Starter questions and concerns- 1971 350 - Page 3

Cptmoney · 08-05-2012, 09:46:16 AM

OK then - we'll start this afternoon with bending the new pieces of brake line from the master cyl to the rear diff. From there we've got to bend/replace the rear hard lines and install the new rear hose. Not sure we'll get all that done in an afternoon or not, esp when the the boys are still learning how to bend in general. We'll get there, though.

The new booster won't be here until about Tuesday or so, but with it and the new master cylinder, I believe we'll be ready to talk about taking her for a spin. Boy, are we ready. This is the day we've been waiting on!

Honestly, I'm praying that the water pump/radiator are solid - but aren't the water pumps on sbc engines notorious for giving up a seal after years of sitting? We've got our fingers crossed that we don't find any other bad news while we're filling the radiator - cracked block, popped freeze plugs, etc. etc. etc.

We'll keep you posted on what we find...wish us luck!

Damon · 08-05-2012, 10:36:45 AM

Yeah, the seals in old pumps are suspect but even if it's leaking it'll still pump water. That they always do. The old thermostat is the most likely thing to tip you up. It could be rusted shut. Might want to replace it as part of the cooling system tune-up.

If you had a cracked block you would find a bunch of water coming out the drain plug before the oil started coming out. Oil and water don't mix and water is heavier than oil. And if there was any water down there under the oil it would never evaporate (because it's got that nice thick oil sitting on top of it see!). I think you'll be OK in that respect.

HyPer · 08-05-2012, 02:43:24 PM

Yep, look at the front of the pump casting for a "weep" hole, it's a tattle-tale feature that will only spew water if the internal seal has ruptured.

Cptmoney · 08-05-2012, 05:33:28 PM

Sounds good - thanks for the heads up on that, HyPer -

Hey, gents - when you have a second, cruise on over to our brake thread and tell me what you think. We're up against a brake line fitting question and we'd love your input. It's across the forum here:

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245093

Cptmoney · 08-05-2012, 06:00:24 PM

Check this out -

Looks to be the original column shift linkage - is that correct?

Can we yank this stuff to clean up the engine bay/underneath? Is that breaking all sorts of unwritten codes? We probably can't get rid of it ALL, but the majority of it is just hanging there, hooked to nothing.

Perhaps we could sell it to fund all this brake work!

Damon · 08-06-2012, 09:22:50 AM

Yes, that would be the original column shift linkage. If the car was originally equipped with a factory console shifter they often STILL put that linkage there just to move the PRND2L indicator on the dash. My 74 GTO (aka Pontiac Apollo, aka Chevy Nova) had such a setup.

Whatcha gonna shift with?

Cptmoney · 08-06-2012, 11:49:35 AM

Our car has been converted (at some point in her former glory) to a manual transmission car with a floor shift setup. Not sure if the car was originally an automatic or not - I guess we could do a bit more research on the VIN # and see what we turn up.

Our dash looks like this: