1969 Barracuda 340 Formula S Restoration

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RealWing said:
Another setback!!! Started to install the valvetrain today and see that the pushrods are very close or touching the bottom of the holes in the heads!!!! Grrrrr Looks like a combination of much thinner head gaskets combined with block and head resurface. The heads have to come back off, be completely disassembled and then mill out the hole along the bottom side. Not sure if I can reuse the Cometic MLS head gaskets or not. Mumble!!!
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Hey Jim,

Sorry to hear about the pushrod clearance. Just a thought.. would rocker shaft shims work for you in this instance? Seems I read somewhere that Hughes makes them.

All the best, Stay safe!!
 
AAndrews said:
Hey Jim,

Sorry to hear about the pushrod clearance. Just a thought.. would rocker shaft shims work for you in this instance? Seems I read somewhere that Hughes makes them.

All the best, Stay safe!!
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Don't think so. The rocker supports are in line with the pushrods. The rocker shaft would need to move closer to the intake side of the head.
I've got my machinist lined up to mill out the bottom of the holes for me. It is great that he lives just down the street from me and has a Bridgeport milling machine.
Hope you and your family have a safe and happy Easter.
Jim
 
RealWing said:
Don't think so. The rocker supports are in line with the pushrods. The rocker shaft would need to move closer to the intake side of the head.
I've got my machinist lined up to mill out the bottom of the holes for me. It is great that he lives just down the street from me and has a Bridgeport milling machine.
Hope you and your family have a safe and happy Easter.
Jim
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Ya, makes sense, unless the shims offset the shafts they wouldn't work. Also would need adjustable pushrods.

You're so lucky to have a capable machinist that close. I bet he gets great Christmas gifts from you !! LOL.

Have a safe and happy Easter as well.

Looking forward to the progress.
 
Everything I've read is that Cometics can be reused.
RealWing said:
Another setback!!! Started to install the valvetrain today and see that the pushrods are very close or touching the bottom of the holes in the heads!!!! Grrrrr Looks like a combination of much thinner head gaskets combined with block and head resurface. The heads have to come back off, be completely disassembled and then mill out the hole along the bottom side. Not sure if I can reuse the Cometic MLS head gaskets or not. Mumble!!!
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Another thing that happened when I had the exhaust manifold weld-repaired was large pieces of the cermaic coating flaked off!!! This seem to have happened when the manifold was preheated to 400 deg. Very surprised and disappointed as 400 deg is not very hot for an exhaust manifold!!! I put the other one in my garage oven and heated to 400 and a few pieces flaked off on it as well!! High Tech Coatings HTC High Tech Coatings said to bring them back and they will redo them. Just worried that they will flake off when I fire the engine after it is in the car. Not sure if the cast iron was not adequately cleaned or?? Not happy!!!!!
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i have really enjoyed your build ,the pictures have helped me with my car, it was tore apart when bought it.I hope you might be able to help ,do you have pics of dash gauge fasteners and where they go, my heater controls, also removed .any info. helpful thanks for what you have already posted awesome!
 
Hi Derrick
Do you mean how the gauges fasten on the back of the dash bezel?
My car is an AC car, so my heater controls may look a bit different if you dont have AC.
I'll dig out some photos tomorrow
Jim
 
RealWing said:
Hi Derrick
Do you mean how the gauges fasten on the back of the dash bezel?
My car is an AC car, so my heater controls may look a bit different if you dont have AC.
I'll dig out some photos tomorrow
Jim
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My car has a/c also the cluster has fasteners to mount it to the steel dash frame but all of this was removed and not bagged or tagged .the heater controls also ,even the bezel screws nice to know if i even have the right screws
 
Derrick Kidwell said:
My car has a/c also the cluster has fasteners to mount it to the steel dash frame but all of this was removed and not bagged or tagged .the heater controls also ,even the bezel screws nice to know if i even have the right screws
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It would be nice to see... when I bought my car there was no guage cluster, I was just going to find stuff that looked right. If someone showed what the right screws were to attach the bezel to the dash frame it would be appreciated.

Right now the bezel and cluster are stashed in a box wrapped in bubble wrap. Getting ready to paint the dash frame and get the pads done. These pads were just for mock up, I have a fairly decent set of black ones that just have small spider cracks.

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View attachment 1715519674 My body shop started to work on my Cuda today. Right QP is off and reveals some rust damage and poor repairs in spots. Will need to replace trunk drop off extensions and cut out rusted areas and fabricate new pieces. The body man working on it is a highly experienced panel beater so I'm sure it will be done right. This was the side that was badly damaged by a previous owners "domestic dispute"!!!
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My body guy has been busy cutting out some spots and fabbing some new pieces to TIG weld back in. He made some wooden forms to fab a piece for the bottom of the B pillar.
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My exhaust manifolds have been inspected by High Tech Coatings and they said it was an adhesion issue with the base coat. The adhesion issue appears to be that the manifolds were perhaps soda blasted or cleaned with an alkaline cleaner that remained in the pores and neutralized the acid in the bonding agent of the base coat.
They are being completely stripped and redone at no charge.
 
Back to the engine again. The Cometic MLS head gaskets looked fine after the heads were removed. The raised ridges were still raised (ie not flattened). Heads back on after machining the pushrod holes. Cut a couple of 0.015" S/S shims to block the crossover passages. Intake on and torqued. Used the recommended Edelbrock 7276 Intake gasket. Glued the gaskets to the heads with Edelbrock Gasgacinch. Used the Right Stuff along the end rails and in the corners.
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If you intend to drive this on the street, you'll miss that exhaust cross-over when the choke just won't go off. Furthermore, I'd wager that for street performance, you couldn't find any additional power by blocking that cross-over port, but you will see a drop in fuel economy and cold-start drivability. If you are building for race-only, you may gain a few HP.
 
mpgmike said:
If you intend to drive this on the street, you'll miss that exhaust cross-over when the choke just won't go off. Furthermore, I'd wager that for street performance, you couldn't find any additional power by blocking that cross-over port, but you will see a drop in fuel economy and cold-start drivability. If you are building for race-only, you may gain a few HP.
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I'm installing a Holley Sniper TB Fuel injection system and the manifold heat and exhaust heat riser is not needed. If running a carb on the street- I agree that it is needed.
 
TBI still flows the entire intake tract wet, which means floor heat helps. My suggestion is to try it your way; if you feel fuel economy and/or cold start isn't what it should be, remove that custom plate and try it with full exhaust heat cross-over to see if it may improve areas your way is lacking.
 
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