I've found that cardboard is cheap! And much easier to tweak to get things just right.
My Cam Research for the Experts Eye
- Thread starter TXChevy
- Start date
I've found that cardboard is cheap! And much easier to tweak to get things just right.
Little bit on the shifter, if you look at my other th400 thread you can tell I work back and forth on stuff 
I replaced the neutral safety micro-switch with a roller type switch. Not a big deal, just replacing the switch that had worked well for about 30 years. Amazon came through on the new switch, I got 6 switches for about a buck each and they are Omron switches. I guess I've got several lifetimes' worth of switches.
New switch installed. It's a three-contact, C, NO, NC so if I wanted to do something fancy with the NC contact I can (like an in-gear indicator).
But there's a long to-do list just to get the transmission cranked up so I'll save the fancy stuff for another day.
I replaced the neutral safety micro-switch with a roller type switch. Not a big deal, just replacing the switch that had worked well for about 30 years. Amazon came through on the new switch, I got 6 switches for about a buck each and they are Omron switches. I guess I've got several lifetimes' worth of switches.
New switch installed. It's a three-contact, C, NO, NC so if I wanted to do something fancy with the NC contact I can (like an in-gear indicator).
But there's a long to-do list just to get the transmission cranked up so I'll save the fancy stuff for another day.
Center Console ......
Well it's not really a console yet, just the stuff needed to drive the car.
I went by my local steel supply - they have drops, which are the remaining cut pieces, priced at a fraction of the price of the original steel sheet/shape. I stocked up on 16ga sheet steel and a lot of drops, about 4 ft lengths of tube, angle, flat bar, solid round bar, etc. In this crap economy, any savings is needed, and it gives me a lot of available steel in the shop, comes in really handy.
I've got water temp and oil pressure gauges in the dash, but I need to have transmission temp, volts, and fuel level as well. I've also got that 6-led indicator panel finished, so the dash itself is pretty much done. Just some switches and the decorative trim panel and glovebox.
For now, until the interior work starts, I just need something sturdy to put the gauges into. I started with my favorite template material - cardboard. Fiddled with what I wanted in the car, and came up with this 16 ga sheet steel shape.
My handy-dandy homemade bender in my hand-dandy homemade 20 ton press worked really nicely.
I'll go back and add some corner stiffeners but wanted to get this made and fit to the car.
Over the past couple of days I routed all the needed wiring for the gauges, neutral safety, and line-lock to the (future) center console area.
The new gauge panel fit fine, I used my favorite - rivet nuts - to secure it in place.
Aside from a general cleanup of this work area, this is pretty much how it's going to look until I start on the interior.
First things first - I need to be able to drive the car to get both the engine and transmission broken in and of course to see if there's any issues that come up. Running a car on stands is one thing, running it on the road is quite another.
Edit - got the gauge panel painted, I really like using caliper paint. Nice gloss but not over the top.
Edit - started putting the gauges into the panel. I got a black ring gauge by mistake for the trans temp but I'll use it, this is a setup for now until there's an actual console.
Well it's not really a console yet, just the stuff needed to drive the car.
I went by my local steel supply - they have drops, which are the remaining cut pieces, priced at a fraction of the price of the original steel sheet/shape. I stocked up on 16ga sheet steel and a lot of drops, about 4 ft lengths of tube, angle, flat bar, solid round bar, etc. In this crap economy, any savings is needed, and it gives me a lot of available steel in the shop, comes in really handy.
I've got water temp and oil pressure gauges in the dash, but I need to have transmission temp, volts, and fuel level as well. I've also got that 6-led indicator panel finished, so the dash itself is pretty much done. Just some switches and the decorative trim panel and glovebox.
For now, until the interior work starts, I just need something sturdy to put the gauges into. I started with my favorite template material - cardboard. Fiddled with what I wanted in the car, and came up with this 16 ga sheet steel shape.
My handy-dandy homemade bender in my hand-dandy homemade 20 ton press worked really nicely.
