Fitzy

A mechanic? On this forum? We don't need no smartarse mechanic telling us how to do things properly. We are more than capable of blundering through without any qualified tradesmen offering helpful advice & tips. Forgive my caustic humour, Russell. Welcome aboard.

At last: another 65 Grand Prix. Welcome aboard. If you have ANY 1965 Grand Prix questions, drop me a line. I think I've just about encountered every quirk that car can throw at someone. That's a really nice colour, too.

Another Kiwi with a great car? You guys earn too much over there!

Thanks mate, yes it's always good to watch someone who actually knows what they're doing. His bright shiny engine is being assembled in a clean, well lit, virtually sterile environment whilst mine will be suspended on my Supercheap stand with me dressed in shorts & singlet bumbling through the assembly, with dust, insects & leaves blowing through the carport, pistons going in backwards, valves upside down, but it will LOOK shit hot. I ordered 2 more cans of Pontiac Blue engine enamel yesterday and am currently cleaning up all ancillary components in preparation for painting. I also jumped into the engine bay and degreased it once more in readiness for some paint and a clean up of wires and stuff. I'll post pics when I have something worthy enough to display.

Yes Frosty. I'll be so broke at the end of my 'journey' that I might start a crowdfunding effort so's I can chuck some petrol in it to actually start it! I keep thinking of that mushroom cloud image that was sent to me - a fitting parody of when she initially fires up and my Butler pistons escape to the heavens as my garage burns to the ground. It's important to always look on the bright side.😊

So, I called the machinist today and apparently the block needs to be bored, but the crank and heads have been crack tested and crank only needs linishing. Unfortunately a 030 rebore means new pistons, so went all out and ordered a rebuild kit through Butler which is pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets & seals, plus I chucked in some cam bearings. What the hell - just money, right?

I'm currently rebuilding my own 389. Check out my 'Fitzy's GP is back!' thread for hours of viewing pleasure. I'm also going with the 068 cam & headers, otherwise it'll be stock.

Yes Andy, despite the fact most of us will escape unscathed, this thing is real and just because it's invisible doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Nobody likes restrictions and we don't need internet jerks going nuts about the dangers of vaccinations, but if the choice is permanent damage, death or a side effect from a shot, I'll take the latter. Good advice for everyone is to be sensible and do the right thing - a lot harder for a surprising number of people to do apparently.

Radiator update: after much research (I looked at Be Cool, US Radiator, etc) I ordered a Cold Case aluminium jobbie through Butler: total cost about AU$900 which I think compares favourably with what it would have cost to get my oldie cleaned out & repaired. Lots of goodies on the way, off to see the machinist tomorrow to see what fhe [email protected]#k is going on with my engine inspection. I said to take their time, but didn't mean it!

Hi Kiwi. Just got back from work this arvo and am catching up now with all the posts. This will sound obvious but did you check the condition of the auto fluid? I'm pedantic about fluid changes but Joe Sixpack (the car's previous owner(s)) isn't, especially when an auto tranny is concerned. If you fix the leak and replace fhe fluid and any filters (if there are such things) your tranny is gonna love it and may shift far happier. Some band adjustments and a good clean and you might be lucky. As far as our NZ trip is concerned, it has turned to custard. I will happily send those mirrors to you because the chances of getting there before the middle of next year are looking mighty slim. Let me know.

You like a red rear end? I thought this was a family friendly forum. My bad.

I dunno. Will it? Surely if it's made properly and filled with correct fresh coolant, it will last. This is also all new territory for me. I have never had to replace a radiator.

Yes Frosty, as I told Kiwi, I was most impressed with my Inline Tube lighting switch which was identical to the original in every respect and was reasonably priced. So, I have another question. It's radiator time and I'm researching some options. Does anyone have any experience with Cold Case Radiators and is there any possible reason why an owner would not use aluminium (we say it different here!) As far as I know, aluminium conducts heat extremely well and obviously will never rust. Any feedback is appreciated, as always. Trivia Time: on Butler's site, they resell Cold Case radiators and there's some interesting facts re dealer fitment options back in the 60s. A body cars got regular downward flowing rads whilst B bodies got crossflows. AC equipped cars got a 7 blade fan and a metal shroud, non AC got a 5 blade fan and no shroud. Dealers started fitting metal shrouds to non AC cars after many owners complained of hot running engines. So, we all know how my car has behaved in it's distant past what with evidence of cooling system abuse, but my non AC car has a crossflow as it should, but has the metal shroud and a 7 blade fan. I'm starting to wonder if those apparent factory blocked coolant passages in my block ever did my poor engine any good! Perhaps the previous owner(s) were beseiged with cooling issues for years, now culminating in me throwing buckets of money at it in order to fix the poor old thing. Oh, and evidence of the effects of covid in the US has been made apparent to me once more as I placed a sizeable order with Ames, but heaps was out of stock. So, after some frantic scrounging and scraping, I have managed to source all I need, but from 4 different suppliers! I picked up one of the 2 remaining 068 cams from Butler, so am very happy about that.

I have ordered new stainless steel divider plates from Ames to go with the new pump. Believe me, I have done my research. Frosty's supplied link to a YouTube clip re cam degreeing was really good. Do you think I can find a 'reasonably priced' kit (under US$300) that is in stock anywhere? Ba-bow! There is something called the "Isky split overlap" technique that allows you to play with cam timing without an actual degreeing kit. I figure my donk will never even reach 4 grand, even in anger, so we'll see BUT I really wanna give it a crack and do the best job I can. It'll be worth it when that baby fires up for the first time. I shall call the guys at Aussie pretty soon re new radiator.

Has your wife left you yet? Those buckets aren't in the lounge room, are they? Coz if they are, it's 'but Honey, hang on - I'll put them straight in the garage.' Yeah, along with your bed. I apologise for not adding any constructive information, coz I have no idea but a simple fabricated mount of some sort shouldn't be too hard to cobble together.