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Restoration Journal2001:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2002:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
November
2003:
January
February
March
April
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November 1, 2001
Removed the dipstick tube from the 318 to use on the 340. Required a little heat. I also removed the oil filter adapter from the 318 to see exactly what gaskets are involved, as I can't find anything in the FSM about it. After inspecting it, I learned there was one other gasket in the FelPro kit that I needed to use on the 340. So I removed the adapter from the 340, added the gasket, and replaced the adapter.Down to the basement to derust/depaint the dipstick tube, and the alternator brackets from the 318. Last activity for the night was to put a coat of red on the dipstick tube, and POR15 on the brackets.
November 2, 2001
No actual work today - just took these shots of the engine:
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November 5, 2001
Spent some time just thinking about the process of installing the engine. Had the realization that I can't install the bell housing before the flywheel/clutch, as I was planning on. It would be too hard to get them installed inside the bell housing. I wanted to get the bell housing bolted on before dropping in the engine, since access to those bolts once in the car is difficult. Oh well.I degreased the tranny-to-bell housing bolts. I also bolted the engine mounts on the block and got the clutch fork/boot intalled in the bell housing. That's about it; a portion of the night was spent looking at the Northern Lights, which I hadn't seen since the 70's.
November 6, 2001
Got home while the sun was still up, and the weather was warm, so I put a coat of paint on the bell housing, clutch inspection cover, and the dipstick tube. They'd all been painted already, but with a different brand of engine paint, and they didn't match the engine block.Removed the water pump. After much research that didn't turn up anything conclusive, I decided to use a small amount of lithium grease on both sides of the gasket. I then replaced the pump and torqued down the bolts.
Did the same thing with the valve cover gaskets. Somebody on the email list had said a thin coat of lithium grease will make a good seal, so I again put some on both sides of the gasket and replaced the covers.
November 7, 2001
Picked up a 1/2" drive socket on the way home, so I'll be able to torque down the oil filter adapter. Also picked up some 6" long bolts that I can use as guides when installing the transmission.In the evening I just read parts of the FSM, making sure my engine/clutch/tranny installation plan makes sense with what the factory suggested.
November 8, 2001
Installed the fuel pump. Checked the torque on the engine mounts. Did final installation of the oil filter adapter; removed it, applied a little grease to the outside gasket, and replaced it, using a torque of 40 ft-lbs.Then removed the pilot bushing from the 318, just to see how difficult it will be to remove the one in the 340. I used a hack saw blade, a hammer and a screw driver. It took a while, but I eventually got it out (in pieces). I make a coupld minor marks in the crank, but nothing major.
November 9, 2001
Installed the center link, as that will help support the engine until the transmission is put in place. I also installed the brake distribution block and right front brake line. Much easier to get them in while the engine bay is empty.I was also going to prime the engine, but the piece of iron rod that I bought as part of my home-made priming tool was too big to pass through the bushing. No big deal - it didn't really need to be done.
November 10, 2001
Realized I hadn't cleaned up the 4 bolts that hold the transmission support to the cross member in the frame, so went downstairs and did that. Then I picked up the engine hoist from Keith's house. Once I got home, I carried all the parts that were going to be used during the day into the garage.Bear came over at 10:00, and by 2:00 we had the engine and tranny in! Here's a rundown of the activities:
Got the engine off the stand and on the garage floor, sitting on a piece of carpet and a 2x4. First step was to remove the old pilot pushing from the crank. The chisel I bought for that purpose broke, making things more difficult. After about 30 minutes we had it out. We had to whack on the new pilot bushing pretty hard to get it in, resulting in a slightly deformed outer end. Some light grinding w/ the dremel tool got rid of the flange we had created.
I change my mind at the last minute and decided to install the flywheel/clutch assembly w/ the motor out of the car. Very wise decision - it would've been a pain doing it lying on my back under the car. Bolt on the flywheel and clutch assembly was uneventful. I cleaned the pressure plate and flywheel surfaces w/ brake cleaner.
Last thing before dropping the motor in was the bell housing. We bolted it up to the block, and we were ready to roll, after we removed the hood from the car.
We covered the fenders and nose w/ blankets and sheets. Bear slid the hoist in place while I guided the motor. After a couple minutes, it was sitting in the bay! And we didn't scratch anything!
It took about an hour to get the transmission in. It was a bit of a pain doing it while laying under the car, but we knew it wouldn't be much fun. I got the front of the car up on jack stands, and we set the tranny on my crawler. Then we used a floort jack to raise the transmission up to the same level as the bell housing. With Bear lifting the rear of the transmission, we were able to get the input shaft inserted far enough so that we could get the 6" guide bolts into the bell housing. Once we got a couple of those in place, things went pretty smoothly.
We had to install the driveshaft in the tranny so that we could get the splines on the input shaft aligned w/ those on the clutch. Once we did that however, it slid into place. We replaced the guide bolts w/ the actual bolts one by one, and then used the floor jack to lift the rear of the tranny high enough so that we could bolt the support in place.
That was pretty much it. If you are trying this yourself and want more info, drop me a note.
November 11, 2001
Returned the engine hoist. And then I spent a couple hours doing the little tasks necessary to finish up the engine/tranny installation. Such as tightening the transmission mount bolts, installing the clutch inspection cover, torquing down the engine mount nuts, and replacing the 2 intake manifold bolts we removed for lifting the engine. I also raised the front suspension (it sank several inches w/ the weight of the engine), and installed the starter as long as I was crawling around under the car.November 12, 2001
With the assistance of my lovely wife, I put the hood back on the car. I was thinking about just leaving it off, but the car cover really didn't fit well without a hood and the hood hinges sticking up in the air! Other than that, I took the night off.November 13, 2001
Installed the lower alternator bracket. I didn't really need to do that yet, but I wanted to get that last water pump bolt in place.It's unusually warm for November right now, and the forecast says it will be warm enough this weekend for outdoor painting. So, I'm gonna try to clean up some pieces this week in preparation. I spent the rest of the night in the basement derusting the fan and fan pulley with sand paper. I wished several times I had a media blasting cabinet...
