One of my favorite H.S. teachers lost his room clock to repairs, so he drew up a clock face with no hands and wrote, "Time passes. Will you?" And at that point, I swear, my perception of time changed, and I never seemed to have enough!
OK, 1.650 U.H.L., 3/8-16 thread, NO markings on the (dished and flanged) head, .372 diameter shank with .800 unthreaded. The head is a bit shorter in height than the norm, but I can't see an aftermarket converter making contact. Have you tried going (not calling) any local (or not so local) trans shops, explain your situation, then see where you get. Good luck. P.S. There are 7 bolts.
Hello folks, The 331 is installed and running in the Torino! Not quite ready to drive yet, however. I picked up my transmission from the rebuild shop and am very happy with it so far. Going to install it when I have the time. Phil, can't thank you enough for the bolt info. Saved my bacon!!!
How would one go about testing the alternator & voltage regulator? The shop manual I have for '69 basically says to plug it into an obsolete tool...
First off, the alternator can be bench-tested at your friendly neighborhood parts place. Second, your car has a mechanical regulator. Swap to a fully electronic one (don't worry, it's plug 'n' play) to relieve yourself of the headaches of adjusting the solenoid points. You can even swap the covers, keeping the Autolite one for stock appearance. Also, does your rig have a dash ammeter? If so, the underhood wiring uses a shunt to protect the ammeter from burning out. Ensure all the wires and cables at the shunt are in good condition, clean and correctly snugged down.
Simplest method to tell if alt is generating a charge. If access to back of alt while engine running get a screwdriver if you can reach center of shaft on back of housing without touching any wires and shorting out, there will be a magnetic charge generated by alternator pulling screwdriver to shaft housing. Just be sure the screwdriver can't touch any wires. Magnetic pull your charging no pull = no charge. Old trick with limited tools. Also manual should step you thru how to jump regulator for testing. Will full field alternator bogging engine. Note it's only for a quick test. Good Luck and keep at it !
The engine is fully sitting in place in the Ranchero. I need more hours in the day to get it running . Fully intended on driving it out of the shop today, but that didn't happen.
Yeah, somethimes you want it to happen, but just be deliberate, and pay attention to simple detail. It'll get finished before you know it.
Which engine did you put in the Ranchero? And I take it that's the new C-4 behind it? What trans is in the Torino?
Hello folks, Here's the word... I drove the Ranchero under its own power yesterday! It now has a SBF (unsure if 302 or 289) and a rebuilt C4. It needs a little work to get it back to where I'd be comfortable driving it, but it's really close. The Torino is at a chassis/fabrication shop to get the shift linkage worked on. The good news is the Ranchero is fully running and driving and the Torino is shortly going to be driving, but it runs right now. The Ranchero has a pretty bad stumble when tipping into the throttle and then it clears up. I can't see any accelerator pump shot when I work the throttle. I ordered a carburetor rebuilt set, but we'll see about that. I rebuilt a Holley 4bbl in the past and didn't have a good experience... couldn't even get it to idle after working on it. Another thing with the Ranchero is it has a mean exhaust leak... I don't know how in the world you're supposed to tighten the nuts on those manifold to flange studs! There's simply no room... going to just take it to an exhaust shop and let them take care of it. I couldn't really be happier with where I am right now in regards to my projects... excluding my '83 Mustang GT that has been in 1 million pieces for a few years now... Take care folks, Mike
Mike, if you didn't get the exhaust system tight and you are driving it you might want to pick up another set of exhaust gaskets before you take it to the shop, good chance they are blown out.
You know, I'm not sure it even has gaskets. When I took my 302 apart the first time, it didn't have gaskets between the head and the manifold. Moving down to what I'll call the 'collector' from the manifold to the exhaust pipes, it's just like a circular ball flange that slips into the manifold and is clamped against the studs with a plate and nuts on the backside of that plate. No gasket involved there either. Is this a typical setup?
