72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

The casting date is definitely J181. I thought that GM and most other manufacturers did not use the letter "I" in their castings because it would be confused with the number "1". So if you take "I" out of the alphabet then the following is the result A=Jan, B=Feb, C=March, D=April, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=August, J=September, K=October, L=November and M=December

[njsteve]

So here I am with the 455 HO short block assembled and about to bolt on the heads. I pick them up to bolt on the engine and sand falls out. YES, SAND! The heads were brought to what I thought was a reputable engine shop in Union, NJ to be disassembled and inspected, cleaned and reassembled. Well it turns out the IDIOT I brought them to dissassembled them, found out the recent valve job on them was fine, installed a new set of seals, reassembled them and then PUT THEM IN THE SANDBLAST CABINET AND BLASTED THE PAINT OFF. He then took them out and shook them off and gave them back to me when I picked them up a week later (about a month ago).

As a result, I just spent the entire weekend disassembling these heads and pressure washing them til my hands pruned up, in order to get every last piece of carbide grit out of the heads, springs, guides, etc. I called the IDIOT this morning and asked him what why on Earth would he do that and he responded that he didn't want to give me the heads back with all the old paint on them. I'm flaberghasted on the phone that this guy has no clue what he has done is beyond insane. I tried to explain that just one grain of sand could wipe out an engine and he responds that he thought he got all the sand out because he ran the heads through the vibrator after he blasted them. I asked how he expected to get the sand out of the areas that still were oily and he said he didn't think that would have been a problem. I mentioned the whole episode to my mechanic buddy who recommended this guy and he was speechless. All we can think is that the guy maybe has had a stroke or is in the early stages of Alzheimers (I'm serious here). The speedshop guy has been in business for 40 years.

[njsteve]

Even my 9-year-old daughter (here helping me assemble the short block) thought it was totally nuts.

[Mr70]

Sounds like it may be time for him to retire,for whatever reason.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Sounds like a really neat car, but the engine shop guy should be hung! Good luck with the project....

wilma

[njsteve]

Here is the latest photo. I am assembling the engine so I can run it on my engine stand. Actually I dont have an engine stand so I'm just going to install it back in the car just to get it run in and then pull it out and take the body apart for painting. I dont like letting freshly assembled engines sit. I had a cam go bad on my last project after the engine sat for a year without being initially fired up. So hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll have some noise to report on. You gotta love the baby blue color of the 1972 Pontiac engines. (I gotta hate the $24.95 a can it cost for the correct paint though)

[njsteve]

Well I just got the 455HO up and running in the world's most expensive run stand: I ended up bolting the engine and trans back in the car and hooking up the basic wiring and a tach, oil pressure and a temp gauge. No exhaust, just a couple of dump tubes off the exhaust manifolds. I tried using my mechanic buddy's rubber exhaust tubes (the ones you use in the winter to pipe the exhaust out of your shop). They didnt help one bit. In fact the exhaust coming out of the manifolds was so hot it set the insides of them on fire. Very scary for a few minutes -it looked just like a blown head gasket: billowing white and grey smoke out the pipes. I yanked them off the engine and the smoke disapeared (along with the crowd of neighbors who gathered to watch my garage burn down). I let it run between 1700 to 2500 for about 25 minutes, I changed the oil and no metal was on the magnetized drain plug. I let it cool down overnight and it started with a click of the ignition key this morning. So it all looks good for now. Now I can pull the car completely apart and store the engine til it's done. This thing was so loud I had to use my industrial ear protectors!