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1939 Chevy coupe

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  • A nice turn of events for Christmas.
    Ed, Mary, & 'Earl'
    HRPT LongHaulers, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.


    Inside every old person is a young person wondering, "what the hell happened?"

    The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there. -Vince Lombardi

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    • More time today, so ran my 3/8 hard fuel line, and also my 2/0 battery cable. Lots of fun trying to snake a straight line up over the axle, and then hand bend it under the car to fit it to the side of the frame. Then do the final two 90 degree bends, and an offset so it lines up to connect to the outlet on the tank. Also got my vent bent up and installed through to below the trunk floor.
      No battery or starter yet, so I simply installed the grommets and left it until I have both. Need to mount the battery disconnect also, and I'll probably put it under the passenger seat as I usually do.

      I removed the wiper transmissions from the cowl, and welded up the little holes I found near the cowl vent. I used my paint stripper disc on the wiper transmissions since they are so pitted. They came out like a brushed aluminum look, and I'll try to polish them a bit more on my buffing wheel. Then just shoot them with clear to seal whatever finish I get.
      I'm not even certain I'll run wipers, as the rest of the system is missing. But I'd prefer to keep the stock transmissions, or find something that fits those square holes if I do run wipers.

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      • Originally posted by 1946Austin View Post
        ... or find something that fits those square holes if I do run wipers.
        I would recommend looking at Specialty Power Windows wiper drive kit. I put one in the wagon and it is working well so far. It was a pain in the ass to install in a finished car but wouldn't be that big of deal for you at your stage of the build.

        I know it is unmanly to talk about using anything more that RainX on a hot rod's windshield but on many occasions I have been grateful to have them working properly.

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        • Originally posted by cstmwgn View Post
          I would recommend looking at Specialty Power Windows wiper drive kit. I put one in the wagon and it is working well so far. It was a pain in the ass to install in a finished car but wouldn't be that big of deal for you at your stage of the build.

          I know it is unmanly to talk about using anything more that RainX on a hot rod's windshield but on many occasions I have been grateful to have them working properly.
          I had wiper motor system from a late 70's Ford truck in my '63 Falcon gasser and it sure made a difference in how often I drove the car. I didn't stay home if it looked cloudy since I knew I had good wipers. I'll take a look at that setup. I had considered buying one of the systems that use a motor directly behind the wiper, so if you want two you need two motors. Figured I could get by with one wiper in a pinch.

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          • Stopped by Old Car Parts here in Portland to see if they had a pair of chrome headlight rings. They found three of them in varying states of less than perfect. But less than perfect is perfect for my build. One was a bit tarnished, one nice chrome, but missing the tensioning screw setup, and the last one had the setup, but a big dent down towards the bottom. So I worked a deal on all three, so I could piece two decent ones together.
            While I was there I asked about the possibility of a locking outside door handle.....with key! Of course the owner said they never got anything like that in. Then he walked off to the back. As I was looking over my trim rings he came back out and laid a outside handle with a key in it on the counter!! So I now have a locking door handle for one side, which is all they originally had anyway. Chevy only put a lock in the passenger door back then, but my car has them in both doors, and no keys. So I'll lock the passenger door from inside, and the driver's door with my key.
            When I got home I took the rings to my basement shop, and got out my sand bag and a block of wood. I tapped the dent out of the one trim ring, and it came out great. Especially since the dent is on the bottom where nobody will see minor imperfections. I polished the other decent one with Mother's and it came out good also. Success!

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            • Had one of those gut wrenching feelings the other day when my starter didn't fit. I began to wonder if my flexplate was wrong too? The flexplate on my 1990 350 has a big weight on it, and I was surprised to see that since I'd read all SBC except the SBC 400 were internally balanced.
              So today I spent some time researching various SBC flexplates. It seems that 1955-'85 are 2 piece main seals and internally balanced. Except the SBC 400 that uses a special externally balanced flywheel and harmonic balancer. Then in 1986 Chevy decided to really screw things up! They added a externallly balanced flexplate, but kept the internal balancing enough to use the earlier internal balance harmonic balancer!
              So the 1986-'97 are only half external balanced, and it's done so at the flexplate. Explains why mine has a externally balanced flexplate, but regular harmonic balancer. I can relax and not freak out over this now.
              Another new learning experience for this old dinosaur!

