Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Yeah, I'm with you on that one... why do you think my status updates have slowed down so much. -$. I have an hei distributor at home that will be going on the truck, and eventually so will ome of those corrected caps. My 99 Tahoe had one on it from the factory, and I really liked it, but the disteibutors themselves were junk, they were plastic and if you tightened the cap too much, the mounting ears snapped off. When I got my tahoe it had a zip tie holding the cap on. I used to twll people it lets the cap wiggle for variable timing ;-)

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Photo gallery updated (210 photos!). Link in sig below.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I just browsed your web page, didn't know you had a nova, I will have to post up a pic of our 73 SS.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Awesome. I sold mine 8 years ago. Waaaay too long to go without a classic Chevy! I loved that car, and I want to make this truck even nicer.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

The truck with no name

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I think you should put the good by top pic, the bad, by engine pic, and the ugly by the dent ;-) and do ot left right left

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

At least I got something done today. I replaced the resistor wire that went from the bulkhead connector to the old coil with a nice healthy 12 gauge wire for the new HEI distributor.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I think I need to do that too. HEI would be nice.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

me too, I have a distributor already that I have been sitting on for a while, time to put it to some use

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

$90 for HEI from Summit. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850001r/overview/

I had the same one in my Nova and it worked well.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Did you get the whole combo kit or just the distributor? Just wondering if the extra $30 is worth it for the kit.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I just got the distributor. I think it was ~$45 for wires from Napa for wires that will work under the stock exhaust manifolds (I asked for wires from later 70s).

Not a bad deal for the kit if you can use those wires.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Got a couple more little things done today while the paint on the block cures competely. :metal:

The transmission crossmember was re-installed into the frame. Amazingly, it went back in a lot easier than it came out (and I didn't even get that dirty).

I got the alternator fan and pulley painted to match the rest of the pulleys and brackets.

I also got a few timing marks painted on the balancer. 0 is marked to use the stock timing indicator, and 30-32-34 for total advance timing.

And I removed the redneck cruise control next to the gas pedal that had some evil 2" screws going through the firewall.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

:lol:

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

The plan is to put the motor in on Wednesday! :metal:

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Got a few things done this morning. So excited to get this running that it's hard to sleep.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Hey can you post the part number's on the manifolds for me please? Thanks.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

LH - 39324?9 (could be a 3, 6, or 8)
RH - 3905364

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Wow ,looking good ,keep it up.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Disaster. :censored: The block is missing a hole drilled for one of the plug wire shields. I don't know what to do. I will take them all off if I can't use this one. Ideas?

Add to that some LMC incompetence. :banghead:
"This part you sent me doesn't work, can I exchange it for a different part?"
"Okay, sir. Please email us a photo of the part you need."
"Photo sent. Do you have the part I need?"
"Customer service will look at the photo in a day or two and get back in touch with you.
"Thanks!"
Couple days later I get an email that says they shipped something. I call and ask if it is the part I needed.
"I don't know sir. All the account says customer service took care of it and sent you new parts."
New parts arrive today and are exactly the same part that I got the first time, not the part I asked for or sent a photo of.

Also, thanks for insulating this cartoon plug loom so I can only use 2mm wires on it.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Crate motor regret. Wish I had spent the extra money on rebuilding the original engine.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Keep in mind you have a new crate motor and it isn't going to have the same configuration as a small block from 45 years ago so your heat shield bolt holes aren't going to be in the same place, in fact you may not even be able to use heat shields that bolt to the block at all, you might have to use the style that bolts to the exhaust manifold.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I'm putting the motor in tomorrow without the heat shields. Maybe someday I can fabricate (or get someone to fabricate) something to make it work. If I come into a pile of money though I'm putting it into rebuilding the original block.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

Honestly the metallurgy in the new crate motor is so much better than the old 60's-70's small blocks it's not even funny, you have the better deal with what you have you just need to figure out a solution and trust me it's out there.
You will burn up your spark plug wires very quickly unless you shield and route them properly then you will definitely be unhappy, don't give up so easily.
The local machine shop will know in 2 seconds what heat shields you need with that block/exhaust manifold combination so load up the engine and take it down there, they will probably even have them in stock and sell them to you.

Re: jimbosprint 1972 C20 - the good, the bad, and the ugly
 

I haven't given up. I know the engine will be good. Thanks for the support.