Superbird major repair/transplant -FAIL! Sept 22 update

[70Sbird]

Just a quick update for this week. I had to travel to Orlando last week and had some family things over the weekend so I only got in a few hours of work.
Here is the finished engine (minus the final carb install). I also waxed and detailed the engine compartment while I still had the chance. It sure was easy to move around in there with out the K frame and suspension in the way.
I also finished my "dolly" that will support the suspension/engine/trans. The two 4x6 blocks support the K frame and the two "pins" (1/2" lag screws with the heads ground off) locate in the holes on the bottom of the K. This is a pretty cheap solution, but should work out fine. I have a scissors jack to support and level the tail shaft of the trans for assembly.
The K frame got a soaking with Gunk and a trip to the car wash, then some final cleaning and a coat of paint, I touched up the steering box as well and bolted it together,
Some progress, so I should be able to get all of this together and under the car by the weekend.

[WINGIN IT]

Perty lookin' engine and k frame 

So when are you gonna work on that rusty Master Cylinder    ... just kiddding, looks great 

[70Sbird]

Perty lookin' engine and k frame 

So when are you gonna work on that rusty Master Cylinder    ... just kiddding, looks great 

LOL,
that has been bugging me too.....
My "short list" before assembly is paint the M/C, clean and adjust the shifter rods and replace the P/S return hose!
its getting close!

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

Can't wait to see it running!

[70Sbird]

Well it was another couple days  of cussing and fussing this past weekend and the car is STILL not back together. I had arranged for some help to get the drive train back into the car Saturday morning and that would have left me some time over the long weekend to get things hooked back up and make some good progress.
Thursday night I decided to clean up and lube the shifter, no worries there, and set the motor into the K frame. I was very happy to see the engine come off of the stand and bolted back onto the K frame. When I set it down though, the motor mounts did not sit all the way down on the mounting pads on the K, but I was tired and called it a night.
Friday Morning I got back at it and then spent FIVE hours "adjusting" the motor mounts including some grinding (the fussing part) but it finally sat right and everything bolted up nicely. I attached the flywheel and called it a day since I was taking my daughter to a concert in Chicago that night and didn't want us to be late.
Saturday morning after getting home at 2:00 AM (three hour drive home) I got up early to install the clutch and transmission before my help arrived. I test fit all the parts and bolted the clutch up to the flywheel and snugged up all the bolts. I was torquing them down when the fifth bolt pulled the threads out of the hole! (That was the cussing part). So I called off the body drop and the flywheel is now out getting the threads repaired.
I swear it's like this engine does not want to go back together and get back into the car!
So anyway, the reunion of Drivetrain and Superbird is now supposedly going to happen this next weekend unless some other unforeseen issue arises

[70Sbird]

Perty lookin' engine and k frame 

So when are you gonna work on that rusty Master Cylinder    ... just kiddding, looks great 

By the way I forgot to mention, (Wingin It) Thursday I also painted the master cylinder and booster!

[randr]

Motor looks nice! Clean! I like clean! Hurry up so we can hear it run!

[hemi68charger]

Very nice...........   

[WINGIN IT]

Perty lookin' engine and k frame 

So when are you gonna work on that rusty Master Cylinder    ... just kiddding, looks great 

By the way I forgot to mention, (Wingin It) Thursday I also painted the master cylinder and booster!

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

It looks real good where it is at.  Mine sat like that for over a year... DON'T BE LIKE ME

[70Sbird]

Finally some good news to report! I picked up the repaired flywheel yesterday on my way home from work and put the flywheel, clutch, starter and trans assembly on last night. 
So tonight I enlisted my helper(s) again and got the nose up in the air and the engine dolly rolled under!
I was just happy to see the car and engine in the same garage stall again!
Here are pics of the engine, the car positioned for lift-off (Or lift -on in this case)
so far the car went up and the engine rolled under with minimal effort

[70Sbird]

So here my friend Shad and I are doing our best to imitate the Lunch Road assembly line!
It took us less than an hour to get the body dropped onto the engine/suspension with the K frame and trans crossmember bolted in and the torsion bars back in their sockets!
It sure is nice to see the engine back where it's supposed to be!

