My 1969 Corvette Project

The Saga Continues

May 5, 2001

Well my brothers came over, and we dropped the engine into the chassis.

I wasn't happy about the way the new motor mounts fit. I had to loosen the mount-to-block bolts to get everything together. Then I torqued down the block bolts to pull the chassis mounting points into position.

I mounted the flywheel and pressure plate assembly to the engine, being careful to align the clutch plate.

The bottom part of the clutch housing was missing when I bought the car, so here is the new one I bought. There are tabs near the crankshaft opening which lock onto the back of the oil pan. Because I have an oversized pan, which interfered with the bolts, installation was a little difficult.

This boot for the clutch arm opening (far left) was also missing. Note the battery cable clamp mounted to the clutch housing. This bolt cannot be torqued down until the body is dropped on, since the battery cable is intertwined with the body.

The driveshaft was cleaned, painted, and fitted with new heavy duty fittingless u-joints. I think it is easier to get away without grease fittings utilizing the new synthetic greases, which were not available 30 years ago.

May 29, 2001

I took some pictures before I rebuilt the shifter, so I could get it back together. It was in pretty good shape. I am not impressed with the design, but it gets the job done. I never felt comfortable shifting quickly with this setup.

The clutch linkage and shifter linkages went together well. The rear end of the 3rd and 4th gear linkage did not engage as fully as I would like. That is the way it was before the disassembly.

I wanted to check the header fit for possible return purposes. when I did the left side it reminded me that the steering box would have to be done soon. These headers will be right next to it. The clutch linkage had to come out to put the header in.

While I waited for some more parts, I began the steering box rebuild. The inside of the unit was dry, and what grease was left was stiff. Unfortunately the rebuild kit is on backorder, so I will have to wait to reassemble.

Since the steering box was on hold, I replaced the fuel line strainer in the tank pick-up. The old one was torn.

While I was cleaning out the head bolt threads on the right side of the engine, the unthinkable happened, I broke the tap. Fortunately there was enough to hold on to, so I could gently back it out.

June, 2001

Notice I started dating by month. I got so far behind on the website maintenance that I decided this is easier.

I got some new parts to install. A new billet electronic distributor, roller rocker arms, and a water pump. I also got a new ignition control system and coil.

		The valve train install went easily. Aside from getting oil on my new headers, there were no major glitches. There was one discrepancy in the prep instructions. The lifters were to be cleaned and soaked in synthetic oil, but the roller rocker arm instructions said to break them in with the engine using regular motor oil. I did as they said. Also when looking into an oil pump priming tool, I found out that Autozone lends specialty automotive tools for free. If I had known, I could have saved myself at least $50 so far.

I spent the last two days working on the intake manifold. It was no surprise to find that the steel cooling fittings had fused to the aluminum manifold. I had to grind and cut them out. Delays, delays, everywhere I turn.