Wrapping up the oil pan gasket and what’s next for the 68 RoadRunner?
Take a look:
I have to add my note and this might rub someone the wrong way but I am going to toss it out here.
I took my 1970 Mustang to a shop run by a guy I trust with my cars. After getting the Mustang back I leaked from two spots. When I asked his mechanic about the said “Old cars leak.” That phrase really irritates me every time I hear it. This day in age with all the improvement in gaskets from rubber to rubber coated metal to make your or form you own, this just no reason for your car to leak. After the incident above, I took my Mustang home and replaced the gaskets and drove it for about a week and then went back to my friends shop and had the mechanic look under the car…it was bone dry.
Unless you have a part that can’t be found there is almost no reason, given all the options, for your old car to leak. Having said that, Bill makes a good point – there are times when a leak, a non-engine killing leak, becomes to expensive or time consuming to fix. But if I know Bill, you’ll be seeing a video with him fixing all the leaks. (;^o)
Did you think I sold #ProjectSportsRoof? Nope. I’ve been busy and I’ve been serving as editor to another cool project – my constant reader Bill’s ’68 Plymouth RoadRunner (#ProjectBeepBeep). However, I have been doing some work on the sports roof and in this video you’ll see a little bling under the …
I’d like you to take a look at one of my constant readers classic muscle car. First let me say that Bill has been an a long quest to find a car to replace this car: Back in the day. It was a long search with lots of phone calls with many …
Well it has been a while since I’ve updated readers on #ProjectSportsRoof and frankly there hasn’t been a lot going on.
As the regular readers know I do all the work I can on my car, when practical. This work happens in my driveway, which unfortunately has a rather steep slope.
You’ve seen the videos of my work pulling out the engine and the transmission and putting the engine back in and attempting to put the transmission back in.
I few weeks ago, after suffering from a huge bout of guilt for not working the Mustang, I attempted one more time to get the transmission reattached to the engine.
This endeavor, required me to put the car up a lot higher than normal on the stands, to get enough room to maneuver the trans and the transmission jack around. this was a huge mistake. After a few tries I decided to pull the transmission back out for under the car and wait for some help later in the week.
Everything went fine and the transmission was safely strapped to the transmission jack and rolled back into the garage. Since the car was lifted higher for the failed attempt, I decided to lower it back on to the ground. As I lifted the car with my floor jack, so I could remove one stand one of the remaining stands slipped from its place and the car dropped about 5″ on to the tires. This didn’t seem to be to dramatic of a fall until I noticed that the motor mounts had separate (broke to be frank).
That was depressing, to say the least and another set back. Of course this depression was compounded by the fact that I had very limited free time coming up to work on the car. I am a full-time Junior High teacher and I had just signed on to coach our boy’s basketball team which was a lot of fun (we when 10 -2 for the season) and very time-consuming.
I purchased the motor mounts and was attempting to schedule a couple of relatives to help out. That proved difficult.
So a relative mentioned a successful automotive shop that was opening a new location here in Tucson and I contacted them to see they wanted to tackle the engine and transmission re-install, build a custom drive shaft and add headers and exhaust. They looked it over and we agreed on the cost estimate.
So off she goes to get the complete drive training straighten out and hopefully back on the road soon.
There is still a lot of work to be done and as I get ready for my summer break from teaching, I should be able to but more time into it!!!
I have a lot more coming up on #ProjectBeepBeep as well.
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
As I posted before, after a vigorous (not read ‘desperate’) I finally found my next personal project. The 1973 Mustang Sports Roof Fastback is what I settled on. Now we start the project that has been dubbed #ProjectSportsRoof (yes I find it necessary to use the ‘hash’). 1973 Mustang Color …
Ok so these were suppose to kick off while I’m over here in Italy, but they failed to post up, so I’m taking a few minutes to fix that. Oh well as long as I’m typing, here is my favorite Italian road sign: Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). We stripped …
In these next two videos, you’ll see just how ‘off’ these fenders are in some areas and surprisingly how well they fit in other areas. If you have an experience or a hit for anyone taking on this part of a restoration – drop a comment here and we’ll share them. https://youtu.be/Ga9EHbDpSfg https://youtu.be/FBKs7EG4kK0 Thanks …
Well win some and you lose some. If you’ve seen my other posts related the replacement of the points and condenser for the 351C you’ll notice that I gave conversion high marks. This was all based on the years of use I got out of the conversion I did on …
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportsRoof. So here is the last set of initial questions. Here is an image of the current set up: Any diagram I find has the hose vacuum from the Distr going to the Valve assy. The Valve assy has nothing attached which is located on the front …
Spend a few hours on this 2017 Labor Day, laboring over #ProjectSportsRoof and I wish that labor paid a bit more dividends.
The goal was to mate the transmission back to the engine but unfortunately that just wasn’t going to happen today. The engine is set back a bit too far and tilted (on purpose). Problem is if I bolted them up the engine hoist would be able to lift the engine and trans due to the height I needed the car to work on the transmission.
So I pulled the transmission out from under car and placed its wheels back on the concrete.
It was a major effort to get the car up high enough to get the transmission out. I pushed the boundaries of safety with a floor jack and a couple of jack-stand.
As I stated in the video I may just take it down the street and have them get that straightened out for me.
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
This is the wrap up on the compression testing for the 1973 Mustang w/ a 1972 351 Cleveland power plant. You’ll might have notices that I referred to the remote tester, which is my code for remote starter…yeah…that’s it!!! All of these tests were dry test and I should have done a …
Mar 15, 2017 … Did you think I sold #ProjectSportsRoof? Nope. I’ve been busy and I’ve been serving as editor to another cool project – my constant reader Bill’s …
#ProjectSportsRoof has been…languishing a bit but I have a new transmission jack and I’ll be back to it in the next week…right now it going to be about 120 …
0-60 mph, 0-100 mph stats, bore and stroke, torque stats and the world-wide stats for this site.
