rang-a-stang's summer project/build

[Ristow]

your cam bearings are more likely the ones killing the oil pressure. im sure you are gonna put new ones in.

id rather have the big chamber heads than the early heads everyone seems to want. especially with new pistons upping the compression.

i'd skip the midplate. you're just adding a place to leak oil.

i hope you aren't doing that stupid oil line under the intake manifold.

[rang-a-stang]

HHAHAHA!!! You're a fan of the oil line mod, eh? LOL!

nope, no oil line mod for me. Your extra place for an oil leak point and babywags point that the top wears are well taken. Hm. Guess it goes on ebay.

[Ristow]

yah,that little oil line mod has blown up more motors than it has "saved".

[rang-a-stang]

Engine went to the machinist on Saturday as expected. I brought my block, crank, rods, damper, and flexplate. We checked the block and it was at maximum spec to just hone but he said the honeing process would have removed enough material that it would be just beyond spec. He said it had probably been honed and re-ring'ed before.
Bummer.
Kind of. Cast pistons at stock bore would have been about $320 but forged at +.030 are only $410. so for about another $90 I end up with a completely forged bottom end. I really like the idea of not having to worry about my bottom end at all, ever. He said he bores/hones with torque plates, too.

Anyway, he is going to polish the crank, blueprint the rods, Install cam bearings, install ARP hardware on the rods, clean the block (he has
a 3 step process that makes them look pretty amazing, including in the coolant passages and jackets), bore/hone, balance the rotating assembly (including the damper and flexplate)
and install the rods on the pistons. He said it will take about 6 weeks because of his back log.

His shop was pretty amazing. He was building a big block Chevy that was going to have 14:1 compression. His dyno had an SCCA nostalgia class motor on it. I felt like I left my parts in good hands. I am excited to see them come back.

Check this out. I got a kick out of this. I am pretty sure I am the only person with an AMC V8 in a Mazdaspeed 3. haha!

[CameraFinn]

Glad to see you made it to the shop. Forged bottom end is nice. Are the 401's cranks forged too? Also, I love your license plate. That's real good.

[babywag]

What shop is doing work?
Are you having them assemble it as well?

[SOLSAKS]

good luck on the rebuild
ole' yeller is getting a new lease on life.

dave in NC

[rang-a-stang]

Originally Posted by babywag

What shop is doing work?
Are you having them assemble it as well?

Jim Grubbs Motorsports in Valencia. Nope. I'll assemble. I can't really afford their labor to assemble it. Here is some of their other work:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/amc-401-build/
There are lots of other builds they have done but this one really stuck out to me.

[rang-a-stang]

Only a little tinkering these days. Finished pulling the trans, Xfer case, steering box, and brake lines last weekend and then pushed it out of the garage cleaned the floor/pressure washed the chassis.

My trans has always leaked. Bad. I think I found the leak. Look at the clean shiney metal around the dipstick tube.

Look at this nasty turd. It'll get cleaned and I am going to replace the front pump seal, get a new dipstick tube and seal, and I have to put a vent on it (mine broke off a long time ago).

Also, when I pulled the plug to drain my Xfer case, there was a nice long metal shard stuck to the plug. I have a feeling i am going to find plenty of that (since 4WD didn't work).

Last night all I did was pound on the rear spring hangers to get them back into place and made the gusset for one of them. Tomorrow I plan to build the front reciever and weld the gussets to the rear spring perches and start painting the front of the chassis. I also hope to install my J20 springs tomorrow or this weekend.

This morning I got a call from my machinest and my block cleaned up super nice. He said .030 will be fine so I ordered Wiseco forged pistons/moly rings and all my bearings today. Wooo Hoo! Almost $600 for all those parts. ouch.

[SOLSAKS]

good progress,
you can really get to the nitty gritty
when you have total access to everything.

not being mechanically skilled myself,....
i admire your acorns.

dave in NC

[Full Size Jeeper]

Wow, you are pushing right along with your build! Looking good. Hey, I didn't forget about the roof patch. I'am going to get it in the mail for you next week some time. Talk with you later.

[letank]

Originally Posted by rang-a-stang

Finished short block tear down tonight. Mostly good discoveries:

The only thing that sucks is there is serious rust and scale in the cooling passages. I am surprised I didn't overheat looking at some of these passages.

Congratulations, this is quite a surprise knowing that your temperature never went to the right side.

Years ago I decided to do a full flush, even as I have been "lucky" to need a new water pump every 4 years so the coolant was never neglected... the amount of rust that came out of that first flush was phenomenal... I have a pict somewhere, but it took about 40 gallons to get a clear liquid out of the reverse flush hose.


