[b-man]

.....will be told here to show that you can use either the 90-degree or the angled spin-on filter adapter on the early '55 -'60 blocks.

The blue filter adapter is the 90-degree one used on B-body big Pontiacs and first-gen '67 -'69 F-body Firebirds. The angled filter adapter is used on all A-body GTO/Le Mans/Tempest and second-gen '70 -'81 F-body Firebirds.



Note that the 90-degree adapter has the oil sender coming straight out the side, while the angled adapter has it coming out towards the rear.



The angled adapter is shown here installed on the '59 block.



As you can see here it's a very close fit.



Same shot, but this time with the stick shift bellhousing in place. As you can see there's plenty of clearance between the filter and the bellhousing.



The only point of interference was the head of this bolt, if there is a lock washer underneath it it hits the filter. The answer is to either go without the washer or shave down the head of the bolt a little.



Here's the 90-degree adapter installed, there's tons of room between it and the engine block.





Side view of 90-degree adapter.



Side view of the angled adapter.

[b-man]

.....the test stand today.

First order of business was to liberate the engine from the engine stand. For those of you who aren't comfortable using a lifting plate, here's close to 700 pounds being supported by the four 5/16" carb studs on the 2-barrel intake.



Here's the main reason that these older blocks don't get used for many engine builds, the odd-ball '55-'60 bellhousing bolt pattern. This, along with the fact that the block doesn't mount the starter.



I attached my 1960 stick bellhousing so I can build the rear test stand mounts off of it. The '58-'60 stick bellhousings will accommodate the stronger and more modern stick transmissions.



To start with I used some 1.25" wide by .250" thick metal strap iron to locate the bellhousing approximately where I want it on the test stand.





There's plenty of clearance between the floor of the stand and the oil pan as well as the lowest hanging item, the road draft tube.



With the rear of the engine somewhat secure I can move on to the side engine mounting.

Here's why you never throw anything away made of steel that might be useful later on, a pair of camper hold downs that I almost sat at the curb for the scrappers.



After about 2 minutes with the Sawzall and I now have these, 2.50" wide by .375" thick material already bent very close to the shape I need.



They'll work out just perfect here.



The supports tuck in nicely to clear any type of exhaust that I might need to use.





After drilling a hole for a 1/2" bolt, they're now attached to the mounts and supporting the front of the engine.



I'll weld the bottoms of the support legs to the pieces of channel that were cut off from the camper hold downs, then bolt the channel to the floor of the test stand.



Now to do something about mounting the bellhousing properly, this certainly won't do as it now sits.



After some cutting and drilling using the same two pieces of material we're good now



All self-supporting and stable, even without doing any welding on the front supports. That's it for today.

[BruceWilkie]

B-man the cannister filter is another option. One of my blocks had one and the 420A longbranches cleared fine. Wish I hadnt sold the manifolds.(iirc they are in CA somewhere as are a pair of early curve top M/T valve covers.) I accidentally broke my canister filter housing. Current block I have the straight adapter from a 68 350. I'll probably just use remote filter once turbo's are ready to install.

Nice test stand your building.

[Bill Hanlon]

I have a canister filter can, bolt and adapter if anyone needs any of it. Came off of my '57 347 V8.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

I have a canister filter can, bolt and adapter if anyone needs any of it. Came off of my '57 347 V8.

Donations gratefully accepted.

[b-man]

Today I wanted to try to get some compression numbers, just to get an idea on the general health of the engine before I tear it down any further.

I put the auto trans bell and flexplate back on it along with the starter motor so I could run the compression test.



I also installed a nice tight lightly used double-roller timing set. This way the valve action wouldn't be retarded because of a loose chain, perhaps giving me a better chance of getting some decent compression readings.



I pirated a couple of good used battery cables from my stash and hooked up the battery. I also put the 2-barrel carb back on and blocked the choke plate and throttle linkage wide-open, to better simulate a test you'd do on a complete engine.



Now I'm ready to do some testing.



Since the engine is obviously cold and the lifters aren't pumped up the readings won't tell the whole story, but here they are:

1 - 110
3 - 80
5 - 65
7 - 105

2 - 95
4 - 70
6 - 65
8 - 110

Tested again after adding a squirt of Marvel Mystery Oil to each cylinder:

1 - 120
3 - 100
5 - 100
7 - 115

2 - 80
4 - 80
6 - 70
8 - 130

So at this point I'll let it sit for a week to give the MMO a chance to soak into the rings a bit more to perhaps free them some and test again, then I'll pull the heads.

[azbirds]

Are there different bellcranks for the 4 BBL and TriPower? I'm working on a 59 Bonneville that was converted from 4BBL to TriPower and the throttle linkage is binding.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by azbirds

Are there different bellcranks for the 4 BBL and TriPower? I'm working on a 59 Bonneville that was converted from 4BBL to TriPower and the throttle linkage is binding.

I don't know enough about the '59 cars to know for sure, but I'm thinking your assumption is correct.

[tom s]

Bart,get a couple heat lamps and put them next to the engine on each side to warm it up over night.Might get better numbers if its all warmed up.Tom

[b-man]

Originally Posted by tom s

Bart,get a couple heat lamps and put them next to the engine on each side to warm it up over night.Might get better numbers if its all warmed up.Tom

I was also thinking that might be of help, now to find some heat lamps.

[azbirds]

Talk about a difficult part to find. I guess the search is on.

[BruceWilkie]

60-100 watt regular bulbs under the pan do a pretty good job too. Some foil wrap to help direct heat and confine it to block area should help too.

Ooops... are regular old bulbs contraband there???

[b-man]

Originally Posted by BruceWilkie

60-100 watt regular bulbs under the pan do a pretty good job too. Some foil wrap to help direct heat and confine it to block area should help too.

Ooops... are regular old bulbs contraband there???

They've been slowly phasing out the old incandescent bulbs here, but I do have a few new 100W bulbs stashed away that I can use.

[b-man]

I haven't had much time lately to mess with the 389, but I did pick up an interesting piece of the puzzle today.

A 1959 Tri-Power cast iron thermostat housing was generously donated to the project by PY member 56 Batwing. Thanks again Jack.

What makes this part unusual is the engine lifting loop built into it. On the '59 2 barrel and 4-barrel intakes the loop is integrated into the intake manifold casting, but for the Tri-Power they were only able to find room for the loop on the thermostat housing.







Here it is shown next to an aluminum repro of a '65 Tri-Power housing for comparison. The '59 unit is pretty big and heavy, I put it on a shipping scale and it weighs 2.85 pounds compared to the '65 aluminum repro at a scant .55 pounds.



Here you can see how the lifting loop configuration of the thermostat housing was copied in .150" to .175" thick stamped steel for later engines, attaching to one of the studs that mount the timing cover.

[b-man]

.....along with the correct linkage and fuel lines, sitting on the builder's workbench ready for shipment. The carbs, linkage and fuel lines are shown here mocked up on a 1960 intake.

Pretty unusual fuel line routing compared to what I'm used to seeing on the more common '64 -'66 setups.

New toys.