Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

[RUSTY Cuda]

Did a little blasting on the manifold, but it's gonna be a lot of work to save this baby, I got some #'s of it, is it at least a good one for this car/motor.............I think the last one is 5 or s 1570

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

The mating surfaces seem to clean up ok with no pits

 

[Dr.Jass]

The manifold should be OK as long as it's not warped. Don't sandblast any of the gasket flanges. Clean those up with a Scotch-Brite wheel.

It's a '71 340 intake. I was wondering why there was a block-off plate over the choke well, but now that makes sense.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Did a front & back section on the valve covers these should be fine.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

This is the Holly Dominator on there, could probably clean up a lot easier, what I think is the mount for the coil bracket is cracked is that a leaker up there or can I still use it.

 

[b-body-bob]

My 360 has a 392 oil pan on it for a car. That's later model but it will work. It's also a PITA to search for because you get all the results for a modern hemi.

 

[b-body-bob]

This is the Holly Dominator on there, could probably clean up a lot easier, what I think is the mount for the coil bracket is cracked is that a leaker up there or can I still use it.
View attachment 25432

That crack won't hurt anything.

Did a front & back section on the valve covers these should be fine.View attachment 25431

What about all that crap inside it under the baffle? That's where I'm kind of hung up. A lot of it came out but some of it didn't. They aren't close to right for my car but I can cut those extra piece parts off if they bother me enough.

I'm doing all I can to avoid using abrasives near things that are internal to the engine. Seems like I recall reading about people using scotch-brite cookies to clean something and ended up with grit in the bearings.

 

[Dr.Jass]

That crack won't hurt anything.

Agreed. I mentioned this previously, along with installing a Heli-Coil to restore the coil-mount function.

What about all that crap inside it under the baffle? That's where I'm kind of hung up. A lot of it came out but some of it didn't. They aren't close to right for my car but I can cut those extra piece parts off if they bother me enough.

If you can't get it out with brake cleaner (or acetone, or lacquer thinner, or...) and bottle brushes, it ain't ever coming out. It certainly won't create an issue when the engine's assembled and running. If I had a dollar for every old, grungy engine on which we reused the old, grungy valve covers without issue, I'd have a lot more dollars.

I'm doing all I can to avoid using abrasives near things that are internal to the engine. Seems like I recall reading about people using scotch-brite cookies to clean something and ended up with grit in the bearings.

That sounds much more like sloppy work (and a Fram oil filter) than the fault of the tools. Everything gets cleaned before installation. I'll be using 3M bristle discs on a half-assembled engine (the Valiant's 340) later this year and have no concerns. I'll have rags stuffed everywhere, shop vac, and solvent. I've no worry about such contamination. It's never happened to me in the past so I'm not going to sweat about it now.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Today I'm gonna concentrate on the valve covers, my blasting setup is a real rube job, I'll Call Jerry & see if he has the proper pan & pickup to exchange, this time I'll bring the pics.
This is already an aftermarket pan, is it the same shape as an original pan? & the pick up.

 

[b-body-bob]

My 392 pan looks like the unpainted one and the pickup similar to the one that's attached to the pump.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The pan and pickup you already have are fine other than the pan needing some paint. As I said, the one you got from Jerry is a truck pan. If you look at where the steering arms are on the car as compared to where the pan will sit, you'll realize the steering linkage needs to go straight through where the sump sits.

While you've got the blaster out, do the pan as well. Other than being chrome, it looks very similar to an OE pan. In fact, a lot of the aftermarket chrome units were just plated OE parts.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

So I went online to a couple of places, the "stock" pans they list all are shaped like mine.
I called Jerry & he insists it is the stock pan & my shape is aftermarket.
I did some crude measuring in the engine bay & if that would fit it would be awful close.
So I will return the pan & the pickup.
Mr 340 wants his shop welder to fix my pickup & thinks I'd be wasting money on a new oil pump, I hope he's right on that one, so I guess I'll blast what I have for a pan, get some new gaskets & put it back together & pray.
Gonna order the molly push rods & freeze out plugs soon then it's clean up the rest of the nasty motor & paint it up!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

So after blasting the valve covers I quit blasting because it was too hot & the beads were sticking all over my sweat, then my friend calls & asks if I have a half hour to help pull the body off a jeep!
Well after 2 1/2 hours baking in the sun, we finally managed to get it up on his rolling table!
That thing is 4' off the ground, but he's a madman & we finally did manage it!
my little work!
even a touch of the orig. blue paint! the mad scientist's project!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Just ordered the Tooley push rods from summit, some hi temp primer & chrysler blue engine paint, next week I'll get the pickup to Donnie for welding, then my nasty work can begin.
A few weeks ago I was running out of things to do that I was ready for, now I have an endless list!
Need some garage work to for those really hot days, I can flip on the old A/C!

