It's been a busy time since my last post here. Time to get caught up.
Thurs & Fri, May 19 & 20: With the new exhaust system in place, it was time to fire up the engine. That didn't go well. As soon as I turned on the ignition switch, smoke began to roll from under the dash. I quickly pulled the key and disconnected the battery. Turns out I had not seen a wiring clip under the dashboard right by the ignition switch. The new switch had three connection terminals and one of the terminals was touching that clip. Luckily, the only damage was a smoked wire that was spliced into the hot wire going from the ammeter to the voltage regulater. I replaced that wire, rotated the ignition switch to a new position and removed the wiring clip. Once the wiring repairs were complete, the engine fired right up. I'm not sure how the electric choke on the little 390 Holley carb is going to react to a 6 volt signal so, for now, I turned the adjusting ring to hold the choke open. The engine ran perfect but I soon learned of a new challenge - the transmision wouldn't shift into gear with the engine running! With the car on jack stands, the engine off, the transmission in 4th gear and my wife holding the clutch pedal to the floor, I attempted to turn the driveshaft with a pipe wrench. I could hear the clutch dragging but it was nearly locked up.
Sat, May 21: Pulled the transmission out and checked the clutch. Internet research on Fri night had me thinking I needed to extend the input shaft splines on the transmission so I went to More Power to borrow a cut off grinder to do the job. I hadn't pulled the clutch disk at that point. Got back home and measured from the clutch spline area to the bell housing/transmission mounting surface. Then I pulled the clutch and quickly realized I had made a mistake I've never done before - I had installed the clutch disk backwards! Boy, did I feel like an idiot! That had to be the problem, right? Soooo, I put everything back together. I had started at 7:45 in the morning and when I finished getting everything back together, it was 3:30 in the afternoon. And guess what? It still wouldn't go into gear!! By 5pm the transmission was back on the bench along with the clutch disk and pressure plate. I called Dick for some advise and he was equally baffled. He decided to drive over and take a look. The splines on the trans looked to be plenty long enough as the disk had 1/8" of movement available. I rechecked the length of the bearing retainer and compared it to the original 3 speed trans. That checked out fine too. Dick had no instant solution but as we were throwing around ideas, one area that hadn't been measured became apparent - the distance from the beginning of the splines to the face of the transmission. I had had enough for the day and it was late by then so I promised to call Dick with the measurements on Sunday.
Sun, May 22: Measured the original transmission and compared the two. Then I measured from the pilot bushing in the back of the crankshaft to the face of the bell housing where the transmisson mounts. All the internet info had said the T5 was a "bolt in" once the input shaft was shortened in the pilot bushing area and the bearing retainer was shortened. Turns out that isn't true in my case. The T5 spline area is 1/8" longer than the original! 1/8", that's all it took for the taper on the input shaft to lock into the pilot bushing. Even though the clutch disk had plenty of clearance, the input would never release which acted like the clutch was locked. I made a template of the front of the transmission with intention of having a spacer made. Then I realized it would be easier to just use 1/8" shims between the transmission and bell housing. There would still be plenty of depth on the bearing retainer to locate into the bell housing for proper alignment. Plus it would be much quicker to add spacers than get a custom machined full spacer.
Mon, May 23: First stop, the steel supply house for 2 pieces of 1/8" steel, 2.5" x 6". Used the template I had made to mark the holes to match the transmission mounting and drilled the holes to 9/16". Next I cleaned the metal thoroughly, primered and then painted them black to match the bell housing. A layer of rtv silicone was applied to the bell housing and the two plates were clamped in place with the transmission mounting bolts to let the rtv dry. A couple hours later, the bolts were removed and the transmission was reinstalled. Rather than put all the pieces back together, I devised a method to test the spacer theory. I wedged a board to hold the clutch pedal on the floor and shifted the trans into 4th gear. I then went under the car and turned the yoke in the back of the trans which acted as a plug to keep the fluid from running out. The transmission and clutch disk turned freely!! Once everything was back together, I fired the engine again and smiled when everything worked.
Tues, May 24: Road trip day. A new issue quicky became apparent - the transmission refused to shift into overdrive. Bah! First stop was my buddy Tom's house. He's a lover of old Chevy's and had seen the car the night we first test drove it. Took Tom for a quick ride and he liked the changes I had made to the old 41. Next stop was Dennis' shop. His entire crew came out to check out the car and all comments were favorable. On the way to More Power I had to slow for a turn and the car made a hard left. Totally unexpected. That issued lasted the rest of the day but I was able to compensate. Not sure what the cause may be but plan to check the brakes thoroughly. Dick and Duane came outside to check out the car and Dick noticed a decreased back pressure on the driver's side tail pipe. Made a mental note to check the valves. 4th stop of the day was my friend Erik's house but he wasn't home so I proceeded to Maksim's. Rob & Tom really liked the car and we talked about the front end alignment and steering work I want them to do. Then it was off to Micro Belmont so Gary and Donna could see the car and get an idea where the parts Gary had made were used. A few blocks from their shop, I crossed some railroad tracks and the exhaust sound increased a bunch. I made it to MBE and was shocked to find one of the exhaust flange nuts had fallen off where the rear exhaust pipe attached to the header. Gary found another nut and I clamped it back together. I started the car and still heard a lot of exhaust noise from under the car. The muffler and exhaust pipe had separated and were about 1" apart! The dang exhaust system was falling apart! Sooo, off I went to Lentz. I had intended to stop there anyway to let them hear and see the car but now I had a different reason. Josh & Eric were very accomodating and put the car right on a rack to check underneath. The fixed the separation quickly and I was off and running again. Everything looked good but I still thought I heard an exhaust leak. More on that later. I checked under the car while it was on the rack and noticed several leaks. The rear main seal is still leaking and I found some fluid around the right rear brake area. I hate leaks!!
Wed thru Fri, May 25-27: No time to spend in the garage.
Sat, May 28: Attached the horn relay wires and adjusted the horn ring, adjusted the turn signals so they turn off when the turn is completed, checked the right rear brake area for a fluid leak and found none. Drove the car around the neighborhood to warm the engine and fill the gas tank. Spent Sat night waxing the entire car with Mequiars wax. What a beautiful shine!
Sun, May 29:The new front springs and king pin set arrived last week and I have an appointment at Maksim's for the front end work on June 6. I have a hunch what is wrong with the overdrive shifting issue. I may have missed installing a roll pin in the reverse/od shift arm. Now I just need to figure out how to fix the rear main seal. The horn relay failed today and the horn stuck on. Had to disconnect the power wire to shut it off. One more item to add to the parts list. Tomorrow is the Memorial Day parade and it looks like we're ready. I found a good place to take some pics of the car with a great contrasting background today. Once the front end is lowered, I plan to get some good shots.
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