Engine and Gearbox installation.

This was the one I was a bit anxious about, as I had removed the engine and gearbox separately in a mechanics workshop with his help and his hoist and transmission jack and countless socket extensions. I had none of those, but after searching the forum it seemed most people did the install with the engine and gearbox connected. This is my experience to add to the body of information. Unfortunately I was so focussed on the task I forgot to take photos! Hopefully this description paints a good enough picture.

Start point:-
Engine - on an engine stand; exhaust manifold, carb/inlet manifold and distributor removed - didn't want to risk anything catching my new paintwork!
Gearbox - on a work bench; shift lever and rear mount removed.
Car - on axle stands about 8" higher than normal ground clearance; centre steering link and radiator removed; heavy blankets protecting the firewall and front bodywork.

Because I knew my hired engine hoist didn't have a leveller, I figured I would use a heavy duty (2200KG) ratchet strap (soft fabric, no damage) as a sling to lift the engine. The engine was horizontal on the engine stand, but I needed the engine/gearbox to hang at about a 45 degree angle, so I placed the sling just behind the bulge in the sump, but kept the engine hoist hook more towards the front of the engine so the sling was on an angle to the engine. I used a 1" strap as a "belt" around the cam towers to squeeze the sling to provide some friction against the cam towers and keep it between the manifold studs to stop it tipping too far if things went pear shaped. I ran another 1" strap through the lifting eye at the front of the engine up to the hook - this would stop the engine tipping frontwards once it came of the engine stand.

Once the engine came off the stand I could install the flywheel and clutch. I didn't have an alignment tool so I fashioned one by grinding down a paint stirrer handle. Crude but surprisingly effective!



I had to use yet another strap wrapped around the toothed edge of the flywheel and anchored at both ends to the feet of the engine hoist to prevent the motor from turning while I torqued the flywheel bolts - there must be a tool for this!

With the gearbox level on the bench, and the engine level on the hoist and the clutch properly aligned, it was a simple job to bolt them together.

In order to install the starter motor I had to place the engine/gearbox on the workbench and reposition the sling to run between the engine and the starter motor. I also looped another 1" strap around the front of the cam towers to behind the shift lever housing - this would rub against the underside of the tunnel to prevent the gearbox from snagging once the shift lever housing was beyond the firewall.

Lifting the whole engine gearbox/engine assembly off the bench it hung at an angle which was not quite steep enough, but by pushing down on the gearbox, the engine swung on the hook to whatever angle we needed. So with my wife providing an extra pair of eyes to ensure we weren't going to hit anything, we were slowly able to lower the engine into place.

We had to get it to quite a steep angle to get the shift lever housing into the tunnel without catching the sump on the front body cross member, and there is not a lot of clearance so protecting the paintwork is definitely recommended! But once the sump was below the body cross member it was easy to ease it down a bit and along a bit, with the extra strap keeping the shifter housing clear of the tunnel, until I could prop the back of the gearbox on a block to keep it roughly level.

Because of the weight of the alternator and the starter motor being on the same side, the engine automatically hung with the driver side lower, which meant we could drop the engine onto the driver side engine mount first, then lower it further to align the passenger side engine mount. Then attach the rear gearbox mount, and it's in.

From start to finish took maybe 4 hours, no damage and no heart palpitations. As a rookie, I'm happy with that!

Pedal Box and Dashboard Install

I really wanted to wire up the new tail and turn lights to see what they looked like, and also check all the other wiring still worked properly, so that meant installing the dash, and the pedal box/clutch cable, and the steering column/steering wheel.

The clutch cables sold in NZ must be specific to RHD cars as they are really long, it comes straight out from the firewall and touches the front of the engine bay beside the radiator as it loops back under the alternator. Hopefully by being straight it will place less load on the firewall and avoid the stress fractures that some cars get (being ex automatic my car hasn't had that issue).

