I resolved the fuel leaks and got the car started again today. It ran much longer than last time, and I heard a noise I did not hear before... the sound of something hitting the windage tray. (I believe) :( Looks like the engine will be coming back out. For now, I disconnected the battery and closed the hood. I am so disgusted right now.

Weather cleared tonight and went out to Sherwood Oregon to Friday Night Thunder. Local TV station was there also. Tomorrow is the big car show there with 500 to 600 cars expected.

I went to Motor Muster at The Henry Ford/Greenfield Village and saw some amazing cars and Military Vehicles. Then I came home and washed my car and took my grand daughter for a ride. She loves sitting in the back seat and having the wind blow on her face.

found a paint that matches the paint already on the firewall.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...psyuegp4np.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...psnysdt4xh.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...pshjjniemw.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...psamonrdu1.jpg

i will take another picture tomorrow with it dry. the more it dried the more it looked like the rest of the firewall

That's looking sharp.

thanks man now i am going to order a new block sander and i got the guide coat and going to search for highs and lows. but i have a new challenge changing the bushings on the door hinges. any tips?

Here's last night, wish my car would have made it on TV.

http://www.kgw.com/community/blogs/d...262592731.html

Here's a post I used.

Rebush the top hinge first.
Roll down the window and close the door.
Felt tip marker or some primer paint to mark hinge position, both halves of both hinges.
Remove 3 upper hinge-to-body bolts.
Carefully unlatch door and support the trailing edge on one of those padded adjustable height rolling stools.
Fully open the door supported by stool and remove hinge-to-door bolts. You'll need a combination wrench on these. Remove the hinge.
Grind staking off the hinge pin and drive it out with a hammer and drift. Support bottom of the hinge with a socket while driving out the pin.
Remove the hinge pin, replace the bushings, and install new hinge pin using a dab of lithium grease. New pin installs from bottom side.
Use a sharp chisel to re-stake new pin in place.
Reinstall the hinge in reverse order.

Bottom Hinge.
Roll down the window and close door.
Remove the 3 lower hinge-to-body bolts.
If detent and spring are still intact, use a screwdriver and pump pliers to pry the hinge to its' fully open position. You'll have to pry the bottom of door out slightly to clear the hinge from door jamb. You can do this while the door remains latched.
Place a block of wood between bottom of door and rocker panel to give yourself a straight shot at the phillips screws holding the hinge to the door.
Get the biggest honking phillips screwdriver you can find, and using the pump pliers for better leverage, remove 3 hinge-to-door flat head screws.
If the phillips head strips out, a hammer and chisel are required to loosen the screws.
Remove the hinge.
Clamp hinge in a vise and cover with a towel to catch the detent spring when you lever it out with a flat screwdriver. Carefully remove the spring.
Remove hinge pin as above. New bushings go on the center half of the hinge.
Grind off the top of the detent stud and remove old roller.
Grind remaining portion of detent stud flush with the hinge. You should see a perfect circular outline where original detent stud was pressed into the hinge.
Use a center punch to mark the stud center. Support hinge vertically and use a drill press to drill 1/8" pilot hole. Move the bit in and out to clear chips. Continue drilling until bit breaks through bottom side of original detent stud.
Use a #7 bit to enlarge the hole, drilling all the way through the original detent stud.
Use cutting oil and a 1/4x20 hand tap to thread for the new detent stud.
Install new detent roller on the stud with a bit of lithium grease and install the stud with a dab of locktite, making sure the detent lever is on correct side of roller.
Reassemble hinge halves after new bushings installed. Smear a dab of lithium grease on new hinge pin and drive into place. No staking required, the pin installs from the top side and knurls into the hinge.
Get 2 small lengths of steel mechanics wire and thread both through center of detent spring.
Clamp the spring in a vise, cover with a towel for safety, and tighten spring until coil bind.
Use pliers to twist the 2 pieces of mechanics wire tight enough to keep the spring compressed.
CAREFULLY loosen the vise, ensuring the mechanics wire holds spring tightly together.
Clamp the hinge half in the vise, and insert spring between seat and detent lever.
Snip the mechanics wire loose to allow spring to expand against detent lever. Fish mechanics wire out of the spring.
Force the hinge into its' fully open position and reinstall in reverse order.
Adjust the door fit using hinge-to-body bolts. If you matched original hinge location to door, hinge to door screws shouldn't require adjustment.
This process is time consuming, don't lose patience, results are night and day, Good luck.

Here'a another post I used when I did mine. Do only one hinged at a time and start with the top one. sorry they are a little long, but worth reading. Since you already have the fenders off, the hinges will be easier to get too.

You need to determine if the hinges need replacement because the bushing holes are enlarged from wear or if you can get away with new bushings and pins. New hinges cost about $100 per door or $15 for new pins and bushings for both doors. It was an easy decision to try to rebuild the hinges due to cost. You can't really determine your particular situation until you remove the door and disassemble the hinge. This would also be a good time to determine if you need different or larger bushings. For example the rebuild kit I ordered included 8 smaller bushings and 2 larger serrated bushings. According to the blurb in the catalog only 1 serrated large bushing is needed for the lower hinge in the top hole. For my particular application I also needed additional large serrated bushings for both holes in the top hinge. They're .53 so order 6 more and the rebuild kit and you'll be ready for whatever your chevelle will require. Here are the steps I used which included the instructions from Mark, Steve and Von (Thanks again gentlemen).

1) Roll down the window, open the door fully and use a hydraulic jack and a 2X4 about the length of the door to support the bottom of the door. Do not put pressure on the door - you only need to support the door with the jack placed in the middle.

2)Mark the outline of the hinges with a marker. If you don't mind a little paint I found it easier to spray some primer on the hinge area since it's difficult to get a mark you can see on the curved upper portion. Once you remove the door the outilne of the hinge will be readily apparent with the paint. I wouldn't get to worried since the hinge area will have rust on the door hinge area and you can mark it better when the door is removed.

3) Get a helper to balance the door when you remove it. Note: YOU NEED A HELPER TO REMOVE THE DOOR. Don't try to unfasten the bolts and remove the door by yourself. I was surprised at how heavy the door was and that the hinges lasted even this long. With a helper ready to balance the door by the handle (the jack will hold the door up) you can start to remove the hinge to door bolts. There are 3 bolts per hinge that can be removed with a 1/2" socket and wrench. You need to remove the 2 inner bolts with the wrench since the socket and ratchet won't fit. Remove the inner bolts on both hinges with the wrench. The final bolts will still hold the door. Tell your helper to be ready and remove the lower bolt with the ratchet and then the upper. If you use this order the door won't twist and possibly fall off the jack when the bolts are removed. I removed the last bolts by supporting the door by the mirror with my left arm and removing the bolts with the ratchet with my right arm. The door should lower slightly and you can roll it away on the jack with your helper. Don't lower the jack since you can use it as a guide when reinstalling the door. Place the door a good distance away since there is a high probability you'll knock it over or dent it if it's in the immediate vicinity. If possible try to lay it on the upholstered side on a blanket.

4) With the door removed you have access to the hinges. This is decision time since you can either repair the hinge on the car or remove it and do it on the bench. The advantage of doing it on the car is that you don't need to worry about reinstalling the hinge to body bolts which must be exact since they adjust the door up and down and fore and aft. The advantge of doing it on the bench is that you can use a vise and have better access. I decided to repair the hinge on the car using a 6 inch C clamp.The steps should be the same for bench repair using a vise.

5) You need to remove the large detent spring on the bottom hinge to allow removal of the hinge pin. This is the only place I did not use a subtle approach. Be very careful with removal since this spring is the size of a valve spring and can cause injury and havoc if it lets loose. Clear the work area of loved ones and pets. Note: THIS WAS MY APPROACH - YOU ARE FREE TO DETERMINE YOUR OWN COURSE OF ACTION.

