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Heavy Lifting

1/7/18
Time to ring in the new year with some positive progress!  I started the day with zero motivation but went out to the garage after lunch to see what I could accomplish.  It was cold and the rain was pouring.

With the fuel tank back together I could finally put it back in.  The mounting brackets for the license plate were bent not allowing the bolts to align properly as well as causing the license plate to bind on the bumper.  Using a pry bar covered with 2 socks so as not to scratch anything, I was able to bend it back in shape.  As I laid under the car supporting the tank, my son attached the screws and I then secured it with the factory straps.  I then replaced the fuel filter and secured all of the fuel lines.



I then turned my attention to the transmission.  It was being held in with 2 bolts and was missing the torque converter.  I removed the shifter linkage, drive shaft, drive shaft loop and transmission cross member. This allowed me drop the rear of the transmission to access the bolts and drop it using an ATV jack.  Once I had it detached I was able to install the torque converter. 

Before I reinstalled everything, I took the opportunity to properly run and secure the wiring harness.  It is much easier to do now rather than trying to do it with such limited clearance later on. Thankfully I had the proper bolts as I could only find 3 of 6 needed to bolt it to the engine in the "box of bolts" the car came with.

I tried to buy a used stock transmission dipstick tube but everybody wanted way too much for them. Once you add in shipping it became obvious I needed to figure something else out.  I ended up finding a universal assembly that worked great from Summit Racing.  It bolted right up and looks just like stock.

Lastly I attached the transmission cooler lines to the transmission.  They were bent up quite a bit and took some "massaging" to get them to work.  Once satisfied I put the transmission in place and bolted everything back up.



As unmotivated as the day started, it ended on a great note.  This is one step closer to starting the engine and hearing it run will be a huge milestone!




Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 10, 2018 at 9:53 AM

    Great job! Hopefully the transmission isn't shot. It's been many years.

    ReplyDelete

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