pipeworks

Here's a quick update while I wolf down some breakfast.

donor 350 chevy engine

Here's the donor 350 engine.
The 85 corvette it came from had 67000 miles on it,
and we're hoping it will get a couple more,
as this will get a rattle can rebuild.

Ken spent a while deburring the casting flash off the engine.
It really makes a difference,
especially when you're wiping it down and the rags aren't getting snagged.

(imagine a smooth engine here with black paint)

There is some dirty work left on the engine peripherals,
so first the engine has to be mounted,
again.

stock small block motor mounts

He bought some new motormounts,
but man they are so ugly right out of the box.

cleaned up small block motor mounts

A quick grinding and some low gloss paint and much more presentable.
Now time to go through some of his boxes and look for the headers.

hooker headers

These aren't quite the ones I was thinking of,
the ones I liked had the outlet inbetween the 3rd and 4th port,
but they'll have to do.

quick fit

Looks like they fit easy huh!
Well in typical Hurtlocker Truck fashion...

pre-notch

Nothing's ever a bolt-in!
The floor was a bit in the way.

post-notch

More work for later.
Sigh.

puta madre

In my infinite wisdom,
I cut the exact same notch on the other side,
since of course the other side would have the same problem.
Nope.
Puta Madre!

cut n paste time

I'll have to weld that up,
later...
This side has it's own set of problems,
the steering goes right through the front pipe.
I've been waiting to do this for a long time,
and it's lucky that only this one needs modification.

But first the column needed to be permanently set,
as the spacing is a bit critical.

big block venolia rod

This old Venolia rod had been stashed in that pile of v8-60 parts from long ago.
perich brothers (and sister): score!
This was it's time for a little chop chop.

chop chop

I would have liked a little more drop,
but Ken's a big guy,
so this would have to do.

pre-mod brake pedal

While I was in cut and paste mode,
figured it was the right time to dig out the brake pedal,
which couldn't work as it's going through the column pipe.

about right

This reminds me,
I've got to clean up the firewall support...

gratuitous stool shot

Ken's got some big feet,
so a little short should be fine.
Probably will hook the pedal part over too.
Later...

ergonomics

With everything mounted,
it looks like we had planned it all out like this.
Now,
back to the exhaust pipes.
I was able to think about the solution while doing the column mount.

stock 85 corvette center dump headers

In one of the previous installs,
the stock corvette headers actually fit,
just barely though without the 3-bolt flange
(cut off in picture)
My quick fix would utilize that front bend.

donor pipe

The donor was about 1/8" skinnier,
but right now there aren't alot of choices.
I really doubt it will make any performance differences,
and with some black paint it shouldn't be too noticeable,
unless someone is reading this.

working pipes

The main thing is it works,
and there's plenty of clearance,
like it was made to fit the stock corvette steering.
Hmmm.

modified hooker header

Now try to imagine it with the black BBQ paint,
and shiny stainless steering u-joints.
It'll do.

With all the headache stuff done,
or as much as I could remember to do,
it was time to rip the motor back out.

I don't know if you can see in this pic,
but this engine is immaculate.
There was no cleaning done to the insides.
Earlier on I had warned Ken not to be surprised to see some sludge or carbon buildup,
and when he took off the valve covers I was expecting the worst.
This time we got real lucky.
Finally!

Now you all are almost caught up.
I've got to go back in the fray.

TP