Lots to do = FUN in the shop!

Now that the 56 Chevrolet is by-and-large complete, I was able to get to a few things that I'd been adding to the to-do list.....

I'm working on a Ford FE engine that I initially bought as a spare for my 67 Galaxie. After a lot of research I found it to be a 330MD, which where used in a lot of big trucks like grain trucks and UHauls, as well as in industrial applications, like generators. It's apparently worth more to a truck shop than to a restorer, but since it's in such good shape and came with a 4 speed, I think I'll rebuild it, make it purdy and keep it for a future rod project.

The previous owner ran it for me in the truck it was in. The only issue at the time was the carb, which is now getting the full E-tek treatment:

On a different, yet still automotive thread, I'm putting together and mounting this vintage 2-car racetrack that from Mrs E-tek's childhood. She recently found it in her late grandmothers home and brought it home for me, but I suggested we mount it and display it in our kids playroom:

A project I've put off for a couple years now is rebuilding the "torque-boxes" on the Galaxie. These are areas of the frame, normally in convertibles, that are required to reduce frame twist, due to the convertibles lack of roof and pillars. Once I get into it I'll post the entire process.

Firstly though, I thought I'd fix up some of the electrical systems under the hood:

Just about then, the 56 Chevrolet  owners son came by to take a look at the near finished product. I tell him to hop and start it up - which he did - and it does - jumps to life in one short press of the foot starter. So it's warming up and I tell him to bump the Throttle in a bit, which kills it. Well do you think it would start again?? Of course not!! 

So, after a bunch more fiddling with the carb and distributor, we could NOT get it re-started!! He thought it was his fault...I thought it was anything/everything else. More timing. Less. A vacuum cap off - make it stay on. Hand on throttle plate. Manual choke.....everything I could thing off. It would fire, run a second, then starve itself. I'm sure it made me look like the WORST mechanic on record!

Of course he has to leave, at which point I decide to go back to the top of the trouble-shooting tree.....check the fuel. Gauge looks to be at a quarter, but I grab the can and put another gallon in. Bump - nothing. Bump - here she comes. Bump - God'damned thing was too low on gas! I guess we learned that the first dot on a Chevy truck means EMPTY.

So I immediately call his cell and let him hear it running - just because I was so embarrassed and I had to tell him it wasn't his doing - nor the trucks.....it just sucks fuel!

Now that I was back on it, I thought I'd pull it out, due to us discussing the gearing and it not having anything of a road test yet. So I gingerly pulled it out of the shop - reverse works, 1st gear good, clutch - beautiful! When I went to pull the E-brake though, it seemed weak.

It rolled unless I really reefed, so I pulled it back in and removed the rear wheels and brakes. The lines moved, but not enough, so I doused them with PB Blaster and will rebuild them tomorrow.

Just before the day ended, I stripped and painted a piece of furniture Mrs E-tek brought home - so she could turn it into a bed-end table, y'know, somewhere to pile the pillows! Always have to keep it mind:

HAPPY WIFE - HAPPY LIFE!

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !

More things you can do with WD-40!

WD-40 Tire Repair

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !  

No shop pics this weekend.....BUT!

How about something MUCH better! 

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !  

And now, for something completely different....

Life can't only be about cars (unfortunately!). But being a creative sort, I try to make as many things as I can. Last month we finished a major renovation of our bedroom,main/en suite bath and I built Mrs. E-tek a walk-in closet and changing area. For Xmas, I promised her a closet ironing board. This way she doesn't have to  run to the laundry area (downstairs) to iron stuff to wear.

To make it fit the overall theme, I bought a door that matches the wall-set that I installed earlier in her closet. I wanted it to be bigger than a "travel" size board which are barely big enough for her undies, but still small enough to be hidden away - and be out of the way - when it's not in use.

First things first -  cover up the cars in the shop!

 I cut down a pine door jamb to make the box - no MDF here. This will locate the door hinges, as well as the board itself. Glue and brad nails made it solid.

The door makes the entire thing look pro. No more college-style living for us!

The ironing board portion needs a leg that folds out to hold it up. Making it all fit was going to be a challenge... and making it all fir, even more so. What I did was locate a hinge on the underside of the board for the leg and then, to make the leg long enough to reach the ground, I'll have a second leg piece hinge off the first with a piece of heavy fabric (leather?).







Here it is all mocked up.  Tomorrow I'll sand the filler I put in the staple and screw holes, then attach the hinges. I need to have it installed in the closet before I go pick Mrs. E and the kids up at the in-laws!

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !

I had some calendars and posters put together from the photo's we took in the shop.

 Kinda the best case scenario - I get to put cool pictures of women in the shop

 - and Mrs E-tek doesn't mind them (too much!) 

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com ! Special thanks to www.Eastwood.com and www.CarCraft.com !

Lots to do!

Drove back from the in-laws farm where the family continues there Christmas traditions: eating, visiting, playing, snowmobiling, walks in the snow.....

Me? I'm back in the shop - finishing the Chevrolet for the Crozon's, building a wall-closet ironing board as part of Mrs E-tek's Christmas gifts and maybe, just maybe, doing some work on my Galaxie!

Put all the fender braces on the Chevrolet. Much harder than I thought it'd be too. Once I figured which brace went where, I had to drill holes that disappeared when new metal was welded in, then weld up on that broke when remvoed:

Then I finished tearing down the FE, which I bought as a 390 but turned out to be a 330....oh well, on the bright side it's in incredibly good shape!

Which is MUCH more than I can say for the SECOND early-style flathead block I bought as a donor for my 46 Merc truck...the first one had BADLY rusted deck faces and this one has holes in it where a piston let go of the crank. Talk about buyer beware....or, don't buy blocks in the dark!

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !

Merry Christmas to all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!!!!!
I hope everyone got what they want this year or, at the very least, has a decent day - because compared to so many people, in so many parts of the world, a decent day for us is a gift so many people are wishing for.

I got 'almost' everything I wished for this year: Time with my family, the health of (most) of those around me, the means to give my family the gifts they wanted, and the continued Love of those around me. I say I "almost" got everything I wanted because ever year I still, niavely, wish for my son Colby to "get better"....

Lots more details on the 56 Chevrolet tied up today:

First up, back to this trim piece that fills the space between the dash and windshield. This is the 3rd time at it, trying different clips, different methods to make it look right....and this time, adjusting the clip receptors to hold the filler trim a little more evenly. Sometimes getting things to look right can be a major PITA!! ;)

Next, I needed to remove the front bumper gain, to get the front plate bracket bolted in behind it:

Of course once I got the bolts out I decided they too could be spruced up a notch, so I resprayed, then cleared them.

I said earlier that one of my favourite parts of a build is the application of the decals at the end. As much as I want to do them earlier, I wait until it's nearly out the door, so they stay perfect looking. The decals make the vehicle look dealership fresh - like the day it was purchased.

Above: Oil filter decal is clear so the writing looks painted on.

                                     Below: The oil breather cap on the valve cover. Behind it you can see the valve cover decal  - I need to double check whether it goes on the top or side....

Air cleaner decal:

Early on, a decision was made to buy the Plain-Jane tailgate, without the Chevrolet insignia. It was a for a variety of reasons, owing mostly to availability and cost, so I decided to buy and apply the CHEVROLET decal and see if that was a decent compromise.

After measuring and centering, I applied the letters, each one separately.

As the day winded down I decided to once again run the engine and check the dwell and timing. I can't say it enough -  this was the MOST DIFFICULT  starting rebuild I have ever come across! The owners sent the long block out for a full rebuild so I have no clue as to what - or if - that has anything to do with it at first. The fogging agent they used was tough to burn off for sure, but that was only part of the problems encountered!
Today however, the truck fires up and now idles nicely at just over 700 RPM. The dwell is a little shy, at 22, so I'll have to adjust that up a titch. The carb now works well - after a rebuild and a re-look. And the fuel pump pumps fuel, but oddly the filter has very little fuel going through it. Normally, these plastic filters look half full, but with this one I can barely see fuel going through it. The oddities of General Motors products! Most importantly, the engine produces good oil pressure and it registers nicely on the original oil-fed gauge.

