Getting the big Fairlane back on the road.... Going the whole 9 inches

[THE H.P FREAK]

HI!... This is my daily driver....

[RC10th]

I'd say that car is worth the upkeep. And you're right about the exhaust note...I don't recall you mentioning what you had in there. Is it a 351? My cousin had a '72 Torino for a short while with a 351 Cleveland...very strong motor per cubic inch. Nothing compares to the sound of a vintage V8 burbling away at idle. Speaking about heater boxes, this winter I restored my Charger's heater box. I'll be reinstalling it either next week or the week after.

Its only got a little 302 cleavland in it, C4 trans, factory 4 wheel disk brakes and factory 8.5" limited slip. An intesting fact is oddly enough white with a blue vinyl roof and blue interior wasn't an offered option, but the body tag is correct to how the car is trimmed. I fired up the donor car today after sitting for a year and will do a compression test sometime this week. Hopefully it will be pulled and ready to put in mine by the end of the week.

On the topic of charger heaterboxes I restored mine last year

[RC10th]

I like the look of the widened stock(ish) rear wheels on that truck.

[THE H.P FREAK]

I like the look of the widened stock(ish) rear wheels on that truck.

HI!... Yes those are the stock rear wheels. Originally 15" x 7". I had them widened to 15" x 10.5". I'm currently running a Nitto 555R 325/50/R-15 drag radial on them.

[RC10th]

I bought an engine hoist with load leveler today to pull the engine out of both cars. I figured instead of paying someone I'd just do it myself, which would also save money and I'd finally have my own hoist instead of trying to borrow everyone elses. Half a day and it should be out, not much to it really (the beauty of basic cars).

Engine rebuilds aren't cheap as $3500 seems to be on the mark for a full rebuild. Being this engine in the donor car was supposedly rebuilt not long ago I'm hoping to get away with just an inspection and new gaskets. If they could pull the heads and oil pan and check the bores, main/rod bolts, heads and replace the cam for $1500 I'd be happy.

This thing isn't going to be a ripper with iorn intake and cast exhaust manifolds but I figure a mild 1500-5000 cam swap and a 1500rpm stall converter it should go better than it did. I'm starting to get a bit excited.

The car also never had a kickdown so I'm happy it will have one now.

[tuna.Rc]

I've learned that you need 2 vehicles .One for a daily driver , and another for a project / daily driver

[Halgar]

I've learned that you need 2 vehicles .One for a daily driver , and another for a project / daily driver

plus a spare, you know, just in case you need another project while you're working on your project.

[RC10th]

I finally got off my butt and pulled the donor car out ready to pull the engine, which is supposedly the original engine from the white one. Now I just need a clear day as it has been raining almost every day.

Swapping cars around was a good thing as I had to start my truck which has not been started in over 3 months (only been started 4 times in the past year and a half). Luckily this time everything went event free. First time it killed the starter, replaced it and the starter solinoid, second time ignition stayed on with the key in every position, still need to order a new ignition switch for it though.

I also must say I'm impressed with the optima yellow top batteries, still had 12.5 volts after sitting and the cranking is amazing. I always found it hard to justify paying so much for a battery but now I see why.

I can't wait to drive it on the road *sigh*

[RC10th]

I finally got off my ass and did something. Being a one man show I'm wrecked though, the car didn't want to give it up easy.

[TRX-1-3]

Yeah dude. The old engine pull. Always straight forward, never easy. Way to go!

Mark

[marlo]

I love those one man weekends. Good for you RJ, I've been there. Pulled, and installed a 289 on my old 65. Just me, beer, and my music.....

[RC10th]

Once everything was unbolted it should have only taken 30 minutes to pull the engine out, but ended up taking half a day of jacking, banging, wiggling, prying and a few words to get it out. At least it's done and I'm looking forward to giving it a bit of extra go.

Apparantly the Aussie 302 Cleavlands and some heads are quite good. All 302's are just destroked 351's, and most of the heads are small closed chamber. Although when installing a 351 crank the compression jumps up quite high and requires open chamber heads or dished pistons. I read somewhere the 302's are 9.4:1 and the 351's 9.1:1. Closed chamber heads with 351 crank and flat tops jump to 11:1.

[Halgar]

You did it wrong, you're supposed to wrap a chain around the block, tie it to a tree, then back away at high speed! EASY!!!

[DennisM]

It´s unbeliveable, I know, but the Land Cruiser needed help

I hadn´t been able to lock the rear diff since I got the car, as a result of that I had to go backwards about 8 meters and use more throttle on the second attempt, a rainy day in last years christmas tree season.
Never again will I take such defeat, I promised myself - as a result of that, and with the tree season getting closer, I dismantled the actuator a cople of weeks ago.

Not good, corroded and broken beyond repair. Even the magnets had given in, they followed the rotor out when I dismantled it.
A new actuator is 7-800 usd´ish - totally insane!

I thought about doing a cable version but wasn´t really keen on having a handle sticking halfway through the cabin when activated.
Next idea was to have a 30 kg servo pull the shaft, but then I´d have to weld a bracket, watertight enclossure and think up a clever springloaded lever system - plus rebuild the control system.

Then the only thing left was air.
Since I didn´t have compressed onboard air, I thought about doing a vacuum version - but then I read a discussion between two mechanics about the use of vacuum for aux equipment, and decided to go for the compressed air version.

I bought a used Festo 2-way cylinder and made it oneway with spring return. Took me a while to find the right strenght coil spring to retract the shaft. Ended up with a vintage 1/8 spring

When cutting the shaft, I started out with a hacksaw - didn´t even scratch the shaft
Luckily, I was able to drill and thread the shaft end after it was cut with the grinder.
Perhaps the heat from grinding took some of the hardening?

The hoses and fittings are hydraulic components - can´t have thin blue girlie plastics running under a Toyota.

The only unsolved matter is the vent/bleeder hose end, can´t have a "ball" valve like the breathers for the axles.
It needs to allow suction as well. Any ideas?

[RC10th]

I'm starting to get really excited about this as the engine goes to the builder next week. The plan is to put a 351 crank in it and a mild cam. My goal is 350 hp and 350 ft lb of torque, pretty mild but should be fun for a reliable daily driver.

Dennis - I would make a small vent box where the vent tube inside the box is near the top of the box, and a drain tube on the bottom so if any water gets in it won't get sucked in the vent and can also drain out. As long as it doesn't suck while submerged the air inside will keep the water out, and depending on how much/long suction there is water wont even reach the tube even if submerged. Unless it requires continuous suction.