I used Eastwood's Carb Renu to retone the carb. I also swapped out the manual choke for an electric choke. It came from a used Holley 600 CFM carb that I bought off eBay for about $25.
I then decided that if I was going to be pulling the intake, I would pull the heads with some higher-compression ones. They were low-compression D3 heads and and I could pick up a few horsepower. I found a set of relatively recently rebuilt D0VE-A heads. The stud bosses are already machined for adjustable rockers, and the seats have already been replaced. Since most heads are notoriously poor flowing on the exhaust side, I decided I would work the heads over a bit as well. So I ported and polished the exhaust ports, polished the combustion chamber, and did a small amount of work on the intake bowls and blended in a couple of sharp corners.
After pulling the old heads I found the block scored in several cylinders. No smoke from the engine just yet, but these are pretty deep. I started to check into the cost of reworking the block and crank, buying new pistons and rings, and more and decided that I would look for a rebuilt short block.
I found a zero-mile one on eBay local and picked it up for a good deal less than rebuilding the 460 block. It's a 429 rather than 460, but that really isn't that important to me one way or the other, so long as it works.
It ended up having a bunch of media in the water ports that needed to be cleaned out, but aside from that, everything looked good. I pulled a couple end caps and one of the mains to confirm the bearings were new and clean, and that the crank looked good. It all checked out, so I will need to finish putting it together.
One humorous find was the torque converter. It turns out the previous owner tossed a 10" converter in behind an otherwise stock 460 with a highway gear. It must be a 3000+ stall. I'll be replacing it with a big ol' stock converter.
I'll add more on the build as I get it put back together.
How do you wash the seatbelts?
ReplyDeleteTypically I use a bucket of warm water and lemon Lysol. I use Lysol because so many of these old belts have been uncleaned for so many years, or were in parts cars where critters had been running about, so who know what manner of filth is on them.
ReplyDeleteBelts go in and are gently washed with a sponge. Rinsed once in warm water and then through a fresh Lysol bath one more time. Rinse them thoroughly two more times then I let them hang to dry on a clothes rack. Usually are dry within 12 hours or so.
It's amazing how much of a difference it makes. The dirty belts are stiff, won't go through the buckles or adjust, and just plain look nasty. But you spend a little time cleaning them and they will actually get soft again and work better without having to tear the buckles apart (assuming your buckles aren't completely trashed).