New guy 79 factory 4 speed wagon.

Mighty

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Apr 14, 2023
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Put the trans in, driveshaft, laid the new bushings out on the frame and lowered the body tonight. Got a couple of the body bolts tightened already. Might be able to see the floor modification to clear reverse in the second picture.
 

t5montecarlo

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Oct 21, 2007
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Well Done! Nearly there!

It is a shame you had to cut the shifter tunnel. I hope you can put that part back in, but a little to the left to seal the inside from the outside, and that the piece of plastic trim will fit over it. When done, it will look like it was meant to be there.

I know the T10 tailhousing is wider than the Saginaw, where the shifter is. Is it not possible to move the shifter any further to the right? I suppose it would require a modification to the bracket that bolts to the tailhousing. Don't lose that piece you cut out of the shifter tunnel in case in future you feel like making a new shifter bracket.
 

Mighty

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All I did was made 2 cuts and folded the metal over with a big pair of channel locks. 78maliburacer had the idea. He provided the shifter hump that he used so I could see where and how big the modification had to be. Also, I’ve only got 3 body bushing bolts in loosely at the moment and they’re all in the back. The transmission support on the crossmember isn’t bolted down yet either. Maybe when everything is tightened up things will shift around a little
 

malibu795

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Nice
 
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Mighty

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Figured I’d update this. The wagon is pretty much all back together. Redid the rear brake lines last week out of boredom. Bled the brakes, put fresh coolant in after it all slowly leaked out of the upper and lower hoses when I had the body up on the rack, and refilled the rearend after most of the gear oil drained when I replaced the pinion yoke. Got the gas tank vent line all done up. Im literally only waiting on my steering column. The neighbor mechanic next door to my brother claims he can fix it up so he’s had it going on about 2 weeks now. Shame it’s this late into the year but oh well. The car has only been sitting for 20 years, another 7-8 months isn’t going to kill me I before I can have any fun with it. I’m mostly just killing time looking for interior screws that I can use to fill in all the empty holes on the dash and trim now. I’d love for the car to go 12.99 in the quarter mile just one time and I’m already planning on ordering a new set of heads for it this winter or next spring, I just have to do a lot of homework. Even with a better set of heads though, 12.99 might be just out of my reach. I do have to look around and see if I can find some radiator mounting stuff for it because some where along the way it all disappeared (not during my current project) and a battery hold down.
 

t5montecarlo

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The battery hold down should be easy to locate from some place like Dorman; it is just a triangular piece of plastic that screws into the battery tray in front of the bottom of the battery.

If I was closer, I would fix your column for you. It isn't too difficult.
 
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Mighty

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That would be excellent! We’ve been good friends with the guy doing the column and he’s not charging me so I can’t complain at all. I did fund his cookout this weekend for doing the repair though. I’ve been struggling this week trying to decided if I should just bite the bullet and buy heads now while it’s still in the shop or wait. I’m just afraid that once I get it going again I’m not going to want to have to make time for it to be down again switching heads lol. Decisions decisions……..
 

t5montecarlo

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Yes, that is a tough one. If you don't get it ready until later this year, perhaps it is opportunity to deal with heads and then you can have peace of mind that you are done...are they really done?
 

Mighty

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Being my first solo project I’m kind of hesitant about the heads. I have a set picked out that id like to have but I don’t know how big of a can of worms that can open up. My brother has been busy lately and leaving early so I don’t really get time yo discuss it with him. From what I can find about the current heads that are on it (world product SR torquer) it looks like they were all 170cc with either a 67 or 76cc combustion chamber. 2.02 or 1.94 valves is all I see. My dad couldn’t remember any specifications on them from when he purchased them over 20 years ago. He also couldn’t quite remember what machine work he had to have done on them when he switched cams. I’d like to buy a set of AFR 180 or 195cc eliminator street heads. They have a 65cc combustion chamber and I would maybe buy a thinner gasket both would bump tye compression some which I know is common sense. But I would assume I’ll have to upgrade rockers and would like yo run a 1.6:1 but I don’t know how in depth that is. Push rods probably have to be changed to I would imagine. Can i even upgrade the rockers?! Are the springs that come on the new assembled heads any good? I’ve got a lot of homework to do
 

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