 

[Dr.Jass]

I called Jerry & he insists it is the stock pan & my shape is aftermarket.

He's half-right. It is the stock pan... for a truck. It WILL NOT FIT an E-body. Jerry's been playing with non-stock race cars too long. There aren't a lot of guys on this site who have E-bodies, but you know who does have one? Me. That rear-sump pan will not fit any A, B, C, or E-body. It would block the steering linkage. That's why your pan has the forward mid-sump. Yes, yours is aftermarket--probably Mopar Performance or Direct Connection--meaning it's just a chrome-plated stock pan.

There are four loose oil pans in my garage. Three of them came off 340s, and one came off a 360. One's a truck pan. My 360 came out of a truck, so I know which one's the 360 pan. I also have a 7-quart pan on a 340 that came out of a stock-chassis Cuda bracket car. It's a forward mid-sump like yours, only much deeper. It's literally a deep sump welded to a stock pan.

Here, I'll show you what it takes to run a rear-sump pan in a passenger car without switching to rack-and-pinion steering, and you can share the picture with Jerry.

In this photo, the front of the car is to the right. The oil pan shown fits E-bodies as well as A- and B-bodies since the oil-pan-to-steering-linkage relationship is the same between all three. Look over toward the left. See that "white spot" peeking between the header and frame rail? That's a reflection of the camera flash off the edge of the bellhousing flange. Obviously this is a rear sump pan, as rear as possible. The front side of the sump is close to the K-member. You can see the front edge poking out below the idler arm.

Now, see that Hugh Jass hole through which the steering linkage is passing? That's a tunnel through the oil pan for the stock steering linkage. Pray tell, where exactly is the steering linkage going to go with that black pan in your car? You'd need a similar tunnel... or to move your steering linkage elsewhere, like ahead of the K-member (rack and pinion steering).

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Not on my watch !

Now I can't even remember if this was rusty old chrome or not, but this is my 73 pan............
So at this point, Donnie's shop welder is going to fix my pickup, I'm gonna blast & paint the pan I have
push rods will be here sat. leaning towards using the 340 manifold, just have to see if I can even get the old fittings & bolts to budge maybe I should do that before I spend hours blasting it?
Need to order a bunch of gaskets & the freeze out plugs, then the cleanup, put back together & paint can begin!

 

[Dr.Jass]

Weird how your '73 pan looks identical to the chrome one other than the finish, huh?

The only thing I'd suggest removing from the 340 intake is the thermostat housing and thermostat. If the rest of the fittings are in the right location and are the right size, why bother arguing with 'em? Blast them along with the rest (they're steel, they'll be fine) and wrap with masking tape when you paint it. Odds are at least even that you'll mangle the fittings you need anyhow. I'll bet they're sealed just fine. I'd leave 'em.

I would especially not disturb that choke-well block-off plate, unless you're planning on a ThermoQuad and installing a factory '71 choke thermostat for it. That would also require the choke thermostat cup, which is unique to the 1971 340. All '72-newer applications have a sealed choke well. The reason I don't suggest taking it off is that it's irreplaceable if you lose it, and it's probably sealed now. You'd have to make one, since like the cup, it would only work on a '71 intake. It's not something you can just buy anymore, assuming you ever could. If you want to try and re-seal it to ensure it won't leak, do it before you paint it. Use red or copper silicone to seal it.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

OK Rusty, keepa you hands off!
Thermostat was kind of a gimmee!
Pretty sure the carb I got has the electric choke.
Gonna go see what rock auto has in the way of freeze out plugs & gaskets.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

ordered a bunch of gaskets, the dorman freeze out plug kit a 180* thermostat, a housing & gasket
hope I ordered the right parts?

 

[Dr.Jass]

If, and it's a big if, you have issues with it running hot, find an OE-style thermostat. There's a thread on it in the tech section. Read it, making mental notes of the part numbers, the importance of its appearance, and the warning about not buying a junk Mr. Gasket thermostat.