Topic: a bit of work on my 77 TA

[joe d]

if i am not mistaken it is a cool air plate you can delete egr if you can find a blank cover that will be thick enough for the clamp to grab

[iceman]

The water pump gasket you were asking about is for a '68 and OLDER Pontiac motor. No worries. The broken intake bolt? I like to grind them flush to the surface. Center punch them and drill them out with a tap-sized drill, starting with a 1/8" bit, then going to a tap sized bit and run a tap by hand in with a little oil on it and go by feel. This will take a little bit and cleaning the junk out a few times will be expected. I recommend Eastwoods brush on stainless paint for your exhaust manifolds. Best coating I have found and lasts pretty long. The only other choice is to have them ceramic coated and if your going to go that far(down the road) I'd recommend a set from Ram Air Restorations. A set of ceramic gray coated RA manifolds and be done with it. Better performance with a factory look- like I said, down the road, if this sounds good. Nice save on the valley pan and you hardly see it under the manifold. No worries at the back end of the motor either. You hardly ever will be able to see it once installed in the car with the air cleaner and hood installed. Looks great and keep up the great work! Mike

[Grand73Am]

I'm still a little lost on where the two bigger rubber rings go even after reading what you said a couple times. 

Also, just to clarify, those two big rubber rings aren't replacement rubbers for the metal slider tubes that go in the timing chain cover/water pump area are they?  If you look in the picture I already have new SS ones installed in the cover.  They came with the rubbers too.

I only just saw your question about the water sleeve rubbers. Your thought was correct that they are just new rubber rings to go inside the water sleeves, if you were going to re-use your old sleeves. You have new sleeves with new rubber already in them, so those 2 extra rubber rings would not be used.

[Grand73Am]

As for deleting the EGR, here's a good thread with several ways of making a block-off: http://transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=50299.0

[Schroeder]

As for deleting the EGR, here's a good thread with several ways of making a block-off: http://transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=50299.0

The water pump gasket you were asking about is for a '68 and OLDER Pontiac motor. No worries. The broken intake bolt? I like to grind them flush to the surface. Center punch them and drill them out with a tap-sized drill, starting with a 1/8" bit, then going to a tap sized bit and run a tap by hand in with a little oil on it and go by feel. This will take a little bit and cleaning the junk out a few times will be expected. I recommend Eastwoods brush on stainless paint for your exhaust manifolds. Best coating I have found and lasts pretty long. The only other choice is to have them ceramic coated and if your going to go that far(down the road) I'd recommend a set from Ram Air Restorations. A set of ceramic gray coated RA manifolds and be done with it. Better performance with a factory look- like I said, down the road, if this sounds good. Nice save on the valley pan and you hardly see it under the manifold. No worries at the back end of the motor either. You hardly ever will be able to see it once installed in the car with the air cleaner and hood installed. Looks great and keep up the great work! Mike

thanks to the both of you for the help!  Well I picked up a lot of stuff from Ames today at the Pontiac nationals in Norwalk. I got a clutch, door panels (coming in the mail), gaskets, upper oil dipstick tube, door weather strips, etc. Pretty good time watching the drag races.  I also got a little painting done yesterday too. 







A question I have is this: is the flywheel cover suppose to be blue like the engine?  What color is it supposed to be?  Thanks.

[iceman]

Semi-gloss black on the inspection cover. Here's a little tip for you (or anyone for that matter)with the thermostat housing gasket. ever have one that leaked no matter what you did to seal it? Here's one I did a few years back and is THE cat's meow...Hit your local parts store and ask for the O-ringed gasket for a small block Chevy. You will have to elongate the holes towards the thermostat a bit(til it lines up with your housing, and no more). Snug down and BINGO. OK, it's a $13 or $15 gasket(gasp), yet no more leaky... It'll pay for itself in saving the time it takes to fix the leak of a failed, thin gasket. Just my 2 cents on this...


Love that color on the motor! Mike

[Schroeder]

Semi-gloss black on the inspection cover. Here's a little tip for you (or anyone for that matter)with the thermostat housing gasket. ever have one that leaked no matter what you did to seal it? Here's one I did a few years back and is THE cat's meow...Hit your local parts store and ask for the O-ringed gasket for a small block Chevy. You will have to elongate the holes towards the thermostat a bit(til it lines up with your housing, and no more). Snug down and BINGO. OK, it's a $13 or $15 gasket(gasp), yet no more leaky... It'll pay for itself in saving the time it takes to fix the leak of a failed, thin gasket. Just my 2 cents on this...


Love that color on the motor! Mike

thanks mike. I'm assuming the whole, large, bell-housing is semi-gloss black too?  Not the color of the engine?

[Schroeder]

I grinded the engine down and have the side pictured wiped down with brake cleaner.  Tomorrow I'll get the other side and wipe the whole thing with SEM solve (paint prep).  Then I get to shoot it down with the sexy metallic blue!



