78 Grand Prix project

[G-Body_Vet]

A welder is about one of the few things I don't have.

Here's where we are so far with the 350.
1. Front cover is garbage from corrosion, still have the one from my 455 though.
2. Two of the front cover bolts were broken off too. I got one out already.
3. I made a decent oil pump primer from the old points distributor 😀
4. Lifter valley and top of heads are pretty clean, but the oil looked almost like tar. Practically no sludge build-up at all.
5. Timing chain had quite a bit of slack so that came out.

I'm going to yank the pan either tonight or tomorrow and give the bottom end a look. It was supposed to have been re-ringed and gotten .010 bearings & crank at some point....apparently it hasn't been very recent either :lol:

It also has an old-*ss timing tape on the balancer and had an old electronic conversion in the dist with the box mounted on the valley cover. It looked like it was held in place with guerrilla snot. I think the brand was Ward, not Montgomery Ward either.

If all checks out I'll probably just refresh the gaskets and see what happens. I'm debating whether I should change the head gaskets too or just chance it.

 

[Bonnewagon]

I'd leave the head gaskets alone. Give it what I used to call a "$100 rebuild". Oil pump, timing chain, water pump, fresh carb and ignition. I learned many moons ago to quit wasting $$$$ opening up tight motors.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

I'd leave the head gaskets alone. Give it what I used to call a "$100 rebuild". Oil pump, timing chain, water pump, fresh carb and ignition. I learned many moons ago to quit wasting $$$$ opening up tight motors.

That's what I'm most likely going to do. The idea is to stay cheap with this one and dump the money into the 455. I will buy a decent rebuild kit for my carb though. I've been wanting to get one of the HP kits that Cliff Ruggles sells.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Well.....the 350 turned out to be in worse shape that the 455 that I'm having rebuilt. The main bearings have a lot of metallic contamination and evidence of LOTS of dirty oil. There's more seized and broken bolts than I care to deal with right now too. Since I got that far, I pulled the heads and two of the cylinders were exposed to moisture and had light pitting. A .030 over bore would easily clean it up though. The valves for those two cylinders were covered in rust too.

It wasn't a complete loss though. I did salvage the windage tray, oil pan, valve covers, lower dipstick tube, oil pump housing, valley pan and a set of motor mount brackets meant for a F-body. It has an aftermarket cam in it too. It's marked CC 240H14. The cam and lifters actually looked pretty good compared to the rest of the heap.

I'll throw it in the corner for later or try to find someone looking for a builder. I should have just stuck to the plan with the 455 all along. I rolled the dice and lost on this one. Oh well, $hit happens.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Sound like it was left outdoors. Oh well.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Finally got around to playing with the KBS Coating that I bought months ago. I used the inner fenders as a test mule before I go ahead and get started on the frame. So far not too bad.

This was after I roughed it up with a orbital sander. I'm not putting together a show car so I didn't feel a perfect finish was necessary.

Do you think this was intended to be on a Grand Prix?????????

Waiting for the Rust Blast to do it's thing. It's basically a rust converter that leaves a zinc phosphate finish. Wait times range from 10 mins to 2 hours depending how rusty the part is.

This is what the Rust Blast does. It's still not 100% dry but you get the idea.

This is the final product. It's not 100% cured yet in this pic either. Those lines you see on the LH side will disappear after the coating levels...and no I don't give a $hit about the grass in that part of the yard :lol:

 

[Bonnewagon]

NICE!

 

[1979ratrod]

wow man those look great. i didnt know the gp's had metal inner fender wells. do you know if these would fit on another gbody? and keep the updates coming!

 

[pontiacgp]

nice to see you don't waste your time while you wait...beermonkey will be proud of you....


Waiting for the Rust Blast to do it's thing. It's basically a rust converter that leaves a zinc phosphate finish. Wait times range from 10 mins to 2 hours depending how rusty the part is.

 

[Blake442]

Haha, I killed a 5'x5' chunk of my yard when I cleaned my plastic wheel-wells for my 442. Simple Green may be biodegradable, but I don't think the grass could handle all the oil and grime... Right in the middle of the front yard. :lol: