1970 Camaro. Project "Cindy" by iregret

3 minute(s) of a 206 minute read

I have been working *tons* of overtime lately, with no end in sight. Consequently, there has been very little time that I can spend with Cindy. I managed to spend a few hours with her today. Also, my upper control arm bolts arrived today.

My son asked if we could spend some time cleaning up the engine, and repaint it. (He loves to spray paint!lol) So we spent some time cleaning up the engine today.

Here's what it looked like when we started:

I pulled off the valve covers and discovered some water in the oil from condensation. I cleaned it out the best I could. Also, there are 2 small spots of surface rust. I'm not to happy about that, but what are you going to do?

Next, I pulled off the intake manifold. Looking good under here.

8-9-2008

Thank you very much. I am having a hard time coming up with spare time to work on my project.

Recently, I finished modifying my spindles. I tapped them to accept 7/16, fine thread (20 tpi).

First I drilled them out with a 13/32 drill bit.

Then I tapped the holes. First make sure that you have the spindle held firmly in place. Also, make sure that you have some lubricant of some sort. I used motor oil, because I had some extra from a recent oil change. I have been told you can use WD40 as well.

Hold the tap in line with the hole, and turn it clockwise. You will feel the material break, so every couple of turns, back it out, and remove the loose material.

Then, I decided to paint the spindles after all. I masked off the snout, and painted them black. Before I mount the spindles up, I will be sure to remove any paint that may have gotten into the ball joint's holes.

Before:

After:

Now, I need to locate some replacement bolts for the lower control arms. So, maybe I can actually get this car back on all fours!