73 VGE - Engine Detailed

Here is the latest installment, with a confession. Everyone told me that the time was going to extend, and I (with honesty and total naivete) said Naaaaah . . . . well the timeline is now revised. Mike feels that he will have the car done by Mid - Late July, but my fabric isn't going to be done till Mid August. So, by the time the seats are done, it will probably be early September before I pick it up. OK, summer's gone, and there will be a few fall rides, and then button up Kermit for the winter.

But Mike has gotten most of the priming done. Using an acid etching primer as a base, and then a thicker primer over that, he is priming, sanding, filling, priming and sanding till he gets the surface smooth. He said that he will be shooting green paint by the end of next week, but this week, he was working on the engine, getting the engine tin cleaned up and repainted, and putting the engine back together.

:edit: While he was putting the engine together, he repainted the valve covers, and took a close looksee at the injectors. Replaced two of them for not being 100%. He said that it was running well before, so now it should really be running smooth!! Also found a few oil leaks. Replaced the gasket on the oil pressure sending unit, and a few of the oil lines. That should help keep this nice clean engine much cleaner. I'm aiming for the PWD72S look!!!!!

Here is the engine after he has put it back together. Yes, I know that the air cleaner is missing, but other than that . . . . from the front.

To you fan afficionado's here is a closeup of the fan. Decided to not do anything exotic with it. Just plain clean aluminuminum

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From the right! ;)

really a pretty looking shroud for 30 years old. See, a Viper Green car should be an "E", then the color of the shroud matches the color of the car!!! :D:D

Last engine Pix, but I feel so good. Starting to come together!! Nice looking tin around that engine, huh?

larry

Looks great :)

If the car will be ready a couple of months before the seats, why not buy some cheap used seats as a temporary measure? You could put some fun miles on it and then drop in the good seats when they are done (a 10 minute job).

Sunday:

That certainly was a thought. Mike and I discussed it. He has a set of seats that I could use, but the bases are different than the early sport seat bases that I have on my seats. Also, he is refurbishing the bases, while Autos Intl is doing the seats. So Mike would have to ship me the bases, (or I would have to carry them back to Chicago) while Autos ships me the seats. I would assemble the seats to the bases, and put those in the car, then take the borrowed seats and ship them back to Mike.

If it was longer than a month or so, I would do it. But for a 30 day wait, I don't know that it is worth the risk to me that I will screw something up. I expect to learn alot about this car over the years, but now . . . . I'm totally a novice. If I screwed it up, I would really be pi$$ed. :(

larry