idle below 1200 rpm. It was getting near dark, so we were rushing and I didn;t take pics, but it turned out that the choke cam adjustment was keeping the idle open too far, so once we fixed that it came down to a reasonable idle and we adjusted the centrifugal advance and hooked up the vacuum, which we hadn't gotten to before. All in all, a good day in the garage.

          Devin

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          • #6
            Great to knock out some things on the list isn't it?

            Dan

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            • #7
              There's always more to do it's choosing which bite to chew on for the day.

              Devin

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              • #8
                I worked last weekend and an evening this week on prepping to pull the 283 out of my 64 Camino. I just dropped it in May of this year, and it had oil pan leaks at both ends from the beginning. I bought one of those fancy one piece gaskets and followed the instructions to a T, including torquing the pan bolts and the surfaces were spotless. Didn't work.



                I've done this so many times I can practically do it in my sleep. However, this time as I was pulling the plugs, I went down the passenger side first, then the driver's side, front to back. When I got to #7, water poured out. Grr. Guess I'm going deeper than I had planned.





                My son is my partner in crime and my right hand man.





                Popped the head off, looks like I just lost the gasket.



                Pulled the pan. Rear main is definitely dry. I have a new pan gasket and oil pump ready to go in, as it still has the original 1966 pump in it that doesn't generate as much pressure as I'd like and the bottom end is tight.


                Now the question, to cam or not to cam? The one in it I ran 25 years ago when I was in high school. My dad asked me to clean some stuff out of his garage about 10 years ago when we were visiting, and it was there so I took it home. So when we needed a cam for this motor initially for my son, we stuck it in. It's a small solid, .458/.468, 230/236-264/270 on 112 LSA. It runs pretty good going down the road, and I got a string of 14.9s out of it at the track last summer. But I'm thinking I could do better with more cam in it. Hehe.

                Devin

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                • #9
                  So on New Year's, my youngest son helped me prep the engine and drop it back in.













                  Getting it together and installed was all I had time for that day. A few days later, my oldest son and I took care of everything underneath the car, with the expectation that the following weekend we would be able to do everything on top. Life didn't work out that way, I wasn't able to get back to it until today.

                  But, finally.everything was buttoned up this afternoon.



                  I went for about a 5 mile test drive..When I came back, it was dripping from the same place as ever, between the oil pan and timing cover. I was fit to be tied.



                  It will be coming out again soon, to be replaced with both a new timing cover and oil pan.

                  Devin

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                  • #10
                    I really like that '64 with the 283 kept sixties-style...oil tube, short water pump w/ the fitting on top, early gennie 'Vette covers w/o the later parts-counter casting defects. Add a handy five-speed stick back under the trans tunnel and you got a pretty cool deal there.

                    I usually goo up the corners on oil pans/timing covers pretty good, after hammering on everything to true it up to a straightedge, silicone applied to both sides then left to oxygen a half-hour or so before buttoning up, then not run for a few days first so it gets a chance to set in place. And still it's like, taking your chances sometimes...
                    Last edited by Loren; January 16, 2017, 09:21 AM.
                    ...

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Loren View Post
                      I really like that '64 with the 283 kept sixties-style...oil tube, short water pump w/ the fitting on top, early gennie 'Vette covers w/o the later parts-counter casting defects. Add a handy five-speed stick back under the trans tunnel and you got a pretty cool deal there.

                      Thanks! You have a good eye for details. That is a TKO600 behind it.

                      I usually goo up the corners on oil pans/timing covers pretty good, after hammering on everything to true it up to a straightedge, silicone applied to both sides then left to oxygen a half-hour or so before buttoning up, then not run for a few days first so it gets a chance to set in place. And still it's like, taking your chances sometimes...
                      I'm pretty sure that this was the 5th time it's been out in 3 years to seal it. I swear I've done everything but weld the pan and timing cover together. Old style seals, new one piece gaskets, little goop in the corners only, torquing, fully gooped this time, it still leaks......

                      next time it gets some new parts.

                      Devin

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                      • #12
                        What is the plan for the Henry J in the background?

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                        • #13
                          I find Permatex red does a good job or the Edelbrock stuff.. They smell.. Do not slide out like silicone and come apart easier than the Indian Head black type stuff
                          And lately good luck with the "Right Stuff" silicone type. But it is a mofo to get off.. Use it on our derby rears. Ends and covers..

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Old Dog View Post
                            What is the plan for the Henry J in the background?
                            The Henry J is a long term dedicated drag car project. I got tired of beating on my Camino, didn't want all the compromises of a street/strip car and it's about 1300 lbs lighter. It's a win all the way around, but I have champagne tastes when it comes to the engine so progress is slow

                            Devin

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                            • #15
                              Yesterday began the teardown on the Camry engine for my oldest daughter. But it didn't go well. Some schmuck has been at this thing with an air gun in inappropriate places.



                              I didn't get far enough to take a visible progress picture. I'm going to have to bring better metric tools home from work to get this thing apart.

                              Devin

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