Northstar rebuild: Will style (Page 51/119)
Will JUN 23, 10:45 AM
Made a new clutch tool out of some plastic rod hanging around. Clutch is on.

I just realized that I have to clearance the block at the lower right bellhousing mounting ear, because the Northstar pattern moved that one bolt... Here comes the die grinder.
Will JUN 23, 09:03 PM
Engine's on the cradle and the cradle is hanging under the car right now. In a few minutes I'm going to go back out and bolt on the A/C compressor. I should get it into the car and mostly hooked up tonight.

I misplaced my three wire coolant temp sensor, so I have to get another one tomorrow. This means that I won't be able to fill the coolant until that sensor is in place.

I'm unfortunately going to forego the accusump and oil cooler until I return from mobilization. Time constraints are just too tight. Under normal circumstances, I'd say never let a deadline compromise the requirements of a project, but this is not a normal circumstance. I know the engine does well enough without an oil cooler... it would just do better with one.

Besides, I have to rework the engine compartment A/C lines to have room for the accusump.
Will JUN 24, 02:22 AM
Bleh.... car's on it's wheels. Bed.
Will JUN 24, 08:24 AM
I should have put the transmission in the dishwasher also. The engine's all nice and clean and shiny... and it's bolted to a transmission that's grungy and grimy.
30+mpg JUN 24, 01:16 PM

quote
Will:I should have put the transmission in the dishwasher also. The engine's all nice and clean and shiny... and it's bolted to a transmission that's grungy and grimy.



Depends, are you going to actually drive it or just trailer it to shows?

It's been, what, 5-1/2 years since you last drove it?

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 06-24-2009).]

Will JUN 24, 04:53 PM
I drove it with a temporary engine in December '07 & January '08. Then the temp engine lost a head gasket and I parked it again.

The Mule spent last night on all four of its own wheels, but today it's been up and down and up and down chasing down all the little BS items that make things tough. The engine was dry, so it took a LOT of coolant. The thermostat housing had pinched its o-ring or something and leaked, so I had to drain a good bit of coolant back out of the system and fix that.

I *hate* being covered in coolant (or brake fluid, or basically any glycol), but I had to be under the car getting dripped on making sure that the thermostat & o-ring were correctly positioned in the thermostat housing. I also replaced the heater core, because I'd smelled coolant with the heater last time I had it running. The cooling system is filled now.

The tank had about 5 gallons of 1.5 year old 93 in it. I was glad I put a +12 wire in the diagnostic connector. There's also a fuel pump wire there (stock), so all I have to do to pump out the tank is jumper those two pins. I'll be dropping about 5 gallons of C16 into it for the first fire. Throwing 5-6 gallons of 93 in on top of that should give me about 104 octane, just to be safe for the break-in with high compression.

The clutch releases. I desperately need a new select cable, but the current one will work temporarily.

Everything that can be accessed from above is connected. I have a few more chores underneath, but then I should be able to fire it up.
Nashco JUN 24, 06:12 PM
Good progress, Will. It's amazing what a deadline can do to speed up progress on projects, huh?

Bryce
Will JUN 24, 06:33 PM
Feh. There are lots of little things like reworking the A/C lines and adding oil cooler/accusump that I'm not going to do until later due to the deadline.

I have all the little jobs taken care of except designing the tensioner adapter for the new accessory drive. That shouldn't be hard, as long as I can find the damned alternator bolt that disappeared... yes, the 3" long one from the bottom of the alternator... not the others that are easily replaced.
Will JUN 24, 08:12 PM
Found it. I just had to go out to the garage with my car keys as I was about to go get the replacement, and the old one showed up.

The accessories are all bolted on and set up. I'm playing with a different tensioner (pulls the opposite direction) and a different arrangement of the belt to give more crank pulley wrap and allow a smaller alternator bracket.
Rickady88GT JUN 24, 08:37 PM
Pics?