Honey do list done and still some progress to report.

Well, I spent half the day doing some honey do projects that I started last weekend. I figured I had better get them done so I can get the ladder out of the dining room before we have guests come over for Memorial Day and Isaac's Birthday. Dixie found some lights that my parents had given us and decided she liked them so I put them up. Well that turned into wanting new lights for the hallway. We couldn't find some that matched. We found the style we wanted but not the right color. I told Dixie I could paint them to match and so we bought the lights and some paint and that's what I did last weekend. Well, we like the new lights so much we decided to paint the chandelier over the dining room table and the ceiling fan to match. The chandelier has a few runs in it but you can't really notice them and the ceiling fan turned out really good. That one was a pain because I had to take it completely apart so I didn't paint the fan motor. Anyways on to the fun stuff.

I had the whole day to myself so after I finished the lights I went out into the garage. I was able to get the R/H exhaust manifold on completely. That was an ordeal because of everything hooked to it. I had to go and look at some pictures I took before I pulled the motor out for a blueprint to get it all back together. Luckily I take a lot of pictures. My buddy says I would be 10 time faster if I didn't take so many pictures. Well, it helped me out this time!

 Here is the R/H side exhaust manifold. As you can see it has the A/C on it and some EGR valve hooked to it also. It wasn't nearly as easy as the other side.

I had a small worry in the back of my mind the whole time because of the dipstick. With everything going on on the right side I was concerned I would have problems with it being in the way. It worked out perfectly and even looks like it was made to be there. One less thing to worry about.

 It is even easy to pull out so you can check your oil. I will say it once more, (CHECK YOUR OIL REGULARLY!!!) yes I am talking to you Larry!

 My other worry in the back of my head was if the belts and pulleys were going to line up with a different harmonic balancer on it. I decided to temporarily install most of the accessories so I could make sure they lined up before I got it into the car. They lined up great.

 Here is the other side. As you can see I have not got the spark plug wires run yet. That's because I decided to change my mind again. I was going to run them over the top of the engine but I don't like how they lined up especially on the right side. So I have again decided to go back to the original way Chevy did it and hope I never have to change a plug wire. It is definitely the best way to run them for the exhaust but it is not very user friendly.

 Here you can see the timing tab I added and the line I put on the balancer. I think it will work great. There are only 2 major things left to do before I install the engine. I need to get the spark plug wires routed and I still need to clean the engine bay. I am really tempted to get a trailer and haul it down to the local car wash so the mess stays there and not in my garage. I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. Hopefully next weekend this car will come back to life and maybe even burn a little rubber. I will have to start looking for a 2nd set of hands to guide the motor in. For some reason I don't think Dixie will want to help with that.

I can hear the roar of the engine and smell the exhaust.

Well, in my head anyways. I am really close to putting the engine back in the vette. I got a lot done on Saturday. I just need to install the R/H exhaust manifold and a few more brackets and it will be ready to go back in. Here is the picture update of the engine.

 Here I installed the EGR valve, Valve Covers, and some brackets.

 I installed the lower pulleys, and started running all the vacuum lines.

 I went with Bosch Platinum plugs. I have run them in the past on some small blocks I had and they worked pretty good. They are not my first choice now, but being on a budget they are the best bang for the buck. I finally found the correct motor mounts and installed them here.

 Now we are getting somewhere. I have most of the front brackets installed, The L/H exhaust manifold, the carburetor, distributor cap, the water pump and the upper pulleys are temporarily installed.

 I have installed the fuel pump and have started running the spark plug wires. We decided to run the wires over the top and make it much simpler to replace if needed.

 Here is the left side plug wires. I am still getting the routing done right at this point.

Here are the wires installed with separators. I think it will work out great. I was concerned about the pulleys lining up because I had to change harmonic balancers but they line up perfectly. It is so close to being ready to install. I think it has turned out great. The only things I have left to do is clean the engine compartment in the vette and install the radiator. After that I will be ready to put the engine in and hopefully it will fire on the first try. If it runs as good as it looks my job will be done. It most likely won't be next weekend because it's Memorial Day weekend and my boys birthday but I am shooting for the next one at the latest. Hopefully in 2 weeks Dixie and I will have our garage back!

Clean, Paint, Install

Well, this whole weekend was just that. Clean parts, paint parts, install parts. I have made some very good progress though. The timing cover, oil pan, intake manifold, distributor, and harmonic balancer are installed. I have almost everything ready to be put on the engine. I am still waiting to get some motor mounts. I ordered some but they ended up being the wrong ones so on Monday I will try to find some. The motor is coming together slowly but it is starting to resemble a motor again. Here are some pictures of the progress.

