The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

Wow, over a month since the last update. Lot going on!

Block is back from the machine shop and everything went pretty well, no surprises. I liked dealing with the shop I chose, the owner was cool. He took the time to talk to me at every step which was really appreciated. I mean, of course that's how it's supposed to work but the other places I went to all seemed to talk at me and had their own
preconceived notions about what I was doing without bothering to ask me one question. Making your customer feel comfortable goes a long way. Thanks Glenn!

So the pistons ended up at zero deck. Apparently the decks were all over the place as suspected but he was able to get everything straight.

The rotating assembly was balanced to within a half a gram. Half a gram! It's pretty light too which I think I mentioned already. This thing is gonna rev pretty quick.

While they had the block, the machine shop also took care of some other jobs - they knocked the cam bearings in, burnished in a new distributor shaft bushing and hot tanked the block.

The day I get the block home in the back of my little Mazda it started snowing. I left it in the car for a bit knowing I would have to go get it out later. So we put the kids to bed and then I go back out to deal with it. I'm out in my driveway in the cold and snow getting a block on an engine stand from out of the back of my little hatchback. The flood light is a motion sensor and keeps going out every 5 minutes so I have to wave my arm to turn it back on. Just thought it was kind of funny. Eventually I got the block out of the car, on to the stand and wheeled it into the garage through 2" of snow.

This was about two weeks ago now and frankly, it's been too cold to do much of anything outside. I can usually stand to be out there for a while but when it's below freezing for weeks on end, it's too much and gets downright demoralizing. So I wrapped the block air tight with plastic and plugged all the holes exposed to air. Then I put blankets and towels over it to insulate it a little from any big temp swings. I left all the other parts in their boxes, no need to start messing with any of this stuff right now. I have a little space heater but it doesn't even make a dent usually. I've learned to respect the cold. It's better to wait and do stuff when it's warmer, you always seem to get better results.

As the boxes pile up on the bench, there's more on the way. Most of what's coming now is tools I needed for assembly. Things like a rod bolt stretch gauge, cam degree kit, ring filer, engine brushes etc. I got some paint too - Glyptal for the lifter valley and Plastikote #232 Chrysler blue for the long block. It's amazing, you think you have every tool known to man but there is always more.

Next steps towards burning rubber are to paint and get the short block done. Hope it starts warming up soon.

Next big step is to decide on a cam but have to wait for the bank account to replenish.

More to come!