Place a towel over the lower hinge. With a pry bar or large screwdriver sit on the drivers seat and place another towel by the edge of the door pillar. Place the the pry bar under the spring and leverage against the door pillar while turning your head and cringing. The spring will pop out without poking your eye out since the towel will confine its energy. Place the spring by your bench vise since you'll have to deal with this nasty bugger again.

6) You now have access to the pins for removal. You will notice two pins on each of the hinges. The ones closet to the pillar are just door stops for the upper and detent roller for the bottom. The detent roller was OK for my application and I did not remove it.

Mark the top of the upper hinge to door part of the hinge to make sure you don't install it upside down. The bottom will be self evident with the detent lever on top.

The upper pin was placed from bottom up and the lower was inserted from the top. I started with the lower hinge by removing the stake marks from the bottom pin. The stake marks looked like they were created by chiseling the the outside of the pin on each side to make a sliver of metal protrude to prevent the pin from working losse. I laid on a creeper and chiseled straight into the sliver where it started to be formed. It came right off - your luck may vary and you might have to resort to a small grinder. The upper pin did not have stake marks. The following procedure was used on both hinges.

Con't from post above, since I'm limited on how many words can be in a post.

In order to remove and install the pins and bushings you will need a 5 or 6 inch C clamp. Try to get one with the hex head handle for sockets and not the T bar for hand use. You will get much better leverage using a socket. Note: DO NOT USE A HAMMER TO REMOVE THE PINS - YOU WILL ONLY BEND THE HINGE. If the pin does not come out with light taps then use the C clamp. The hinge will bend easily from hammer blows and cock the pin which will make extraction very difficult. Find a bolt or spacer that will fit between the upper and lower halves of the hinge right next to the pin. This will prevent the hinge from bending and give firm resistance to the C clamp pressure. Place a short 5/8" or larger socket over the pin head. Place the C clamp over the socket and bottom of the pin and tighten. After an initial resistance the pin should push out smoothly until the C clamp bottoms against the hinge. Keeping the bolt used for support in place, remove the clamp and drive the pin out the rest of the way using a hammer and drift. Remove the support bolt.

You now can inspect the bushings if they still exist. They can be removed by knocking out the shoulders with a chisel and then pushed out with a drift. Just contact the edge of the bushing with a small drift to push it out. If you use a drift that fits the hole it will only get stuck. If the bushing wasn't completely destroyed, you can determine if you need the large serrated bushing or the smaller smooth sided bushing. If the bushing was non existant then inspect the hole carefully and note if it has serrations. As I mentioned before, the '71 malibu convertible had the large serrated bushings for the top hinge and 1 for the top hole in the bottom hinge. Get your bushings and see if you can place them in the holes. If the bushings are loose in the holes then unfortunately you probably have to lay out the bucks for new hinges. The bushings should fit snugly with finger pressure or very light taps of a hammer. The bushings are placed on the hinge to pillar part of the hinge. One from the bottom and one from the top. Line up the door to hinge piece with the correct side up and insert the pin (you can lube with some lithium grease) with light taps of the hammer to get it started (the '71 malibu convertible had the top pin from bottom up and the lower pin from the top). Place the support bolt between the hinge next to where the pin will be placed to prevent the hinge from bending.
Place the C clamp over the pin head and hinge and start to tighten. You might have to guide the pin by leverging a screwdriver to guide the pin into the upper hole as you tighten the clamp. When the clamp bottoms against the pin, remove the clamp and place a socket over the tapered pin end and reclamp until the pin head bottoms againt the hinge. Stake the pin with a chisel. Remove the support bolt or spacer. This procedure is done for both hinges - be careful with the clamp on the top hinge and your fender. For clearance you need to have the adjusting handle up and the clamp screw comes very close to the fender edge, so place a rag between the screw and fender.

