The Front Clip Is Off!

I wanted to update things for everyone...

We have moved from Auburn to Arizona!  After settling in and cleaning out the boxes in the garage a little, I finally have space to work.  We purchased another vehicle for daily use, so the Scamp is in the garage till completion!

I have attached some pics of the fender, door, hood, trunk, bumper, grille, and wiring harness removal that I did this afternoon.  Hopefully I will be posting more than 4 stinkin' months apart from now on!

New tires

So I had to get a front end alignment...

It started out that I noticed an unusual wear pattern on the inside of the front tires.  I took it to one local shop for a front-end alignment, but realized they were pretty sketchy.  I ended up going to another local shop, Brent's Alignment & Repair, in Auburn Washington.

I talked with Brent and realized this guy knew what he was doing.  The Scamp ended up needing new bushings in addition to the lower left ball joint.  After that, the alignment was easy.

I stopped by Discount Tire Co. in Bonney Lake Washington and got some new tread on the rims.  Now that the shake at 65 and the sudden jerks to one side of the road or the other depending on the road crown is GONE, the drive is much nicer.  My wife is even enjoying driving it more!

Bare Block Back!

After two weeks (I missed the weekly shot peen schedule by hours!), we finally got the block back!  It is hot dipped, baked and shot blasted.  After the cleaning work, I had DG Machine do a magnaflux on the block to verify it had no cracks.  Fortunately, there are NO CRACKS!

The guys at DG Machine have been very helpful and were willing to let me throw some paint on the block before it left their shop.  I have attached a few pictures to show the progress.  I took about 6 light passes on the paint to make sure there were no runs and to cover the rough spots from the original casting imperfections.  There were several areas on the exterior of the block that had casting flash.  I left it original and didn't grind or sand any of it down.  Some people will smooth the exterior of the block for visual appearance, but with the extra surface area that the rough casting provides and all the other cool looking stuff that is going in the engine bay, I think I will be ok without it.  Besides, anybody that can see the side of the block shoe-horned into this engine bay either has too good a mirror, or WAY too much time!

By the way, the boy in some of the pictures is my son Samuel.  I told you at the start of this it would be a family project and it is.

Tearing It All Down

I sit here with old motor oil in the pores of my hands, but happy!  I spent today tearing the engine apart and sent the block to Dale at DG Machine in Auburn, WA.  It is going to get a nice warm bath, a shot blast massage, and some magnaflux treatment.  If everything works out (no cracks), it will get bored out and prepped for the build.

I have attached some pics to show the teardown.  Two of the cylinders had a little bit of standing water in them, and a few had signs of previous water but the surface rust came off nice.

Pictures of donated organs

So we (read I) have been searching for the perfect organ donor.  The heart of my Scamp is a strong but limited slant-6 225 cid engine, and to do what we are wanting, the car needs a heart transplant.

I will spend some time detailing every step of the process in the hopes that others will be inspired to attempt AND COMPLETE similar heart transplants.  You don't know it, but you could be a heart transplant specialist after reading this!

I won't spend too much time on this post, but after searching for a suitable 440 block, I have found an excellent donor for an amazing deal.  The engine with attached 727 transmission was available in OREGON!  I talked with the owner about it over the phone and after thorough description by the owner, my wife and I hopped in my van to drive the 3 hours to check it out.  Once we arrived at the location, we got to meet a very nice man who had been completely honest and up-front about what he was selling.  THEY ARE OUT THERE!  With the additional items he threw in for our troubles, we were on our way back home.

I have attached a few pictures so you can see what the whole thing looks like now.  It won't look like this for long, so stay close for updates and pictures!