No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

[haganml]

Almost have the scratch together for the engine, what with flying to Orlando and vacations with my wife having to be considered next month. Then I'll be getting on the fast track with my Coupe.

I sure that it will be an enjoyable blend of old and new technology to be sporting around in. Long trips will a challenge without A/C, I may have to shoehorn that accessory into my budget along with power brakes. As for the A/C, I will be happy cruising around with the windows down but my wife may have some issues with the wind in her hair.

Paint is on the list, the enamel repaint over the original lacquer is really bad and like a friend of mine George said "Finish the job! Don't drive it around in primer.". Once I get it rolling and registered I will take it apart for paint.

Mark.

 

[haganml]

Finding repairs under the paint.

Well, well, well. as I am scraping the cracked and gator skin paint off my Coupe I am finding various repairs to the nose and rear of the body. The nose was covered with woven cloth to repair the places where the gel coat had peeled down to the mat fibers. I have some quarter sized areas with the mat fibers showing under the BAU repaint, no large unprofessional cobbled together panel replacements. The nose was skinned with some 10oz cloth. It looks like a boat repair to me. I have about 2/3rds of the repaint off from the belt line up. No money but a lot of effort. The original paint is checking and peeling and was skinned over with plastic filler (Bondo) to cover the blemishes and pits. It is continuing to check and peel under the filler. I can see that painting a FRP body vehicle is a world apart from a steel or aluminum body vehicle.

The inside lip of the front wheel openings is broken off on both front wheel openings. Missing 2 inches on the passenger side and maybe 4 inches on the drivers side. I can see and feel a crack on the outside of the wheel opening. Drivers front turn signal housing and grill opening is cracked and flaking. I will get to re-learn my fiberglass repair skills.

I was going to add some photos but the files are too large (over 2mB) with the 8 Megapixel camera on the new phone. I will capture some with my old Kodak and up load them later.

Have ordered the 350/290 engine from F.H. Dailey and will pick it up on this coming Saturday.

Mark.

 

[vigman]

Don't cha just LOVE other peoples work ?

I find the following to be true on a average car...
If the body is great the engine , drive train is crap..
If the suspension is good the interior is crap...
If ALL the parts are in the box, they aren't...
If the workbench is a clutter... so is the car..

If there are more than 5 crimp connectors under the hood and they are crimped using plumbing pliers... rebuild or replace ALL harness connections EVERYWHERE.

It's just the way it's worked out for me

 

[haganml]

photos


Trying re-sized photos.


Mark.

 

[haganml]

Photos of the hidden damage to my Coupe


Not a large amount of damage for this old of a car just forming a base line.

Mark.

 

[haganml]

I find the following to be true on a average car...
If ALL the parts are in the box, they aren't...
If the workbench is a clutter... so is the car..

If there are more than 5 crimp connectors under the hood and they are crimped using plumbing pliers... rebuild or replace ALL harness connections EVERYWHERE.

It's just the way it's worked out for me

Absolutely, my box of parts isn't overflowing. The engines I have are not usable. The body is very good but not perfect. That is why we call them "Projects". Life is good, I have a maroon monster to work on and I will be burning gas and tire rubber eventually! Just have to work on the shiny a bit. No Rat Rods! I want to be like the old duffer my dad and I saw motoring around in a '57 Tbird... "I wish I had that car and he had a feather up his ass, then we'd both be tickled!" my dad said to me, a 12 year old motor head. That earned him a whack on the arm from my mom!

Mark.

Oh Yeah, new engine in five days!

 

[vigman]

Oh yeah

Go Mark GO......

Once you hear the engine fire for the first time, you'll need surgery to remove that grin...
What ever you do , do not stop... keeping inertia on these projects is difficult...

I see SO MANY " resto projects " where the owner started.. and life got in the way...
So you get a rolling frame and 20 boxes of parts....