7) Don't forget that nasty detent spring sitting by the bench vise. You need to compress it and restrain it with wire on two sides. Note: THIS SPRING CAN CAUSE SEVERE INJURY IF IT SLIPS OUT OF THE VISE - BE CAREFUL. I cut some wire from my wife's tomato cages (she'll never know) with linemans pliers. 2 pieces about 6 inches long. I made sure no loved ones or pets were in the immediate vicinity (you can leave the beer drinking brother-in-law wearing your bathrobe right next to the vise). Place one wire through the coils and bend up and just begin the twist. Place the spring in the vise and start to compress - make sure the spring is centered up and down and side to side in the vise. Have the brother-in-law carefully check the placement and finish compressing the spring. Take the linemans pliers and twist the wire until tight. Open the vise carefully and insert the other wire on the opposite side. Tighten the clamp and twist the wire tight. Open the vise slowly and gingerly remove the spring. Do not leave the spring laying around but install it immediately. A compressed spring is very dangerous. It seems that the bottom hinge can be in any of the detent postions for spring insertion. For access I placed the bottom hinge in the closed position, made sure the detent lever was aligned with the roller and placed the spring into position with one end in the bump out of the detent lever and the other wedged into the bump on the hinge. It's still a tight fit but with a light tap of the hammer (while turning my head and wincing) I pushed the spring end over the bump. Carefully check the spring placement before removing the wire. I cut the twisted end with the lineman's pliers. One end of the wire was bent out and I grabbed it with the pliers. While pulling on the wire I put a screwdriver in between the coil to allow the other end of the wire to be pulled out.

8) Before replacing the door - The hinge area of the door is probably rusty. Carefully scribe the outline of the hinge and then wire brush the area. Mask off the hinge outline, plug the screw holes and spray paint. When you remove the masking tape . you will have a good outline for door placement. I would also place some caulking around the hinge perimeter. Get the hydraulic jack and have your helper join you to retrieve your door that was placed out of harms way. Place the door on the jack which was left in the same position when you removed the door and roll it close to the hinges. Make sure the hinges are in the open position. Start with a screw in the bottom hinge since the detent will prevent it from flopping around and move the door slightly until you can start the screw and snug it down. Do not tighten the screw. If you have trouble lining up the screws, you can get some studs from the local hardware or home improvement store with the same bolt size and twice the length. Screw a couple studs into the door and this will help to get the door close enough to start some bolts. Start all the bolts but only snug the outer bolt with the ratchet to allow lining up with your marks. Once lined up, tighten the outer bolt and the inner bolts which are accesible with the wrench.

Before checking door alignment insure the window is rolled down and remove the striker. Slowly close the door and check for alignment. The door to hinge bolts control the in and out adjustment of the door. If the door isn't flush with the front fender then adjust the door accordingly. Once the door is flush, roll up the window and close the door to check the glass alignment and then install the striker.

Congratulations - you now have a door that will close properly without pulling up on the door handle. You can even get in on the drivers side and close the door from the inside. Life is good.

I taking doors off and on right now by myself. A helper is advisable but. I am using 2 jackstands. Tape cardboard on the top to protect the door. One on each end of the door.

wow thanks for the info!!! i will get to work on that tomorrow can't do anything today...lol

i didn't do anything crazy just cleaned and painted my heater box and rebuilt it. I hope to have it installed this week one less thing laying around

You are one brave man.

We were going to go cruising in the vert late today but it started raining again ,Im ready for some drought .

David actually told me that he wanted to go out to a cruise tonight. So I found one to go to and made an early dinner, picked the kids up from Drama camp and was ready to go. Then we looked at the thermometer. It said 92 degrees and the humidity was high. Going out in a Black car with a Black interior, even though I have AC, didn't seem appealing to either of us. I am just hoping that the rain gives us some opportunites later this week.

But I did wash the Toyota today. The weeping willow has dropped extreme amount of sap this year and it took a few washes to get that crap off. That's why I don't park my car in the driveway anymore.

I developed kind of a high pitch whining noise as I got the RPM's up on the car. I thought it was exhaust leaks from the welded "Y" pipes for my cutouts. I got some stuff from Autozone and put it on all the welded joints (kinda like a caulk that stands 1500*). After letting that stuff harden up I checked it again and still heard it. Grabbed the Ol Lady and had her listen and we both said it sounds like its coming from the alternator. Took the belt off and sound was gone. Took the alternator off, put it in a vise on the workbench and turned it over real fast with a drill motor........hey theres that sound again.

