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« Last post by McLovin on November 26, 2021, 08:51:07 AM »
Black Friday shoppers, I'll take this for my stocking.
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« Last post by McLovin on November 25, 2021, 08:24:25 AM »
Some of us may need this to get out of the house after today HAHAHA
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 21, 2021, 02:06:47 PM »
I got one carb built today. I got to thinking. I haven't built a QuadraJet in more than twenty years!! I was really more worried about having lost so much of my fine sense of touch and small/fine motor skills. My neuropathy has advanced a little these last few years, but I as able to do it all with no real problem.
Not much to take pictures of. I was a little disappointed in my cleaning solution, but these old carbs are over 45 years old. Short of sending them out to be refinished, I reckon they look pretty good. As long as they work well, I'll be happy.
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 20, 2021, 07:17:09 PM »
I spent the morning swapping parts on the primary Q-jet. I replaced the original baseplate with one that has fewer vacuum ports and has a throttle lever with the stud for the transmission TV cable. This makes it easier to regulate the shift points and passing gear on the 700. I also changed out the upper secondary butterfly shaft. I need to have a one hole linkage for the secondary hold-off. The one that came on this carb has a slot instead and I can’t use that. The final change was the choke linkage and choke pull-off. It’s now identical to the setup on the front carburetor. I reassembled the donor carb. It’ll be a good one to rebuild after I get the two I’m using done and I can probably sell it for enough to pay for everything else I’ve done on the two I’m using.
I swapped the dual point distributor back in and painted the hold down and added a new washer and lock washer to complete the job. I installed the thermostat housing and had to remove the oil spout and turn it so that the PCV valve doesn’t interfere with the T stat housing.
The second carb kit came today, along with the fixture for drilling the crankshaft. I don’t want to run the balancer without a bolt to hold it on, so I gotta drill and tap the crankshaft snout. The parts house screwed up the order for my PCV valve, so I have to wait ‘til tomorrow for the right one!!
The final operation of the day was to cut and thread the pedal linkage for the brakes. I carefully ground the rod to the right size and ran the left hand die all the way to where the bend starts on the rod. It’s still about 3/4” too long, so I’ll shorten the end where the heim joint attaches and maybe run a little more thread on that end. I got tired and I had a guy driving in from Illinois to buy a tunnel ram that I had on Craigslist, so I’ll finish up the brake linkage in the morning and tear down, clean, and build one of the carbs.
By the way!! These kits from Mountain Man Fuel Systems are the most complete I have ever bought or even seen!! I’ll add their info to the vendors list in the next little bit.
No pics today. I’ll catch ya’s up, maybe tomorrow.
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« Last post by Metalbender on November 20, 2021, 04:04:40 PM »
Workin on the REO truck bed!
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 19, 2021, 09:16:23 PM »
Took my dual point distributor to be set up on Tuesday. I had replaced the bushings and polished the shaft, installed new points, condenser, rotor, and cap. I don't have the equipment to set one of these up, so I farmed out the job to an expert. Got it back today, painted, the tag and the ID plate polished, and thoroughly gone over.
1 picked up another QuadraJet carb for cheap, (the way I like to get stuff) that has all the little pieces I need to make my two good carbs as identical as I can make 'em. Ordered new major overhaul kits for both and some small parts that I needed to complete the rebuilds. One of the kits has arrived and all the small parts are here. I'm hoping the other kit will be here tomorrow. I'll start rebuilding them tomorrow.
Got the left handed die today in the mail too. I can finish the brake pedal linkage tomorrow too!!
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« Last post by McLovin on November 19, 2021, 10:55:58 AM »
Opening day of deer season here in Illinois.
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 14, 2021, 04:38:30 PM »
Did a little running around in search of small parts this morning. Nobody in town has 3/8” studs on a Sunday?? I wasn’t driving to Nashville for one stud, so I picked up the other stuff I wanted and came back to the shop.
I decided last night to go ahead and swap the 2X4 intake onto the 348, partly because I have the single 4 intake listed for sale and mostly because I just want to see what it looks like. I got that done all except for the four longer bolts located between the pairs of intake runners. The ones on the new manifold need to be a little longer and require a narrower washer. I got the four washers from Jeff’s stash, but I’ll need to get bolts. I couldn’t come up with enough bolts the right length that matched. I’ll pick ‘em up tomorrow. While I was looking for those bolts, I found four of the 3/8” studs in a package I’d put back. A little longer than I needed, but I know how to cut ‘em down and so now I have a stud for my distributor hold down! Now I have to figure out what thermostat housing I need.