Mike

 

[haganml]

Happy Motoring


Now I need to find all the parts to turn this into a Corvette! Well, just one question. Black or Orange? I get to play dress up! It is not a 1965 engine, it is not even made in the USA. Leave it black or paint it Red/Orange so it looks sorta like it belongs? We really got the engine for a song ($2,300.00 OTD). Aaron is working in the Trades and got the vendor price. Remember I do not have the original engine, just that 1964 mill with the numbers ground off.

Mark.

 

[Tom Bryant]

It doesn't look too bad. I've seen a lot worse. My '59 comes to mind. I hope you don't find any more surprises once the rest of the paint is stripped.
That new engine will dress up in Corvette trim very nicely.

Tom

 

[vigman]

1 vote for orange

Once you get it on the picker... 2 rattle cans should do you .Then as it's drying you can write up your punch list of things to do... Is the engine bay cleaned up??

 

[haganml]

I'm not expecting too many surprises with the body structure Tom. With the engine, radiator, fuel tank and transmission out of the car I have been able to look at most of the FRP including the tool storage area behind the seats. All grey GM FRP as far as I can see. That said there is always "stuff" masked by the paint. I have some spots where the gel coat is missing and I have raw glass mat fibers exposed. Just years of neglect accumulating on the old Coupe. Like the title of this thread, my plans will change as realities emerge. I have read of many "issues" cropping up in every build on this and other forums on line.

At this point the paint will take a back seat to the engine/transmission assembly. That is where my skill set is. Will be getting the flywheel to a machine shop to have it resurfaced, ordered a aluminum valve cover (one was cracked when the 283 tipped over and hit the 327 at one time), digging through my boxes for engine parts. Finding out how much of "All the parts are in these boxes" is true. I have looked through them and have a lot of parts, as I put this giant puzzle together I'm sure to find some missing pieces. I have 4 oil pans, one with oil baffles inside, one without baffles, one on the 283 and the one on the new 350/290 H04. Two radiators, the Harrison and an all aluminum Be Cool setup with dual electric cooling fans. Two transmissions, a M21 Muncie and a Tremec 5 speed. 3 engines, a greasy old 283, a 327 with the engine numbers ground off and my new 350/290 H04. I should be able to make a Corvette!

Life is good, old Corvettes are good! Let's hope the money holds out.

Mark.

 

[haganml]

Once you get it on the picker... 2 rattle cans should do you .Then as it's drying you can write up your punch list of things to do... Is the engine bay cleaned up??

Yes, the engine bay is cleaned and rattle canned black. The moves the Coupe has been through has resulted in some of the brake fluid coming out of the master cylinder and bubbling some of the paint. As soon as the weekend is over I will get on the job. Until Terri gets her first ride in the car it is just a money pit. Spending time with her on her nonworking days is the best thing to do right now.

Anyone have the paint code for 1965 Chevrolet engine orange?

Mark.

 

[vigman]

Info

My father is an NCRS judge, and we have done extensive resorations on many corvettes.
I can tell you for a fact the absolute closest match to the factory color is in an aerosol.
The absolute best match to Chevrolet Orange is made by Plasti-kote.
You can go on plasti-kote.com and punch in your zip code..and it will bring up the closest location to whos selling it.
Heres a link to the product website:
http://www.plastikote.com/plastikote/index.jsp


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[TD="class: alt1, bgcolor: #F5F5F5"]Duplicolor makes several different varieties of each color code. I just painted my pan 2 weeks ago with DE1620 Chev Orange Ceramic Engine Enamel rated at 500 degrees, and it is very glossy. Looks great, just bright.

AEROSOL ENGINE ENAMEL-Hirsch Automotive Products


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[TD="class: post-content, width: 83%, bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]I think this is why there has been no definite "best" brand/shade/etc. of Chevy Orange paint... because there wasn't alot of consistency even on the originals. I have seen everything from a very "orangey" orange, to almost red on original blocks, and really the only thing consistent was that it was never very glossy, although that too can have variation and change over time... I've noticed that when you first fire a newly painted engine the paint seems to "gloss up" alot until the paint fully heat-cures, then it dulls back. I'd imagine the factory paint did the same thing, and likely dulled even farther with time. I would think theres a little room for "personal preference" in this area, without being considered "incorrect".

