Build The Clustertruck Rides Again - Refurbishing a 1975 Chevota

[RWBeringer4x4]

If you sand blast that intake manifold it will turn out looking like new. Well almost like new. I agree replace the freeze plugs now while the engine is out. your doing a good job.
Good Luck
JP

Yeah that seems to be the general consensus around the web - I don't have a sand blaster and I'm also concerned with leftover beads/sand winding up in the engine. I'll probably just degrease it well and paint.

 

[Jdc1]

Yeah that seems to be the general consensus around the web - I don't have a sand blaster and I'm also concerned with leftover beads/sand winding up in the engine. I'll probably just degrease it well and paint.

Your local machine shop should be able to put it in the hottank to degrease for paint. Mine had done some of my parts for a dozen donuts if I'm not in a hurry.

 

[Cdaniel]

Eagle 1 mag wheel cleaner did a great job on my aluminum intake last time.
Look at mid to late 60's Chevy truck catalogs for the short pump. They are available.
classicparts.com
The center balancer bolt normally has a heavy duty extra thick washer under it.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Eagle 1 mag wheel cleaner did a great job on my aluminum intake last time.
Look at mid to late 60's Chevy truck catalogs for the short pump. They are available.
classicparts.com
The center balancer bolt normally has a heavy duty extra thick washer under it.

Thanks, Cliff! I had read about Eagle One, then I went out and bought the WRONG Eagle One (weaker formulation, non-etching, for polished wheels) and it really just hasn't been cutting it...

The short pump's not an issue - they're pretty much still available everywhere. The issue is short pump pulleys and accessories. For example - I'd love to find an undersized, single-groove water pump pulley (smaller than my small 6.75" crank pulley) but so far I can only find a 6.4" double groove, or a 7.1" single groove. What I have on the truck right now is something that I've only seen available for big blocks - it has a smaller 5.5-ish inner pulley, and a 6.4" outer pulley.

Yep - I actually already have a balancer bolt and thick washer, courtesy of my father in law. The problem is that the 283 doesn't have a threaded hole for a balancer bolt. Since I'm not tearing this engine all the way down, I'll have to drill my crank snout by hand...which I've been procrastinating for obvious reasons...

 

[Cdaniel]

These guys might have what your after
March Performance - V-Belt Pulleys - Pulleys - Chevy Small Block - Chevy

As or drilling and tapping the crank,....... difficult I would say. Depending on how deep the hardening is in the snout, you may have a tough time cutting into it.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Today was a lot of small, time consuming stuff accomplished:

The manifold is better, but STILL grimy looking even after a soak in the heavy duty eagle one wheel cleaner. I'm going to hit a few really grimey spots, consider it "degreased" and likely paint over it.

Next, I made a transfercase puller per the instructions on another thread Here on the forum. I think I'll go with longer bolts than the recommended M10x1.25x100mm - I'm not thrilled with the thread engagement in the aluminum case as it stands...I probably won't separate the case and the trans yet - everything is likely going to get "mocked up" and reinstalled once again to line up where I'd like to place the new engine mounts. Nonetheless this will be ready when the time comes.

Next, I cut off the existing engine mounts:

And earned myself the production of a new brake line. I was too lazy to disconnect the brakes, but now it looks like that laziness will pay dividends as I nicked a hard line grinding off the driver's side mount.

I'm debating whether I want to cut the old steel plates out of the frame entirely...I'm kind of afraid of what I might find behind it given the PO's "mad skillz" with a welder... The frame around the power steering conversion had to be rebuilt due to burn through...

And lastly - I had the pleasure of drilling out the broken off engine mount bolt - no degree of torching, parafin, easy outs, penetrating oil, etc. would get this thing to move - it fought to the bitter end:

Now I get to worry about the the metal shards that might wind up in my engine...

Up next - I have another busted bolt in the transfercase - one of the four that hold the e-brake, and yet another in the firewall (trans tunnel bolt). Hopefully they put up less of a fight - not looking forward to drilling into the tcase...

Likewise, I need to cut out the old transfercase mounts - just delaying the inevitable as

1. It means removing fuel lines (lesson learned from the brake line)

2. It means grinding under the truck, on my back, which always skeeves me out a bit.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Tonight I took a look inside the transmission for the first time. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to look for. The good news is, no abnormally loud/rough grinding, serious play, or noticeably broken teeth - although there may be some wear.

Video here:

Fj40 4-speed Transmission

It's the larger gear in the middle I'm a little concerned with:

A close up - not sure if the tapering on the one side is normal or worn...

