The War Wagon... decaring wars on the grocery store since 1966

[Shelty]

well its just the driver head thats newer then, cuz the driver head has two bosses in it, the pass side only has 1. I stll think its a 327, probably just hodgepodged together. unless its a 307, which would be from a similar era I never was able to find the block codes, it runs, and was much happier sounding with the new headers on it, loud as all heck, but it sounded much better. hell it could be a 283 for all I know with a 4bb intake swapped on. idk, I really dont think it matters for my intentions with this car, its going to be a decent cruiser.

regardless of what the franken-engine is, I plan to run it until it ventilates itself and then build a good 350 for it.

got her back together and got her fired back up, still need to do the wires, just ran out of motivation tonight.


driver side head, you can see the one boss up top, the home made bracket is bolted into the lower one.




I have some sheet metal somewhere, might run one more piece across from where my home made part mounts to the head straigt across to the rear of the alternator to help secure it a bit more, it vibrates a bit when its running.

here is where I mounted the bracket.



ruh roh.
she is puking atf where the cooler lines bolt into the case. I need to fix that, but....later.

[Shelty]

I also need to let the paint burn off the headers, holy cow, 5 mins of running and i was smoked out of the garage.

[Deaf Bob]

Passenger side probably has the same holes up by the firewall... Same place drivers side holes will be if you swapped them.. Look on the block in front of the pass. side head, there is a pad that gives the code as to exactly what you got.. Unless it was decked ...

[68scott385]

http://www.chevymania.com/

Great site to help in deciphering those pesky casting numbers.

[Shelty]

cool, I'll have to look tomorrow.

whatever she is, it is a a gen 1 engine and not an LT based motor.


to get her ready for the exhaust shop, gotta fix the leak and the Ebrake cable, need to get that tightened up again

and I need to call the exhaust shop.

[Shelty]

did some research today during some downtime at work, the "hecho en Mexico" heads were put on a Mexican built 350 that was built by a company for replacement engines in GM cars. they were not known to be powerhouses, and depending on what site I look at, some condemn them to hell, others say they are good engines.

seems they werent as good as the mexican built ford 302s

[68scott385]

I find it funny that the better Fords were Hecho en Mexico while the opposite seems to be the consensus for the Chevrolets. Maybe you have a replacement motor or worse yet you have mismatched heads on a yet-to-be-identified block. Don't let any of it get to you, the indiscretions of previous owners can be corrected in due time.

[Shelty]

I find it funny that the better Fords were Hecho en Mexico while the opposite seems to be the consensus for the Chevrolets. Maybe you have a replacement motor or worse yet you have mismatched heads on a yet-to-be-identified block. Don't let any of it get to you, the discretions of previous owners can be corrected in due time.

thanks man!


im not worried, as long as it runs I am happy, it could be made in france and I wouldnt care, as long as everything works and is happy I am satisfied.

I fired it up again today and ran it for 1 min to see how significant the leak from the trans is.

and its a steady leak when its running.

yeah I need to get on fixing that. luckily it only leaks when the car is running (when the system is pressurized) i need to tighten down the fittings on the trans cooler line a bit better and maybe use some thread sealer.

i'll mess with it in a couple days. i need a break from it for a few days.

[68scott385]

The metal lines are inverted flair and shouldn't need any thread sealer. The adapter fittings in the transmission are npt and could use a small amount of thread sealer but you don't want so much that you get it in the system. You'll get there.

[Shelty]

well I am out of ideas. I cant the the transmission to stop leaking where the cooler lines bolt on to the transmission. Im using metal cooler lines that I got from Ecklers late great chevy for the 700r4 conversion.

Ive tightened the fittings down to the point where they wont spin anymore. Ive tried thread sealer, that didnt work, I even committed the ultimate sin and coated the ends of the fittings with RTV to keep the leak inside, but even that didnt work, I let the rtv cure for a day and a half, and after 2-3 minutes of running it would leak again. I dont know why they wont stop leaking, unless its just cheap fittings.

any suggestions of what I should do? get new fittings and bend my own lines? AN fittings? I just want this darn car to stop leaking so I can move on to the next step with it.

[RustyRodder]

try contacting Eklers?

[Shelty]

yeah didnt think of that. been so exasperated by the issue i didnt think to call them

[Scott Liggett]

If the hard lines are leaking at the fittings, my first thought is that fittings don't have the same flare as the hard lines. Mismatch flares and they will never seal.

[Shelty]

that could be it too. I'll call ecklers tomorrow and find out the details. worst case I'll be ordering some more parts, hopefully wont be getting delayed any longer than I already have been. want to get the exhaust done before fall so I can have the floor pan patched then focus on the interior in the late fall before it starts getting cold.

[68scott385]

that could be it too. I'll call ecklers tomorrow and find out the details. worst case I'll be ordering some more parts, hopefully wont be getting delayed any longer than I already have been. want to get the exhaust done before fall so I can have the floor pan patched then focus on the interior in the late fall before it starts getting cold.

Don't get too worried about it. Yours is infinitely cooler than mine regardless of interior & floor conditions or its small block.