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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#7,222 ·
*The bitterly cold weather really had me down I think. I don't like to be cold. Period. *

I will send you up some Timmies coffee. Timmies coffee is all that keeps me alive in the winter. I used to rely heavily on white rum until that got to be a problem. Between having to use the snow blower for a couple of hours, fix a no heat call and babysit the restoration crew where one of my customers had a fire I didn't get much done. I was up at 6 am sanding too! Sanding in my pi's by hand. I had big plans.
 
#7,223 ·
A great mind will always survive bad training. ( Albert Einstien )
Man I had a few stupid instructors and one dumb boss. I over came the *goodness*.

I hate flash rust. I am cleaning my doors off for their SPI bath in the morning.
As my SPI seems to have come out its shipping induced hypothermia. The SPI still doesn't have a pulse though. But I think it lives. Looks like more sanding now. Why cannot I just leave the phosphoric acid on? LOL.

Wish me luck, not sure I can stay below the flash point if / when I spray. I am going to give it the smoke test halfway through and see where I am at.
craig ,You used acid and it still flashed rusted? I use ospho and spi epoxy all the time if you need some help.
 
#7,224 ·
Pulled the oil pan on my 327 in the Austin gasser today. Had a rod noise in it the other day, and narrowed it down to #8. When I dropped the pan I could see the rod cap and end of the rod were both black, so I knew it wasn't good. Spun bearing, and rod and crank are both toast. They've already been turned 10/10, and not sure what it might take to clean up the crank.
I've been looking at Eagle Specialties rotating assemblies. Although they don't make anything for a 327, they do make a 350 assembly, and since my engine is a large journal '69, the 350 assembly would be a drop in. It comes with everything from crank, to pistons, plus rods, ARP bolts, wrist pins, bearings, and rings. So if I order it in the same .040" bore I have it will get me to 357 c.i. in the end. At $600, for the balanced assembly, it's cheaper than having my crank turned, replacing rods, balancing, and ending up still with used reconditioned parts. Lots of different dome choices, so I can keep my 10:1 cr that I have, and reuse my top end.


since you have a large journal ,ever thought about a 383 ,a nice street engine package.
 
#7,227 ·
This guy was even adamant about what kind of wipes to use, wanted to make sure we had waterborne approved tack clothes, and was just anal about everything. My feelings were, "fair enough as long as he backs it up with good work." On his first day he even told me if I ever needed any advice to just ask, and on his last day I was giving him blending tips.
The difference is that you have figured out that painting is as much an art as a science, he hasn't
 
#7,228 ·
since you have a large journal ,ever thought about a 383 ,a nice street engine package.
I did contemplate taking the jump to a 383 stroker kit, but not sure the little Austin would not end up uncontrollable with that much HP. Also a big increase in cost vs. the 357 kit, and with me presently trying to feed two projects the funds that were planned to go towards the Falcon's body and paint work are already strained by this engine. If funds weren't limited I'd probably just buy a GM 383 stroker crate engine and be back running quickly.
 
#7,230 ·
I have not purchaced a kit in a couple years but a warehouse supplier PAW Warehouse had the best price I have found and they come with All machining alreadt done to just drop in,do not have to clearance for cam or don't have to run a small base circle cam,,,Just a thought.:thumbup:
I'll give PAW a look. I just spoke with a buddy who told me he has a virgin 350 4 bolt main bare block that he was going to build up for his '55 Chev wagon, but decided to go LQ9 instead. I'm going to go look at it, and decide if we can come together on a price that will be close to what I'd spend on machine work for my 327.
 
#7,231 ·
Im sure you already know ,if is is a 4 bolt look under timing cover and some have it on back of bloch under bell housing 010 or 020 embossed which means it is a high nickel block and much stronger most were used in trucks vans and police cars,and I always looh at the parting seam at the cam try to get it as close to center as possible ,some are off because of core shift.:confused:
 
#7,232 ·
Im sure you already know ,if is is a 4 bolt look under timing cover and some have it on back of bloch under bell housing 010 or 020 embossed which means it is a high nickel block and much stronger most were used in trucks vans and police cars,and I always looh at the parting seam at the cam try to get it as close to center as possible ,some are off because of core shift.:confused:
Yes, I always look at the bosses for soft plugs and cam bore to determine core shift, and how close to perfect a block is. Had an old racer/engine builder friend who showed me the trick back in the early 70's when he was doing machine work on my 283 back then. He said it also told him how far a SBC could be bored if there was or wasn't any shift.
Thanks for the reminder though!
 
#7,234 ·
Yea the old 283 had more meat than yhese modern blocks.we would sonic test them if they checked out I have gone .125 to make a 301 or 302 which ever you want to call it,lol
Yes, that's what my late friend Dick Ott told me. We didn't need to go over .010" to clean mine up, but it still had plenty of power when finished. I had it in a '55 Chevy 150 business coupe gasser, with chrome straight axle, and backed by an M22 Muncie, and Olds rearend. It surprised me the first time I launched it at 4,000 rpm and it pulled the front wheels. Never thought a little 283 could be so quick! Any higher launch rpm and it wouldn't hook up well.
 
#7,235 ·
craig ,You used acid and it still flashed rusted? I use ospho and spi epoxy all the time if you need some help.
I need a lot of help deadman. Pretty much every word you say is becoming the gospel truth. I used all my ospho on the cab. Rustmort on the doors. I know I cannot buy oshpo here.

Now some one go look at my pics in body forum and help me out before I screw up again. Please???
 
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