 The engine on the left is what I started with.

 Here I am after laying down some paint after it was prepped.

 Super high heat paint for the exhaust manifold and a coat of primer on the intake manifold.

Here is the intake manifold after paint. This was the biggest and worst part to clean. It was really coked up with carbon and took lots of time in the ultrasonic tank to clean.

 Dixie even got into helping me get it ready. She is scrapping off the old gaskets on the heads and block. ( I think she just wants this to be done so she can park in the garage again.)

 Check out how clean this engine is. No sludge whatsoever, and everything looks fairly new.

 I skipped a bunch of progress but right here the oil pan, timing cover, intake, distributor and harmonic balancer have been installed.

 I had a little issue with the harmonic balancers. To time this engine I need the timing marks to be on the side of the engine. The original corvette engine had it this way. The smaller harmonic balancer is off the vette. The bigger one on the right is off the truck motor and it was originally timed from right on top of the block. That won't work on the vette because the water pump is too close to the timing cover, so I had to get an aftermarket timing tab.

 Here you can see the aftermarket timing tab. It's the chrome piece and bolts up to the timing cover. I set the engine at Top Dead Center and used this tab. I then made my own mark on the harmonic balancer to show 0 degrees. It should work great.

 I don't usually make it a practice to use the vehicle I am working on as a work bench but I have this time because my garage is really in shambles. I need to do some serious cleaning to it.

I hit a spot where I need to get some parts so I decided to call it a day and do a little needed cleaning. I can at least see part of my garage floor again. Soon I will be able to get rid of the old block and maybe park my bug back in the garage. Well, I didn't make my goal of getting the engine completely ready to install this weekend but I am really close. I think I can get it done throughout this week and be ready by next weekend.

Let the Cruise Nights begin!

Well, since we don't all fit in the bug anymore we loaded up the van and went to the monthly Arctic Circle Cruise Night. We literally had to drag Steven because he wanted to stay home and play with his  friends. He usually does that but ends up having fun when he gets there. I had everyone pick out their favorite cars and here is what they came up with.

 This little purple Chevy II was Ellie's favorite. I think she liked it for the color but it is a cool car.

 Isaac liked every car there and has 117 pictures to prove it but he really liked the flames on this GTO. The flames did look awesome but I don't know about having them on a GTO.

 The Humbug Steven chose this Ford Pinto as his favorite. I think he did it out of spite. You know we are a Chevy/Volkswagen family. If your going to choose a Ford as your favorite car at least choose a Ford that's cool. C'Mon really, a Pinto? It did have a huge engine which gives it a tiny bit of cool factor.

Here is Dixie's favorite. She really likes camaro's and this 67 Camaro was perfect in every way.

 I had to choose the old school merc for my favorite. I loved the chop top and it sat perfect.

 Here is a funny car. The plates matches the car perfectly.

 You don't see very many dodge station wagons with fake wood paneling on the side anymore. It is so lame that it's cool.

The family liked the Cookie Monster panel van.

This is the car I am going to build for my retirement. I keep warning Dixie that we will have a 1932 Ford when we retire. It will have Chevy power of course!

I finished the vette in the garage and here it is. Pretty nice huh. Just kidding, my boys couldn't believe that the vette in our garage could look like this one with a little work, and a whole lotta money.

There was also a couple bugs there but for some reason they won't download onto here. Oh well, they weren't all that great looking anyway. I have to get busy in the garage if I am going to get the motor together for the vette. I will take pictures along the way.

Tired of cleaning so I thought I would do some cleaning.

I am really tired of cleaning parts on the vette but I am making some progress. Here is some of the parts that are cleaned and ready for paint and some that are painted.

I am really hoping to have the motor ready to be installed by the end of this weekend. If I can keep my motivation up and stick to it I should be able to do it. I am having some serious Spring Fever and the weather is finally getting nice so I decided to get the the boys to help me and we washed the bug. Well, actually I really tried to have them help me but when it comes to washing cars I am a total control freak and want it done my way. Anyways here are some pictures of the boys helping me.

 When we were about done the girls came out to see how we did.

 They were both really impressed. (Trust me, they were.)

 Here is the final product. It looks much better. It had some winter grime on it that I really wanted to get off. I was having some serious bug withdrawal's. I haven't driven it much lately because I am constantly transporting parts for the vette from home to work and back. I think I am done doing that so I should be free to drive the bug from now on. Just in time for the great weather. Actually it's going to get hot quick so It's about time to install the deck lid extenders so my motor stays cool.

Anyways if you see me out in the garage this weekend goofing off, tell me to get back to work so I can get this vette out of my garage.