almost ready to run

by pila Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:33 pm

My project '75 Elco is about ready to light the fires. Gotta check all the lines & fittings, and put coolant in it yet, and check for fuel leaks when I turn on the electric boost pump.
It's gonna be loud, since there's no mufflers on it yet, just pipes running past the cross member. Engine is a 507 cubic inch Caddy, +.030" bore, ported & polished heads etc, and a 284 degree cam etc. I have a temporary tach & oil pressure gauge mounted on the top of the firewall to monitor what's going on during cam break-in.

almost ready to run P1010990

by 77mali Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:41 pm

Pila you never cease to surprise me. Cheers!
Beer

by jerry46765 Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:20 am

Oh Boy, that looks pretty cool.
Get ready for the questions whenever the hood is up...

Let's see the rest of the car...

by Laguna Budman Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:32 am

Wow looks great. Thumbs up

Love the matching alternator and attention to detail. Keep up the good work and again more pics of the rest of the car.

by pila Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:08 pm

Thanks for the kind words folks. The "rest of the car" is in primer yet ! This is/was a body-off restoration.
Drive line is a TH400 that I rebuilt, with a Transgo shift kit, and a Currie 9" Furd rear end.
I'm still working on the hood, which has some surface rust to remove & deal with, but it's coming along OK. I'll get a few more pics up later.
I started this project in June of '09, with a body that came from Arizona, with minimal rust.
Here's what I started with:

almost ready to run P1010489

BILL

by pila Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:41 pm

Here's work in progress, the first year ! I had the body sand blasted inside & out.

almost ready to run P1010576

by Leike Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:15 pm

Respect !

by 77mali Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:37 pm

Can I have the rotisserie when you're done? Smile

by pila Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:44 pm

Here's the pipe on the right side, and like I mentioned, no mufflers yet ! Very Happy

Stainless pipes back to the cross member.
almost ready to run P1010904

Sorry 77mali, the rotisserie is under my son's '56 Pontiac ! Very Happy

by pila Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:36 pm

Here's the bottom primed. I used an engine cleaning gun ( a Binks) to blow paint into all the channels & weep holes in the bottom structure.

almost ready to run P1010583

And here's the bottom, painted black...

almost ready to run P1010585

by 77mali Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:47 pm

What did you use for a primer there Bill?

by pila Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:58 pm

I used Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer, and Rustoleum semi-gloss black. I wanted a paint that was easy get & touch up with.
I primed the inside of the rear quarter panels also, but used white paint in there, which makes it easy to see all over inside of there. When all the painting is finished on the outside, I plan on hosing the insides with LPS-3 corrosion inhibitor, and in the doors also, etc.
This is going to be a daily driver if it works out right. I have one winter-stored car & don't want two!! Very Happy

by pila Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:20 am

I got the engine to fire up last evening. Seem to have a fuel problem from the tank. Poured a little gas in the carb , & it did run for a few seconds, so at least I know it starts. Have to chase down the problem in the fuel system yet. Kinda strange, since everything is new !

by JB2wheeler Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:42 am

pila wrote:I got the engine to fire up last evening. Seem to have a fuel problem from the tank. Poured a little gas in the carb , & it did run for a few seconds, so at least I know it starts. Have to chase down the problem in the fuel system yet. Kinda strange, since everything is new !

My 78 Elky does the same thing. Once I pour enough gas in the carb to suck the gas from the tank to the carb she runs fine. I have not tried to fix it, she just sits in the garage. I also have a hole in my power steering pump hose. I may try to get 'er going next spring if I dont sell it first. JB

by pila Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:54 pm

I fooled with it a bit today, and remembered that the electric boost pump relay is wired through the oil pressure switch for safety reasons. May use a jumper to run that pump & get the system primed. I got too cold today & quit early. Un-heated building.... Neutral

by 77mali Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:07 pm

Just askin' but did you check that the fuel "flow" is correct? I have a small secondary filter above the fuel pump on the feeder line to my carb and I had the same thing happen, so I noticed the little arrow was pointing to the pump & not the carb Embarassed

Hopefully it's something this simple...good luck!

by pila Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:43 am

Yeah, it's something simple, the new electric pump is a dud & wont run ! Very Happy

I even hot wired it, to be sure the wiring was OK. But even then, the engine pump should pull through the electric one. I'm going to by-pass the electric pump for now ( & remove it for warranty) and run with the engine pump for cam break-in, if I can get fuel up there that is....

by pila Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:36 pm

The folks at Summit Racing told me to send the pump back & they will exchange it ! Great customer service, hey ? !! 5 months since I bought it with a 90 day warranty !
They also gave great service when a piece was missing from a TH400 transmission rebuild kit, They just sent another kit & said to take what I needed & then they had UPS pick the kit up at my house!! Very Happy

How many vendors do you know with that kind of service ?? Not many I think....

I by-passed the pump plumbing today, but didn't have time to get the engine pump primed from the tank. Maybe tomorrow....

by jerry46765 Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:18 pm

pila wrote:I used Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer, and Rustoleum semi-gloss black. I wanted a paint that was easy get & touch up with.
I primed the inside of the rear quarter panels also, but used white paint in there, which makes it easy to see all over inside of there. When all the painting is finished on the outside, I plan on hosing the insides with LPS-3 corrosion inhibitor, and in the doors also, etc.
This is going to be a daily driver if it works out right. I have one winter-stored car & don't want two!!

Sorry to ask a paint question in the middle of engine issues, but how did you apply the Rustoleum? I just sand blasted the whole underneath (back half) of my Camino in preparation for an axle change and was going to do a primer, some flat/semi black paint, and undercoat in critcal areas. Anyway, Rustoeulm is very thick and I was thinking about brushing/rolling it on the underside, since thinned spray will not leave a very thick coat, even with multiple sprays...
Any suggestions?

Thanks -

Jerry

by jerry46765 Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:21 pm

Oh BTW, yeah Summit rocks. I bought a fuelie manifold from them and it was missing one fuel rail and mounting hardware. They send another kit minus the manifold, and I sent back what wasn't needed.

I would bet in the volume of business they deal with, small issues are not worth the bad press to blow off.

by pila Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:00 am

Jerry....I used a brush as much as possible to paint the bottom, because like you said, it makes a thicker coat. I used my cleaning gun to blast the paint in the channels & openings in the body structure etc

In regard to Summit, I'm been buying there for years, and I still have their catalog from 1984 !
Back in those days, they were a smaller company, and the salesman knew my voice when I called ! All newer folks there now, but still good service.

by pila Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:08 pm

This is what the engine looks like with the funky Cadillac top radiator hose on it. It has to wrap around the AC compressor to get to the thermostat housing/water outlet. A weird hose for sure.....looks like the hood may even touch the hose Question

we'll see.....

almost ready to run P1010993

by pila Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:49 pm

Nothing new here, since I picked up the flu & been unable to do much work lately. Couldn't get fuel up to the carb, and I dropped the tank, checked the sender/pickup assembly, blew all the lines out ( all new parts). Looks like I need a new fuel pump on the engine also...

by Leike Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:33 am

I wish you a speedy recovery ....

by pila Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:45 am

I now have the electric pump back in, and today ( Sunday) my son helped me mount the gas tank back up in there. It has about 7 gallons of gas in it, and I couldn't get it back in there by myself.
Tomorrow the new fuel pump for the engine will be here, so maybe I'll finally get this thing running & the cam broke in this week.
Here is the opening to access the electric pump, which is under the panel in the front of the bed.
almost ready to run P1011000

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