Bringin' It Back From The Dead - 70 Catalina Convertible

[64 kiwi boni]

Allegedly 

14 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

 

I used to be a flawlessly good looking man

Edited April 4 by 64 kiwi boni

[B52bombardier1]

I get it.  Its hard to be humble when you have the body of a Greek god such that I have . . . . . . . . . . . not.

Rick

 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I have declared the main floor and the trunk floor complete for rust repairs and the application of sound deadening.  Now I can lay under the driver's side dash in relative comfort and try to figure out my almost complete lack of 12 volts in the passenger compartment. Its some kind of problem at the fuse panel.

  The silver stuff is the aluminized adhesive rubber but the trunk floor and main floor both got a heavy coat of the "SprayMax 2K Glamour" high gloss and high film thickness clear coat before laying down the rubber.  The floors got the spray last night on top of the Lizard Skin and the clear dried very nicely overnight. This is the rattle can stuff with an internal breakable ampule of hardener activator that makes the cured spray very hard and durable. This clear also makes for a surface that the adhesive on the rubber can really bond to.  This same kind of aluminized rubber is in my 70 El Camino on the floor and the roof and hasn't moved a millimeter in five years or so.  The trunk floor will also have some kind of cloth cover to protect it much like it originally had but that cover from the factory in 1970 was dirty, rust stained and destroyed.  I might do the splatter paint in the trunk but its expensive and apparently there is a trick to applying it correctly.

  The idea here of applying the aluminized rubber is to give the sheet metal additional mass to force the metal into a lower resonant vibration frequency. If it still vibrates, it'll be at a less obnoxious frequency.  A heavier sheet of metal also needs more energy to force it into vibrating. 

  Covering every square inch of metal is not required and it is not the intention that this provides much protection against heat or cold in the passenger compartment.  Its all about minimizing noise, vibration and harshness from the roadway.  The new "mass backing" molded carpet with jute padding is what will do the insulating against cold and heat.

Rick

Edited April 6 by B52bombardier1

[Wrongway]

Lookin good bro!

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   With a good bit of cheating, I have been able to apply 13.8 volts DC to an internal connection within the guts of the fuse panel.  All of the rear vehicle lighting works - brake lights, tail lights, turn signals, flashers and the passenger compartment courtesy lights / glove box light also function.  All of the wiring at the front of the vehicle AC / heat and wipers is disconnected by me.  Oddly, the ignition key won't go to the Accessory notch.  And the radio wiring was cut by a previous owner with the connector nowhere to be found. 

But I'm cheating.  I still can't get power past a certain point along a main fat red wire and corrosion does not appear to be the problem.  Still head scratchin' and staring at the wiring diagram a lot.  But it appears that at least some of the 54 year old wiring is in good condition.

 

Rick

 

[Frosty]

I am wondering if your harness isn't grounded properly or you are missing grounds in the car, especially in the engine bay. Justa a thought based on what you've described.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Frosty,

   I established a very good, temporary ground at the firewall sheet metal with great continuity but yes, all of the original engine compartment grounds are gone - there's no engine or transmission or battery or alternator.   I've come to the conclusion that the portion of the fuse panel that is exposed to the engine compartment is my problem and as of late this morning, I have ordered an all new engine harness - that includes a new plastic fuse panel square block at the firewall.  Plus all new wires, of course.   The old harness was beat up with brittle insulation and the car needed this harness all new anyway.

I have ordered it from Ames but they don't make them or stock these harness assemblies.   They are contracted for production with M&H Electric and this company has a very good reputation but I won't see it until at least three months from now.

  I have plenty of other things to do on the Cat.  I picked up the cutoff wheel earlier this afternoon and cut out the rusty metal behind the driver's rear wheel.  The wheel arch stainless trim had to come off to make the cuts and I had to remove the rear wheel to do that.  So then I picked up a big hammer and tapped the brake drum off - I think the wheel cylinder leaks -- will be replaced anyway.

  I will try to post a few pictures later tonight.

