Big Block '82 Malibu wagon thrash

Figured under this heading, it makes more sense. Christ! You ever wonder how sh*t gets so far out of control? I'm just now needing to start the front accessories in the wagon. The previous thread "New to this site" is where it left off. I know most of us on these forums have issues. Like too many projects, spread too thin, not enough money, too many options that lead you in the wrong direction. Well, the weather is frigid here. I have 400# of sh*t stuffed into a 12# bag. By the time I hook up the boat, move it out, move two corvettes out, crank the heat for thermal recovery, get the shop warm, I can only work for two hours. It gets late, then I put all the stuff back in, so there's no time for clean-up and pretty soon, the shop's a FRIGGIN NITEMARE!!!! And, you are essentially two blocked. Can't move an inch. Today, I clean.....This will be painful. But, it's a good laugh.

If I fell down out here, they would never fiond the body!



There's the 330 hp mercury marine 454 that has SOME of the brackets-


The motor out of the dragboat, pulled out and tossed on the bench, after a Nitrous Explosion in Bakersfield in Oct. Really? Just gonna leave it there?


The Vettes. They can't stay out all night. I lift the boat in the air and park one under the boat.


I can't leave this out all night....



....and down the other side. This place is a wreck. OK, I'll get back on topic. I just had to vent my aggravation.

So, while out cleaning, I ran back across this windshield washer pump. I snagged it out of the 92 Chevy van that gave it's trans up for this project. Now, instead of the revolution driven mechanical pump that plagues all the older chevies, I have a reliable constant stream of waasher fluid. I got the grommet that the pump pushes into also, so I just have to drill a hole in the lower side of my existing washer resevoir, push in the grommet and push the pump into that! Easy, wire the excite wire to the old pump hot wire and run the hoses! I highly recommend doing this. Total cost at a You-Pull wrecking yard? They threw it in, with the trans I bought for $89.99. Had I needed to pay? Around $5.00. Well worth it. Cheers!-Matt

...and I run air bags in the rear of the wagon, well, actually, all of the tow vehicles have bags and onboard compressors. So, since all of the Viair, or comparable compressors of a decent CFM capacity are in the $300 range, I just roll over to Pick N Pull and snag compressors off of the mid year Caddies, Buick and the like. They have small CFM output, but good pressure, as they are designed to run air shocks as levelers. I cut off the end of the muffler, where the 1/8" line pushes in, grind it flat, drill and tap it for 1'8" NPT. Then, thread in a 1/8" NPTX1/4" push on fitting. Make double sure you use ONLY DOT approved push fittings! Supplied by Parker or Aeroquip. Do not use cheap chinese crap. You will regret it. Since the compressor has limited output, I fabricate holding tanks out of Aluminum Pipe. Any size will do. I do not jump my cars and my bags run low pressure, usually under 50PSI, so these tanks are ideal. I just TIG ends on them and bore a hole for the pressure regulator and there you have it. A simple Air Control system. I run Haldex valves to automatically retain my height-
Cheapy GM compressor with the muffler modified



The Little tanks I fab up

I installed the air system to just make room. Not wired up yet, but here's where it goes-FWD left fender.



And the same with the pump. Drilled a 3/4" hole in the rear of the res. and pushed the pump in. Three things off the shelf and on the car.

Well, I'm kinda stuck for the day. I've done lots of BBC swaps, but my last one, I took all of the bracketry off my show truck and it all got sold. Everything since the mid 80's is serpentine. Can't go that way. Alt and A/C go way too high. I gotta run down some earlier chevelle brackety, or start fabbin it up. If anybody has any just hangin around, I'll be a buyer. Thanks for the compliment, Jack. I'm an old guy, so the accumulation has taken years, but now we can handle just about anything that comes our way. I just don't feel like starting brackets from scratch! No, the White boat is a retired racer, it's just a lake boat now. It did 1183 HP on the dyno. Blown, injected, EFI, Dry sump, Coil pack, 588"
Both in the Driveway


We have a little race program, called White Flag Racing. Pretty new, but we're pretty competive. The Green With Envy boat is my partner's boat. Took the 9second trophy in 2009 from the CDBA. We are die hard Motorheads.
This boat runs a 565 on Nitrous. Made 981 motor only and 1388 on the bottle. The Dyno guy about sh*t hiself! Pretty good when you scare those guys!
Green With Envy-




and the 21'

So, I tried fitting the original power steer pump, but the fittings were at wrong angles. Went out to my back shed stash and found an old Big Block, (Probably El-Camino) pump. Has the round body, rather than the rectangular one. The return fitting comes out at a more acceptable angle. The feed line may not fit the box, cuz it might be metric(?) if so, I can fab up a b*st*rd hose. I made a few calls around for bracketry and had a buddy of mine bring over a stash of BBC stuff. Here's where I got yesterday-

The pump


The correct alternator bracket, short pump. But, it puts the alternator too high


Back to a long pump-



The long pump, with a short pump pulley. Doesn't work. Need the correct upper pulley



I fit the Vertex Magneto, justy to see if it would clear. It does. The only reason for the mag, is I don't need a coil, a six or 7 box, all the extra wiring. It's just cleaner. If I run a Tach, I just need to wire in a tach adapter.



I ran to another buddie's place last night and scored the correct pulley. It fits, so I 'll get the alt mounted today.
Cheers-Matt

Got the right pulley and did some preliminary checking. Things look OK, so I started thinking about cooling. I'm all about using on hand stuff, if it's in acceptable condition. Sometimes it requires a little thinking and a little more work than going to the store, but the end product is usually worth it. A couple summers ago, I did a build for a guy on his '66 442. All was going great, until I couldn't find his radiator. We searched hi and low and finally just picked up a replacement. We had stashed his hood upstairs for the build and when we got ready to do more assembly, we found his radiator up there too. Real smart. It was a saturday afternoon and I really pressed the radiator guy to crap me out a 4 core for this build, so I couldn't in good conscience, return it the following week. So I sat on it...'till now. Went to fit it. The four row is too thick. This was a V-6 car. Here's before-
Pass side


Driver's side-


I just sliced down the verticle line to make room

Driver's side


Pass- Had to window the frame there a little to, for the outlet. I will box that for structural integrity.


....and it fits. Gotta come up with some 4 core rubber shocks.