sb69coupe

Yep, you read it right. My "winter project" is still in full swing in mid-August :eek: :smash: Needless to say, it turned into a much more involved "while-I'm-at-it" affair than I had first intended. These pics are of the engine compartment now that I've started reassembling things. The heater box housing is still off, which is why you can see the nice shiny heater core in the passenger side firewall. Also, the distributor shielding box isn't installed yet because I will have to set the timing once I fire up the motor.

The motor was stripped almost bare, new timing set, front and rear seals, valve covers reskinned, new shielding, new hoses, new dipstick and tube, new vacuum hose kit, new radiator support, etc.

I really want to get this all wrapped up my the end of the month to enjoy the fall cruise-ins here in NC as the weather cools off.

bloodvette80

:thumbs: :cool:


[Modified by bloodvette80, 8:05 PM 8/6/2003]

stpman

Very :cool:

Steve :steering:

l2vette

Looks Good!!
:cheers:

Zankou77

Awesome man. :thumbs: You're making my anxious to get working on my own car. But it's also making me a bit scared since my 'vette is my only transportation and I wasn't hoping to put it out of commission for eight months. What exactly took so long?

Freepop

:cool: :thumbs:
I'm not worthy

Crash Dummy

Those "While you are at it's" are really expensive and time consuming. You will find out what sb69coupe went through when you get to a point and find something else that really, really, really doesn't have to be done, but a complete shame not to do it right. Gotta order parts... wait for them to come in... and then it happens another dozen times in the process and the snow is gone & the geese are again prepping to head south for the winter(one year later).

Nice looking engine sb69coupe! :cheers:

Corz

that looks GREAT.

how hard was it to expose the heater core?

sb69coupe

Bgrice, thanks for the compliments As for "what took so long", it was exactly the "while-you're-at-it" disease rearing its ugly head.

The scope starting out was simple enough: New core support, complete front suspension rebuild, and a new clutch. Easy, right? Then I started hitting "while I'm at it" and it was history from there. May as well yank the manifolds off since the exhaust is removed so I can sandblast and paint them. Then since the tranny is out, may as well go through it, ah what they hell, rebuild it too. Shifter sure had some slop in it, may as well rebuild it too. Bellhousing had a crack, better find a replacement, clean it up, sandblast it, etc. Well, the whole dang firewall and floorpans are exposed, may as well remove all the splash shields, clean and repaint everything, then install new underbody insulation. Well, can't leave the heater core in there because it;'s got a slight leak down the firewall. That would ruin all the new insulation. Yank the heater core and replace it. Break a hose clip in the process so order a new one.

Then comes the front suspension. Remove all the bushings, fight forever to get them out and finally pay to have the shells pressed out of the a-arms. Sandblast and repaint everything. Clean the frame and repaint while everything is out. Well, that steering coupler looks questionable, replace it. Buy a replacement rubber repair kit, install it, and realize that it is inferior to replacing the entire lower coupling. Yank out the replacement and install a new coupler. Install new tie rod ends, ball joints, shocks, springs, bushings, etc.....

On to the engine, remove everything to clean and repaint. Install new front and rear seals, may as well replace the worn timing set "while I'm in there". Restore fan clutch, fan, new water pump "while it's off", new hoses and belts, new vacuum hoses, restore actuators and install new horns "while I can get to them". Buy a new front crossmember that the core support sits on, since the old one is rusty.

Sent out the valve covers to be reskinned while they were off the car. Send the shifter handle and some other parts out for rechroming too.

Shall I continue???? :eek:

sb69coupe

Corz, the heater core is a breeze on a non-A/C car. There are about 6 nuts that mount the outer heater box to the firewall. Remove the wiring from the blower motor and remove these nuts. Then pull the box off the firewall and you're right there at the core. Pull the end tank out of the heater box and slip the tubes out of the slots and it should come right out.

Installation is the reverse of removal :D

Eddie 70

Shannon, as usual, your work is impressive. Looks very good. If you guys have not looked at his webpage, do so. There has been some very impressive work done by Shannon in his garage over the years.

Now that the hard part is done get out and drive that rascal.

sb69coupe

Eddie, thanks for the compliments. Unfortunately there is still a little more to do before I can drive the car. I've got to get the tie rod ends torqued down, install the sway bar, get an alignment, and something else....

Oh yeah, I've got to figure out why the slip yoke won't fully seat in the freshly rebuilt tranny. I'll probably drop the tranny again to see what's up. Oh well, such is life. What's a few more weeks added to a seemingly never ending project? :D

Shannon

Double Aught

:withstupid:

ROD NOCK

Good Work man! :iagree:
When you refer to the valve covers as being 'reskinned', exactly what type of finish did you apply?

sb69coupe

Reskinning is the only way to restore the "as-cast" finish of '69 finned aluminum valve covers. Starting in '70 the covers were polished. Reskinning is done by some magical mystical proprietary process that only a few shops can perform. I _think_ that it involves spraying a very thin layer of catalyzed finish with actual aluminum particles in it. The guy I had do my covers was Jerry MacNeish at http://www.z28camaro.com and he charged me $95 for the pair. The finish looks incredible.

He also did some repairs and reskinning on an L36 big block intake for our fellow C3 member hudman, and the work was top notch.

Shannon

litevette

Lucky you! My "While I'm at it", has had the vette off the road for the last three years. I'm getting sooo close that I can taste it! Imagine looking at her for three years and not being able to touch her (actually, not being able to pimp her around town). After all kinds of labor (of love), not being able to stomp on it for so long. I wish I had the time and money to have mine up to par in as "short" a time as you!

WPEDirect

Where can you get a set of valve covers like that? Mine are bent to heck and leaking like a sieve...
:smash:

SmokedTires

Man what great looking results :smash: . All your time & effort are well worth the results :yesnod:

427V8

I know the feeling Man!

pzcg7l

:thumbs: