Racer X

Yes, once the 4 bolts are removed the pump drops right out. If the cover is still on the engine, and the engine is upright, the spindle will fall out too. When I have removed oil pumps with the engine still in the chassis, I found it helpful to pull the distributor, and clamp a needle nose vice grip on the distributor drive tang, so the spindle stays put. You will find that assembling the new cover to the engine will be easier without the spindle and oil pump in place. Once you get the cover on, it will be a bit tricky to get the spindle in the correct position so the distributor will line up correctly. Good luck.

Happy birthday to Mario Andretti, 81 years young today.

On closer inspection, I see his shovels are made in Mexico. Still America, from our neighbors to the South. I'm good with that. Commerce, trade and all that. I am feeling the urge to make a shovel guitar myself, and relearn how to play. It looks like fun, and I like to do things that are fun. I'll have to swing by the shovel section the next time I'm in my local small town hardware store.

This guy makes guitars out of shovels. American shovels. In America. And he plays them very well. I like his percussive approach to guitar playing. Oh, and he sells them too.

Working a Saturday at The Big Shed.

Reminds me of a freeway interchange near Dallas/Fort Worth.

I have to add one thing. The L series engine cam cover gasket doesn’t require any sealer. The correct gasket (remember, don’t use the cork ones!) will seal perfectly, and can be reused over and over, dozens of times. Torque the cover bolts every time you install it.

Sealing is the same for any engine that uses gaskets. Get high quality fiber based gaskets, not cork. Cork gaskets will leak before you even install them. For the oil pan, timing cover and rocker covers, be sure the flanges are straight, flat and true. No deformation around the bolt holes. Clean the mating surfaces with lacquer thinner using clean lint free rags, and wipe dry with another clean dry rag. This is important. The cleaning solvent must be wiped off before it dries, or any contamination will be left behind, and the sealer will not adhere properly. Apply a thin film of grey RTV (if there is squeeze out, you used too much), apply the gasket, apply more RTV to the other side, install the cover or pan and the bolts. Only run the bolts down finger tight (I use a 1/4 drive deep socket). Let it sit overnight. Pull the bolts out and add one drop of blue LocTite 242 to each one and reinstall. Then torque every bolt to the torque spec for the fastener size. Do not overtighten. For the intake manifold, again, don’t use cork gaskets. If I recall correctly, rubber gaskets come with the intake gasket set for the front and rear of the valley. A thin film of grey RTV on both sides, and an extra dab at the right and left ends where the surface transitions to the cylinder head (there was a GM service bulletin on this back in the day). The better quality gasket sets will have silicone sealer preapplied to the gaskets common to the head and intake manifold, so no additional sealer is needed there. If there is any squeeze out, you have too much sealer on. The excess can break off, get picked up by the oil pump and clog small oil passages in the crank, and valve train, resulting in lubrication failure. Like with the pan and covers, thread the bolts finger tight, wait overnight, then pull the bolts, add a drop of blue LocTite 242, and torque to spec. The distributor only needs a paper gasket, with no sealer. Again, do not use cork.

It would have to be more than a quart low to have trouble picking up oil at idle (assuming the car is not moving). My first car was a 62 Impala with a 283. It leaked at the front and rear seals, the oil pan, and the rocker covers. It still ran great when I used that car up and sold it to the junk man, probably the only useful thing left. I was pretty hard on that car. My second car was a 64 Chevelle, 2 door post. I yanked the 6 banger out and dropped in a 327, and a 2 speed Powerglide out of a 65 Chevelle hardtop a buddy had that he totalled. It leaked oil, but not as bad as the 283 in the Impala. I sold that car and bought a 65 Comet Caliente, 289, 3 speed full syncro floor shift. It didn't leak oil, or burn any. Fun car. Fast car. My next car was a 66 Impala SS396, Turbo 400, posi rear end. The rear main leaked a little bit, but not enough to make me want to pull the tranny to fix it. Besides, I nearly went broke keeping tires in the rear wheels. After too many tickets I traded it straight across for a 66 VW Beetle. It didn't leak oil. It was a fun car to load up with beer and 3 buddies, then go up into the mountains where only 4x4's dare run. If we did run into a stretch that was impassable, we all got out, picked up the front of the car and swung it around. Otherwise we always had a good time watching the reactions from the 4x4s when we reached the top of a particulary difficult stretch of road. After that I bought a 72 Camaro. I did't leak oil. An old timer I apprenticed under showed me how to seal up Chevy engines. A while later I discovered Datsuns, started racing one, and bought a 73 GMC dually with a 396 to pull the race trailer. Using the secrets imparted by the sage mentioned earlier, I sealed it up. It was a good truck, and later replaced by a 75 Chevy 3500 dually with a 454. Again, leaking was addressed and that rig served me well. In 2001 I replaced it with a brand new Ram 3500, Cummins 5.9 24 valve and NVG 6 speed manual. I just gave it a 140,000 mile oil and filter change, rotated the tires and adjusted air pressures, and gave it a full inspection. I doesn't leak anything but torque. By the way, I like the color you shot the car with. What is it from? Looks a bit like the bright colors used on the Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars of the early 70's. Is a manual transmission coming? A 5 or a six speed would compliment the car well, especially on twisty roads, or the road course.

Typical Chevy engine, hemorrhaging oil from every possible place it can. You know it is time to add oil when it stops leaking, eh?

The later L series engines had electronic everything, and the thermostat housing has plenty of places to add another sensor, and you can retain the carburetor "cooling" line. 3/8" pipe is 0.675" diameter, and 16mm metric pipe is about 0.629". I was able to run a 3/8" pipe thread tap into the hole in the housing on my race car to allow the mechanical Stewart Warner gage bulb to be used. So you could give that a go. And one of the other holes could be used for a switch for and electric fan.

I was thinking taking an aluminum tee with a pipe thread a diameter that pipe nipple OD is the ID of the radiator hose, cut a nipple in half, dress the ends and stick them in, and bush the side outlet to 3/8" for the sender. But this is a much more elegant solution, probably cheaper than the bits of pipe, and the only labor is the installation. Sweet.

Where can one buy Alcantera?