Rick  

 

  

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  As promised . . . pictures from today.  I will try to create the small patch panel in some 18 gauge cold rolled, ungalvanized sheet metal tomorrow - using tape as the template. I have already shot the inner fender sheet metal with a rust converting paint and I will remove the original metallic green paint from the edges of the hole tomorrow with a Roll Lock disk. 

The trouble I face is that my wire feed Lincoln MIG welder is a little bodgy on actually feeding the wire.  I've got plenty of argon / CO2 but the wire stops.  If the wire feeds, it'll be short burns of very hot welding to tack the new piece . . . makes for less warping of the old and new metal.  This is a very uncomplicated patch panel to make and the weld beads will promptly get sanded down to a flat contour with the original quarter panel.  And then get shot with some self etching primer.  

Pictures tomorrow if I can get it done.

Rick

 

Edited April 13 by B52bombardier1
Added a picture.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Again,

   I'm way too slow creating these small sheet metal patch panels to ever make a living at it but I think this one turned out very nicely.  I must have made twenty five trips from the car to the electric grinder slowly making the patch smaller so that it would fit the hole and I still need to sand off the green paint around the edge with the Roll Lock disk.

  And then fight with my MIG welder for making the wire feed.

Rick

 

 

Edited April 13 by B52bombardier1

[Wrongway]

Looks good bro

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I finally figured out why my Lincoln MIG welder feeds wire some of the time and other times, not at all.  If I push the cart far away from where I'm welding, it feeds wire.  If the cart is up close, it does not feed.  Apparently, having the welding gas hose with the wire in it coiled up in any way along the path to the work lead makes the wire not feed - the feed motor can't overcome the push resistance.  If I weld with the cart moved farther away and the hose straight to where I'm welding, it works fine.

  This quarter panel job on the Catalina is finished though it could use another coat of high build primer.

Rick  

 

[64 kiwi boni]

I had the same issue with my mig , I even replaced the drive wheel , but all it was was a worn tip ! So justA keep that in mind , as soon as it gets worn/ dirty swap that copper tip out 👍

[indymanjoe]

my mig does the same thing and like you i found out keeping the line straight not curved made a huge improvement. Nice job btw

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   My dirtiest, unknown mileage, not running,  junk yard 5.3 liter LS motor moves to the machine shop tomorrow for a rebuild.  This rebuild will take about a month they say and maybe a little faster because I'm providing a set of 862 casting heads that this shop has already rebuilt - a few months ago.  And perhaps about $420 less expensive from the standard $3000 price because these heads are rebuilt. 

 The probably worn out heads on the dirty motor are a 706 casting that various references say are a higher compression head.  I don't want to change the PCM operating system tune to support a 706 set of heads in the Catalina because the Cat is a cruiser, not a tire smokin' race car. The 862 heads will be fine and the 706 heads will simply get a good cleaning.

I've got one more junk yard 5.3 liter motor that is magnitudes cleaner that I will use for engine mount test fitting while I wait for the dirty motor to be rebuilt.  I will hang my almost certainly dead, sixty dollar, junk yard 4L60E transmission off the back of the motor before I lay the whole thing into the engine compartment.  This will allow me to get into the bulk of the engine swap to work out proper drive line angles to the differential, floor pan sheet metal clearance, radiator fan clearance, exhaust manifold clearance, drive shaft creation and passenger side engine head clearance with the AC firewall plastic suitcase. As this is a full sized B-body vehicle, I think most of these things will be easier than what I found in my A-Body El Camino.

 My PSI Conversions LS swap engine harness also arrived today.   For durability, I have abandoned the idea of depinning and repinning one of my junk yard harnesses.  They were variously mangled, missing connectors, had the wrong connectors or had brittle insulation.   I'm about 49 percent disappointed with myself here for not at least trying. The upside of the PSI Conversions harness is that it is built with extra wire length to move the PCM into the passenger compartment - maybe on top of the glove box under the dash cover.