I like to take time to thank the viewer from around the world from time to time.
With over 40 different countries tuning in to check of progress on #ProjectSportsRoof and #ProjectBeepBeep I think it’s cool to see such wide-spread interest.
So here’s some stats.
80% of the viewer are from the US. 3% are from Canada 2% from the UK 1% from Mexico, France, and Australia, Russia, German Other countries, Saudis Arabia, Spain, Italy, Poland Netherlands, S. Korea South Africa, India, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan.
Bill is trying to finish up this the disc brake conversion and as things happen when you are dealing with our mechanical best friends, when you think its ready to go, things go south.
Look for the discussion on Dot 3 and Dot 5 brake fluid and tips for creating your own brake bleeding system. And keep an eye out for DIY master cylinder bench bleeding tubes.
All excellent to note!! Oh…and dig out that jack!!!
Lots more coming up on Project BeepBeep, so check back often.
1968 Ply Road RunnerProject BeepBeep Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is looking at the brakes and gets some professional assistance to help him make a crucial decision. You know if you’ve got a lot of GO…you need a lot STOP. It not an easy decision to alter a car’s originality, especially …
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectBeepBeep. Having made the decision to convert the front brakes from shoe to disc Bill gets started with this major project for #ProjectBeepBeep. He went with a kit from Dr. Diff and here’s a brief look at some of the contents. Nice shiny new rotors!! Spindle …
Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is working on finishing up the brake conversion. Here is a progress update. Note: I forgot to add the credits for these videos: Starring Bill B as himself; BeepBeep as ’68 Road Runner; Wild E. Coyote in effigy Camera Production; Mrs. Bill B and SamB Editing Tim …
That’s a question I’ve gotten on other social media avenues and there is a good answer.
At this age I made a decision to make a career change. Up at age of 58 and after 20 plus years as information technology guy (last position as Director of IT) I resigned and began the quest to make a move that I’ve always wanted to make. So, it was back to college for a few courses and heavy-duty studying to pass certification exams – passed on the second attempt.
That’s where I’ve been. Now I begin my new career as a High School teacher and that kicks off with my first teaching position at a charter school. Things get rolling mid-July.
Now that will be a busy time but I’m comfortable with having spare time to keep working on my projects.
So, here’s what is coming up:
Bill has finished #ProjectBeepBeep disc brake conversion and we even have a video with it in motion!!!!
#ProjectSportsRoof has been…languishing a bit but I have a new transmission jack and I’ll be back to it in the next week…right now it going to be about 120 degrees, so not idea weather for working on the beast.
More #AutoFactoids coming up and some new stuff I have planned.
Bill is getting soooooooooo close to having ProjectBeepBeep on the road again. This update takes a look at the brake actuator rod. The Rod. Bill mentioned 303 …
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I’m finishing the re-positioned shifting rod above the transmission’s cross member.
Next I’ll need to go top side and give the selector a try. If that is working properly, hitting the proper gears I can spin the torque converter and properly torque its connection to the flex plate.
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in my 1973 Mustang. The next step is to check the compression. First up was to warm the car a bit and then pull the plugs. Here’s what the …
This is the wrap up on the compression testing for the 1973 Mustang w/ a 1972 351 Cleveland power plant. You’ll might have notices that I referred to the remote tester, which is my code for remote starter…yeah…that’s it!!! All of these tests were dry test and I should have done a …
It’s past time to get it in gear and get the transmission back in shape to get the power from the newly bored out .040 351 Cleveland to the rear wheels.
With the help of my nephew Josh (thanks Josh!!) the transmission was effortlessly (ha) in to place…almost.
Here a more current status video.
All Bolted in.
Now that it’s all bolted in place, I need to work on the getting the kick down road back in place. That’s coming up next on #ProjectSportsRoof.
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
It always cool to stumble upon a car show regardless of size.
TMC (Tucson Medical Center) opened up a new office just down the road. My wife is a commercial interior designer and does a lot of work through her company for at the TMC facilities.
We were aware of the Grand Opening for this new building but we weren’t there’d be a car show. Here a few of the cars that showed.
You just could walk past this 1959 GMC 100 Pickup. So nicely restored.
Love the steel painted rims!!!
Lots of Chrome on that front end!!
Still being powered by the straight six! The golf club hood prop is a custom touch!
Sparse interior but 100% effective.
Here is a great looking 1962 Ford pickup – still sporting its original V8.
Are you kidding me? Look at this beautiful 66 Malibu!!!
327 Engine (245hp) with Factory Air!!!
Back end jacked up just right!!
There is a lot of tire on that back axle!
That’s all original interior folks!!!
Here are a few more Chevy’s
Beautiful Super Sport w/vinyl top
Wow…is that a BLOWER on top of that power plant?
And another BLOWER!!
56 Chevy Sporting a huge radiator
1980 El Camino – In great shape.
Beautiful Impala…OH…YES..that a Corvette LS3 engine!!!
If you are going to have only one Mopar show up, you want it to be the GTX!! Take a look:
Plymouth Belvedere GTX.
Yes that is a 426 Hemi….going to find two carbs under that air cleaner.
Clean and original interior.
Here a few more of the cars that showed up.
Thanks to my wonderful wife who didn’t mind an interruption in our errands to spend a few minutes at this show.
Coming up more on #ProjectSportsRoof and #ProjectBeepBeep and keep an eye out for our first Facebook Live event.
