Monday, November 29, 2010

Ringo's Second Roadification

I've got grease under my fingernails this morning. Ringo's drivetrain is out and split. Next task is getting the engine up on the stand. It started with Ariel and me pushing Ringo into the garage. With his rear up on jackstands, I disconnected wires and removed topside bits such as carb linkage, vacuum balance tube, and forward seal retainer. From the underside, I removed the side seal retainers and the engine grill, and I disconnected the fuel line, two heater hoses, and transmission linkages and shifter cable. With the ATV and tranny jacks in place under the drivetrain, I removed the front mount nuts and the rear mount bolts. After lowering the jacks, I raised the car enough to roll the power-pack out and off to one side of the garage. To split the differential and transmission from the engine, I first had to remove the three flexplate-to-torque converter bolts, and then the differential-to-bell housing bolts. A simple jiggle and I rolled diff/tranny out of the way. I then bolted the engine stand hub onto the bellhousing and left the project there. The tricky part is safely raising the engine high enough to engage the hub with the rest of the stand. Slow and steady with lots of blocks will do it, but that’s tonight’s project.

What’s got me quite concerned about this roadification project is the rust that’s taken over parts of Ringo’s underside. The floors I can, and will, deal with, but there are other structural portions that are going to require some serious repairs. I’m hoping I can find suitable body sections at the Corvair Ranch to weld in. Once the engine’s disassembled, I’ll be stripping Ringo’s interior and assessing what needs to repaired. Photos to follow.

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