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              • your 1990 motor has a smaller diameter bolt pattern on the crank because of the one-piece seal..... where the pre-86 flex plates will bolt up to a 400, it won't bolt up to your motor.....
                Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post
                  your 1990 motor has a smaller diameter bolt pattern on the crank because of the one-piece seal..... where the pre-86 flex plates will bolt up to a 400, it won't bolt up to your motor.....
                  Thanks Aaron! Something else I didn't know! My first one piece main seal motor, and my first roller cam motor too. It seems I have to learn a lot about this generation of SBC!

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                  • I knew there were some differences, what? I didn't know.. Thanks for the info!

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                    • Originally posted by 1946Austin View Post

                      Thanks Aaron! Something else I didn't know! My first one piece main seal motor, and my first roller cam motor too. It seems I have to learn a lot about this generation of SBC!
                      it only gets confusing when you get to the last version LT1 motor with reverse flow... this one actually makes some sense because they had to remove the flange to install a one-piece rear seal....
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                      • And another thing I remembered. My harmonic balancer was sketchy, so I bought a new one. But I noticed when I got the new balancer it had a larger hole for the crank snout. I checked the new one with an older balancer I had sitting here, and sure enough, the crank diameter is larger at the snout. The pre 1986 balancer wont fit on the later engines.
                        But there are some good changes, like the roller camshaft, and the cam retainer plate to eliminate cam walk. But I still don't understand the thinking behind going half external balancing? Would love to ask a Chevy engineer why they decided to make that change!

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                        • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post

                          it only gets confusing when you get to the last version LT1 motor with reverse flow... this one actually makes some sense because they had to remove the flange to install a one-piece rear seal....
                          And that one piece rear main seal means a different oil pan too! It's longer than the old style oil pan since the housing for the new main seal bolts to the back of the engine. I had a nice finned aluminum polished oil pan here I wanted to use. But dropped it on the block and immediately saw it was too short. And dipstick on the wrong side too! Newer SBC have passenger side dipsticks.

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                          • Originally posted by 1946Austin View Post
                            And another thing I remembered. My harmonic balancer was sketchy, so I bought a new one. But I noticed when I got the new balancer it had a larger hole for the crank snout. I checked the new one with an older balancer I had sitting here, and sure enough, the crank diameter is larger at the snout. The pre 1986 balancer wont fit on the later engines.
                            But there are some good changes, like the roller camshaft, and the cam retainer plate to eliminate cam walk. But I still don't understand the thinking behind going half external balancing? Would love to ask a Chevy engineer why they decided to make that change!
                            look at the flange on the crank, it's not round.... that's weight that got removed....
                            Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                            • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post

                              look at the flange on the crank, it's not round.... that's weight that got removed....
                              Yes, the later crank is round, and earlier is the one on the right with weight removed. So I guess you answered my question of why. Since the later 1 piece seal does it's sealing on that round flange. They'd have to change the weight inside to make up for the extra metal outside. Easier to add it back to the flywheel.

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                              • Put the Accel electronic kit in the distributor today, and dropped it in the engine. I also did the coarse valve adjustment, and once I prime the engine I'll double check it again before starting. I hooked up the temp and oil senders, and put in water pump plugs. Still need to get one little lower block plug, as I thought it was 3/8 pipe, but it's much smaller. Looks more like 1/8" pipe thread.
                                Noticed I'd never finished up the front ladder bar mounts as they still had low grade bolts. Swapped them for grade 8 and tightened everything down. Then decided to build up my -6AN fuel lines, but I couldn't get the hose to fit at all. It's like the AN nuts are too small to slide over the braid? I finally gave up after cutting it 3 times, and still not getting it together. I'll measure it all up, and take it down to the basement and clamp things in my vise so I can have a better hold on it. I watched 4 or 5 videos of guys putting this AN stuff together, and nobody had any big issues like I did.
                                Stopped and went back on wiring. Sorted out the taillight wiring, and figured out the retrofit LED color codes for those. It seems like every LED maker uses a different weird code, but these actually were normal! Black for ground, yellow for running lights, and red for brake/turn signals.

                                Last edited by 1946Austin; December 28, 2019, 07:35 PM.

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