Janice's 1974 Persian Lime Firemist Eldo Convertible

[hornetball]

Doing some odds and ends.  One of the things that was missing on the car was the battery hold-down rod.  So I fabbed one from 3/8" diameter hardware store rod.  It works really well.  Simple and functional.





Shout out to MaR for providing drawings.

[savemy67]

Hello Hornetball,

Looks good.  Do you have a wire/rod bending jig or did you use a vise and some pipe?

Christopher Winter

[hornetball]

Do you have a wire/rod bending jig or did you use a vise and some pipe?

I used a MAPP gas torch to make the bends.  Once the steel glows red, it bends easily by hand and you can make fine adjustments to the angles.  I started by lighting a cigar with the torch, then I went to work on the bends.  All the bends were done before the cigar was finished.   

Oxy-acetylene would go even more quickly if you have one of those.

[MaR]

The hold down looks great!

[hornetball]

The hold down looks great!

Thanks, and thanks again for the drawings.

The battery tray could use some wire-brushing and paint though . . . something for tonight.

[MaR]

Thanks, and thanks again for the drawings.

The battery tray could use some wire-brushing and paint though . . . something for tonight.

I used some phosphoric acid on mine and then painted it with POR-15.

[hornetball]

Got the cam and valve train parts in and continued with engine re-assembly.

New timing gear . . . Cloyes roller:


Used some spare rod from the battery hold-down project to make a pre-oiler.  Used this to check that I was getting oil to each lifter bore.




Cam from Competition Cams (252H), lifters and pushrods from RockAuto, rockers and T-posts from CadCompany.  I temporarily threaded the two long carburetor bolts into the intake so I could use them as a "handle" to set the intake in place.  That worked well.


To re-install the front cover without removing the oil pan, I found I needed to bend in the corners of the front cover's oil pan seal retainer just a bit.  I added some black RTV to the ends of the seal and then installed the front cover by compressing the seal with light pressure from a pry bar on top of the cover.  I was able to leave the dowels in place to get everything lined up.


Before disassembly, I used a punch to mark distributor alignment.  I should be close when I fire it back up.


A little paint goes a long way.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

One little modification I would recommend for your oil pump priming tool is to place a round sleeve over the end to stop the tool from slipping sideways as you are spinning it.

Pictured are some of mine for various engines, and old distributor shafts make good primers.

Bruce.

[hornetball]

One little modification I would recommend for your oil pump priming tool is to place a round sleeve over the end to stop the tool from slipping sideways as you are spinning it.

Good advice.  I didn't have an issue, but I was cognizant of the potential problem so I kept the drill speed moderate.  Anyway, I'm primed now . . . but will look into this mod for future use.  I've got a big-block Chrysler up next.  I wonder if this tool will work there too?

[MaR]

Making great progress!

[hornetball]

Got the car together and running!  Did my camshaft break-in (2000RPM+ for 25 minutes).  Tomorrow I'll get it tuned correctly.  I'll bet the timing will be off now that I have a fresh timing chain.  I'm sure idle mixture is way off too.

Question for the gurus . . . I thought I had taken enough reference photos, but apparently not.  I've got a mystery wire loom/vacuum line stay that i bolted next to the #8 runner -- but it's lonely and useless over there.  I'm wondering where it is supposed to go?


The similar piece next to the #7 runner is gainfully employed.


Any ideas?  Here's a shot of the current engine state:

[hornetball]

Got it buttoned up and took her for a drive.  Wow, talk about smooth.  That 252H camshaft is really nice, hard to tell the car is running when stopped.  The torque is as smooth as a turbine.

But, I've sprung a pretty good oil leak!  I suspect it's coming from the oil pump.  I've got everything cleaned up and am going to add some dye to track it down.

I also managed to break my wipers (they don't park).

But, my cruise control is working!

Win some, lose some . . . .

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I wouldn't be surprised if the leak is coming from the timing cover.

Very hard to completely seal them up without removing the sump.

Bruce.

[hornetball]

I wouldn't be surprised if the leak is coming from the timing cover.

That was my first thought actually.  But once I got the car up in the air, the leakage looked much heavier on the passenger side . . . so I jumped on the oil pump idea as a coping mechanism because I'd really rather not tear down the front of the engine again.

Anyway, I'll know for certain tonight when I put some dye in.  I've got one of those compressed air spray wands.  They really come in handy for circumstances like these.

[Bentley]

Hornetball, the engine compartment looks nice. I like the way you routed the wire harnesses and spark pug wires.

[hornetball]

Thanks.  I tried to make it look like the manual.

Only real changes from stock:

1.  I tested the Thermal Vacuum Switch with my vacuum hand pump and found it was leaking.  Haven't been able to find a replacement so far, so I directly connected the distributor to the carburetor's distributor port.

2.  Blocked the port to the air cleaner thermac as I wanted to feed the engine the coolest air possible.

3.  Did an EGR delete.  Feeding exhaust directly into the engine . . . not on any of my cars, thank you very much.

[MaR]

My '74 does not have a stud in that position, just a bolt.

[hornetball]

My '74 does not have a stud in that position, just a bolt.

I definitely have it in the wrong place.  2 of my studs are correct.  The one by cylinder #2 to hold the bracket for the throttle return spring, idle solenoid and kickdown switch.  The one by cylinder #7 which secures the engine wiring harness snaking up from the firewall.  But, where does the third stud go?  That's my mystery.  I've been scouring photos on the internet with nothing definitive so far.  Usually, these things are obvious.

I assume your car has 3 studs too?

[hornetball]

I wouldn't be surprised if the leak is coming from the timing cover.

Winner!   

I found two leaks.  The first was on the driver's side where the front oil pan seal got a bit twisted as I used the non-standard procedure for the front cover.  This is the big leak.  I'm going to clean it up the best I can with brake cleaner and see if some black RTV can seal it.  If not, front cover will need to come off again.


The second is an old leak coming from an oil pan bolt on the passenger side.  More of a weep, really.  I'll retorque this bolt to see if I can make it better, but I'm really not that worried about it.

[35-709]

suggest this if you don't have it already ---