So one thing I did not include in the last post, the engine is in the car! I started off with the car bolted to the transmission, and then jacked and shimmied the whole lot into place. Once I was satisfied with where it was, I made some cardboard templates to cut the steel plates that would be made into the engine mounts.

I cut the steel out, making sure that I had plenty of extra so I could cut it down once I knew everything fit. Well, after some cutting and grinding, things still weren't right, and still needed lots of filling in with the welder. The little MIG welder that we have here wasn't up to the task of welding the 1/4" plate I used, so I took the tacked together plates to work and had the welder there finish them up for me.

So the engine is in the car, and the intake manifold is complete. Now I turned my attention to getting all of the ancillaries onto the engine, and getting the brackets finished up. The belt tensioner wasn't difficult, but the alternator did give me some trouble. I originally thought that all I would need to do is make one bushing to space the alternator from a simple bracket. Now that I have that installed, it ended up being two brackets that bolt to the engine, and three different bushings.

Once everything was installed the other day, I did find that the alternator as mounted would cause the belt to rub on the frame. I considered rocking the alternator on the mounts, and get it closer to the engine, but this caused interference with the intake manifold. So, I decided that I needed to hack the frame. I was desperately trying to avoid doing any modification to the frame, but with it, the alternator was not going to fit. Once everything is in the engine bay, and I am happy with everything, I will reinforce the frame with some nice thick plate.

So, now the only thing I can think that needs done is the entire electrical system. The dash needs some major work before I can happy with it. I started to sleeve all of the wires with expandable sleeving, and behind the dash looks much better then it did. Of course, you won't be able to see any of this, but it should make fixing problems in the future a lot easier.

All of the high current wires need rerouted, reterminated, and soldered and shrink tubed if necessary. I also need to find a good connector to terminate the intake manifold wires. And for that matter, all of the wires that go to the engine. I want to be able to break a couple of connections, and pull the whole engine out of the car, if I would ever need to.

Lots of time, lots of progress.

A lot of time has passed since I've updated this page, and I have accomplished a lot. I left off with the seats being out of the car, and the fuel system purchased. It turns out that the whole system was not purchased, and I needed more parts. As of now, the whole fuel system is not only purchased, but it is assembled and in the car!

The seats got a very good cleaning, and now look a lot less dingy. They could still use several more scrubbings to bring them back to concourse condition, but they are much better then they were.

I picked up some birch plywood, and found a nice English Walnut stain. I took the original dash and screwed it down to the plywood using the original screw holes. Using a router with a tracing bit, I routed out the new dash. Then I stained it using two light coats of the English Walnut. Then I coated it very thickly with a spray on Helmsman Urethane. In retrospect, I would go with a brush on type coating. I think it would go on thicker and the result may be a little harder and heavier duty.

Then came the hard part of covering the dashpad with new vinyl. I let it sit in the sun for a few hours and soften up. Then a used 3M's 80 adhesive. This is specifically made for rubber and vinyl. A spray on the back of the vinyl, and a spray on the original dash pad, lots of luck, and lots of patience and more stretching and the dash was done. It didn't come out as well as I had hoped, but there is always the next attempt to get it perfect.

Now the dash is done, and ready to go in the car. I now need to fix all of the wiring behind the dash. I am getting close to having it done. I need to finish the wiring before I can start the car, since there are a lot of high current wires just hanging out back there right now. Then lots of testing of each system, and then the dash can go in.