Rick

 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   This is my first attempt at putting the LS 5.3 motor down into the engine bay of the Cat.  Plainly, the engine needs to be and can be lowered somewhat and the Holley 302-5 oil pan will still clear the steering track rod.  This "Builders Mount Kit" from the ICT Billet company provides a lot of front to rear adjustability and the two dangling steel plates will be trimmed down by me to lower the engine. I will likely cut these plates down in quarter inch or maybe half inch increments to sneak up on a proper fit.

  And as you might notice, the rear plate on the passenger side of the engine appears to need some notching to clear a brake line.

  This engine is not the engine that will be used to propel the Catalina.  This one is merely a testing and fitment mule.  However, once I'm satisfied with the placement and driveline angle of the engine and transmission, these dangling steel plates get welded to the front frame crossmember and the large bolt in each stand gets removed to allow the engine / trans to be lifted out.

  I'm also now very curious if the original LS engine exhaust manifolds can fit between the frame rails and still bolt up to the heads.  Setting a head onto each side of the motor will be my next activity to see if the manifolds will fit.

Rick 

 

[Frosty]

Nice!

[64 kiwi boni]

Great pictures !!! , there looks to be heaps of room from that steeering box , will be interesting to see how much room you have with the head in and try a manifold on that side 👍

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  I've got family in town over the next few days so I'm not sure how much serious time on the Cat I will get.  But it doesn't stop me from thinking about my next steps.  I have decided that I'm not gonna' cut up and shorten the dangling 1/4 inch steel mount plates provided in the mount kit right away.   I've got some 1/4 inch by two inch bar stock steel that I'm gonna' cut up into temporary fitment pieces of various, two inch and three inch long trial lengths with holes drilled to experiment with -  a plasma cutter would be VERY handy here. 

  Once I'm happy with how these experimental pieces might work to lower the motor - and clear the oil pan from the steering gear and establish a good driveline angle to the differential - I will cut up the frame stands from the ICT Billet kit to the same length and weld those in.

Rick

 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  Still no 4L60E transmission poked into the tunnel but I'm waiting on the arrival of an adjustable engine leveler for my hoist.  But I've learned other things this weekend.

1 - the LS engine exhaust manifold will not fit the vehicle on the driver's side - it hits with the flange interfering at the steering box.  I could make it fit by moving the entire engine to the rear a little but that will likely cause problems at the transmission tunnel. I'm banking on a tight fitting set of Chevy S10 truck LS engine swap headers to form the basis of the exhaust system. 

2 - Likely no problems at all at the front of the motor.  I've got plenty of room between the water pump and the radiator.  The Cold Case company that built this radiator is backordered for the double fan / shroud kit that gets riveted to the upper and lower radiator frames.  But the fan kit will not get close to the water pump.  Though I am a little concerned with hood clearance at the upper pipe coming out of the water pump and this might trigger a move to the Camaro style of water pump and accessory drive. The fan and radiator kit in photo #2 is not the radiator that will be used.

3 - I've currently achieved 2.5 inches of clearance between the engine frame crossmember and the forward shallow portion of the oil pan but I will likely reduce that down to two inches or less  - for better clearance with the hood at the top of the motor.    I also have good clearance at the rear of the crossmember and the deep portion of the oil pan.  And good clearance above the steering rod and front sway bar. The truck intake manifold is also tall and I might be looking at needing the much lower car intake manifold to clear the hood.

4 - Transmission tunnel clearance.  It's going to be a very close fit.  With the engine as far forward as it is, the bulk of the large bell portion of the transmission bellhousing will be out of the tunnel and narrowed down considerably.  Hopefully, the tunnel sheet metal won't require any new sheet metal or much "persuasion" to let the transmission ride where it needs to be. It remains to be seen how much passenger side tunnel clearance I will have for the transmission cooler lines.  And at this point, I don't care at all how long or short the driveshaft needs to be - it will be all new and custom made anyway. 

  Would it have been easier to put in a Generation Two GM engine to replace the missing Pontiac 400 motor and also reuse the Pontiac TH400 transmission?    Perhaps yes.  But I'm up to the challenge here . . . its no different than the way I did it with my El Camino. 

Rick