November 14, 2001
Finished sanding the fan and pulley. Put a single coat of paint on one side of the fan. I debated using POR15, but just went w/ the Krylon spray bomb in the end. If it starts to rust through, it's easy enough to remove and repaint.Also took these shots of the engine in the car. As usual, click for big version:
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November 15, 2001
Finished painting the fan and fan pulley. I then bolted both of them, as well as the crank pulley, on the motor.I then turned to the air cleaner. I bought Bear's old one, which is chrome. I removed the "340 4-bbl" sticker (that was a pain), and scuff sanded it. I then applied some Krylon black wrinkle paint. It turned out really well - take a look at future pictures of the engine bay.
November 17, 2001
Almost definitely the last nice weekend day of the year, so I did some outdoor activities - derusting the bumper brackets and painting them. I had previously taken car of one of the front ones in the summer sometime, so I just had 3 to do. They were extremely rusty, as you might imagine.After wire wheeling them in the back yard, I put a coat of POR15 and a top coat of black on them.
November 18, 2001
Decided to flip the spring hangers to get the rear end of the car down a couple inches. It was a pain in the ass, as I didn't want to disassemble everything. I tried to do this w/ the wheels and housing still bolted to the springs.Well, I eventually managed to do it, and get the hangers flipped. Then, when I tried to bolt them back to the frame, I discovered the bolt holes didn't line up! I didn't know that there is a different spacing between the top 2 and bottom 2 studs. So, I returned them to their original spots and bolted everything back together. What a drag - that was a complete waste of time.
I also removed the carb studs/bolts from the 318, cleaned them up, and put them in the 340. Since I'm going to use the exhaust manifold bolts from the 318 for the 340, I removed them (and the manifolds) from the 318.
November 19, 2001
Organized parts in the basement; I had months of boxes from several vendors stacked up. I emptied all the boxes and organized the parts by subsystem, so I know what I've got. My organizing wife assisted me.I then thought it would be wise to add some body bumpers to the car to prevent metal from contacting metal. For some unknown reason, those little tasks always take longer than you think they will. The only ones I got in place before the end of the night were the hood bumpers.
November 20, 2001
Spent a good portion of the night paging through Jim's auto parts catalog and placing an order. About half the parts were resto oriented, and half were from Mopar Performance. Much of it was ignition related parts.After that I spent 90 minutes boxing up my grille, headlight bezels, trunk lid trim and tail lights to be sent off for restoration. That's going to be very expensive, but I've seen the work that AllTrim does, and I think I'll be very happy with the results.
One bad thing about having a new paint job - the trim that gets bolted to it must look very good also...
November 21, 2001
Removed the carb from the car so I could get a part number off of it. Did a little research on the Holley site and found out I've got a 4160. Once I knew that, I was able to buy a gasket for it and the fuel line for it.I removed the NPT fittings from the intake manifold and old water pump and cleaned them up instead of buying new ones. I also removed the throttle return spring bracket and throttle cable bracket from the 318. I'll be able to use them on the 340.
November 23-25, 2001
Derusted and painted the throttle return spring bracket and throttle cable bracket. The throttle cable bracket was a pain - the stud had broken off when I tried to remove the nut. So, I had to drill that stud out, which took quite a while.I also degreased/derusted all the exhaust manifold bolts and studs. I wasn't able to remove the studs from the heads at first (even with heat and vise grips), but a list member gave me a great tip. To remove studs, place 2 nuts on the stud, and then turn the inner one. The outer nut keeps the inner one from turning, so then the stud turns. Worked like a charm.
Realized that the bypass hose fitting from the 318 won't work for the 340. The Edelbrock intake uses 3/4" NPT, and the stock one used 1/2" NPT. Apparently this change was made around 1970 or so. I'll have to find a reducer or adapter of some sort.
On Sunday I degreased/derusted/painted the alternator bolts and spacers, the hose that runs from the air cleaner to the valve cover (and the clamps), as well as the breather that sits on the driver's valve cover. It all looks like new, even though it's 33 years old.
Last accomplishment was cleaning up the throttle cable and accelerator pedal. I even went so far as to install it in the car! One small problem - the linkage from the old Carter is different than on the Holley. I'll have to fabricate something to connect the cable to the carb.
November 26, 2001
Picked up some nylon (or maybe some kind of plastic?) bushings on the way home to be used as a sleeve for the pin that connects the throttle cable to the carb. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so some drilling/grinding/shaping was required. But I was happy when I was done - the cable was now solidly connected to the carb.I then bolted on the throttle cable bracket. I was able to get the cable secured and routed so that things work, but the ferrule on the cable was not under the clamp as it should be. It will work, but it's not right. So I need to decide if I can live with it, or buy the correct throttle cable.
November 27, 2001
Took several measurements of the hole in the dash for where the tach would go, and then did some research on the internet to see what might fit in there. Came to the conclusion (and people on the email list have said as much) that I'll have to buy a 2 5/8" tach, and then fabricate some mounting mechanism.Also piced up some NPT on the way home to adapt the old bypass hose fitting to the new intake. I got that new part painted, and then I installed all hose fitting in the intake/water pump with some thread sealant.