I'll go back and add some corner stiffeners but wanted to get this made and fit to the car.
Over the past couple of days I routed all the needed wiring for the gauges, neutral safety, and line-lock to the (future) center console area.
The new gauge panel fit fine, I used my favorite - rivet nuts - to secure it in place.
Aside from a general cleanup of this work area, this is pretty much how it's going to look until I start on the interior.
First things first - I need to be able to drive the car to get both the engine and transmission broken in and of course to see if there's any issues that come up. Running a car on stands is one thing, running it on the road is quite another.
Edit - got the gauge panel painted, I really like using caliper paint. Nice gloss but not over the top.
Edit - started putting the gauges into the panel. I got a black ring gauge by mistake for the trans temp but I'll use it, this is a setup for now until there's an actual console.
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Throttle Linkage .....
Well, I thought that I'd have a simple re-install of the throttle bracket, but it was not to be.
I didn't want or need a cable system, the simple lever arm setup works well.
The ball end on the left attaches to a link rod to the carburetor. This assembly bolts through the firewall and the left end is under the gas pedal.
Simple and effective.
However, if you look at my long-winded TH400 rebuild you'll find a lot of work done on configuring engine mounts and ensuring the drivetrain was positioned properly in the car. I had also found that the previous setup had placed too much weight on the transmission mount.
The result of this re-positioning raised the engine slightly in the engine compartment. No issues with header interference, but I found that the slight increase in height caused the throttle linkage rod to hit the carb linkage bracket. This was with gas pedal at rest.
The throttle rod was very close before - about 3/16 clearance - so the height increase meant I needed to lengthen the gas pedal linkage bracket.
Not a huge deal, but time-consuming. Those that have built cars know what I'm talking about, just small tasks that need resolution.
I didn't want to make an entirely new bracket so I cut the existing bracket and welded in a 1 inch extension.
Original bracket.
It clears everything throughout the entire arc, from idle to WOT.
A bit hard to see, but the throttle rod easily clears the carb linkage bracket.
I've not yet tidied up the spark plug wires and HEI wiring from the hoisting chains I had attached to the heads.
Another To-Do crossed off the list!
Well, I thought that I'd have a simple re-install of the throttle bracket, but it was not to be.
I didn't want or need a cable system, the simple lever arm setup works well.
The ball end on the left attaches to a link rod to the carburetor. This assembly bolts through the firewall and the left end is under the gas pedal.
Simple and effective.
However, if you look at my long-winded TH400 rebuild you'll find a lot of work done on configuring engine mounts and ensuring the drivetrain was positioned properly in the car. I had also found that the previous setup had placed too much weight on the transmission mount.
The result of this re-positioning raised the engine slightly in the engine compartment. No issues with header interference, but I found that the slight increase in height caused the throttle linkage rod to hit the carb linkage bracket. This was with gas pedal at rest.
The throttle rod was very close before - about 3/16 clearance - so the height increase meant I needed to lengthen the gas pedal linkage bracket.
Not a huge deal, but time-consuming. Those that have built cars know what I'm talking about, just small tasks that need resolution.
I didn't want to make an entirely new bracket so I cut the existing bracket and welded in a 1 inch extension.
Original bracket.
It clears everything throughout the entire arc, from idle to WOT.
A bit hard to see, but the throttle rod easily clears the carb linkage bracket.
I've not yet tidied up the spark plug wires and HEI wiring from the hoisting chains I had attached to the heads.
Another To-Do crossed off the list!
Fuel Tank Vent.......
Working back and forth with my transmission rebuild thread, since I had so much quality time under the car, I decided to run a vent line from the fuel pump vent outlet. For now, I'd rather get the fuel vent out from under the body.
Fairly straightforward - I chose blue PTFE lined tubing specifically to ID that this is a different line.
Connected to fuel outlet vent with a short piece of fuel rated 3/8 hose.
