TWO LANE BLACK TOP

Easiest way...To Access the starter wires...Before lifting/Unbolting the engine...Drop the starter from Underneath...Support it so that it is not hanging on the wire harness...The wires will then be easily accessible...Then use a 5/16..??...Socket or wrench to take the wires loose from the solenoid...Having the starter off the engine can actually be beneficial...Clearance wise when removing the Mill...Anyway.. Are you removing the the engine and transmission together as one unit..??

👍👍👍🍻🍻 Professional grade work..looking good

Have pretty much finished the rear suspension...Still have to do a little paint touch up here and there... Will probably start on the interior details next...

Last Indian.. That's actually pretty cool especially like the oval track side kickout oil pan...Assuming that is an oval track camshaft also...Solid Roller...Probably Around 260 duration @ .50 with .770 lift...109 degree LSA... Frosty... Crawled under the car...The gas tank is a flat medium gray primer looking color... Really Close to the flat gunship gray color that I used to paint it with...Tried to get a photo of the tank...But that was pretty much impossible without jacking the car up and putting it up on a couple of jack stands..Trying to get all the under body details/Colors as close as I can...Unfortunately I'm getting old and half blind and not nearly as steady as I once was... That said... I'm still happy with the results...So far... Will probably get a good start on the rear suspension here in next little while...

Have been making some Progress...Have detailed and assembled most of the front suspension..Have also put the engine/Transmission assembly in...Also most of the exhaust system...Will be focusing on the rear suspension and the rest of the exhaust over the next day or so...Have tried to capture as much detail as I can...Having hard time getting the lighting right for it to show up as well as it looks in person...Will have to crawl under the car to look at the gas tank...As I don't remember what color it actually is...And I will try to match it as close as possible...More to come in next 24 hrs...

Judging by all the corrosion that I see in the photos...My guess is that the whole electrical system is full of bad grounds...Would start by cleaning the bolt connection lower left corner of the fuse block...Then maybe go to all the light sockets including the License plate light and make that they all are clean and crap free and that they are grounded properly to the chassis..The light sockets themselves are grounded individually to the body when they were pushed in and twisted into the mounting holes instead of having separate ground wires from the sockets to the body...Had a rusty mid 70s Oldsmobile cutlass that had lots of electrical gremlins (Came from upstate New York) ...99% of which wound up being corroded grounds all thru the car..The reason I single out the License plate light is because the light and fuel gauge/sending unit were on a common ground... Basically every ground connection strap/bolt..etc.. inside and out or that you may suspect is a ground that you can find should be cleaned and retightened...

Nice car.. I have a thing for the LT1 4th gens too... Welcome...

The fact is..We all love cars...That's what ties us all together... Welcome to Forever Pontiac...

Well that didn't go as well as expected....Completely F#÷ked up the paint on the body...Will let it get good and cured for a couple days and then attempt to fix it.. That's what happens when I get in hurry...should have used a couple of light coats rather than trying cover it all at once...

Mrs. Two lane likes the blue also...So blue it is...This was the closest color I could find...Actually matches better than I thought would..Looks almost exact in person..Will be be focusing on getting the body and everything blue painted today...

This may sound harsh...The cops should have just blown the idiots arm off instead of killing the tiger...☹☹ Stupid Kills but obviously Not nearly enough...

Still trying to decide what color scheme to use...Bright Blue Metallic or Arrest me Red...Any input on the color would be appreciated... Yeah I know they both need a good wash...

Have gotten a good start...Engine/Transmission assembly almost complete... Prepping drive train for paint and detailing...

Starting a new project today...Will be using a 1997 Formula 1LE as a guide for the correct under hood/drive train colors/details...Lots more to come in the next few days..

Other than the .030 over bore...Is the engine still basically stock...?? Are you running a radical cam profile...?? Are you still running the factory Iron cylinder heads...?? Is the Fan shroud in place/undamaged...?? This may sound crazy..Are you 100% sure the Temperature gauge is accurate...?? Something else that may sound crazy...When running an engine without the thermostat to help regulate the flow rate of the water...The water flow speeds up through the engine and it doesn't absorb the heat nearly as efficiently as it should... When it has some kind of a restriction (thermostat) to slow the water flow rate to allow for more efficient heat absorption....Something you might try...Instead of running a thermostat...You can try a water restrictor...Basically what they are is a round disc that looks like a washer that fits in the housing where the thermostat normally goes...But they they have different sized holes from larger to smaller and you can actually speed up or slow down the flow rate of the water thru the engine....Independently of the water pump flow .... Depending on what size you install...They are available as an inexpensive kit with different sizes included...You can get them thru someplace like Summit... Might be something to consider....