In fact my intake manifold has some signs of pitting by the rear most water jacket passage, that buffed up well

[rang-a-stang]

Got my receiver done and the front portion of the chassis cleaned/painted. I bought one of these from Harbor Freight:
Harbor Freight 3500# step bumper receiver
then welded it to my front crossmember, threw a gusset on the front, then welded the the front Rocklaurence shackle brackets to that with some about 1.5" 3/16" wall tube steel I got a good deal on . It all feels pretty solid. I'll tell you what; my little 85amp flux core welder WAS NOT the correct tool to use for welding this thick metal. I had to do some serious beveling to get this metal thin enough for my welds to penetrate, and even then, the welds are not very pretty. They are good enough for me to use a hitch mounted winch (why I added this). I cleaned my chassis with one of these dudes on my 4.5" grinder and finished it off with some good ol' generic rattle can semi gloss black paint.
Harbor Freight knotted wire wheel

[TheWeekendWagon]

It's amazing what a little fresh paint can do!

[rang-a-stang]

Last night I was working on the front spring rear perches (mine are bent). I was trying to bend the passenger leaf spring bracket into place and no matter how hard I hit it with a 10 pound sledge hammer, I couldn't get it into place. Then I sat back and just looked at it, frustrated. I noticed the whole side of the frame is twisted about 4 degrees. I leveled the chassis at the firewall, then measured each frame horn to the ground. There is a good 3/4" difference between the 2 frame horns. I was really upset so I went in and tried to think of what to do. I found a Chassis for it for $75 about 90 miles away. So I called the guy, we talked, and I will pick it up this weekend.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

These rigs surely hide flaws well. I found my red one was hit just by laying under it one afternoon and day dreaming/planning out exhaust routing. The whole frame is shifted to the passenger side 3/4" in the rear and the front is twisted just like yours. Couldn't really tell until I had the front clip off. Explains why the roof is buckled

[bkilby]

The bent frame is a bummer but you'll have a freshly painted frame when it's all done. It's nice working on clean stuff. Oh, and that's how my project started too. Lol.

[rang-a-stang]

Originally Posted by Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81

These rigs surely hide flaws well. I found my red one was hit just by laying under it one afternoon and day dreaming/planning out exhaust routing. The whole frame is shifted to the passenger side 3/4" in the rear and the front is twisted just like yours. Couldn't really tell until I had the front clip off. Explains why the roof is buckled

sucks. could you swap your GE frame with the red one or is the red one officially a pile-o-parts?

Originally Posted by bkilby

The bent frame is a bummer but you'll have a freshly painted frame when it's all done. It's nice working on clean stuff. Oh, and that's how my project started too. Lol.

Are you saying I am going to end up with a Hemi!?!? haha!
************************************************** **
Got my chassis swapped out.

I pressure washed the new chassis and got about 15 pounds of dirt out of it. There was a rat nest in the front drivers frame horn that was not there when I swung by 3 weeks ago. After it dried I rattle canned the whole thing with generic paint made for painting over rust. There is only very slight surface rust on this chassis. Super stoked on it! I did not paint the frame horns yet because I still need to weld my bumper brackets on and shackle flip kit. Also need to re-do the front receiver. In the picture of my body, check out how close it came to the garage door! Haha! I was completely oblivious to it until I had the body on the stands and stood back to make sure they were safe and then looked up. I missed the door by less than an inch.


This picture represents about 2 hours of work. The differences I found in the frames:
a) holes for the evap can line were not tapped,
b) the rear brake line was routed slightly different,
c) the rear cross member has 2 extra rivets compared to my 79.
Both frames had date stamps for the prior year (78 frame was date stamped Sept 77, 79 frame was date stamped October 78).


While I was down there I found another bend (directly under the doors) in the chassis. I could see a very slight ripple in the frame. I also found the body bolt that's on the front passenger mount is bent. This body seam was also rolled inward (drivers side was straight). Oh, and check out my sway bar end link!



By the end of the day I had the new chassis in, all my body bolts are finger tight (78 chassis fits like a glove!), the rear axle is back in and the truck is sitting on it's rear axle, though I have to re-assemble the back brakes. This was one of the most physically exhausting jobs I have ever done on a car that I can recall. The sun beating down on me on my driveway was killer. It took about 9 hours start to finish, including cutting my old frame down into chunks for disposal. Only casualties were my rear axle U-bolts (all were original and need to be replaced) and the rear soft brake line was seized on (and also probably original). I am off on a business trip tonight so I won't get to touch it for a couple weeks. That's OK though because BOY AM I SORE! I also need to replace the bent body bolt. Plan of action when I thinker again is to re-assemble the rear brakes, replace the Ubolts and brake line, and probably start on my fuel system so I can put the tank back in. Then I'll do the front end work and get my suspension back together. Things are getting exciting! I love this stuff!

[bkilby]

Originally Posted by rang-a-stang

Are you saying I am going to end up with a Hemi!?!? haha!

Hey, you never know. Lol! I have 2 or 3 at the shop right now....Got a Cummins 6.7 with extremely low miles too.


Nice work on the frame! You're a hustler too, I bet you're sore.

[rang-a-stang]

I've said it before, the only engine that I would consider swapping a 401 for is a 392.

Not much to update. I have worked a few nights here and there but only to catch back up to where I was. I had to order some parts for the rear end and waited for those to come in. The Shackle brackets and front hitch are back on the new chassis, waiting to be welded (hopefully this week). Once it's welded, I will paint it and put the J20 springs on and let is sit on it's tires again. Excited to see progress!