Frame repair

After removing the old engine mounts I found some bad metal behind them, holes that had been patched with bad welding and weak metal. I plasma cut out the bad and MIG welded in the new then ground smooth.

Engine paint

Dirty old black engine is gone. With a bit of elbow grease, some new gaskets from our friends at Summit and an fun color choice (its actually a green, but shows more teal in pics) the little 350 never looked better.

Removal of the engine

and the mounts. After fixed a newly found crack in the frame and planning for reinforcement we noticed that the engine wasn't exactly sitting square in the frame and the drivers mount needed to be moved about an inch back. Time was spent removing, cutting, grinding and in the end it was decided to scrap the mounts all together - mostly because I hate them.

The engine needs a crossmember and less ridiculous mounts so that is next on the list, no more elephant ears.

Water pump refurb

The water pump had been coated in paint and the gasket was dry and cracking so I ordered a gasket set for it, cleaned it up and resprayed.

Engine teardown

Well, partial teardown. This is the problem with knowing (thinking?) that I have alot of time to work on the car before the weather turns sunny again. The engine needs to be painted, freshen up the gaskets, hardware, fittings and make sure overall health is where it should be.

Frame color

Found a nice color for the frame, it's a graphite wheel paint that looks the part perfectly. Pictured is the new boxed portion of the rear shot with the paint color, only the very front is painted the rest of the back is still black. I have a great deal more cutting/welding/grinding/sanding before the frame can actually be painted.

Took a break for the holidays

But managed to get out in the garage here & there. I have a few pics and coming soon.