Engine is out

Well it took me the better part of the day. But I got grill and fenders off and the engine out. There is layers of oil and dust an inch thick in some places. I like this part of the job though. Taking a nasty pile of gunk and cleaning it down to raw metal, painting it and making it look new again. I need to do quite a bit of cleaning before I can even mock up my new motor mounts. I was thinking I could get this done in two weeks. But now that I have all this apart there are a few more things I would like to get done before putting it back together. I want to patch the holes in the fire wall and a half dozen other little things. And when it is all back together I'm hoping to do a new wiring harness.

So it begins

Front bumper is off. Now I am daring fluids while I wrestle with the grill and fenders.

Almost ready

This motor is pretty much ready to go in. It looks really nice on the stand. I painted the oil pan tonight so tomorrow I can put it on. In the second and third pictures you can see the pushrod covers very well on the side of the engine. This is where these engines get their Stovebolt nickname. I'm not too familiar with wood burning stoves of the thirties and forties but back then people though that these side covers looks very similar to the wood burning stoves. I was really surprised today as I tool the cap off of my distributor. The 1970 Nova that this engine came out of came with a regular old points system. But at some time someone has installed a Plantronix electric controller. I'll admit I haven't read a lot about the Plantronix conversion because I I always though if I was going to use a high energy distributor then I would just swap to the newer style instead of modifying the original distributor. But now since I got one for free basically I'll go ahead and run it. So no more adjusting the points. Only the timing. Tomorrow after I put the oil pan on this bad boy I can start pulling the grill and radiator off the pickup. Theres a whole list of things to do before the motor comes out though. I'd like to have the old motor out this weekend. It's a three day weekend so I think I can get it done.

Oil pan

One of the most satisfying parts of restoring and old truck it when you finally get to paint stuff. It takes a lot f work to get it ready to be painted but when it comes time to pull the trigger thing start looking good very quickly. This is the before and after pictures of my oil pan. This engine and oil pan might be 18 years newer than my truck but it's still 41 years old. And in the last 41 years I can see that it has been blue, orange, and black(painted not just oil). I decided to paint it orange. I like to stay on top of my oil leaks and orange makes them easier to see.

Pant chosen.

I've been thru a lot of paint colors but settled on this one. It's a factory color from 53. My truck will look very similar to this one because I have the same wheels and hubcaps. Biggest difference will be my big "Smash Hit Bumper" and my big side mirrors. I'm still on the fence about the side mirrors. I like the original style like in this picture.

The shop.

Lots more room in here when there is not a truck in the way.

Getting Dirty

OK now it's time. I picked up this motor a few months ago. It's a 250 cubic inch chevy 6cyl out of a 1970 Nova. I tore it all down in the stand and I don't see anything scary. I am not pulling the head I am just going to clean this thing up and drop it in. I really need a truck right now and as it sits I don't trust it to make it to Home depot and back. So, new balancer, timing set, new water pump, new thermostat, new seals, new clutch and flywheel, and the starter and carb off of my 235 and she will be ready to drop in. I need to go buy a new harmonic balancer puller before I can say I am done with the tear down. That will be tomorrow. This engine uses motor mounts on the side so I ordered some custom-ish mounts for the truck. They will need some modification on the passenger side but I will not really know how much till I get my old tired 235 out of the way. Feels good to be getting dirty in the garage again. The last two months I've been landscaping my yard and haven't spent any time in the garage. I've got enough work laid out in front of me that I am sure to get my fill. I am planning on taking three or four days off of work in June or July to get this motor in and the truck rewired. After that and a new set of shoes she will be on the road. I will be able to finish the rest if the mechanical and most of the body while it's roadworthy. I am going to try and post every day I work so I can have some notes for when I am finished. Seems a long way off when I consider the body work too. It will be interesting to look back