Restoration & Modification Projects > Modification Projects
My Black Bitza
craigh:
What model Falcon were the thermo fans from ?
Do they clear the sway bar ok.
Scott:
I now realise why people go to the trouble of doing a 'body off' restoration. That body only gets in the way :ral:
I was so glad to get it back sitting on it's own wheels.
I just realised I haven't put my sway bar back on, although I can't imagine the fans hitting. The original shroud runs back horizontal from the radiator. The fans don't hang any lower, so they should be fine.
The fans are from an EL I believe. The newer ones (AU, BA etc) flow a little more air, but may have a slightly different shroud size. The fans are no different for the 6 cyl or V8 falcons. Cost was $75 from the wreckers.
Scott:
It has been a while since updates. Things have gone good. Things have gone bad.
I spent a fair amount of time removing bits and cutting down my thermo fans to fit. I also made up a whole lot of little aluminum brackets to mount the fans to the radiator.
Coupled with a heat of stainless nuts and bolts and a little loctite, everything was bolted up nice and securely.
I went to mount the radiator just the other night, only to discover that the fans hit on the upper control arms :tear: I have figured out that if I remove the fans, and unbolt the radiator frame, I should be able to bolt everything back up in place and trim the fan shrouds a little to clear the arms. Still, it was annoying.
I also decided that I didn't like the large truck pulley on the front of my 400 small block.
Since I was replacing that, I figured the balancer should be replaced too, etc, etc...
I bought a power bond balancer from VPW in victoria and some new alloy pulleys and pulley dress-up bits from Jegs.
Time to ship Balancer from Vic: 4 days.
Time to ship parts from the US: 4 days.
Yes, I ordered on thursday and recieved the parts the next week. Impressive.
Jegs also like to throw in a free hat :)
Once I had the Balancer off, I decided that I may as well check the timing chain and clean up the cover. This meant the sump had to come off too. Pretty soon, the engine looked like this:
More to come.
Reklaw:
Hi Scott, can I offer some advice on the engine. I speak from experience, I've learnt the hard way.
Make sure you put a bolt in the hole marked A below. In some blocks, and I'm not sure if applies to all, this hole is drilled through to the fuel pump cavity, If you don't plug it, you might have an oil leak thats hard to find.
If you're going to install a double row timing chain, you may have to grind down the part of the block shown at B 'cause the chain might rub on it.
Cheers Bob
PS, sorry I distorted the picture of your engine, it looks more like a big block now.
[img=750x563]http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o477/Reklaw327/ReplytoScott.jpg[/img]
Scott:
I don't think there was anything in bolt hole A previously. I'll have another look for signs of fluid.
On pulling the timing cover (which meant also pulling the sump) I discovered the timing chain was very stretched and loose, also the plastic teeth on the cam gear were cracked in many places and badly worn.
So I sourced a Rollmaster double row timing chain at a good price.
Much better than the old one. I also got a felpro 1 piece sump gasket to help eliminate future leaks.
I had troubles getting the crank gear on. I bunged it in the oven for a while on the max temp to expand it a little, but still have to give it many taps with the brass hammer to get it into place.
I also spent some time cleaning up the timing cover and sump to make them semi-presentable.
One thing that impressed me was the plastic plugs that came with the one piece gasket. The were 4 plugs about 2 inches long that screwed into the engine block. The have a little jag on them, so you slide the gasket over them and they hold it in place. Then slide the sump over as well and it holds everything in place while you start putting the bolts in.
This made it so easy to install the sump and gasket by myself without anything sliding out of allignment.
Next the fun task of installing the powerbond balancer. Much cranking to pull it into place. Then the water pump, alloy pulleys and the snout covers, as well as a new pulley and cover for the alternator.
All up, the engine was looking much better than before.
The radiator will be tomorrows job. Then I have to get the lights sorted out for yellow indicators etc. Always something...
At least it keeps me from the couch in front of the telly.
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