Archive for the ‘Engine’ Category
Fabricated a power steering bracket
I wish I would have taken more photos of this process, but really only have the finished product. The jist of this is that I originally had a TRW power steering pump with TRW brackets. The TRW brackets don’t really fit the new replacement Federal pump. I have been trying to find a replacement TRW style pump, without any luck. So the workaround was to cut up the TRW brackets and make them work for the Federal pump. This image shows the minor differences between the 2 pumps… although minor, they presented a challenge.
The TRW bracket didn’t fit the Federal pump in the notched areas. Needed to modify the bracket to work… Lot’s of cutting, welding and grinding and the finished product looks like this:
The bottom bracket was the one that was cut, welded, ground and painted… you’d never know.
Walk around
Getting closer. Need to do some bodywork/paint… put some seats in (interior will be done later)…
“You wanna lay a little tire?”
More progress
Replaced the aftermarket leaf spring shackles with factory style from SummitRacing, adjusted the z-bar and clutch, removed the carb spacer. Still have issues with idle, but I was able to pull it out of the garage under its own power and… well, the sure-grip works
More tuning
Did some clutch adjusting and carb tuning. Still runs a little too rich and cannot get a good idle under 1400-1500RPM.
New Balancer/pulley issues
The new harmonic balancer would not seat all the way onto the crank causing the pulley grooves to not line up correctly. The new pulley is not even close and cannot be used. Had to remove the harmonic balancer again and file about 1/8th inch off of it to make it the same size/depth as the original. Took a while, but that little bit made all the difference in the world as now, everything fits as it should. NOTE – a harmonic balancer install tool is a nice thing to have in the tool box.
New Harmonic Balancer and Crank Pully
The engine has some kind of oil leak near the balancer, but only when the alternator and P/S pump belts are installed and tightened. I decided it was time for a new balancer and pulley…
Going back together
New harmonic balancer seal, new water pump, new alternator.. going back together.
Back at it
Had a bad oil leak from the front of the engine. Did some testing… without any accessories, no oil leak, the minute I put a fan belt on and connected the power steering pump or the alternator, oil sprayed generously out of the harmonic balancer seal… it had to be replaced. I used this opportunity to replace the water pump, the alternator and the power steering pump so I wouldn’t have to deal with that in the near future. Can’t button it up quite yet as the new water pump does not come with the heater hose connectors and the ones from the old water pump will be no good after liberating them from it. Also, needed to order a new harmonic balancer bolt as the current one is toast….