Next week - after Christmas with the family - I'll be back at some electrical work under the dash and a final polish. Delivery is December 30th!











Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com !  

Tearing down Ford 390FE engine

I bought this 1967 Ford 390FE engine, which I had to pull out of a Camper Special Truck, to rebuild and add either a turbo or supercharger set-up and then stuff it into my 1967 Galaxie 500XL. The Galaxie has it's original 390FE mill still and - although it runs good  - is getting a little long in the tooth....


Today I started on the tear down:

The engine's internals turned out to be in VERY good shape. Barely any cylinder ridge, all the bearings where nice, no scratches on any journals - I mean, it barely needed a tear down - but how do you know? You don't - so you do the tear down, check all the parts, do a full cleanup and rebuild it even better than it was....

Of course the 56 Chevrolet is still here, and there's a few minor items left before I can deliver it. This being winter - and the owners not really having anywhere to store it yet - I can take some time to get these items done. Today I detailed the wheels and tires:

In addition to touching up the wheels with some flat black, I cleaned the tires. For the white wall stripe I used Wax and grease remover, which is a light solvent and takes an grease and grime off, then some Spray 9, to make them shiny white. For the black portions I used WD40! This stuff has thousands of uses and leaves a perfect sheen to tires. I see I forgot to take a photo of the entire thing, but will tomorrow.

Lastly, I ran it up again and did some more tuning. This time though I found my exhaust ducting and ran it out the door. You can see that it's nothing more than flexible dryer ducting. It's not very durable, but if you take care of it, it'll last a while - and at $10 for 6 feet, I can buy a lot for what a length of real shop rubber exhaust hose costs, which is about $200. Still, much better than filling the shop with fumes then running it out the wall fan.

Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com for lots of "How-To" and some new photo's of Mrs E-tek!  ;)

Next up at the E-tek compound......

A lthough the 56 Chevrolet truck still has a few days of finishing work before the keys can be truly handed over to the owners, I've already been thinking about and lining up my own projects, as well as a special purchase that will help me move some of my mechanical skills into the 21st Century!

First, a quick look at some projects already underway at #E-tekRestorations! 

Above: a 1971 Datsun 240Z on the rotisserie. This was originally purchased as the spare/parts car for E-tek Racing's IP2 effort that Mrs.E-tek (Chili) raced out of Westwood in Vancouver, BC

Above: I pulled this Ford 390FE Engine from a 1967 Camper Special. It'll make up the base for a twin-turbo engine I'm building for our '67 Galaxie 500XL Convertible.



The Galaxie currently has a 390-2bbl which MAYBE maxes out 250HP. With a full rebuild, bumping the compression closer to 9.5, a dual plane intake, 4 barrel carb and a power-adder, I would hope to net something closer to 450, maybe even 500HP.





 Out at the farm, my father-in-law has a 351Windsor engine just waiting to be saved, as well as this 38 Ford truck shell. Not really restoration material, it does however lend itself to a rodders dream effort.

If the frame is solid we can use it, otherwise we'll just build a frame from 2x4 tubing and cut the shell down to look the part. Something along these lines. The term "Rat-Rod" is thrown around a lot, but well built examples aren't much different than the "rods" that graces the tracks and road ways of the 40's and 50's.

Lastly, and certainly way out of the box around here, I'll be picking up this 2003 Porsche Boxster S come spring. As much as I love classics, big engines and muscle, I also love the intricacies of driving,  the technical highs of well-made 21st century marquees. I have always wanted to do some to hone my driving skills with racing and auto crossing and the Boxster S is a nimble, sure-footed and hard-braking example of German technocracy. As well, I'll be able to move m mechanical skills into the future by learning more about the newer hardware and software out there.

Of course, it won't hurt to have something that can compete with Mrs. E-tek's Mini Cooper, especially since she wants me to put in the smaller pulley kit that increases boost from her supercharger 17%!