Top 10 Reasons I can't work on my GT40

[Sandy]

This is a thread in written anguish (Reason usually equates to excuse) ...

10. I have a job (Odd catch 22)
9. I have kids
8. I have a wife
7. I have too many hobbies
6. I help friends
5. I'm waiting for parts
4. I'm figuring out how to do it
3. I'm Getting Old
2. I just like to look at it

And the big winner is (Drum Roll) ...

1. I'm a dumb a$$ and break the oil pump primer shaft (not the pump, the primer shaft) while priming a Big Block Chevy in my Cobra that is about 30 seconds away to fire up and now have to pull the motor as the little metal cup and rivet (Chevy Nomenclature) at the end of the primer tool that came off are somewhere in the motor. An actual project that was nearing completion which would check list one project off the list, go figure, back to the drawing board

Sandy

P.S. Thread does not apply to anyone that has finished a car

 

[Bill D]

Sorry to hear that Sandy.

 

[Alex Hirsbrunner]

The same list (same order too) goes for me except for #1. I think we all have (one or more) personal #1's. Mine is that I am spending way too much time making the body of my 40 as symmetrical as possible. 5/32" gaps all around and uniform wheel opening flange depths and panel edge thickness where ever visible. Basically it comes down to wasting time on things no one else will notice but me.

At least #5 isn't my fault!

Al

P.S. I know that original 40s are not symmetrical, but this is a replica, and it won't be using any visible latches on the hood or deck. Yes, I can hear the groaning Note that MKIIIs have no latches on the front clip.

 

[Mike Dozier]

Today's excuse is simple...it's just too darn hot.

When the thermometer in the garage hits 90 degrees I call it quits.
In fact my productivity is probably zilch on anything above 80 degrees.
Something about sweat dripping in my eyes/on the tools lowers my motivation.

I do get some work done early in the morning.....although some sleep would be nice. Working at night during the summer is still humid...and insects are a pain.
So as you can surmise....Summer is my least productive car season.

The garage has a propane heater...and I do a significant amount of work over the Winter.
I guess I won't be moving to Florida any time soon.

MikeD

 

[Jim]

Looks like that Cobra is trying to tell you something. Get this CHEVY motor out of here.:loser:

 

[Rob]

Good list Sandy... pretty much spot on. Except #10 really needs to be higher..damn job.....

My #1 is that I keep backing up, to make it "better". Heck.... woulda been done months ago if it was the same car I originally planned to build....

 

[Sandy]

Looks like that Cobra is trying to tell you something. Get this CHEVY motor out of here.:loser:

The only Chevy I love it the Big block. In retrospec it will be to brutal to drive, but then again I think my youthfull thinking was ...

<begin wrong thinking font>
You can't have a car with too much power or too light a weight or both
</end wrong thinking font>

And back then, not too many folks making aluminum blocks, I had one, and it was a shoe in since Herb Adams was an old GM'er (He did the very light aluminum cobra chassis).

Oh well, now it is again a quest of MAN vs. MAN Being careless.

I'm getting over it, but so close and yet so far.

Fun to see that I'm not the only one in the boat!

Sandy

 

[MReid]

I feel for you, man! Two steps forward, one back, okay sometimes three back. The two biggest milestones of the build to me are first start and first drive. In my opinion the most stressful is first start, this must be frustrating! Here's a picture of the first big block Chevy (502) I built for my 1941 Willys (just a little motivation for you):

 

[Mark Charlton]

Basically it comes down to wasting time on things no one else will notice but me.

Al, trust me, lots of us would notice that kind of craftsmanship and attention to detail!

P.S. Thread does not apply to anyone that has finished a car

Sandy, my "finished" 20-year old GTD will never be finished because something is always in need of upgrading, repair or replacement. My list is almost identical to yours except for #9 and #1, but as Al said, we all have our own personal Number(s) 1 to identify with yours.

This year I did learn something worthwhile and that was to not start ANY projects on my Pantera. At least I have one car I can enjoy by driving while I'm enjoying, but not driving, the GT40.

We've all been in your boat, which is why we all paddle so well.

 

[Cliff Beer]

Oh man, sorry to hear that Sandy. I don't know the configuration on a BB Chev but maybe you can remove the pan and turn the engine (gently) by hand to see if the offending parts will just drop out???

There's always somebody else who has screwed it up worse than you so don't worry - I dropped a valve cover lock nut down the throttle body (held open, of course, by me) of a Weber carb on a V-12 ferrari engine and while removing the head to remove the nut the timing chain dropped down at the same time the car came off its jack stands (with wheels removed). Not a satisfying situation.

 

[Jac Mac]

Sandy,
Just fish around with a magnet on a flex rod, as long as you find most of the bits it should be OK, it is a chev after all!!
Other thing you could do if it does drop into the bottom of the pan is throw a magnet down there with it or get a magnetic drain plug- that should stop it going places you dont want.