After that, I tried on the FJ60 4-speed cover. It definitely shares a bolt pattern, which is promising - but I can't quite get it to seat - it "floats" about 2-3mm, like one shift fork isn't seating entirely or the cover is slightly warped or something. Further investigation will be required.

The good news is, if I can get this cover to fit, I'll gain another 3.5" rearward - below is the FJ60 cover compared to the stock FJ40 cover:

So far, the rearward movement of the shift tower is about 8-8.5 inches between moving the motor mounts 4.5in rearward, the shift cover gaining 3.5 inches, and Downey's bellhousing being about 1/2" longer.

 

[Cdaniel]

Not familiar with FJ40 internals at all but,.......
I have rebuilt a Muncie or two. And in general the straight cut gears do reverse. The larger straight cut gear on the main shaft is probably the reverse driven gear, non synchro so it gets abused by impatient reversing. Hence the ugly dental work. Not too big a deal since the it's a low speed gear.

Or I'm completely wrong....

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Not familiar with FJ40 internals at all but,.......
I have rebuilt a Muncie or two. And in general the straight cut gears do reverse. The larger straight cut gear on the main shaft is probably the reverse driven gear, non synchro so it gets abused by impatient reversing. Hence the ugly dental work. Not too big a deal since the it's a low speed gear.

Or I'm completely wrong....

Seems logical. I've definitely experienced the gear grinding when I try to go to reverse a little too quickly, so if you are correct that your theory holds water! There is also a shift collar and a gear underneath that one down in the case which definitely connects to the "reverse fork" in the transmission cover - perhaps the gear down below is the one that slides between reverse and first? I'll have to re-inspect the teeth on that one and see if there is matching wear.

All in all I don't see anything egregious that would prevent me from running this transmission - the real "tell" will be play and damage to the output shaft, which won't be getting exposed until after I've got the new mounts welded in.

I'm planning to "mock-up" reassemble (no internals, pressure plate, clutch, etc.) the drive-line with all of these new components so I can use it to test fit the mounts, shifter locations, get the angles correct, etc. Then pull everything out again to clean it up and do a more through once-over. From what I've seen of the guts of this thing so far, I'm pretty happy with the overall condition.

 

[pb4ugo]

The big straight gear you mentioned should be 1st gear. Usually reverse and 1st are the same ratio and use the same gear. The slider and gear in the bottom of the tranny engages with the 1st gear and changes the direction of rotation.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The t-case crossmember mounts got sawed out tonight.

I also solved the wobbling transmission cover issue by bolting it down. It seems there's a bit of a warp in the cover, but bolting it down levels it out. I installed the shifter and rowed through the gears to check for binding or abnormal sounds and everything seemed great! I can already tell I'll love having a normal shift throw compared to the insanity that was my dog legged shifter.

Parts have also started to arrive:

Some in better condition than others:

Pretty bummed about the radiator...it was expensive to ship, and will undoubtedly be expensive to exchange.

 

[Jdc1]

The t-case crossmember mounts got sawed out tonight.

I also solved the wobbling transmission cover issue by bolting it down. It seems there's a bit of a warp in the cover, but bolting it down levels it out. I installed the shifter and rowed through the gears to check for binding or abnormal sounds and everything seemed great! I can already tell I'll love having a normal shift throw compared to the insanity that was my dog legged shifter.

Parts have also started to arrive:

View attachment 1385860

Some in better condition than others:

View attachment 1385862

Pretty bummed about the radiator...it was expensive to ship, and will undoubtedly be expensive to exchange.

Not much better than new parts on a Friday. It might be cheaper to take the rad. to a shop and have the fins straightened than ship.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Not much better than new parts on a Friday. It might be cheaper to take the rad. to a shop and have the fins straightened than ship.

Yeah it will depend on what return shipping looks like. On one hand, there's not enough damage to make this one unusable and it can probably be straightened (though some are pretty crushed).

On the other hand - I paid money for a new, undamaged part...so it irks me a bit to accept it as is. If I wanted to straighten radiator fina I would have just used the one in my truck

 

[velillen]

I would at least call the company you ordered it from. I have had pretty good luck if stuff comes damaged but still functioning in getting shipping refunded and usually a % knocked off. Usually cheaper for the company that way and is a win/win for both as they don't have to deal with a damaged product and you save a bit of money. Still a bummer though!


