Round the block

Now that I knew the engine ticked over, I checked the brakes and auto to see if I could take it for a spin. The fluid level in the gearbox looked ok (a bit strange seeing a trans-cooler hose was disconnected when I got it) and the brakes worked when I rolled it off the trailer and then again when I rolled it down the driveway. So the driveline/brakes looked initially sorted


I got some imperial welsh plugs and some "cheapo" rocker covers to complete the engine, but christ - what a pain it is to put in rear welsh-plugs (in a power steering equiped 289)! It took me several hours as you can't get a straight hit on a drive dolly to seat the rear welsh plugs. After many skinned knuckles and a lot of swearing all was complete so I filled it with what coolant I could and fired it up. So far so good. So I hopped in and put the shifter into "R". There was a familiar "clunk" as it found gear but then nothing......


It seems all those years of sitting had let the trans-fluid drain from the converter and various internal galleries so it just looked like the fluid level was ok. After adding several litres of fluid it came good. So I backed it out of the garage, sat it idling on the lawn and waited for it to warm up a little so the thermostat would open. This it did after a minute or two so I could now completely fill it up with coolant.


I will eventually include a video here that I took of it (the old video camera is now broken so I can't convert the tape to digital for now) but it went and looked great. Yet again I had Mark & Lavina over to take it for a spin - great fun. When I say it went well, that was true - but it didn't stop so well. There is just something about those 4-wheel, non-power-equiped drum brakes - that catches you out when trying to slow down for the first corner!! Never mind, we made it around and it was only out of curiousity that I got it going at all - but well worthwhile the effort. I think ii was only 5 laps of the block that the car ever did before I was to begin the "strip down". My 3 kids had the first drive with me - Dylan, Nicola and Ellie. Thankfully they thought it was great and told mum so too.


Straight after that I parked it in the garage and the engine came out......

Here (below) is the motor fresh out later on the same day of the last test drive.


And here (below) is the motor sitting in a cradle (an old office chair made a great trolley) so I could move it around. Notice the bracket for the radiator to circulate coolant and the new petrol tank made out of a plastic coke bottle (a black funnel is stuffed in a hole in the coke bottle).



The engine went so well that I bartered it for a new Shelby bonnet. That is, I swapped the engine & trans (which I didn't need) to someone who will peel the steel bonnet shell off the metal frame and graft a fibreglass 65/66 Shelby bonnet (with scoop) back on.

I got the engine going on the stand so this person could see the full worth. Here is a video of the engine running on the stand.......

Now that the engine was out, there was no excuse to delay the dismantling process that would reveal all the ugly secrets......