My gauges had all gone a bit cloudy, so taking my cue from other threads on this forum, I gently prised off the bezels using a small screwdriver, which thankfully didn't cause as much damage as I thought it might. Cleaned the glass, repainted the bezels, checked all the bulbs and installed the gauges into the new dash.

My old speedo cable had a broken connector, so I wasn't sure how it was supposed to connect. Really easily, as it turns out. And whereas it was inaccessible from under the dash before, with repositioning gauges and wiring I can now access the new cable connection without removing the dash.

Here's how it looks

Looking good!

Wiring

The wiring for the new tail lights is quite basic compared to the existing tail lights with their fancy plugs and pass-through circuit boards. I hadn't bothered installing reversing lights, and the side marker lights had been removed, so with some basic connectors I could re-purpose the old wiring loom to serve the new tail lights and number plate lights. Radio aerial was also removed.

The new tail lights are LED with integrated turn signals, and the front turn signals - which I'd installed prior to body restoration - were also LED but I'd never changed out the flasher relay, so they didn't blink properly. I got this LED flasher relay, which fitted the existing plug but the pins are in a different order so two of the wires had to be swapped in the plug.



Time to check everything out.... surprise, surprise, it all worked! Flashers flashed, lights lit, brake lights braked, wipers wiped, the fan fanned - only the oil pressure light didn't come on. I knew the bulb was OK so I took out the oil pressure switch. It had been sitting for 3 years in an inactive engine so I guess it was no surprise it had become a bit stuck, but a quick clean out got it going again. Happy days!

I like the custom tail lights. Did you give any thought to replacing the entire wiring harness and fuse box? I can't decide if I want to rewire the car or not.

Dave

Starting the Engine

So with the electrics all working, the next big test was obviously get the engine going again. But there was a bit to do. I'd need some petrol - in went the refurbed petrol tank with new fuel lines; some coolant - fitted the new radiator and hoses; some sparks - reinstalled the distributor, spark plugs and leads; some new oil; and an exhaust pipe.

I think I was ready. Turned it over; but didn't fire. It didn't appear to be getting petrol into the carb. Blocked fuel line? Blew them clear, again. Fuel pump not pumping? Took it out, seemed to be generating pressure. Could smell petrol but not from the carb. Turns out the one fuel line I had not replaced (because it looked fine) actually had a fracture in it.

Tried again to start it - definitely getting fuel but not firing still. I was sure there was spark at the plugs. Tried again and there was a kind of misfire - but not a good one like it was trying to start. Maybe the timing is way out?

Before the engine went back in the car, I'd lined up the timing marks at TDC - I'd used a chop stick to measure the No.1 piston was at the top of the stroke, then checked for compression, which it didn't have because (as I found out from reading threads here) it's actually the No.4 cylinder that's on the compression stroke at TDC, and then installed the distributor to match a photo I had, and made sure the rotor lined up with the No.4 spark plug lead. I was sure I'd done it properly this time as well. But best check.

So out come all the spark plugs so I can turn the engine to TDC, and when I took the distributor cap off, the rotor was miles away from aligning with the No.4 lead. What the hell? So take the distributor out and reinstall with the rotor in the right alignment. It was then I noticed a notch on the side of the distributor body which might be there on purpose, or it might just be a casting defect. But it appeared to be exactly in line with the No.4 spark plug lead.



So I lined the rotor up with the notch, put the dizzy cap back on, spark plugs in, a squirt of engine start into the carb, turned it over and it fired up straight away. Booyah!

davebdave wrote:I like the custom tail lights. Did you give any thought to replacing the entire wiring harness and fuse box? I can't decide if I want to rewire the car or not.

Dave

I know there are a number of comments on the forum about gremlins in the wiring but - touch wood - mine has mostly been trouble free. And apart from a bit of butchery around the radio/aerial connections, the rest looked in pretty good condition. I did have a puzzle a few years ago with the footwell courtesy light circuit having 6 volts running through it even when the doors were closed and all the lights and ignition were off, which I guess is why the PO had removed the bulb!

