Elliott's buildup: semi-resto 60

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

So I seriously hurt myself yesterday snowboarding. Broken hand, giant gash in my shin, and a hip that now clicks when I try to walk on it. Regardless, I got out into the garage after a few tylenol and a couple of beers of course. Not an incredibly productive day but I need to recover.

Got the seats installed.

_MG_7434.jpg


_MG_7435.jpg


I'm happy with the color match to my lower dash and new center console.

_MG_7436.jpg


_MG_7437.jpg


_MG_7439.jpg
 
After installing the seats, I had to give my roommates car a tuneup. It's a 2007 Chrysler 300, it's really nice to work on something so new. Took about an hour to change the spark plugs, coil packs, and injectors. It's running like butter now!

So, I get back to my rig now. I pulled the valve cover, carb, and distributor. I am sending the carb off to be rebuilt and tuned as well as the distributor to get re-curved to my specs. I've never rebuilt a carb so I will gladly pay someone for me to save my sanity.

This car is in need of some serious TLC. I can't wait to get it back all shined up.

_MG_7446.jpg


_MG_7447.jpg


Dizzy was in pretty good shape but I might as well have it cleaned up along with everything else.

_MG_7449.jpg


I can barely fit my hands anywhere on my Audi but the 60 is a totally different story. Having a big engine bay is nice. :D

_MG_7444.jpg


This is where I am currently.

_MG_7451.jpg


I hope to have the head pulled this week. After that, I'm going to start working on the bottom end. If I can have my motor running by July I will be ecstatic!Thanks for reading!
 
Great improvement on the seats, i can't take the "Herb Tarlek" looking stock brown interior.
 
What are you going to do for the door panels?
 
Been putting in 30 mins here, and hour there, slowly getting my motor torn apart and ready for a rebuild. I had to hack my air rail to get it off but with the desmog already commenced that shouldn't matter. The air rail, air pump, and various hoses and check valves are being chucked to free up real estate. I think I am just going to devane the smog pump instead of spending the extra $ for a pulley. This may change though.

_MG_7557.jpg


_MG_7556.jpg


Lots of parts to clean up and make shiny.

_MG_7564.jpg


I've got all my ducks in a row.

_MG_7565.jpg


Here is an idea of all the leaks this thing has going on. The entire front end is caked in oil and PS fluid. I guess its a decent rust preventative.

_MG_7562.jpg


_MG_7563.jpg


Oh, whats this little guy doing in the garage? :D

_MG_7566.jpg
 
I haven't hit your thread in awhile... all I can say is WOW! You are going crazy on that wagon! I wish I had your confidence and time... great work.
 
Those seat covers look awesome. Keep up the good work! Hope your recovery is a speedy one.
 
Thanks! The recovery will likely be delayed because I am still hitting the gym 3-4 days a week and working on the 60 pretty regularly.

I put in a little bit of time on it today. The rain cut my bike ride short. :mad:

I got the intake and exhaust manifold off. I also got the power steering pump off and will be rebuilding it. Fortunately, the main shafts bushing is intact so I can just replace the internal o-rings without having to buy a new/reman'd PS pump. I am also still pulling a lot of the smog junk and modifying it to be a smogless truck. It's quite a pain.

_MG_7572.jpg


A pile of dirty parts that will soon be bling-a-fied!

_MG_7574.jpg


Here's an idea of how grimey EVERYTHING on this truck is. I have already gone through a box of 100 latex gloves and a carton of shop towels. PS fluid, motor oil, and 28 years of dirt and junk.

_MG_7567.jpg


Of course, degreaser and a wire wheel makes short work of it.

_MG_7569.jpg


Installing everything after being completely cleaned and a coat of high temp paint. This is crucial for spotting new leaks.
 
Seat Covers

ElliottB said:
New bling. Front and rear Wet Okole covers with sewn in logo. I got a decent stock passenger seat and restuffed the drivers seat. They are both pretty comfortable and will be styling with the new covers. I'll probably install them this weekend.

covers.jpg
Click to expand...

Would be interested to know if you have any experience with these seat covers in a hot climate. I realize you're still building the 60, but wondered if you used these on one of your other rides. I'm in AZ, 1/2" from the blazing sun, so wondering if these get crotch and thigh incineratingly hot during the summer. Otherwise, righteous build bro, keep it goin!

Glenn in Tucson
 
A friend of mine had them in his Tacoma and they were nice. But they're still seat covers, ya know, how nice can seat covers really be?

Anything is better than black leather though. Imagine how hot these babies get in the summer, especially with 1/2 doors!

halfdoor15.jpg
 
Head is off and going to the machine shop tomorrow. By the time I get back from Moab, everything should be about ready to reinstall.

The head is getting
-hot tanked (read: shiny and clean!)
-complete valve job
-oil gallery plug drilled and tapped
-OEM gasket
-OEM valve guides

All of this at Gunn Automotive here in Denver. I have heard great reviews about them, apparently they are the best in the business.

The grimey head next to the old gasket

_MG_7615.jpg


Top of the block (lots of cleaning to do)

_MG_7616.jpg


Driver's side

_MG_7617.jpg


And I don't know what kind of cylinder crosshatch I'm supposed to be seeing here on a motor with 200K miles on it, or how that really works but this is what I see. The cylinder wall seems fairly uniform on all 6 cylinders. I guess this is a good sign for my piston rings.

_MG_7618.jpg
 
The top of #2 looks a little off as does the top of the head around #2. It'll be good to shave a little off the head and get the valves sorted.

Don't forget to not throw away the VCV's, BVSV1, and the "gas" filter vacuum port (the 3 prong jobber form the intake manifold)

And to my mind, you may as well spend the 40 or 50 bucks for CarrMcmaster Silicone vacuum lines so you can trust the lines once you are measuring how much vacuum the motor/carb is creating. Plate off the EGR downtube junction at the back of the exhaust mani while its off. And I might also suggest the remflex gasket for intake/exhaust once it goes together.

I have also been told that the only way to guarantee a good carb reseal is to by a new heatshield plate that goes in between the carb and intake.

I'll be sending my carb and dizzy to Jim C when I can have them off for a while.

Might be a good time for lifters too...
 
Thanks for the words of wisdom Trapper. You always have a lot to contribute!

I haven't thrown away anything yet, VSV, BVSV's, or otherwise. I'm going to keep everything until I'm sure I can get the motor started up and running well. I will definitely be springing for the silicone tubing (hopefully I don't have to settle for some rice-looking orange hoses :D ).

I have already ordered the OEM head gasket kit which should include the OEM intake/exhaust manifold gasket. I really don't want to double up on gaskets so I hope that the one I have is good enough. Also I am going to fab up plates to block off the PCV/EGR outlet as well as the outlet on the bottom side of the exhaust manifold. There will be gaskets between the plate as well, of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom