eaglescout526 Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 Got back all the powder coated parts. I’ve never been more impressed with how they came out. The air cleaner is by far my favorite one to come out. Looks brand new! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 Just the air cleaner for now and it’s old lid. I’ll post more when I get them back to the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 that is a... unique lid. I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 2 minutes ago, Pete M said: that is a... unique lid. I love it! Yeah it is unique to the 403 T/A air cleaner assembly. I had already derusted it and figured that I’ve already got a pile going to be coated, I’d just throw it in and see what it comes out to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted March 27, 2023 Author Share Posted March 27, 2023 So the heads and valve covers are painted. Trying to get them to come out how I want them to come out and I think wind was a little bit of my factor today but they are smooth which is what I want mostly. Working on getting the radiator core out, that is tons of fun and looks like I have to get the fascia off just to more the core out so it should be easy out once the fascia is off. Then the water pump will be next following a new core. Also the radiator needs some service. Gonna get some vinegar and let it sit in the radiator until no more rust colored water comes out. It looks like it is the original radiator as it is made out of brass. Lots of progress to look forward to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 Back at it again! So in my adventure of removing the core support, I got the front fascia and bumper off. Sweet no issues there. Go to remove the core support and the fenders are holding me back. Ok, loosen a few bolts and the fenders should wiggle a little to give me some room to pull the core up and out. No. remove the whole damn fender on both sides to remove the core support. Yay! Well now that that is done I guess I am going to be doing more things since those are off the car. The power antenna will be serviced or replaced, most likely replaced due to not seeing the antenna in the assembly. And the blower motor. Feels kinda seized but thats due to probably not running in 30 years so I am going to service that. Lastly I removed the hood hinges since those were bolted to the fender so I guess I am gonna get those powder coated at some point now haha. Oh and the core support still isnt out!! One bolt that I missed in the dremel cutting from all the rust basically stopped me for the day so I will be back at it soon enough to get the core out...at least everything else is in great shape and 95% rust free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 the "while I'm at it" list for old cars is lengthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 Oh yeah, forgot to mention, gotta get a new radiator! Thats actually more my fault. I let the radiator have a 30/70 mix of vinegar and water and I let it set for a week too long and I think it ate away(or the previous coolant did the job and the vinegar was enough to push it over as seen by the freeze plugs before the heads were rebuilt.) at what already was weak solder for the core. Tried to fix it and I got some but not all of the leaks fixed. But yup this car has turned into a sectional restoration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted April 25, 2023 Author Share Posted April 25, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted June 26, 2023 Author Share Posted June 26, 2023 Ouch. A couple months. Sorry y’all. I was held back by rusted hardware. I tried finding part numbers for the hardware. Nothin. Tried finding some at the hardware store, didn’t see any I liked. So I ordered some from an F-body specialty store. Got those in and went back tonight and put the wheel wells back on. I accomplished something today haha. I wish I worked on it more when it was just warm and not in the 100’s but that’s ok. I made great progress on chunk and so it was kinda one or the other deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 26, 2023 Share Posted June 26, 2023 when you've got multiple kids, sometimes one gets priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenjeans Posted June 26, 2023 Share Posted June 26, 2023 I just went back and looked at page 1 to see what this is. I went on my honeymoon in ‘91 in an ‘81 T/A that was white with a blue bird on the hood. Looks very similar! The A/C was broke and we went to Panama City in August! Good times! I hope you get that bird back on the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Wow….it’s been a long while but I also see I didn’t say anything about getting some parts powder coated like the fender wells. I’ve been fighting on and off with the manifolds. For some reason there really isn’t any 403 manifolds out there. Maybe I should look at a 350. Good thing I know where one is. that being said I finally ordered and received the core support. So I can actually start putting this car back together. But I think I need to order some other stuff like body bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted June 28 Author Share Posted June 28 Couple updates. One my friend was able to drill and tap the new holes on the manifold and it should work great! I can start putting the engine back together. We also got the seats redone and they are beautiful thanks to my wife being impatient and wanting them done haha. No the front pattern isn’t original but that’s ok, they look pretty damn good. No pic today. Sorry guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 Those buckets are pimping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 24 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said: Those buckets are pimping! Oh yeah!! Went with the original fabric but couldn’t get the original pattern locally or cheap so we got something really close and we’re happy with how it turned out. I need to restore the backs and put them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 11 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: Now those are the 80's vibes I'm talkin about. Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 11 Author Share Posted November 11 We are back at it ladies and gents! I feel I made no progress today haha. So I got the passenger side cylinder head on. But then I started using my disc sander to clean up the timing cover where the water pump goes and am displeased with its current condition. All the while, it turns out that I needed to take it off the harmonic balancer, or what was left of it anyway. Turns out, ↓this is supposed to have a one inch width rubber wheel on this to act as the dampener. Which explains why the two bolts at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions are damaged. At least the crank shaft and internals are clean. But this ↓, worries me a little and make me think its not 62k on the odo, it might be 162k. But it ran and sounded fine so I am gonna send it. Original delco pump that still works. AMC has nothin on this beefy balancer. And lastly, I want yalls opinion. Would you get a new cover or use the same? I have no problem running it with the pits. Its the mating surface that has me worried. Not much of a bottom mating surface left to get a good seal in my opinion. Now I am looking to pillage some 350 heads and might put them on, dont know yet but they need to be rebuilt as well. These heads will get me more power and compression. And cooling wont be a problem with the OEM style 4 row radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted November 11 Share Posted November 11 Oh yeah, one of my favorite projects on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted November 15 Share Posted November 15 if there ANY doubts, now's the time to replace things. I promise you do NOT want to tear into a second time because you tried to save a couple bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdog Posted November 16 Share Posted November 16 i'd say if it is available the replace it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 16 Author Share Posted November 16 10 hours ago, Pete M said: if there ANY doubts, now's the time to replace things. I promise you do NOT want to tear into a second time because you tried to save a couple bucks. 39 minutes ago, jdog said: i'd say if it is available the replace it Ive ultimately decided I am going to replace the cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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