Ps....were you happy with SMI and rebuilding the Quadrajet? Im going to have mine rebuilt but haven't decided where yet. it was working perfectly fine before I took it off. Ill have the same setup as you though! 283 with the quadrajet

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I would at least call the company you ordered it from. I have had pretty good luck if stuff comes damaged but still functioning in getting shipping refunded and usually a % knocked off. Usually cheaper for the company that way and is a win/win for both as they don't have to deal with a damaged product and you save a bit of money. Still a bummer though!


Ps....were you happy with SMI and rebuilding the Quadrajet? Im going to have mine rebuilt but haven't decided where yet. it was working perfectly fine before I took it off. Ill have the same setup as you though! 283 with the quadrajet

Yeah, I plan to call the company and try to work with them. It's repairable (probably) and I'm sure they don't want it back...

@velillen - as for my SMI quadrajet - I'd give them about an 80%. The carb they sent me is definitely heads and tails better suited to the 283 than the massive Buick Wildcat Quad that came off it (that I rebuilt myself) but it still has issues.

1. Carb drain-back through a sticking accelerator "ball" or leaking Welch plugs. SMI Epoxies the Welch plugs, but still, if it sits for 24-48 hours, the float bowl is empty and I have to crank the starter to pump fuel back up to it.

2. They didn't plug the old heat tube choke hole when they installed an electric choke, which meant I had a leak through the choke when it came. I plugged it with permatex.

3: threads were bunged up on the idle screw - which ultimately lead to me stripping the head trying to set the idle. Now the idle is stuck at ~850rpm. That's on the list to get corrected while the carb is off.

When I called them about the choke leak, they were helpful but not ultra friendly. For $400ish and an 8-week lead time

At the end of the day though, the carb still gets me about 12-13mpg highway and has great throttle response so I consider the above minor inconveniences...

 

[velillen]

Hmmm good to know. I might hold off on it then. They want $260 just to rebuild it, clean it, and do the stuff you mentioned. Not sure if thats worth it since the carb was working just fine before i pulled it off. Especially since as far as I know this carb is what came with the engine new from the factory back in 67-68.

Well i say working since I had the engine running for all of about 30 minutes before I took everything apart. But it was idling just fine. I didnt get to test it much past idle much since i didnt have brakes and the forward and reverse were a bit....sketchy so it was slow speed creeping forward and reversing into the garage.

Thanks for your opinion on them though!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Hmmm good to know. I might hold off on it then. They want $260 just to rebuild it, clean it, and do the stuff you mentioned. Not sure if thats worth it since the carb was working just fine before i pulled it off. Especially since as far as I know this carb is what came with the engine new from the factory back in 67-68.

Well i say working since I had the engine running for all of about 30 minutes before I took everything apart. But it was idling just fine. I didnt get to test it much past idle much since i didnt have brakes and the forward and reverse were a bit....sketchy so it was slow speed creeping forward and reversing into the garage.

Thanks for your opinion on them though!

If your carb is good, you could try rebuilding it yourself - I did the original carb on mine and it went fine. It just won't be as clean/flashy.

Also check out cliff Ruggles- he literally wrote the book on quad rebuilds and will either sell you a lot to rebuild it yourself, or I think may do rebuilds as well.

 

[velillen]

Good to know on Cliff Ruggles. Ill have to look into that route a bit more. Quick look shows he does rebuilds and cleaning too.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

It's funny what you don't notice on a restoration project when you have bigger fish to fry...

Took apart my heater today - never fooled with it much while it was in the truck because the flaps were all seized. It did blow hot air though...

Only now that I'm staring at it do I realize that this thing looks like it was left out in the rain for 10 years then run over a couple of times for good measure.

This may be a slight exaggeration but there is a good deal of bent/twisted/rusted metal to contend with:

The section above, in particular, is cancerous - I don't think I'll be able to straighten it without that "bridge" piece snaping entirely - the is little to no good metal left.

Photo below shows the warped/bent nature of the box (particularly the left-hand side. The metal there is likely healthy enough that I can try to straighten it.

The heater core was a little stubborn coming out, but I'm happy with the overall condition. Even the foam insulators on the side, while a little ripped up, are still pretty pliable and can likely be re-used:

All of the other foam essentially turned to dust on contact.

As far as I know, the member who was selling the restoration kits for these was pretty hit-or-miss, so I'll probably go buy some 1/4" neoprene foam and spray adhesive and make my own.

Since my seats will ultimately be black, I'll probably paint the metal/plastic to black as well, as opposed to the stock pewter color.

 

[Cdaniel]

I bought the resto kit for my heater from Metric TLC.
9/77-84 LHD 40 Series Heater Restoration Kit
A little spendy, but it was worth to get missing tiny bushings and other bits.