Ed

Well, I guess that my theory just went out the window :stupid: . But it does look like #1 is running hot, or lean. Take your head to a shop and have it hot tanked, 3 angle valve job, and have them do a pressure test. If it still has the old brass seats on the intakes have those replaced with some hardend steel. They will probably want to resurface the head to get it cleaned up.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14541&page=1&pp=15

Rick, PM your address and I will send you the piece of plexiglass and the syringe that I used to calculate the cc's on my head. It's easy to do and will take you less than an hour.

If you take your time and enjoy yourself you could strip the 72 in less than two weeks, keep a log book, make drawings and take a lot of pictures during the process. They will all help when it comes time to reassemble. Once you get to taking things apart you will find that bolts break, gaskets rip, and rubber need replacing. I have been rebuilding my 73 for over a year. I spend atleast 2 hours a day working on this or that. On the weekends I will work maybe 5 hours. Sometimes I will work more and sometimes you need to just take a break. The most important thing is to not get burned out. If you have the money and you can send the work out then you could do the job in as little as four months. But if you like to do it all yourself and do a good job I would say a couple of years. Or you can get the guys from "Overhauling" to steal your car. Either way enjoy! :classic:

Hard to be sure not knowing which picture is which cylinder and missing one. But notice the color of the exhaust valves. Two are nice and brown like they have been burned clean. The other three are black and covered with carbon like the intake valves. This means your running too lean on the brown valves and too rich on the black valves. If you can take a picture of the entire head in one picture.

One more thing, if your "gash" is anywhere near the frame rail you can bet that the frame rail has rust too.

Thanks Professor.

What did I miss?

two

Instead of replacing the entire floor pan why don't you just cut out the rusted part and replace it with some 18 guage sheet metal. You will retain the structural integrity and it will look better. If you do most of the work yourself you will pay a welder for only one maybe two hours of labor. Start by stripping the undercoating and removing the carpets. Cut out the rusted metal with a skill saw or sawzall. Clean the area around the cut, remove all the paint and under coating so it won't burn when welded (about 2" worth, a grinder with a 80 grit abrasive pad works great). Now cut a patch that will fit perfect. Cut the patch a little large, by about 1/8 inch. Then grind to fit. You don't want a gap anywhere around the patch. Some people will tell you that overlapping the edges is easier, and it is, but it will also provide a space for rust to develop. Take it to your welder and have him butt weld the patch and grind smooth. Now you can do the POR-15 to finish.

Nice job on those Kenny, I must say you have inspired me. Did you do anything to polish up the metal part of the emblems?

No kidding, that is a sweet ride. I was there with you for a moment on that ride. Take some more pictures for us. I am also jealous.

Phred, I want to take you up on this offer of figuring out the compression ratio. I just finished cc'ing my head and these are the #'s I came up with: #1- 38.8, #2- 38.6, #3- 39.2, #4- 39.4, #5- 38.6, #6- 38.2 The block is a '81 F54 with the stock flat top pistons. And I'm using a Felpro head gasket. Also I have a .020 head gasket shim by Felpro but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it. I guess it all depends on what my compression ratio comes out to. Thanks

Take the entire engine to get worked. Have them rebuild the whole thing. New bearings, rings and gaskets for the block. The head I guess depends on how bad it looks. New valve stem seals for sure. New grind on the valves. I don't know how far the AU dollar can stretch but It shouldn't cost more than 1,000. For the rest of your budget you should do the brakes and have the bushings inspected. Save the rest for those surprises. Enjoy!

If I remember correctly, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) I'm going by memory here . The E88 and the N42 have similar chamber CC's I think there is 2-3 cc's differance. But the advantage of a N42 over the E88 is the larger valve's in the N42.

I noticed that my 72 had a 7 blade cooling fan and my 73 had 8 blades. Does anyone know the reason for this? And which would provide better cooling?

I don't know if she will be complete by spring. I guess it depends on me getting some heat into the garage. Winters are brutal up here!!!!!!!!! I will atleast have the suspension and other undercarrage components on there.

Here is another spook I think looks very good. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=10179&sort=1&cat=500&page=2

I picked one up from Autozone for $40.00 a while back. Not sure if they still have them but they are not expensive.

Someone took advantage of the "buy it now" and she's gone.

Looks used.

Thanks Carl.

Carl, what is that access panel made out of? Mine is missing and was wondering about a replacement.