I ordered a 80 Amp chrome one from Summit and it should be here in another hour or so.

It got here at 4:30 by UPS, put it on, revved it up, no squeal. Took it for a ride, works perfectly. The chrome one looks so much better than the stock one with my March brackets.

Congrats on finding and fixing the problem quickly .

Took the Chevelle to the Balloon Festival car show today. Great weather and finally a chance to get it out to a show. Also yesterday at the beach I had two trailers in the same place and only one vehicle to bring them home. Had to improvise something.

Installed a completely rebuilt SMI Qjet carb that a Team Chevelle carb guru buddy that lives in Indiana has built for me. Built to my specific engine specs...the big block now runs PERFECT!!!
Pulling a rock steady 16" of vacuum at idle now.
Always wished I knew more about Qjet carbs...

Who built it for you Bill ,I think I know but not sure ? Would he be willing to build another one ?

He really doesn't do them anymore...did mine as a huge favor John.
I manufactured some tooling for him a few years ago and I guess he felt he owed me. He didn't owe me anything...I owe him!!!
What do you have a Qjet on?? I know the truck and convert have Edelbrocks.
I've got the Summit rebuilt carb that I bought a month ago just to be able to drive the wagon around until the other one was returned.
You're welcome to try out that one. Works fine.

My 1 ton needs one but Im hoping the one I had rebuilt several years a go by the guy at CB will still be good ,he built it for my 1/2 ton truck and I never found the right intake for it so I put it on the shelf .

Removed the front bumper, brackets, and grille this morning. Preparing to pull the rest of the front clip, then the engine and transmission.

Mark the front clip where it is now by the doors so you can align the fenders back up easier.

No need for that Ray, the current gaps are all wrong. (Too small) That's part of the reason it's coming back apart. The core support bushings are shot as well. Everything has to be realigned. At the same time I will be swapping out the domed hood for a cowl induction hood.

I was so busy that I didn't have time to even think about my car. I left my house at 8am and just got home and it's 10:30pm. Ugh....

Hood and front fenders are off. Got the door gaps mostly sorted out. Engine, transmission, and core support will all be removed Saturday.

Got called into work Saturday, so nothing got done over the weekend. Off today, but my arm is incredibly sore. I managed to drain the coolant and remove the core support one piece with the radiator and condenser still attached. I undid all of the electrical and vacuum connections as well.

I do not have another day off until Saturday, but there is tropical storm on the way. Looking like I won't get to it again until next Tuesday.

I will be getting he Chevelle out of the shop this evening and getting it loaded up with our luggage for a long weekend trip to North Carolina .

no pictures but i changed the bushings on the driver side door guide coated it sanded and its ready for paint. Guide coated the driver side 1/4 panel and its ready for paint. Depending on the day might knock out the trunk and the passenger side door see what happends :)

Have fun John.

Let the wind blow in your hair with the top down and have a safe trip.

Chevelle is packed and ready when we get home from work tomorrow we're gone .Top is down ,tank is full ,looking forward to seeing our buddies (Silver Travis Band) play on the 4th.

Be safe John. I hope you and Joan have a great time !

I can't wait to see the both of you in a month. Let the countdown begin !!

We sure do miss seeing everyone ,especially now that Chevelabration is no more .But hopefully we can spend some time together catching up at Ohio . Cant wait . I drove the vert to work this morning so that I can check the tires and oil during lunch ,then when Joan gets off work at 5:00 we will head out .

Have fun John.

We made it to North Carolina tonight and finally got checked in to our hotel ,didnt have reservations for tonight and that caused a bit of a hassle with the front desk clerk. She be dummer than a box of rocks and Im not kidding .She was talking to a customer on the phone while we were waiting and they asked her her name and I kid you not she had to read her name tag to spell her name for them .

That's why she's the "Night" clerk.