The oil pan has to come off so you can remove the oil and water pumps before you can remove the front cover. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Left cylinder head came off relatively easy. You can clearly see that cylinder #10 has been burning coolant. No obvious source other than possibly the head gasket. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Finally got the right cylinder head off. Took a lot of patience, big mallets, and plastic pry bars to get it. There was a bunch of corrosion around the base of a couple of the studs. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Good look at the bottom end. Hoping we don't find another "while you're at it" in there. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
The valves cleaned up nicely with a wire wheel on the bench grinder. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Quick update...still sourcing replacement parts but getting closer to start putting things back together. Interesting thing I noticed today, there are two different carbs, 38 DCOE 110 and 38 DCOE 111 but they are in mixed locations. The best I can tell from the parts manual, there is only a minor difference but the 110s belong on bank 1-6 and 111s belong on 7-12...can anyone confirm that?
Just looking at this revived thread, I've spotted this dark mark on the cylinder head. Unfortunately it really looks like the crack that took me so much to time to fix in my cylinder head... Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'll have to dig through more pictures. The cylinder heads weren't perfect but I don't recall there being any indications of a crack.
The crack normally begins between the two valve seats and then progresses through the exhaust port until it reaches the coolant. The exhaust port is extremely thin so even a slight crack can leak coolant. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting, I wish I knew about that a couple of years ago. The motor is back in and running but I will definitely keep an eye on the coolant.
Back to the original question of who built it. There are some good detail pics on this Straman conversion and it looks nothing like ours, from the top latches, to the location of the switch, to the underside of the car. The search continues. On another more positive note, we took the car out on it's first test drives this weekend before we button up the final details. Have a small punch list going of items to address.
Larry: Still have the red 400 convertible? I am getting to know mine more and more. Not as much as yours but I am headed down the rabbit whole. Might need some support. 17675 Frank
Yep. Just getting it back on the road after going through most of the mechanical and electrical systems over the last three years. Should be a decent driver when we are done. Feel free to message me any questions and I'll answer the best that I can.
Thanks Larry; I am having the rear Shocks rebuild and Springs tested. Disappointing considering I have receipts that they were rebuild by a well know shop 19 years ago (don't laugh) more important only 5K miles ago. New rims and tires on order, I expect that these changes will transform the car. Keeping my fingers crossed. Frank