Stage 8

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Well now we are at the point of working on the motor and tranny for the build up. I have a 1969 Olds 350 with 96k original miles on it that needs going through. I also have a KZF 2004r tranny from the '86 442. 

First the engine:

I was really suprised to see how clean the inside of the motor was. I was expecting a lot of buildup and crud inside, but it is surprisingly clean. The heads were the same way as seen here

Here is a better shot

You can see that there really isnt much buildup at all. Found out that the motor is really a replacement block from the 69 cutlass, as noted by not having the vin stamped on the pad by the front left hand head. So this motor actually has less than 96k miles on it, just not sure how much. Ahhh, it is only a temp motor anyways. lol :)

  Yeah, it doesn't look like much now. This is the degreasing stage. I was doing this before the wife and kid went to Germany for a month. Wanted to have the motor and tranny ready to install so when they left for their big trip, I would have lots of stuff ready to go. 

6-10-2007 UPDATE.....

Well, Julie and Evie went to Germany, and now the motor is in. I have cleaned the tranny as well, (still need to change the fluid, filter and clean the pan), painted the Iceman tranny crossmember, set up the tranny lines and installed the starter and headers. The headers are hedman headers. I had a set on my old 87 Cutlass, and the fit was good, so I went with them again. I wanted to go with American Racing stainless headers, but right now, I couldnt justify the cost. When I build the real motor for the car, I will go with a mini starter and the AR headers. 

The motor has also had a new oil pump installed, double roller timing set, fuel pump, water pump, 4bbl intake installed, new gaskets throughout and a spraycan rebuild. The engine has been primed with oil using a drill, good oil throughout, and the HEI distributor installed with the engine set at TDC. 

 The Iceman crossmember is a pretty stout piece. Yeah, a little heavy, but looks fantastic, and will handle anything I throw at it in the future. 

That brings us up to date. Still lots to do. I posted on Oldspower.com a while ago that doing a frame off like this separates the men from the boys so to speak. Little did I realize how true that was. It is taking me longer than I thought to get it done. As this is a hobby, the more important things come first... family, job, working on the house projects. All that eats up so much time that there is little left for the car. I have been doing what I can when I can, but at times it has been so frustrating. Times when I should have been out working on it, I sat on the couch, moping and wishing it was done. I missed out on Norwalk this year, when I wanted to have the car done for it. Here is it the end of July, and I am still not done. 

Why and I talking about this? To let you, the reader know what to expect, to think before you step into the Abyss of a frame off on a car. Taking it apart is definitely the easy part. Putting it back together is the real challenge. My friends are impressed that I have come this far. Most dont ever get the body back on the frame, let alone get to the point that the motor is almost ready to start up. It has been a long, long uphill grind. And hopefully, I am nearing the crest of the hill, ready for the downward coast to the finish.... (yeah, like that will happen lol).

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