[marks73ta]

Finally got my axles in and the disc brake brackets welded on. Moser 35 spline axles with 5/8th studs and nuts. The discs are front Firebird/Camaro 10.5 inch discs. I still have to paint the housing, assemble it and buy the calipers.



The axle end on the right is the 35 spline versus the original Pontiac axle 31 spline on the left


Mark L

[marks73ta]

I assembled the reareand today and installed the brakes. One bracket must have been bent after it was made as the caliper would not line up with the caliper mount spacing etc. I had to rebend and adjust the bracket a lot to get everything to line up. But once I did the caliper and the brakes all came out great. I did a paint job on the housing and the center section. Mounted the brakes and it's all ready to go. Just have to run the brake lines.





I'm painting the ladder bars a metallic silver. They're drying right now. More pics to come of the ladder bars. I'm taking the front ladder bar crossmember to the guy that installed my front clip. He's going to build brackets and weld them to the crossmember. Then I can bolt everything together, place the axle and ladderbars/crossmember all into placed and tack it all in. That will be next week.





Mark L

[mechanickeith]

Ya missed a spot!!!

[marks73ta]

Damn, I thought you'd look the other way, but NOOOOO, you had ta point it out di'int ya?? You staying dry down there? Mark L

[Catbird67]

wow I spent the last 5 hours reading this all the way thru , Great Build mark . giving me something to think about when I work on my 67 CAT .

[marks73ta]

Thank you catbird. Yeah it's a long read but I've never kept any kind of log on any of my builds before so it's make up time for those years. Your comments are very much appreciated. I'm having fun doing al the mods and getting things bought and done. It's going to start cooling off down here pretty soon so I can really get into the work. I'm hoping to have it running and maybe even driving by Pontiac Heaven in March. We'll see if I can hit that deadline though. Mark L

[aronhk_md]

Damn Mark....I thought I was way ahead of you. lol. Time to get back out to the garage here. lol. Looking good.....

[marks73ta]

Don't worry Aron, I didn't say what year, LOL! If it is running it will be just that, but far from done. You'll probably be enjoying my old car long before I get mine really cruisable. BUT, one can dream hey? MArk L

[Steve Barcak]

Looking good there, Mark! The nights are getting nicer out and the days, while still hot, are more tolerable. It's time to get back into 'high gear' for us desert people who put up with our brutal summers. We can finally be more productive but, I still will like it much better, weather wise, in another month.

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

Looking good there, Mark! The nights are getting nicer out and the days, while still hot, are more tolerable. It's time to get back into 'high gear' for us desert people who put up with our brutal summers. We can finally be more productive but, I still will like it much better, weather wise, in another month.

I'm almost ready to come out of hiding here in the NM mountains.

Jim

[marks73ta]

Yeah, my adopted home here in AZ is brutal on ya for 4 months but she gives ya's lots 'o lovin' for the rest. Will have to check but my motor should be almost together. And it'll be cool enough for a road trip to go get it. No air conditioning in the old parts chaser. Mark L

[mechanickeith]

Wimp!

[Catbird67]

well it helps to roll the windows down .. good old 5/55 air , five fingers to roll it down and 55 mph ( or 65 if you have that )

as for the scott M part , tell him you will quit cutting if he is willing to pay for the layup costs of the glass molds at VFN , last time I checked they aren't cheap ...

[Catbird67]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

Wimp!

hes from the land up north , they shovel the white stuff in shorts and t-shirts , and melt when it gets 75*

[mechanickeith]

Mark's been here for several years. You would think he would be acclimated by now!

[marks73ta]

Keith. I'm retired, I ain't gotta do nutin' I ain't wantin' to do. I ain't wantin' ta melt. Heh!

[gtofreek]

Here is a couple of pics. One of the radiused ex. valve seat opened up to 1.77" valve.
The other is the rocker geometry. With this pushrod length, I achieved the shortest roll out pattern. It measured .055". If I lengthen or shorten the pushrod by .050", the rollout goes to .085" or so. This is the best geometry possible with this rocker even though the rollout is not quite centered. This is better than .085" wide and centered.

[marks73ta]

(In another thread I explained how I found a '59 389 for sale with '61 540306 Super Duty heads.)
I wanted to bring the Cat to the Saturday BOP races and car show this Saturday. Finally got the ladder bar front mount crossmember done and now I can tack it into the car so I can roll it around. I think I told you about the 389 I found. '59 389 with first generation 540306 Super Duty heads. I reassembled the 389 enough to use as a mock up motor for the Cat, includng the full rear motor plate/adaptor and the Lakewood bell housing. I also installed the Dearborn toploader 3 speed for the first time. Everything went together well except I still need an early bellhousing mounted starter to mock that up. I had one and sent it to Bruce Wilke thinking I would ever need one. This is pics of the crossmember and the rearend/ladder bars all ready to go in.





This is the adaptor/motor plate and bell housing block plate.



The 389 mocked up in the Cat.



And the transmission in the Cat.



Got to get it in tomorrow (Friday) so I can get it on the trailer for Saturday. Hope I still have time to get the front end assembled and on.

Mark L

[hellerods]

Go Mark Go--- nice to hear from you and glad you didn't fall of the planet. Lee

[gtofreek]

Here are some pic's of the engine build. Got the cylinders cleaned good and got all the rings gapped today and start assembly tomorrow. Gapped rings at .025" top, .030" second and oil came out at .032". Man those heat treated ductile iron top rings are sure hard and take forever to gap, especially when they start out overlapping! Will get pics of the bearings tomorrow after I tune them up. Bearing clearance came out at .0025" rods, and .0028" mains.