Big block build for the Starship

The hood weighs about 15 lbs.

What's the weight on that CF bullet compared to ye olde dinosaur turd?

The original hood weighs about 55 lbs.

That works!!!

I am installing the hood tomorrow. I got all four pins installed today. I am making standoffs like the Plymouths and Dodges back in the mid to late 60s.

Wow, I just saw pics on Facebook. It looks fantastic!

I still need to put the grille on it. I am body mounting the grille instead of it being on the hood.

I gave the guys at the shop a little tire spinning show, but no smoke. Spins them in 1st, and probably 2nd. Spinnin' ain't winnin'. I think I have just the right amount of power, and traction.

The hydroboost brakes are really great. Best brake pedal ever, and I do not need vacuum for it to work.

I did some mock up attempts of the grille, and I have to mount it slightly recessed under the hood. There are two small areas that hook over the hood, when it is its correct position. That said, I could not remove the hood with the grille mounted to the body. Since I did not want to cut the corners off of the grille or hood, the alternative is to recess it about an inch. I think it will look just a little different, and a little meaner.

I put the turn signal bulb in the rear, and it is working properly now. I can drive it without getting a ticket for a burned out bulb.

I am headed to the tint shop in the morning, and then to the upholstery shop after that. I also need some aluminum angle stock, for the grille mount, and a few other odds and ends. I may work on the grille if it is not too hot.

The tint went well, but the rear glass is due soon. 

I am scheduled for the upholsterer on Monday. Seats have gone up in price to about $500 for a pair of buckets. He is doing one at a time, so I can still drive the car. I am going to install my new carpet while he has the passenger's seat out.

I started to install the grill today, and had to have the hood modified a little so that I can mount it in the correct position. I will try again in the morning, but it gets so hot, all you need to do is stand there looking at it, and you are dripping wet.

The rear doors were stuck shut yesterday, and they finally gave up, and opened after much tugging. I may put some dry lubricant on the gaskets, to keep them from sticking.

The Starship (now with warp drive) was at the trans shop for a couple of days to have second gear beefed up a little. It was missing the 1-2 shift at about 5000 RPMs. I can miss a 1-2 shift manually, I do not need an automatic to do it for me. So, I now have a stronger 1-2 shift, and my wallet is substantially lighter at the same time, so the car should go faster. 

I also have one newly reupholstered seat, and the second will be in on Friday. Again the wallet gets lighter.

I attacked the grille mount for a couple of hours today, but did not get it finished. It seems that I measured the distance for my top mounts about 1/8 inch short. There goes another couple of pieces. of scrap aluminum.

I got the second seat in. Looks nice, but got screwed a little on the price. I remember the guy saying $500, and when I went to pay for it, it was $580.

I got lucky, and the metal shop gave me a piece of aluminum to make the errant part. I think I saved 15 cents.

The rear quarter glass that the custom shop put in is leaking. I hope I can get it fixed in about a week, I am so over the car sitting months on end.

Today I made matching triangulation pieces for the grille mount. Now to install the grille, and further triangulate, so it does not shake, and scratch something. The grille install is just about done.

Here are some pics I took.

The paint looks real good Fred! I like the black grill, I think I would paint the screws holding the grill on, black.

Tom

Looks like a million bucks!!

Of course someone would notice the screws were not painted. I just did not get around to painting the screws yet. It has some other incidentals to take care of as well.

I should have a couple of pics under the hood after this weekend.

Looking good!

Quote :

Of course someone would notice the screws were not painted.

No worries.  I got it.

First thing I saw were those darn screws.

Looking good, Fred.

I was going to adjust the grille by removing them, and I did not want to paint them, then chip the paint, and have to paint them again. I figured out how to adjust the grille without removing them, so I can go ahead and paint them.

If I make another hood some day, I will make it to mount on hinges. It is labor intensive to remove the hood by myself. I can lift and move it easily, but have to protect the body around it, because it likes to slide around like it is on ball bearings, and heads straight for something it can scratch.

I was at the Dupont Registry Cars and Coffee this morning. I took pictures of the engine with the hood on stilts. Soon to come is an oil catch can for the PCV system. The grille is now body mounted. I think I would make a hood with hinges, should I need to make another one. I also would use a higher temp resin, because of some issues I have with the current hood.

One more picture.

Looks great Fred!

Looking good,Fred. Maybe some Oldsmobile Rocket emblems for under the hood?

