mattbarron94

Holy ****. Looks awesome. I would've cleaned out and repainted the whole engine housing on the truck just so it looked super clean.

Tiderfish

Yes I would have liked to take my time and do up the engine bay, but the truck is at a friend's house on the other side of town, and he wants it done and gone ASAP. So We are just getting the basics.


Does anyone have any good ideas on how to remove that heat shielding that covers the air conditioning system? Mine is all falling apart. This is the material that resembles duct tape.

sportster07

I really like that. Looks mean. I'd consider some different valve covers that weren't blue to maybe set it off a bit but if not, it doesn't look bad at all by any means. Hope it runs good, have to keep us updated as well. Nice work

Tiderfish

Yeah, I'd would have liked to get those crinkle black COBRA valve covers with the silver stripes. But I would rather spend the money on other go fast parts like a full exhaust.

Speaking of exhaust, I have already purchased a pair of Hooker Headers. I believe they are the long type. These will not bolt up to the stock exhaust since they point different ways. Is there a kit I can buy that will mount up to the Hookers without any kind of fab work?

Tiderfish

Welp this weekend was kind of slow.

We got the spark plugs in, and cleaned up the starter and the thermostat housing. However when I was wiring in the starter, I put too much torque on the solenoid and sheared off the PLASTIC that holds the bolts on. We also determined the intake manifold bolts are too far gone to use.

So now I have a new solenoid on order, and the intake manifold bolts as well. Man this is getting expensive!

Does anyone know where to get a new rubber gasket / o-ring for the oil to water cooler?

dixie460

Looks good!

Plastic is used on the solenoid since it's an insulator, can't use metal there.

As for that oil cooler gasket... on mine I want to say it was the same as an oil filter o-ring but I could be wrong. If it is, just grab a filter and save the o-ring off it.

Tiderfish

I have updates about the rebuild!

We have made a lot of progress over the last few weeks. The new motor is in as is the injection, ignition, and the fuel rails.

We finished painting and clearing the water inlet, and the water pump. I got the inlet and thermostat on fine. However the water pump its self is a problem.

The pump has 2 inlets that are pointed in one specific way. They do not line up with the timing cover. My buddy that built this engine said he used a modern aluminum timing cover for this 1971 351W. Bottom line is either the pump is the wrong part or the timing cover needs to be swapped.

The reason for concern is the pumps rotate in different directions with serpentine belt and the previous single belt systems.

According to my the pic I snapped of the cover, I have the 1st one on the left. With mechanical injection, and the dipstick hole. So no crankshaft sensor. I assume the ECU won't work without that crankshaft sensor.

Anyone have any wisdom to bestow upon me? I could sure use some.

Tiderfish

Here are pics of the timing cover, and the water pump.

Tiderfish

Anyone have any words of wisdom on this?

Tiderfish

Well my friend thinks we will be fine once we get the correct "reverse water pump" timing cover. Summit has the part shiney and new for a "skant" $65. I also broke several bolts when removing them from the water pump. So if anyone does a water pump replacement I would suggest getting all new hardware as well.

After this I am rebuilding the alternator, and then we have to remove the studs from the exhaust manifolds. That should be FUN!