I also worked out the linkage for the brake pedal to booster. Gotta pick up a 3/8” fine thread left hand die and a couple of appropriate nuts. The rest of it is already made!! Just cut and thread the rod and screw it all together. I haven’t photographed the linkage, but when it’s done I will post some pics.
GOTTA put pics of the manifold installation up! Just too cool!!
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 13, 2021, 04:25:27 PM »
Got started early this morning, cleaning and prepping the intake for the T. I bought this thing used and it was pretty nasty. As I said yesterday, I pulled all the old studs and fasteners off of it and removed the coolant fittings and the old oil filler spout. I put the manifold in a big pan and scraped off the last of the old gasket material. I took a 50/50 mix of AlumaBrite and water and filled a spray bottle and proceeded to spritz and scrub. Took over an hour, but it turned out pretty good. I doused it with baking soda and rinsed it with water then blew it dry with compressed air. It still looked a little gnarley, so I sprayed it down with the acid solution again, scrubbed it some more, and this time I just rinsed it off really well and blew it dry.
I installed the spacers for the Q-Jets and went to tighten them down. DAMN!! This is the first time I have EVER encountered a standard thread fastener that required a metric wrench to tighten or loosen it!! These allen bolts were 5/16” USS thread, BUT I HAD TO USE A 6mm ALLEN WRENCH TO TIGHTEN ‘EM!!! I put new studs in the holes for the back of the carburetors. They go all the way down into the original manifold threads. I like that they pass through the adapter/spacers. It will prevent them from warping. I couldn’t get bolts the exact length I needed for the front of the carbs, so I bought ‘em a little long and cut them to fit, again, passing through the spacers and threading directly into the manifold.
I mentioned that vent in the rear of the manifold that allows pressure to exit the crankcase. These engines were built before PCV systems were created. It’s nasty and stinks up the place and often leaves a film of dirty oil under the car and it doesn’t help oil or ring life either! I’m going to a closed PCV system on the engine, so I found a freeze, (Welch) plug that fits where the vent tube comes out of the manifold. I stippled the hole and installed the plug with some JB WELD and put a good smear on the back side of the plug from underneath. I replaced the old oil fill spout with a new one that has provision for a screw in PCV valve. I put the spout in the freezer for a couple of hours. When I got ready to install it, I took my heat gun and warmed up the manifold where the spout goes in and when it was good and hot, we snatched the spout out of the freezer and stuck it in the hole. Only took a couple of whacks with a hammer and a block of wood and it was seated perfectly.
I mocked everything up to make sure it all fits like it should. I’m still collecting small parts for the carbs to make them as close to identical as I can. When I get the last of it gathered up, I’ll build both carbs and fabricate fuel lines, vacuum for the brake booster and PCV, and the throttle linkage.
Pics to follow shortly!
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« Last post by Blackwater on November 11, 2021, 06:24:43 PM »
Pretty good day today. It’s Veterans’ Day, so the banks and post offices were closed. I sold the original distributor for my 348 and it took almost two weeks for the payment to get here. It arrived yesterday evening and I was gonna take it to the bank and mail the package with the distributor to the buyer. No such luck! I went and bought bolts for the rear brakes and to put the carburetors on the intake.
I finally got the entire rear brake assemblies put together for the first time! I’ll need to go through it all and paint and Loctite everything, torque and adjust it all one more time. All the clearances are good and even the stick-on wheel weights will clear the calipers with ease.
I disassembled all the stuff on the intake manifold and removed the old oil spout, water fittings, and the old mounting studs so I can do a real cleaning on it and get it set up for the carbs. I’m changing the engine over to a full vacuum PCV system, so I bought an oil spout with a PCV fitting and a flange for a twist style filler cap that seals when it’s installed. It’ll use a screw-in PCV valve and I’ll install a freeze plug where the old vent tube exited at the back of the manifold. I’ll have to modify the dipstick tube to seal as well. That’ll clean up how the engine runs and help keep the car clean of major oil deposits.
I picked up a second QuadraJet that’s a real close match to the one I already had and I’m changing the choke setup on the first one to better match with the second one. I figure that twin Q-Jets will be unique and with vacuum secondaries, they’ll only open up enough to give the engine what it can use at WOT. Holleys won’t work on this manifold and I can’t find real Carter AFBs. I’ve never had an Edelbrock that ran right and I for DAMN sure don’t want to try to make two of ‘em work!
Got pics of the brake installation. I’ll take some of the carb setup as it goes back together.
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