I had to replace the battery. The body shop did not disconnect it, and it lost a cell. I also had to replace the passenger's side marker, because one specific person at the body shop is too rough on the parts. Fortunately I had a spare, and can fix the broken one.

I did a minor adjustment on the grille, and it fits even better than it did. I need to fix my windshield washer. The motor runs, but nothing comes out of the sprayers. I am going to pull one, and see if it sprays without the wiper hose hooked up.

I fixed the windshield washers...the hoses were hooked up to the wrong pumps.

I finally got around to checking the tailgate. The body shop did not plug the connectors for the gate into the harness connectors. Easy fix, but it should have been done by the body shop. I also installed the tailgate interior.

I installed a catch can in the PCV system to keep oil out of the intake manifold. It is a nice mod, cheap and easy. I had to make a bracket to hold the can. I put a hose and valve on the bottom, so that I can drain it without taking the can apart. It sits between the overflow tank and the AC accumulator.

Soon it will be time to install the new carpet. An oil change is in the near future...8 quarts.

Latest engine compartment pics, and front on view

Part 2

The catch can has proven to work, and I've caught about an ounce of oil so far. That is less oil going through the engine, equating to cleaner burning, and fewer deposits in the intake system.

Someone suggested that I would need a different PCV valve because of the low vacuum of 10 in. Hg., but it has proven itself working with a stock unit. I call BS on the specialty unit that costs $129.

It has been recommend to me to use one of these PCVs Standard V173 or Fram FV178 for a performance engine... at least one with a carburetor on it.

I have a Holley MPFI, and the stock LO3/5 works just fine.

I got the carpet installed. I bought the expensive one from RA, and it is less costly than buying it anywhere else. The only thing I do not like about it is the heel pad looks really pink instead of red. it went in fairly easily, except finding the spot for the center seat belt holes. I finally found one, and the other was easy. I had to do some trimming around the edges, but it is better to have a little extra rather than not enough.

My trans mount failed, and in having one put in, the shop noticed that the tail shaft developed a crack and leaks. Fortunately I have a spare, and took it to the shop to make sure it is serviceable. They will probably put a new bushing in it, as well as a new seal.

Carpet pics

Pics of the shaft installed:

silver tape is heat shield for the rubber seal at the top of the outer D tube. It is near the primary header tube, and it gets pretty hot there.

nice!

Total cost of the intermediate shaft is about $95.

I had an incident with the trans mount breaking. It allowed the trans to hit the cross member, and warped the tail shaft housing. I had it replaced today, and am on the road again.

An old issue came back and bit me. The fuse for the AC blower melted the fuse block a few years ago, and I replaced the fuse block. Well, the fuse melted again, and almost took the fuse block with it. I decided to put a remote fuse in the circuit, but still had to remove the dash support to get to the wire. I now have the fuse next to the fan control module on the right side.

My radio also decided to stop making sound, and it looks like it is the speakers. I was going to test the wiring today, but the weather is not cooperating.

Turns out that the speakers were dead. I bought a couple new ones, and had to make new mounts. The doors required a little cutting to get room for them, and used some 1/4 inch plastic sheet for the mounts. I have the car back together, and am driving it again.

I finally got my shortened Crown Vic police aluminum drive shaft, and installed it. Total cost for the drive shaft, shortening, balance, and 2 new U-joints is about $230 with the trans yoke from my old one.

I started having overheating issues with the AC on. As soon as I got the drive shaft installed, the AC decided to stop working. The day the AC stopped, the temp stabilized, so I changed one of the cooling fans for a 2500 CFM unit to lower the temp, and the AC decided to start working again. The temp issue got worse. Over the weekend I put in a new 180 deg. thermostat, and swapped the bleeder valve for an inline filler neck at the highest point on the system. I ran it for about 15 minutes at idle with the AC on, and it is holding a reasonable temperature now. I had to drain the system to replace the fan, and I am convinced that I had some air trapped in the system after changing the fan.

I finally found the issue with my overheating...There was a bubble trapped in the intake manifold. I had the sensor out, and the coolant level in the manifold was about 1/2 inch below the port for the sensor. I filled it as best as I could, and opened the cap. There was a gurgle and the manifold filled until it came out of the port. I then had to add about 6 ounces of coolant to fill it up. Them temp has been running a lot cooler.