Can anyone tell me the color of the bell housing?  Is it supposed to be blue like the engine or a different color?

[joe d]

coming along nice

[Schroeder]

after getting the engine cleaned last night I shot the block with VHT high temp primer and the exhaust/spark plug area of the heads wit eastwood's SS colored exhaust manifold high temp heat.  I did this in an attempt to prevent the ugly exhaust paint burn off from occurring.  I plan to put my Ames engine blue over this.  I started out painting the exhaust manifolds with a brush, but I hated how it looked. After switching to a spray gun I was pleased!   I have a couple pics.  Hopefully I can get them up for you guys tonight!

[Schroeder]

painted manifolds



painted engine mounts



painted oil adapter and carb stove pipe


eastwood coated exhaust side of heads



the ingredients



The eastwood paint still feels really soft and un-dry yet (not wet, but I can tell it isn't nearly cured).  Should I be afraid to put the blue over top yet?

[Schroeder]

I'm getting the firewall and subframe ready  to paint.  I've decided to replace the brake lines with a set from inline tube and I'm replacing my body mounts.  The more I think about it, the more I lean towards taking the subframe completely off and cleaning everything correctly with a wire wheel.  How do I make sure it's lined up correctly though if I do this? 

Since these pictures have been taken the valve covers have been primed and painted blue as well.  I found that without priming the engine with the VHT primer the paint would not stick.  After figuring this out the painting process continued smoothly on the engines. 

I tried painting the pulleys for my engine black since this, but it appeared that there was dirt in the paint!!  I cleaned the gun several times by running thinner though it.  No matter what I do it appears there is dirt in the paint.  I even ran it though another gun!  I don't know where this crap coulda came from.  Could there be ceramic remnants in the gun from the eastwood paint? 

I got my PUI pre-assembled door panels in the mail after being unable to find good condition plastic upper door rails to repair my existing door panels.  I'm stoked about these.  I have always considered door panels to be the crown jewel on any build.

[Elz]

 
I tried painting the pulleys for my engine black since this, but it appeared that there was dirt in the paint!!  I cleaned the gun several times by running thinner though it.  No matter what I do it appears there is dirt in the paint.  I even ran it though another gun!  I don't know where this crap coulda came from.  Could there be ceramic remnants in the gun from the eastwood paint? 

Are you using a paint strainer? Could be clumps of crap in your paint. The cleaner you are, the cleaner your paint will be. Buy a paint suit, they are cheap and disposable. So I would strain your paint, get a paint suit and tack off your parts before you spray.

[Schroeder]

 
I tried painting the pulleys for my engine black since this, but it appeared that there was dirt in the paint!!  I cleaned the gun several times by running thinner though it.  No matter what I do it appears there is dirt in the paint.  I even ran it though another gun!  I don't know where this crap coulda came from.  Could there be ceramic remnants in the gun from the eastwood paint? 

Are you using a paint strainer? Could be clumps of crap in your paint. The cleaner you are, the cleaner your paint will be. Buy a paint suit, they are cheap and disposable. So I would strain your paint, get a paint suit and tack off your parts before you spray.

I have the little filter on my gun in the can to filter it.  My dad also mentioned straining it prior to putting it in the gun for application.  How might a paint suit be beneficial for me?   Thanks a lot for the input btw!

[Elz]

 
I tried painting the pulleys for my engine black since this, but it appeared that there was dirt in the paint!!  I cleaned the gun several times by running thinner though it.  No matter what I do it appears there is dirt in the paint.  I even ran it though another gun!  I don't know where this crap coulda came from.  Could there be ceramic remnants in the gun from the eastwood paint? 

Are you using a paint strainer? Could be clumps of crap in your paint. The cleaner you are, the cleaner your paint will be. Buy a paint suit, they are cheap and disposable. So I would strain your paint, get a paint suit and tack off your parts before you spray.

I have the little filter on my gun in the can to filter it.  My dad also mentioned straining it prior to putting it in the gun for application.  How might a paint suit be beneficial for me?   Thanks a lot for the input btw!

Don't count on the filter on your gun to filter small particles. You can get paint strainers for cheap at your parts store. I think I got 25 the other day for 3 bucks. Paint suit does two things. It keeps dirt or fibers that might be on your clothes from falling in your paint, and keeps paint from getting on your skin and in your pores. When you are done using it put it in a zip lock bag to keep it clean. I always take my air hose and clean off the first few feet of it before I paint as well. Most people let their air hose fall on the ground and get dirty when they are working on things. Clean it and keep it off the ground when you paint. There are several things you can do to get cleaner paint jobs. You always want to strain your paint though. Get a pyrex cup to mix your paint and strain it as you pour it into your gun. If it isn't a two part type paint you still want to strain it as you pour it into your cup