| Once again, I
had to disassemble
something that I had already installed back on the car. This time
it was the water pump. Because the SB Chevy pump pulley was rubbing
against
the pump housing, I used a puller to bring the flange farther away from
the housing - only I pulled it too far. Now there wasn't enough shaft
protrusion
to center the pulley & fan on the shaft, so I had to disassemble
the
pump to press back and relocate the flange. While at it, I also
replaced
the old freeze plug on the head, which I had forgotten to replace
before
installing the pump. I also straightened the made-in-taiwan chrome
pulley
(aaarghh), by bolting it onto the loose shaft/flange, spinning it on a
lathe, and giving it a few concentrated hammer blows. It still waddles
but not too much.
Otherwise I've been busy installing the alternator, inner fenderwells, wiring, fabricating a new battery tray, etc. |
 I
finally got my self-made header from the plating shop, and was more
than
pleased with the quality of the job, given that the header was NOT
buffed
or polished prior to plating! It was simply plated as is. They applied
a HEAVY layer of copper, then nickel and chrome. No, they didn't polish
the copper either.
Everyone says you have to polish the surface to a mirror finish before plating, but have you ever taken a look on some office furniture and wondered if they polished those table legs before chrome plating? You can bet they didn't. |
 |
| Notice the
engine turned
stainless panels on the inner fenders? The fenders were so roughly
finished
at the factory, add some corrosion and warping, that I had to figure
out
something to cover them up. For engine turning, I first tried the old
dyed-in-the-wool
method of using a hardwood dowel with some valve grinding compound.
That
didn't give satisfactory results - the pattern was neither uniform nor
shiny (though I later discovered that it makes a difference which kind
of compound you use). I ended up using a buffing compound instead.
Compounds
for stainless or rough cutting (emery compound) work best. I also tried
fixing a piece of 600 grit wet sandpaper on the dowel with contact
cement,
and it gave a perfect pattern, but only a handful circles before
loading
up. Watering the panel, to prevent loading up, made the paper come
loose
and break.
I had to fabricate an indentation on the passenger side fender to clear the alternator. It was a bit tricky as you cannot just break the wall to the fresh air inlet and leave it like that. On the other hand, I couldn't move the alternator closer to engine, either - the alternator fan would chew up the lower radiator hose! To replace the belt, I have to remove the lower hose. Notice the modified rigging screw belt tension adjuster. Later I found that this setup caused a coolant leak where I have the upper pivot point of that screw - the bolt goes straight through the thermostat housing - using sealer on the threads makes no difference as the whole bolt is exposed to coolant! The factory used copper washer under the bolt head, but it won't work for me. Also notice the stainless cover over the solid-core plug wires, and the Flamethower chrome coil behind the distributor. There's not much clearance between the battery and the oil filter. |
| I'm
planning to fire
up the engine anytime soon to celebrate Buicks's centennial !
|