The real reason for the overheating condition is that the sensor is not calibrated for that spot in the coolant stream. I got one of the caps with the lever to vent the system, so I can make sure there is no air in it.

Did the oil change on Saturday. The old oil was pretty bad.

I swapped clusters today, and now my tach is correct. I tried 2 before I found one that is correct. Now there is another discrepancy, the speedo reads 3 mph slow. I will be adjusting my compensator box to the correct speed.

I had a small emergency. The passenger's side trailing arm slipped off of the bushing at the forward mount. I managed to find someone to help me with the bolts, and fixed it.

Next is the gas tank. I have a leak, and I do not know if it is the tank, or the vent hose on the filler neck. I must drop the tank either way. I managed to get another tank, so it is: swap everything into the donor, and then check the one I take out. My AC is just about ready to be vacuumed, and filled. I got the leaking hose fixed, but I still need a proper set of compressor to hose washers. I have red and green, and it sits a little crooked.

With Wagonfest coming up next week, I have a bunch of things to do, including a much needed cleaning inside and out.

I am still fighting high temps in the coolant. I installed a 3000 cfm fan today, and moved the 2500 cfm one to the driver's side. I need to drive around a little, and see how it does. So far it has been a little better. A good hot day will let me know the extent of its effectiveness.

Overheating is still an issue. The Starship is going under the knife again. I am going to pull the engine and have the block decked. It is getting new pop-up pistons (CR 10.2:1) new rods, and new heads, coil on plug (from an LS) with an MSD distributor eliminator.

The quirks are that I must disassemble it down to the short block to get it out, and the reverse to put it back together again. I must put coil mounts on the valve covers, rewire the computer for the coils, and do a little computer tweaking.

I have also decided to upgrade the alternator. I can use the 93 Fleetwood or 9C1 FEAD left side  alternator/PS pump mount, and the 91-93 AC compressor mount by putting a 3/8 inch spacer under the water pump, and crank pulleys with some longer bolts. The change does not cause any interference issues.

While I have the engine out, I am going to realign the front clip, because the custom paint shop could not figure out how to get it right. I may be able to put some 14 inch front disk brakes on it while it is under construction, as well as another hood with hinges instead of 4 pins. I am also putting different wheels on it with carbon fiber moon hubcaps with some stickier rear tires. I will try to get a set of fender skirts finished as well.

It took me 3 1/2 months to get the 454 done the first time, so this should go a little faster, because I know almost all the quirks, and have already dealt with them. I hope to get all of this done by Wagonfest Florida 2022.

I will try to post pics as I go.

What are you using for a water pump?

I was fighting some 'overheating' in the wife's 454SS and got it 99% solved with an Edelbrock high flow pump. It still has the mechanical fan with a new super duty thermostatic clutch. I also wired a secondary manual switch to the small stock electric fan so we can run that while sitting in traffic if needed, it also has a lower temp switch to kick it on sooner.

I have a Stewart aluminum long shaft. I think I also have an issue with the passenger side head. I had a problem with it once before, and think it is still the problem. I believe it is forcing exhaust gas into the cooling system. If you read a couple of posts before my recent one, you can find out what I have for a cooling system. My fans are both (total of 5500 CFM) on anytime the water temp is over 90 Deg. The cooling system will stabilize when I am going over 60 MPH.

I found out that I should have put the Starship in the garage a month ago. Last week, I was on my way to get some barbecue ribs, and WHAM BANG it broke a rod. I have it apart down to the heads, and today I am going to take the heads off. I must remove the heads to get the block out of the car. Maybe tomorrow I will have the block out, to examine the damage. From the outside I can only see two holes in the oil pan. I will take pics of the carnage and post.

I got partway done with the head removal...I forgot about the bolts under the headers, so I must remove the headers before I can pull the heads. I can not reach the top trans bolts with the heads in place. I spent most of today unbolting the driver's side header. Rusty exhaust pipe bolts are a PITA. I am putting new stainless steel ones in when I reassemble it. I also had to reattach a pipe hanger on the passenger's side. It appears that the bolt fell out???
my dad

I must walk about a mile to my dad's house to work on the car, because the White Elephant is not running for some obscure reason. I guess the walking is good for me. It is getting a little easier each day.

Yikes. I know you were planning on motor work, but it still stings it wasn’t on your terms/timeline. Keep us posted, everybody loves pics of wounded parts! the ‘white elephant’, it’s a Crank/No Start?