Installing an access hatch into the trunk floor was one of the best things I've done lol, super easy to get to everything.
Routes around fuel tank, heading to the back of the car.
That's some touch up repair needed from welding inside the trunk.
Goes to the rear bumper with a 90 elbow towards the ground. You can see the elbow on the left, sticking down a bit.
Future plan is to install a charcoal cannister later.
Working back and forth with my transmission rebuild thread, since I had so much quality time under the car, I decided to run a vent line from the fuel pump vent outlet. For now, I'd rather get the fuel vent out from under the body.
Fairly straightforward - I chose blue PTFE lined tubing specifically to ID that this is a different line.
Connected to fuel outlet vent with a short piece of fuel rated 3/8 hose.
Installing an access hatch into the trunk floor was one of the best things I've done lol, super easy to get to everything.
Routes around fuel tank, heading to the back of the car.
That's some touch up repair needed from welding inside the trunk.
Goes to the rear bumper with a 90 elbow towards the ground. You can see the elbow on the left, sticking down a bit.
Future plan is to install a charcoal cannister later.
Spark Plugs .........
Since the headers had to be dropped for all my other fooling around, the spark plugs had to come out too.
Before installing them again, I'm going to use my borescope to have a peek inside each cylinder.
I'm going to clean them of course, but here they are, as removed.
The brown, slight oily look on the threads is from a light application of copper anti-seize.
A good way to read what's happening in the cylinders.
Cylinders 1 - 4
Cylinders 5 - 8
Holley 850 VS with electric choke, vacuum secondaries, Edelbrock RPM oval port intake, re-curved HEI.
The plugs appear to generally show mixture on the rich side, which I had wanted (within reason) since this was a new engine. Since the initial running, I had tweaked the mixture screws a bit, as I could tell and smell it was running rich.
Cylinders 1, 2, 3 seem to have more soot/carbon, the rest of the cylinders look fairly consistent.
I think that the intake distribution is:
Side 1 plenum - cylinders 2, 3, 5, 8
Side 2 plenum - cylinders 1, 4, 6, 7
So it doesn't seem that one side or the other on the carb idle mix is too misadjusted. And the power valve selection seems to be ok but hasn't been under load yet. Jetting might benefit from a single digit change to smaller size.
The only thing I'll do is check the bowl float levels - too high can cause a rich condition and I can turn the idle mix 1/4 turn leaner.
Until the car's been driven there's no sense to make any drastic changes.
Since the headers had to be dropped for all my other fooling around, the spark plugs had to come out too.
Before installing them again, I'm going to use my borescope to have a peek inside each cylinder.
I'm going to clean them of course, but here they are, as removed.
The brown, slight oily look on the threads is from a light application of copper anti-seize.
A good way to read what's happening in the cylinders.
Cylinders 1 - 4
Cylinders 5 - 8
Holley 850 VS with electric choke, vacuum secondaries, Edelbrock RPM oval port intake, re-curved HEI.
The plugs appear to generally show mixture on the rich side, which I had wanted (within reason) since this was a new engine. Since the initial running, I had tweaked the mixture screws a bit, as I could tell and smell it was running rich.
Cylinders 1, 2, 3 seem to have more soot/carbon, the rest of the cylinders look fairly consistent.
I think that the intake distribution is:
Side 1 plenum - cylinders 2, 3, 5, 8
Side 2 plenum - cylinders 1, 4, 6, 7
So it doesn't seem that one side or the other on the carb idle mix is too misadjusted. And the power valve selection seems to be ok but hasn't been under load yet. Jetting might benefit from a single digit change to smaller size.
The only thing I'll do is check the bowl float levels - too high can cause a rich condition and I can turn the idle mix 1/4 turn leaner.
Until the car's been driven there's no sense to make any drastic changes.
Thanks, reminds me about fuel pressure too. Easy enough, I've got a pressure gauge on the regulator. If I remember right, its set at 6 psi, but I need to check.