NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Greetings! 

Spring sprung sporadically. Warm weather, cold weather, stormy, sunny, the only condition we could count on was that the sky would darken every night before bedtime. During one of the pleasant afternoons I got this great picture of my country-girl wife, Tammy, trying to coax Ginger the Chicken to eat out of her hand. She was just as successful in getting me out of the shop and into the garden this afternoon to plant tomatoes with our son Joey. Maybe she's just skilled in dealing with creatures of a certain intelligence. Hopefully, by the 4th of July we'll be eating fresh, organic tomatoes in an early harvest.

What scant time I was able to spend in the secret lab at Desert Classics this past week has been productive. I'm trying to make Gary's '51 Chevy coupe look as though it's a conservative '60s hot rod, so that means trying to disguise the electronic throttle body injection system on the Chevy V8 under the hood. I decided it was best to keep the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve on the intake manifold, mostly hidden by the large, dual-snorkel air cleaner, but I didn't want to clutter it up with the EGR solenoid and the MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor and their required wiring and vacuum tubing. 

Inspiration hit me one day recently as I was searching through the air filter shelves at my local Auto Zone. The filter element that eventually fit the eBay-sourced housing was small enough to allow plenty of air to swirl around inside between the element and the inner wall of the housing. Why not, I mused, attach the unsightly MAP sensor and EGR solenoid inside the housing and become a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize? This would never have entered my mind before, but in recent years the qualifying criteria for Nobel Peace Prize recipient has become much easier to meet. In contrast to other more celebrated Prize winners, at least I'd have visible proof of my genius and creativity. And who knows? Maybe someone who is inclined to wage war and commit atrocities is being inspired by this blog post and forsaking their former ambitions.

Speaking of designs, in order to attach the components to the air cleaner, I welded a tab inside and bolted the MAP to it and then welded a small base plate to the EGR solenoid bracket that had two small mounting holes and bolted it in place. The vacuum hoses run to fittings, the fittings go through holes in the housing and a continuation of the tubing from the outside leads to the vacuum source on the throttle body.  I lengthened the electrical leads by soldering an extra foot of color-matching wire to them and they exit the air cleaner through the vent that used to go to the PCV valve. By the way, you need to be aware that not all vacuum ports on a throttle body are equal, some only draw vacuum after the throtte plates are open, and not at idle.

After getting the engine in the chassis I encountered (& solved) a few problems I want to point out for some of you in similar situations. I ordered a set of stainless steel, block hugger exhaust headers for the 305 after looking at 50 or more sets on the web and in catalogs like Speedway and Summit Racing. After mounting this set I realized that the collector blocked the knock sensor in it's intended location and I had to look elsewhere for a suitable site. I eventually chose the oil passage boss just above the oil filter. Yes, its swathed in hot oil, but what it requires is a metal to metal seat in the block to detect errant vibration and send the signal to the ECM (computer). This location switch does the job, and its away from the hot exhaust.

Speaking of the exhaust, the collector was also very close to the motor mount boss on the side of the block. To remedy this I took the header off the engine and beat the crap out of it, in a Peaceful and Nobel-esque pattern that allowed more clearance without being visible. I was forced to grind away a corner of the mounting ear on the motor mount itself to get the clearance I needed. All is well now and the beatings have stopped.

The last fitment challenge I'm going to present involved the formed steel starter support bracket. I've done away with these in the past but knowing that this hot rod may be driven on the streets of Seattle by Gary's son Jason, I opted to use it. My logic: Jason is certainly younger than spry Gary and we all know how young drivers tax the potential of their vehicles. I figured that the car will frequently be airborne while racing over the hills in metro Seattle as Jason makes his business appointments and patronizes the trademark Emerald City espresso vendors.

To get the bracket to work with the headers I employed the header beater again and pounded a recess that you can actually see near my gloved finger. I also worked the bracket on the bench grinder to eliminate the potential contact area. It did the trick. Go Jason, your starter is adequately supported. Get coffee.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to assist my step brother Steve paint his son's '67 Pontiac Firebird. Steve and his son Caleb are doing a very nice job on this high school senior's car. They're getting a big assist from Chris, Caleb's grandfather. The whole family has been deeply involved in hot rodding for decades, motor oil runs in their veins. Even Steve's wife Shelley has worked on the car as well as Caleb's girlfriend Makenzie. 

I helped Steve drag the air hose around the booth as he was spraying the car. If I saw a spot he missed or didn't hit heavy enough I'd alert him. It took us a few days to get it completed because Steve is a darn perfectionist and had to fix and redo things until he was satisfied. It came out very nice and it looks like they're going to have it ready for Caleb to drive to school the last few days before summer vacation. That is, unless he makes his mother Shelley so mad at him that Shelley drives the Firebird and Caleb pounds pavement.

I'm going to have to write more about this family and their cars. But that's for another post. I'll reserve this post as my humble submission for the next Nobel Peace Prize. Do I have your vote?

Doug