Kiwispider wrote:Booyah!

Booyah, indeed, Trevor! Awesome! I was going to guess that your timing was out of whack, but you beat me to it.

-Bryan

So Bryan, is the notch on the distributor a factory mark, or just a coincidence?

Trevor, I'm not sure. Your mark looks to me like a casting imperfection, but on the other hand, I have heard that there is a mark on some distributors to signify where the #4 plug wire position is when at TDC and the cams are lined up. I'd say if it works, use it!

-Bryan

Finishing in the Engine Bay

Installed a new windshield washer bottle to replace the old bladder, then finished installing the cowl and tidied up the last of the engine bay wiring and plumbing. The foam bump stops on the hood were missing when I bought the car, and the metalwork they slipped over had partly rusted away, so I wasn't keen to use that same system. My bodywork guy came up with a solution using the same rubber screw-in stoppers that hold the plastic grilles under the cowl, so he fashioned up screw holes on either side of the cowl. Unfortunately the screw-in stoppers sat a bit too high, so I swapped them out for these rubber blanking grommets.



I reinstalled the hood using some fresh stainless steel bolts, and tidied up the cam belt cover with stainless steel dome nuts.

Carpet and Console

So now it was back to the interior. I bought an 8' x 4' foam rubber 'fatigue mat' to use as carpet underlay - really cheap! Because it came rolled up it already had a built-it curve to drape nicely over the sills; not so good for the floor. I used a hot glue gun in a few places just to hold the underlay in place.

Originally my upholstery guy was going to install the carpet but he decided he didn't want to, although he gave me the carpet he had ordered so it wasn't a complete disaster. The original carpet had quite fine corn rows running lengthways, and the floor carpets had vinyl edging stitched around the perimeter. It was going to take a lot of work to accurately replicate that, with tools and skills that I didn't have.

However, the new carpet was a fluffier, tufted type, and it was black (very forgiving to shadow lines!), and I found I could tuck the cut edges in together to hide them at the corners. There would be an overlap on the tunnel which would be almost hidden once the seats went in, so the only bit that needed edging was the piece below the rear seat. I took this to a local carpet edging place and got that and some mats done for $20.

The floor pan behind the drivers seat has a depression in it which made it really difficult to get the carpet to sit nicely. Given that only a contortionist would be able to fit in the back seat AND put their feet on the floor, I decided to put a couple of extra layers of underlay in the depression to level out the carpet so it sat better.

The whole process was quite time consuming with a lot of fine tuning to get the floor carpets to fit snugly against the sides, but not as technically difficult as I thought it might be, and it turned out great.






I'd had the lower console already patched and painted, but I needed to revamp the upper console. The old interior light was not working properly and - apart from illuminating the gear shifter - didn't seem to serve much purpose. I didn't want the old radio, and didn't need a cigarette lighter.

I made a new front panel and installed a phone charger point where the cigarette lighter was, using the same wiring. I installed a plastic pocket into the radio aperture and made an aluminium face plate to match the cut-out in the dash that housed the hazard/warning/dash light switches. I used black vinyl and fabric paint to get rid of the red vinyl, and installed two LED footwell lights that ran off the old courtesy light wiring.

Looking great Trevor!!! Its been along journey

Thanks Drummond. Almost home now!

Door Cards and Seats

The guy who did my upholstery had suggested we get rid of the screws that hold the bottom of the door cards in place, and use more of the clips instead. We'd drilled the extra holes a couple of years ago in anticipation, but had never test fitted the cards - now it was time to see how successful this idea was.

The detail piping on the door cards made for quite a thick overlap where it wrapped in behind the door card, so the clips actually struggled to hold the cards fully in place. But once the arm rest, window winder handle and door handle were fitted, it snugged the door cards into the holes nicely.

The seats are the seats, what can I say? Just bolt 'em in. Did fit new shoulder seat belt guides though.