I made some progress and have had pictures sitting on my drive, but didn’t make a post before I retired in July and got distracted with an assortment of other life goals I couldn’t do while working. Winter has settled in, so I need to get back out to the shop and get this motor in the convertible while weather is keeping it in the shop.

Working through the details, I started with the dipstick tube. The original did not come off in one piece, so I ordered a reproduction. The fit was terrible and I had to use the Dremel to reduce the outer diameter of the tube before it would even think of going into the timing cover. It was also black originally, so I painted it blue like the rest of the engine. After too much work, it fits and the bolt hole lines up.

Jumping around, I had the fuel pump, so I put that on next. I was still waiting on clean, new AMK bolts, so I temporarily used the original rusty bolts while getting things lined up. In the mean time, the line from the pump to the carb showed up so I placed that, but I need to do some work to get a filter inline and connect it to the non stock carb before final assembly.

The view from the top looks like I am going to have to pay close attention to the heater hose elbow. Future me is going to have to sort out that last few inches to the carburetor.

One of the parts orders had the water pump to thermostat housing hose, so I fit that, trimming the ends as required. It seems I forgot the hose clamps in that order though, so I will have to remember to stop at Napa and pick those up.

Next, I moved on to the alternator. Since this is going into a stock wiring harness, I bought an improved version of stock, rather than a 3G. To simplify things as well as keeping things clean, I also bought a new alternator wiring harness so it can just plug into the car harness after dropping it in. As with other things on this project, period correct is the theme.

Along with the new alternator and wiring, I ordered new mounting hardware to go with the original bracket. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my spacer, so I had to order another. Of course, as soon as it arrived, I found the original. Time to clean up the shop and put more small parts bins up. I put it all in place to avoid losing parts while I wait for the others.

Next, I installed the distributor. I wanted something with a stock look, but no points. I went with a cast Pertronix with a Flamethrower III. As with the alternator wiring, I got a new harness for the sending units on the driver side of the engine too, making it a bit more plug and play. As a bonus, if you look close, you can see my oil pump alignment tool on the intake. Being paranoid and not wanting to lose a socket in the engine, I taped it to the extension before using it to turn the oil pump to get it to align with the distributor connection.

A close up of the alternator wiring. The orange spacer is still missing in this shot though. Also, I think the ground location is going to be shared with the battery cable. When I get there, I should probably replace that too.

Another close up, with a list of things left to do. Added a bolt for the oil dip stick, but still so many things to potentially be forgotten.

A couple days later, a bunch of parts arrived and I couldn’t help myself from putting them on. The air cleaner and valve cover combo arrived and they are simple drop on, so I had to do that. I also ordered custom length spark plug wires and a crimp tool, so I did the easy part there. To route the wires, I went with the same bracket system I have used a couple times previously. Oh, and I also got a couple of belts and put those on. Still no alternator spacer or elbow hose clamps though.

As a final detail from July, I found the original power steering pump dipstick and blasted/painted it. Everything looks so clean, plus Dan at Chockostang did such a great job making it new again when he rebuilt it, I had to share a picture.

It’s progress, but I still have a bunch of little things to clean up. I will get back out in the shop this week to see if I can make that happen as I work towards the major hurdle of pulling the old engine and transmission and dropping this one in.