| 68 Firebird Project Engine Removal Final Stages |
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| Well, there she is. Everything bolted back on and fully assembled. I missed my Christmas start up, but January is not all that bad. |
| Here is a nice side shot. Clean enough to eat off of. I ended up with not too many dings or chips in the fresh paint, whew. This engine may never look this good again. |
| Ready for the next step. Start her up and see how she runs. I feel a lot of anxiety coming on....... |
| The day finally came. Saturday February 1 2003. After weeks of major anxiety, it was time to see if she started. Let me recap here for a minute if I may. I started this project well over a year ago, probably closer to 18 months. I have never ever done anything like this before, and this is my first car I have ever really worked on. I never would have imagined that I could have removed an engine and replaced it, let alone make it run again. I fully disassembled the entire engine compartment and the front end of this car to make it look new again. I removed a transmission and replaced a clutch along the way too. I must thank the guys at Firstgenfirebird List for their help, they gave me the knowledge. Thank you a million times over! Well, it looks great, so part of my job is done, but will it run. Oh boy, thats a huge question. |
| First thing up, set the timing. Second, prime the oil pump. Third, install the distributor. That was a daunting task trying to get those teeth in the cam lined up with the oil pump shaft and keep it set to #1 cylinder. Finally it slid in with my magic touch (cough, cough). It was time. The car was pushed out to the front of the garage with the help of Bill and Jake (again). With fire extinguisher in hand, and battery charger connected it was time to crank her. I nestled into the front seat and checked the clutch and made sure I had neutral. All seemed good. So, I cranked. We got good cranking until the battery went dead. Waited a minute for the charger to kick in, then cranked again. Same thing. Waited again, cranked again. Same. Then on the fourth time Vrooom! IT STARTED! Amazing, simply amazing. She ran real rough at first as expected. Not much smoke, that was a great sign but a fuel leak started at the supply line. We shut her down. Tightened the fitting, and turned her over again. Vroom. She was running, no fluid leaks and it was time to break in the cam. We ran roughly 2000 rpms for 20 minutes just as Charlie Miller said. You could see her smoothing out. Everything looked great! We dropped the idle down and set it to a good level. Now was the time to see if she was going to move on her own. I pushed the clutch, eased the shifter into first, and slowly let off the clutch. She moved, ever so slowly, but she did. Forward, reverse, forward reverse. It was now a reality, my Bird is flying again. I still can not believe it. Really I can't. It was raining so it was not in the cards to take it outside, so we called it a day. Maybe tomorrow. |
| Well, Sunday was the day. Time for the first real drive and time to seat the rings a bit. I drove her maybe 20 laps around my 1 miled looped development road just to get some miles logged. One coolant leak at the heater core had to be fixed, but other than that, she ran well. Shifting was smooth and you could see her settling in. I have an exhaust leak that must be found and old gas that must be used, but overall I am very happy. I might have been driving with no hood and no plate (I admit to nothing), so a freindly policeman stopped by to let me know I should probably not be doing that. Someone had to call him.........hmmm. That stinks. But it was a success anyway, and nothing could have stopped my sheer joy. I actually did it. Unbelievable. Once again, a million thanks to my friends Bill and Jake for their help, and many thanks to Charlie Miller at Millers Machine shop for a job well done. Boy, those forged pistons and the new cam sound great! |
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