Jac Mac

 

[Sandy]

I'm going to get the dental mirror and see if I can see where it ended up, might be in the lifer galley or drop to the pan. My cousin was at the shop where I was working on it and he prohibited me from messing with the car at some point. My 'smashing it with a hammer' solution was to just fire it and see what happens. He talked me down reminding me the cost of fixing the bits when it blows. I did fish around with a magnet but got nothing. I don't know if the cup (that goes over the exposed pump shaft) split in two or just plopped into the pan. The rivet that pins through the shaft is not too much a worry as it's small enough to only do some damage if it gets caught in the cam gear. The other part is the worry, and no way it will come out the oil plug but if it were in the pan I would be better off. Worse is that the front snout of the car is an aluminum casting and you can't get the pan off without pulling the motor. Oh well, still might get lucky with a mirror and bright light and spot the parts...

Reminded me of the time that I was priming the 331 in the mustang and all looking good until I pulled the primer tool out and pop, up came the shaft that drives the pump. Even worse it got wedged where it could not be moved to get back on the hex or adjusted. Almost a pull of the motor until I realized that if it came off it must go back on some how... An hour later and a hacked up primer tool got it back on the pump shaft. I learned to pull the distributer and primer up slowly as the residual pressure seemed to want to push the shaft up (or suction of the tool as it now stuffed with oil). I think now they put an e-clip on some of the ford ARP shafts, would be a good idea

Thanks for all the feed back, and stories that are uglier then mine!

I still like the top ten list, funny how common most of the items seem to end up being.


Sandy

 

[Bill D]

There's always somebody else who has screwed it up worse than you so don't worry - I dropped a valve cover lock nut down the throttle body (held open, of course, by me) of a Weber carb on a V-12 ferrari engine and while removing the head to remove the nut the timing chain dropped down at the same time the car came off its jack stands (with wheels removed). Not a satisfying situation.

DAMN!! When it rains, it pours!!!!! Hope the damage was minimal!

 

[Pete K.]

Looks like that Cobra is trying to tell you something. Get this CHEVY motor out of here.:loser:

That too was my first thought but then I re-thought the issue and decided what really is happening is that the Chevy motor wants to come out of the Cobra and go live in a Lola T70.



Best of luck with the repair, I hope it goes quickly.

 

[Malcolm]

I hope you can fish it out with a magnet and not suffer my problem/frustratio when working on the garden tractor. Taking the starter motor off to replace the starter gear, to gain access to a cover screw I had to remove the dipstick to make room for the screw driver. So when the screw fell off the screw driver and I missed catching it, what are the chances that it will fall into a 1/4 inch diametre dipstick hole and go straight to the bottom of the engine/gearbox? I reckon 100%! And being a stainless steel screw a magnet wouldn't pick it up. A complete engine removal and strip down to find it. And the grass waits for no man.....if I wasn't English maybe I would not be so concerned over my lawn!

 

[Sandy]

The Big Block Chevy is right in any car you can fit it, including the Cobra . At one point while sitting up at Matt Adam's shop in Monterey a fellow came over and got excited as he was restoring a vintage Can Am car and was looking for an orig block. Seems the one I have is from that era, I told him to get me a replacement Aluminum block SBF motor and I'll swap, never got word back, would have been a win win, does that count as almost removing the Big Block and putting it in a rightful home?

The 468 motor made 701hp on the dyno at 7k RPM, car with motor maybe 2200 lbs. The word I would say is Brutal. I'm indifferent to the car, I like the drive train, but Cobra body is just ok, but it was really growing on me until 'I' botched the job.

On to the dental tools and magnet!

Sandy

 

[mike_starling]

Got the Cobra inspected for the year today. Is always a relief ;>)

My top 10 reasons my GT40 isn't making more progress:

10) Too many hobbies
9) Getting ready for hunting season (oops ... that's the too hobbies thing)
8) Have to finish knives for paying customers (oops ... that's the too hobbies thing)
7) Have too many friends and family getting married and their custom knife sets aren't finished yet (oops ... that's the too hobbies thing)
6) Have kids
5) Have to get stuff together for the kids going to Afghanistan (corollary of the too many hobbies thing ... I know too much about what they need)
4) Have to much work around the farm (oops ... that's the too hobbies thing)
3) Small things that need to be built get more difficult as the car gets more complete
2) Having been retired early really put a crimp in the available funding
1) Have a wife who is understanding ... but not THAT understanding ;>)

Hmmm ... does seem to be a theme here ... six (maybe 8) of the 10 are related to that hobby thing!

 

[Sandy]

Well to recap. We all have too much to do and and not enough time to do it

The rat motor has to come out. The little part wedged deep under the cam gear and all my efforts went no where to get it.

Sad, but it has to come out. The flip side is that I was so pissed off that couldn't work on it for a few days and did some general garage cleaning and worked on the fuel tanks on the RCR ah every dark cloud has a silver lining

Sandy

 

[Chris Duncan]

The prices on lighted bore scopes has come down. I was on the Snap-on truck the other day and it seems like the 24" one was about $300.

I've also had luck putting a magnet on the end of a stiff wire and bending it to shape before fishing.

Can't you pull the front cover easier than the pan? Can you just loosen the motor mounts and raise the front of the engine and pop the front cover. There's always more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Sandy]

No front cover, I have a belt drive on that motor, but the space is tight, not that hard to get it out, just lots of stuff to undo. Likely will go something like this put it on the engine stand turn it over and out will rattle the part (with a little pat on the rats backside). I wish I had a scope, would have been added right to the top of my 'Save your a$$' tools along with the magnet

Sandy