[moparstuart]

 

[WINGIN IT]

Gorgeous     
Now to do something with that eye sore of a wiper motor  ( nice master cylinder by the way ) 

Seriously, what could possbily be left to do?? ( other than drive the snot out of it) .

[moparstuart]

Gorgeous     
Now to do something with that eye sore of a wiper motor  ( nice master cylinder by the way ) 

Seriously, what could possbily be left to do?? ( other than drive the snot out of it) .

fix the exhaust leak   

[Richard Cranium]

Looks great, but with the angle the car is at, you're darned lucky that the hood didn't slide off the roof.  

[pettybird]

...or go chasing the space shuttle 

[hemi68charger]

Looks great, but with the angle the car is at, you're darned lucky that the hood didn't slide off the roof.  

Wow... Scott.. I agree with RC.......... Whew !!!!

Pretty nice nonetheless...................   

[tan top]

Looks great, but with the angle the car is at, you're darned lucky that the hood didn't slide off the roof.  

Wow... Scott.. I agree with RC.......... Whew !!!!

Pretty nice nonetheless...................   

looks awesome !! nice work   

[70Sbird]

Looks great, but with the angle the car is at, you're darned lucky that the hood didn't slide off the roof.  

The angle wasn't as bad as it looks. We did have one person keping an eye on the hood, but with the styrofoam blocks it's sitting on and the curve of the roof it was actually quite stable!
I did have a 1/4' drive ratchet and socket fall off the top of the wing though and hit the floor

[70Sbird]

Hopefully this will be my last "Build" posting!

just tied up a few loose ends, I got everything done "under" the car earlier this week, only to discover a few ugly cracks in my clutch fork  where the clutch rod bushing goes I am finally running out of things to go wrong though I think!
I ordered a new fork and it should be here by early next week at the latest. It won't stop me from starting the car and breaking in the cam though.
Here is the final set of pics, adding the oils, and here is one of the "H" pipe with the re-clocked and welded passenger side flange, and the two O2 bungs for the wide band oxygen sensors that go with my new digital A/F meter.
These next pictures made me smile, it was good to see the car back on all four tires after this project.
The last pic is where it sits now. I'm just short 1 heater hose clamp, then fill the cooling system, prime the oil system, put some gas in the carb and fire it up!
I am planning to start it up Saturday Morning - Finally!

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

I wish I had your knowledge and experience!  I might have my car running after 3 years.

[70Sbird]

I wish I had your knowledge and experience!  I might have my car running after 3 years.

Just keep plugging away at it, it'll be driveable before you know it!

[moparstuart]

any plan yet  ?     whats the story 

[70Sbird]

Stuart, why does it seem that you are always a step ahead of me? I was planning to do an update with pics here since I have now moved forward

Anyway, for those of you that don't know, I got the engine back into the car, and started it up, only to have it run for a bout 25 minutes before a catastrophic valve train failure occurred! I had my buddy on hand and pre-lubed the engine for about 15 minutes with a drill and then fired it off. It started with the first turn of the key and I kept it above 2,000 rpm for about 25 minutes before it started making funny noises and I shut it down. When I tried starting it back up, it didn't turn over very well and when it did run, was popping back through the carb. Well, take a look at the pictures, four out of the five cam bearings were "wiped" including the number 4 bearing that feeds the valvetrain. It starved for oil too and was destroyed, taking the valvetrain with it. We now have a chicken and egg question: did the cam bearings fail and shut oil off to the valvetrain, or did the valvetrain run dry and "push" harder on the cam and waste the bearings? Either way the engine came back out and was disassembled again. As of Friday I picked up the block had it re-honed, cleaned with new cam bearings, the heads gone through again (bent valve from kissing a piston when the rocker seized)
And all new bearings, gaskets oil pump and such....
Yesterday I dropped off all of the parts to a local Engine builder to go through everything AGAIN before the engine gets re-assembled. The good news is (I find the good somewhere) is that when assembled the engine will be broken in again on a dyno and I will get some performance numbers from it.
Sorry for the lack of an update, this failure occurred just a week before the Indy meet and I just haven't been able to go out and bring myself to get back into the project. Hopefully the next few weeks will be better

Pics 1&2 are of the rockers and pushrods "cooked". #3 is what I found when I pulled the intake, and the last one is the remnants of a cam bearing "extruded" out from its home