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[TD="class: alt1, bgcolor: #DEDFDF"]I agree with 70isfine, expoy prime then paint with single stage urethane. Did my 350 in the 72PU around 5 years ago used PPG dp40 then painted with ppg single stage. Had the paint shop color match a smaple of orange engine paint and turn it into DCC which is a PPG single stage. You must make sure that the block is spotless, i first used lacquer thinner then wiped it clean with PPG dx330 which is a surface cleaner.

The color formula I got matched is as follows for

chevy​

​

orange:

Base / Parts / Cumulative
dmc900 / 31.0 / 31.0
dmc932 / 6.0 / 37.0
dmc903 / 6.6 / 43.6
dmc905 / 68.0 / 111.6
dmc909 1384.0 1495.6

ENGINE ENAMEL-POR-15 Inc.

And Nail polish Revlon #72 LOL

SO you have all the best picks I could google
BUT your painting on a BLACK engine... and that may change the final look,,,,
How " smooth " is the finish on the block?

Mike
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[haganml]

Finish is cast iron, looks to me like the other two engines I have except it's black. Well, after you scrape the grime off the 283 it is orange.

Mark.

 

[haganml]

Getting the ring gear and resurfacing. Off to the machine shop.

 

[haganml]

Hiccup

The parts for the 327 include a breather that bolts onto the drivers side of the block behind the intake manifold with an oil separator in the cam follower valley. The black engine does not have that system. The old road draft tube was routed into the air cleaner housing. This modern engine vents through the valve rocker cover. The PCV plugs into a hole in the valve rocker cover with an oil separator then routes to the air cleaner housing. I am planning to use the aluminum 7 fin Corvette valve cover.

Question, has anyone come up with a work-around to facilitate using this engine and valve cover combination (350 SBC with 327 SBC crankcase ventilation). I will be using the late engine, I may have to use late valve covers. THAT will spoil my plans of dressing the 350 as a 327.

I will then have two places to add oil to the engine, the late valve cover and the intake manifold stand pipe.

 

[vigman]

The vent

Funny I'm going the reverse... So you could pop a hole in the back of the intake around where the coil mounting is, and have that go up to the air cleaner...... but I hate to suggest that on a 461 and you would have to be clever if you wanter to keep the " potatoe masher " ( vapor seperator ).

 

[vigman]

look at this

do I need vented valve covers? - Corvette Forum

 

[haganml]

The subfixer solution from the other Corvette website looks very do-able. wmf62 has a point about a PVC pulling air rather than letting the pressure pumping in the crankcase vent the engine. The vacuum tap (3rd picture directly above the distributor mounting hole, orange paint) at the rear of the 461 can be used for a PVC. The emissions requirement for the 65 is a road draft tube (seen in the 1st picture) venting into the air cleaner. I think I will just motor on and not jump into the middle of a endless debate! Thanks Mike for the links!

Mark.

 

[haganml]

A ride through turn 9

A quick change of direction! The crate engine will be set up with the included valve covers and a aftermarket manifold with a Quadrajet and PCV crankcase ventilation system. I will use the Mallory pointless distributor, the chrome parts and factory exhaust for a non original engine to get the Coupe rolling for DMV certification. All original parts will go into boxes to wait for a correct 327 3782870 block with a KXX4 casting date (TBD). I have receipts for the GM crate engine so that will be legal for the resurrection of the vehicle. The black "Hecho en Mexico" 350/290 will work to motor around with until I find a block to make into a more correct engine for the Coupe. I will get it into paint and roll with that until the stars and planets align for a better attempt at a more "Corvette" application.

I was looking at modifying the 350 block but found the drilling for oil pressure tap on the back web was in the way. Way too much trouble. I am trying to stay away from that "creative" engineering school. The body is too nice and I have so much of the original vehicle that the mission is not to tweak it beyond making it whole again.

Anyway I can use the black engine in the next project. A 1970 or 71 Nova will work just fine!

Mark.