67 Butternut Build

[Motown 454]

Nice progress!

[sjaroslo]

It isn't much, I understand, but after sitting as an inert lump for over 2 years, this is pretty damned exciting! The battery charger says that the battery is now charged, so maybe tomorrow we try it again. It's nowhere near ready to fire off, but if nothing else just getting different valve springs compressed has got to be a good thing! I'll take off the tape on the intake before I try to crank it again :-)

[Motown 454]

I see your point anything is exciting! Good luck tomorrow, I'll be watching for the video!!

[130fe]

Great to hear on the progress Steve! I finally got mine on the road late last week after some shakedown run problems. It is a great feeling!

[sjaroslo]

Congratulations, Chris! Did you post about that? If you don't post it, it didn't happen ?

[snappytravis]

Looking good, Yes it is amazing how much gratification we get over the simple things,, That's what will make that car run all those little things. I will be watching for a video when you get it fired up.

[Spork82]

Steve,

I just went through your entire thread and wow! So much dedication and attention to detail. Stories like these is what keeps the passion and drive going for the rest of us. Never give up.

[sjaroslo]

Never surrender! :-)

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Steve congrats on the great progress. Man I was watching that vid going, 'don't, don't!' with the tape on the TB. then I read your post.

You got me, lol.

[sjaroslo]

Won't be the first bonehead thing that I've done, nor likely the last :-). Thanks for posting, sorry for having caused you anxiety!

[sjaroslo]

So, I removed the spark plugs and jockeyed things around by hand, made sure that the new battery was fully charged, and rolled the dice. You should be able to figure out the first "good news" and the second "good news" but then at around the 13-second mark, you'll hear the BAD news:
http://vid867.photobucket.com/albums...pslmtx5sel.mp4

So, it turns over--that's good. It finally made oil pressure--that's REALLY good, I was sweatin' it. With the clutch pedal depressed, the godawful banging seems to go away, but with it at normal rest, YUCK. I see a transmission dropping on my chest in the future.

This is a DEFINITE downside to having the shop that did the work roll up its carpets and close the doors. I know that he had to screw around with things to make the trans and clutch all play together, but I don't know WHAT he did and I'll never be able to ask, so I think that some forensic disassembly is in my future.

This is a Tremec T56 Magnum 6-speed, with a stock Cadillac CTS-V clutch (dual disk), Quicktime bellhousing and a hydraulic clutch. There is a spacer between the engine block and the bellhousing, and I know that he had to order some kind of part from Katech and I think that he had also had something "machined down"--what, I cannot remember and might never know. Since I also noticed that the clutch was leaking fluid I kind of figured that disassembly was coming, anyway.

Welcome to any suggestions regarding possible causes of the banging sounds. Thanks!

[Motown 454]

Headed in the right direction, but I wish it would have been all good news.

[sjaroslo]

Played around with the Power Probe a little bit; at least I know that the headlight doors close and the right front parking light and turn signal bulb works, as well as the console ashtray courtesy lamp, in addition to the lighting below :-) My brother is coming down tomorrow to help move along the A/C install and I'm gearing up to try to get some behind-the-dash wiring moving forward, too. And I bought a borescope (inspection camera) at Lowe's today so I might see what there is to see inside the bellhousing and figure out what is banging. And while I'm under there, I'll certainly be sizing up what the scope of dropping the trans is going to be. I don't think it will be that hard, but I think that a low profile trans jack is called for :-).



(New Vintage USA gauges, BTW)

[Motown 454]

Nice looking gauges.

[sjaroslo]

Well, I had to make some strategic decisions. Do I know how to take out a trans and/or an engine? I think that I do. Do I have the desire, the tools, and the space to do it, on my already painted car? Turns out, I did not. So I reached out to the good folks at East Bay Muscle Cars and asked if they would be willing to take on the forensic disassembly, the repair, and, as long as they have the car, several more tasks that I just wasn't looking forward to accomplishing, and much to my delight, they were. So Steve from EBMC now has my baby and has given it a pretty thorough going-over, and I think that we have a path to get the car moving forward once again on its journey to completion.

First, the analysis of the banging. Basically, trying to pack 10 lbs of ***** into an 8 lb bellhousing just doesn't work! The banging turned out to be three finger-like structures on the clutch beating the throwout bearing anti-rotation/alignment pin into submission:


Also, the throwout bearing was so jammed in there the top of it mushroomed out a bit (as you can also see above), but there definitely wasn't the proper clearance between it and the clutch diaphragm. And finally, even with the trans spaced back from the block, the input shaft was jammed into the clutch disc right up to the end of the taper of the splines; you can see the shiny part where it was jammed up against the end:


So the solution, which luckily for me EBMC had to solve with another customer car as well, is to change out to an LS-to-Viper T56 scattershield, which provides more room in the bellhousing, and a small spacer between the trans case and the scattershield (I believe from American Powertrain). This is the GTO where they solved the issue:


While they have the car, I've asked EBMC to:

Set up the rear suspension (including re-designing/welding the mounting brackets for the Alston rear sway bar endlinks, that were not necessarily done to EBMC's satisfaction)
Order and install a driveshaft
"Nut-and-bolt" the front suspension
A variety of exhaust issues need attention, which is going to be a challenge for them because of the way I'd like to have it done, but I have faith in their ability
And some cosmetic issues and some door and glass issues

Steve has been great to work with and I have made a couple of shop visits already and I'm very pleased with their work and their thoroughness, thoughtfulness and professional approach.

I think that I'm going to get a vehicle back that will have many of the "hurdles" that were going to challenge my abilities actually squared away, which is going to make my willingness to keep on cranking on this thing just reset back into the "green." I'm excited again!

[130fe]

Steve, sorry to hear about the bad stuff. Just remember to keeping pushing forward and you will be happy in the end. Wish I was closer, I would come give you a hand! (Would be fun drive in my car up the coast though) LOL

[Motown 454]

Glad your getting it sorted out, Having the tedious stuff finished will make the rest of the build more enjoyable.

[67SSDan]

This thing is sweet! My car was originally butternut and I always hated that color... until I saw this build. Keep it up man, you're almost there!

Dan

[sjaroslo]

Thank you all for the words of encouragement, it means a lot. I'm excited about getting the issues addressed and getting the car back in my garage and picking up where I left off. Get to focus on wiring and getting it ready to run!

[sjaroslo]

ttt