Back to......VANagains NEWest 65 Chevy SportVan Deluxe

Oh come on, Don! I got a lot more done than that. After you left Sunday I put on two more covers and the oil pump!! Seriously, it's not the putting on that takes time, it's all the cleaning and prepping for paint.



Don, you just get that engine hoist ready...!

Must say thats a clean looking L6.

For $1600 you too can have a clean engine like that too! I ordered this longblock engine from ATK. It arrived in a crate all nice and clean like that! Plus, they had run it for 20 minutes on a dyno to break it in a little and make sure it was all balanced out. So I've just got to do the easy parts: bolt on all the pans and stuff and then drop it in!



Here's a little glitch I ran into while putting the oil pan on. The oil pump pickup hit the bottom of the oil pan. The pan was a half inch away from mating with the block! Then I noticed there is a clamp on the pickup, so I loosened it and I raised up the pickup enough to allow the pan to contact the block. But look how close that puts the pickup tube to the piston rod! I need to turn the crankshaft to see if it gets any closer than that. It's making me a little nervous. Got any advice?

If anyone out there has a block apart, would you measure the pickup tube, or see if it is shaped like mine? It seems like that bend could be made differently to provide more clearance.

(for some reason, my photo is not appearing on this.....)

Thanks.

I just ran across some interesting info about Chevy straight sixes.

One way to tell the difference between a 230 and a 250: look at the crankshaft. A 250 crank is fully counterweighted, while a 230 crank is not.

Want to soup up your six? Leo Santucci's book on 6 cylinder Chevy engines.

Some info on this site, including casting number identification:
http://www.inliners.org

We ended up bending the pickup tube in two places slightly to give it clearance by the crankshaft and clearance at the bottom of the oil pan. I'm a little concerned that the tube is not very tight where it goes into the pump. Anybody got any advice on how snug that should be to guarantee good suction? Add gasket cement? We tried to flare out the end of the tube to snug it up. Helped only a little.

The inside of the doghouse was pretty clean considering the age of the vehicle. Still, it took a lot of scrubbing with smelly solvents. And I removed some surface rust near the choke cable, sanded it smooth and painted those areas.



I have some half inch foil covered foam ready to mount in there for noise and heat insulation. I cut out cardboard templates and was anxious to start spraying adhesive. Then I thought of putting "dumb dumb" putty at the seam where the doghouse meets the floor (I had scraped out some loose old putty). But then I noticed the front seam looked suspiciously wide. I stuck a screwdriver in it and was surprised to see it poke out the other side!! The spot welds had all let loose along the front edge! Here I am trying to carefully seal up the doghouse and I almost left a long gap at the front!! So I got the welder out and laid a long bead on the inside. I used my gas welder which caused some warping on the front of the doghouse. I popped most of it back out but it is still not straight. Got to get a MIG for any future welding!

Well, as Don will surely agree, I have been spending a lot of time on this doghouse project! This will probably be the most meticulous doghouse insulation job of any early!! But this is my attempt to reduce the impact of having the engine sitting right next to you. I really want to minimize the heat and noise.

I welded up some drilled holes, and managed to keep the warping to a minimum by using water to cool on the side that was bulging. It worked better than I expected. And on the smaller holes, I just bondo'd them.

To mount the insulation I used 3M's automotive Super Trim Adhesive. It says it's heat and moisture resistant. There's a guage that shows its bond strength, I got "Heavy". It's pricey but worth it. I mounted the front piece first because that area was pretty smooth. That one piece covers the whole front and stops where the radiator mounts. In the photo you can see how thick the foam is. (I got this foam at a local auto swap meet, so I can't really tell you what brand it is or anything. The 1/2" stuff cost $30 for a 3' x 4' piece, and it's going to take 2 pieces for the doghouse and lid.)


Then I started getting real picky. On the sides there are many raised areas in the metal to provide strength. I just didn't like how the insulation would have to go up and down over those, leaving many areas where it wouldn't be flush, leaving it unadhered. I started looking around the garage for 1/4" material I could put in the low spots to make it flush. I found some 1/4" masonite and thought it would also be another layer of great insulation, on the sides where the exhaust is! I looked it up and masonite's burning temp is about 390 degrees F! Sooooo, more time spent shaping pieces to fit in the odd recessed shapes. I was concerned the adhesive wouldn't be strong enough to hold it buy those things don't budge at all! I'm very glad I did it. It really maximizes the insulation areas and I can just tell that it is going to help. And the foam went on really nice over it.


Someday soon I might even put an engine in here!

Rich.... Thats NICE.........

IT IS DONE! It took two whole cans of that spray adhesive, and I haven't even done the lid yet. It is hard to believe that a couple coats of that spray is enough to hold this thick foam, especially around all the curves, but it is really on there! And when I knock on the metal I get a nice low, solid sound. Now the doghouse looks like something from NASA!

Hey VANagain.. I have been thinking about doing this myself. What insulation and spray adhesive (yeah, I have a hard time it would work too with all that heat) are you using? One concern I had is that the engine might get too hot if the heat is not radiating through the doghouse, but Ima no nuthin.

SWEEEEET!!!!!
Lookin good!!!
Man I cant wait to put a clean freshly painted powerplant into my van someday soon, got all the parts for the 307 rebuild now. But right now we are looking into moving out of the city onto 10 secluded acres approx. 75 miles north of Sacramento, I hope we can get it before someone else does, man that will be so freaking nice.....less rent to pay,privacy,huge organic gardening and fishing near by, gotta love it!!!!
Get those accessories on an start cruisn!!!!!!!
Mark

Last weekend we got another big item in place: the shiny rebuilt 700R4 transmission that's been sitting in its crate for over 6 months!! Don didn't even get his hands dirty helping me lift it into place!



This weekend I am going to fabricate a tranny mount that will hang from the crossmember like those on the stock trannies, but be able to extend back to accomodate the additional length of the 700R4. Should be fun! I've borrowed a plasma cutter and MIG welder. Watch for photos!

It is getting real exciting now! The big stuff is in and after this tranny mount it's all small bolt-on stuff. A whole heck of a lot of it but it will be fun! I can't wait to see how it drives compared to my other van with the three on the tree.

Regarding the doghouse insulation causing the engine to run hotter, I think the impact will be minimal. There are many ways to get the engine to run cooler than depending on heat radiating through the doghouse into the passenger compartment. I bought the insulation at a local swap meet. It is not a name brand but I hope it will do the trick. I'm real happy with the adhesive I used: 3M's automotive Super Trim Adhesive - Heavy.

DoniVan...Now "That" is thinking outside of the "Box!" I like it!!! Great fabricating! lol
B.W.

I know it doesn't rain in CA ,but do you really think it will last made out of cardboard Just kidding Heck of an Idea.