The War Wagon... decaring wars on the grocery store since 1966

[Shelty]

The original trunk key should open the glove box lock. My glovebox was missing as well. Just cardboard stapled into a three sided box anyways.

My rear is cleaner than your rear.

If I ever get the time id take a wire wheel to the axle to clean it up and hit it with some por15 or some chassis paint. but for a car thats spent is life in the North east, its not as rusty as I thought it would be. Factory undercoating saved it. at the most it needs 1 patch on the driver side and I may just see about replacing the pass side front pan, cuz it is probably easier than fabricating the drain plug. that and I am going to rely on a friend to do the welding. I got to talk to him, I think he has a mobile rig, so if I can cut out all the bad and just have him weld in the new, it could be done in a day.

I dont have the trunk key, the PO said he didnt have it either when I bought it, all I have is the hex shaped keys. I figure if I can have a locksmith rekey the glove box, it will work on the tailgate too.

however I have noticed that on the 80s k9 blazer, the lock [;ate for the rear tailgate is the same shape as the one on my wagon, and those trucks had the power rear window. if I could find one in a junkyard I could swap it in and have a power rear window. Im sure it would work with some fiddling.

but I can have that done while I have the car apart for its trans swap which I may start getting to in a week.

[RustyRodder]

Guys, it doesnt matter if your rear is black or brown or clean or dirty! Well, maybe dirty.


Bill, have you thought about swapping in a 12-bolt rear? or found your gearing yet?

[JOES66FURY]

hell, that thing is freaking solid! Nice!

[Shelty]

Guys, it doesnt matter if your rear is black or brown or clean or dirty! Well, maybe dirty.


Bill, have you thought about swapping in a 12-bolt rear? or found your gearing yet?

have not found the gearing yet, will do that before I pull the driveshaft. as for swapping to 12 bolt.... meh, I dont see the need to. I dont see the car needing one.

[Casper]

12 bolt still has C-Clips... those floor pans are looking pretty minimal, if that's an east coast car it must have been garage kept and hardly ever driven.

[Shelty]

12 bolt still has C-Clips... those floor pans are looking pretty minimal, if that's an east coast car it must have been garage kept and hardly ever driven.

its got a pretty thick undercoating on it. It spent some time in New York, found some stuff in the car with a new york address on it. but it does have 78,000 miles on it (unless it rolled over) so its pretty low mile if it is only 78k I hope to find the build sheet under the rear seat.

[Casper]

Good luck on the build sheet quest, I've also heard of guys finding them on top the heater plentum, under the carpet, and on top the gas tank.

[Shelty]

Im sure I'll find it eventually. if its still in the car and the mouseketters havnt eaten it. i am going to have the entire interior out of the car for cleaning and repair so its only a matter of time. I just hope its not under the headliner. Im not pulling that out until I locate a place that will sell the material by the yard, cuz no one seems to sell 66 wagon headliner, its got a few tears but for the most part its in alright condition.

[Deaf Bob]

Look where your brake plate bolts to the axle housing.. If you need a wrench and socket, bolt in axles.. You can get all kinds of gear ratios for the 10 bolt and axles too..in fact easier than 12 bolt, and 10 bolt axles are thicker.. (BIA ones) 12 bolt cars kinda neck down after the side gears splines..

[Shelty]

cool thanks Bob. I will be getting quite familiar with the underside of that car come here shortly. the weather is finally getting stabilized, now I just need a few days away from work.

[Shelty]

picked up some wire wheels and started to take off the rust on the floors. I think i need to get a more aggressive wheel cuz its taking a good bit of effort to get it up. the drivers side looks like it will clean up easy, might even be able to use that liquid rust stripper on that, as my grandpa called, Naval Jelly. its this pink goop and it eats corrosion. passenger side floor, in the areas I began to strip are pretty pockmarked and wiggle with moderate pressure from my hand. Im thinking that rust has taken its tool on that. what I may do is buy a replacement footwell, then trim it to fit the bad areas and have it welded in. it would probably be cheaper just to weld or rivet in some sheetmetal, but I like to do things right. the panel I need is under 100 bucks so its not a budget buster.

no update on the transmission swap, I am supposed to be getting a transfer at work, closer to home, so I dont know if/how my schedule will change so I dont want to be in the middle of something and not be able to get to it for a week or two.

some stuff I need to get ordered,
windshield wipers from Ecklers late great chevy. found OE style blades, since local parts stores dont have the right looking ones.
TCI converter lockup kit.
transmission filter for the 700r4
drain plug kit
pan gasket.

thank goodness I got a raise this month.

[Shelty]

finally got my mustang fixed about 2 weeks ago and am now settled in at my new barrack, so I was able to focus my attention back on the wagon. I went through the distributor. add 70 bucks to the the budget.

today I got it up on blocks. I got a good bit done in a couple hours, in addition to ruining two old police academy t-shirts....lol anyway, I got the drive shaft out, and rear u joint fell apart, which is always good news. got the Torque converter unbolted from the flexplate, got the starter out, the shift linkage disconnected, and the speedo cable off, all that is left is the bell-housing bolts and the cross member.

now here is where I have some questions and concerns. with the powerglide, there was a linkage that comes off where it connects to the column mechanism that goes up the backside of the engine and connects to the carb. can I remove all of this since I will be going with the 700r-4?

here is a picture of the bar



now here is my biggest concern.

this is the first Small Block chevy Ive worked on. is this an externally balanced engine? or is this the normal mounting point for the flexplate, will the proper flexplate for a 700r-4 mount up with no issues? am I screwed or is this all ok?

the piece I am concerned about is that thinner metal plate that the flexplate appears to be bolted to





any help will be great. as long as I can get the bell-housing bolts loose, trans should be out by the end of the week

[Shelty]

I know the engine is grimey, i will be cleaning it as best as i can

[Scott Liggett]

An externally balanced engine will have a weight on the flex plate itself. That's just the bob weight on the back of all sbc cranks with a two piece rear main seal. No need to change the flexplate unless your new 700R4 trans' converter has a different bolt pattern than your flexplate's.

The trans linkage to the carb is probably just for shift control. Not positive on PGs. Your 700 trans uses a TV cable. Completely different setup.

[Shelty]

sweet, thanks Scott. that puts my mind at ease, I will know more once its all apart. going to try to get it all done tomorrow after I get back from work. have court tomorrow for an old case that i couldnt get out of.... if not, wednesday.