Merry Christmas from NC to all of our Pontiac friends around the world...Hope we are all here to do it again next year... TLBT...

Kind of like when I was 13 or 14 years old...And my mom found my Playboy magazine stash...Told her I didn't really Notice the pics...I was only interested in the articles...Somehow I really don't think she believed me...Like I would actually lie to my mom...LOL...

Sure thing Kiwi..

I guess it's time for me to eat some crow...I stand corrected.... Must be getting old and confused...And not nearly as sharp as I once was... Even 5 years ago...Getting old sucks...

The balancer only has one timing mark on it from the factory...Someone else has added the other mark (It was a common practice to use a hacksaw blade to remark it) When the outer ring slipped around the hub...that's why the second mark/ groove looks factory...89000 miles on those old engines is alot...Usually by the time they got to 100,000 miles...plus or minus 10 to 12 thousand miles...Depending on how well they were maintained...They are pretty much due for an overhaul...Unlike modern engines they were actually designed to be rebuilt/overhauled and was considered normal to do so...And alot of dealer service departments actually did overhauls in house...All the major components... starters...alternators/generators...Power brake boosters... Distributors... water pumps..Ect..Were all designed to be serviceable....During that era... They were not designed/made to last 200,000 plus... Miles and then throw them away/Replace like modern day engines/components are...

Just as a mention...Sometimes on older high mileage engines the outer ring of the balancer can slip around the hub as the rubber wears/deteriorates between the outer ring and the hub...It is actually a very common issue...Rendering the TDC mark (on the outer ring) Completely inaccurate...If that has happened...When you line up the zero Mark on the balancer and the zero mark on the timing tab the engine will not actually be at top dead center...But a few degrees off...That is probably why you have two Mark's on the damper as someone in the past has remarked TDC..to compensate for the outer ring slipping around...Only way to really know 100% for sure...Would be to manually find TDC..(both the intake and exhaust valves fully closed and the piston at its highest point in the #1 cylinder) and look to see which mark if either one lines up to the zero mark on the timing tab...If neither mark lines up after manually setting TDC to the timing tab..You can put you own 0 mark on the damper then use that mark to accurately set the timing... Most engines like around 34 degrees of total timing... Might be something to look at/consider....

You can't go by How good the float/Needle and seat may look...Replace Them.. Also pay close attention to the holes in the base plate where the rod that the throttle plates are attached to...Rides/goes thru..Make sure that the guide holes are not worn or oblonged and that the rod is not worn on the ends and fit snugly with no excessive play or run out...As it will cause a vacuum leak...Some kits are more complete than others..If you can get one with the float included that would be good... So shop around...Also most carburetor kits will have extra parts and gaskets so the same kit could be used in different model/Variations of the same basic carb...

I think that you will do just fine...Just don't let yourself be intimidated...Before you even get started...I have done a couple of TH 350s/400s...And a Powerglide... Watched my dad do at least a dozen of them... Various kinds..(Dynaflows..Turboglides..Tourque Flights...ETC..) When I was a kid...Take pics for reference if needed...Main thing and very important...When you clean the parts..Air Dry everything... Don't use shop rags to wipe Any of parts down after they have been cleaned.....As any protonacios lint of anykind on any of the parts will/can cause issues...Can't stress that enough...Cleanliness...Cleanliness...Cleanliness... Also section 7d in your 1963 Pontiac manual is comprehensive and contains all procedures and details..Would not be a bad idea to read through it before you get started...Once you get the rebuild done.. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it really was...

Doesn't the starter Mount to the Bell housing Instead of the engine block on the pre 1965 model cars...??? If that is the case...Would the later (BOP) models Turbo Hydramatic 350/400 TH 200 transmissions still be... Compatible/Adaptable with the earlier 389 engines...???

The Carburetor appears to a Rochester 2GV...With a Divorced Choke (hot air) Yes that is Bad should Not be leaking gas out of it anywhere...It will never run right if at all in that condition... Cold hard reality is to either rebuild/replace the carburetor...Anything else would be a waste of time/effort... The 7043066 number you need when acquiring a rebuild kit... Rebuild kits cost around the $50.00 range...Some kits are better than others as some of the cheaper ones may not have every part that you need... One other thing Rochester 2GV carbs are two different sizes...Either 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch venturie sizes...If you get good used carb from a different car Measure the throats (venturies) first to make sure they the same size as the carburetor on your car... TLBT...