289 Little Details

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.

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289 Ready for Assembly – Step 1: Short Block

After tearing down the 302 and realizing it was a 79 block dressed up with 68 parts, I found an original early 68 289 block that will fit the period correct requirement for the 67. I switched gears mid stream and had the machine shop stop on the 302 and finish the 289 for this project. Well, they are done and I have the block and heads, plus all the various parts back at the house.

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A New Engine for the Convertible

On my quest to make the convertible work well, and keep it period correct, I ran into the engine transplant. While doing the power steering, the front end and exhaust started getting in the way of period correct replacement parts. I got the idea while at Rick’s the other day that maybe I could tinker on an engine rebuild using all period correct parts outside of the block and rotating assembly. So I brought home the engine Rick and I pulled out of a recent 68 he picked up for salvage parts. It’s full of surprises, but I’m willing to see if it will fit the bill.

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Restoring Original Power Steering

When I bought the convertible, it had an issue with vibrations around 50 mph. I thought it might be related to the suspension and bad alignment that was evident with the wear pattern on the front passenger side tire. When I replaced the brakes with disc and refreshed the front end, I expected the vibration to go away, but it didn’t. With everything else replaced, the only part left is the power steering, so now its time to rebuild that.

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New Convertible Top

While the convertible is pretty solid, it does have a few items that need attention. The most pressing is the convertible top. It is pretty ragged and has several holes in it. While it is a summer car and the top is down for the most part, its pretty important to me to have a structurally sound top for the times where unexpected weather happens, or even just needing to park it outside over night at some point. So, that’s project number one.

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