3/22/07

Greg at GK gave me back the car, and it runs great! It appears the problem was, and has been for a long time, the connections in the computer to its PROM. Short story, runs great.

I now have to keep nagging Ollie to complete the 348 motor. Actually, I'm not going to nag him. If he hasn't made some progress by Tuesday, I'm going to pick it all up and take it to QMP, where it WILL get done, if not right away.

I may just put it back in storage right now, as I'm not needing it, and have many other fish to fry at this moment, like the Graham, KiloKub, Doge Hemi, etc.

I DID put it in storage, along with the Buick.

5/1/07

Ollie is essentially hopeless. I checked with QMP, and their timetable is about a month, at best. I have left the motor at Ollie's since the last writing, although I have visited him several times, and called several more.

I checked with Don Barrington, who quoted around $4000 to do the motor. That is beyond too high, particularly right now. And Don would NOT be quick, either.

I will talk with Ollie again tomorrow, check out the pricing on the whole build (he has done nothing so far, other than buying some parts with my money), and see just what gives.

I also spoke with Mike Landy, who might do the motor if he gets his new operation running in the same old Dick Landy shop location (for a new owner).

5/7/07

I called Mike Landy twice today, with no call back. So I am passing on that. I also did not pursue Barrington, as he just sounds TOO expensive, and has no dyno facility. I talked with Mike at QMP and got a cost and time frame from him.

I went by Ollie's this afternoon and told him I was pulling the motor form him, and he said he'll have all the parts put in one place by tomorrow afternoon. I kept it real friendly. Turns out TC is working for Ollie on Saturdays. This was MY referral to TC to get the work.

So there appears a glimmer of hope that some progress will be made on the Impala in about two months.

5/9/07

Took the entire engine to QMP, and discovered there were no valves or springs in the heads. I called Ollie who said he thought they were junk and thinks he tossed them. Just great, and after doing nothing for a half year! Whew!!

Mike at QMP said he would get right on the block, but then it will wait for a few weeks. He'll also re-clean the block (additional $65) to get what Ollie's tank did not. Basically, it amounts to a self-clean cycle like an oven and burns EVERYTHING to bare metal off the block.

I will keep closer track on this motor to monitor performance versus promises.

We will stay with a hydraulic flat tappet cam with slightly more radiused cam lobes to enhance lifter rotation (preventing undue wear), a little bowl work, new cam gear and timing chain. Start to finish is predicted at 6 weeks, including dyno-testing with my tripower. So let's say 8 weeks.

I will also contact Morgan re: the eventual install of the AC compressor, condenser, and lines.

5/13/07

Chris went to Ollie's and retrieved the old valve springs and valves. I also found I have yet another tripower manifold. So I'll paint it up and put it on eBay

I'll take then to QMP on Monday.

A fellow in Delaware has called me several times claiming he is buying the spare tripower. I still have not received his $1394 payment. He sounds sincere. The system is boxed up and ready for shipment.

Carlos at BFIC wants to “borrow” a piece of linkage from me. He has a customer who needs that linkage immediately. I do not. So Carlos will order me another one from Classic Chevy and give mine to the person in need. No problem.

I need to go “visit” the cars in storage. I suspect the Buick will be battery-dead.

6/16/07

Tomorrow will be my visitation day. I need to line up some battery tender units, bring an extension cord, and hope I can find some power in the garage.

I sold a tripower setup to a fellow in Delaware. I had the manifold, Carlos at BFIC had the carbs and linkage. I paid Carlos, brought him my manifold, and he is to ship it off to the new owner.

Mike at QMP has NOT started on my motor, so taking it there from Ollie's has yielded just more waiting. Naturally. My employee, Chris, is now working part-time at Ollie's, and I doubt even that would have expedited my motor at this point.

7/2/07

Funny how some experience can make one an expert. I got a call from a fellow in Salt Lake City who was initially looking for correct 58 carbs. The short story is he has gotten hosed on a purchase of his 58 Impala from a guy in Florida. Again, the short story is I advised him (he asked for advice) to request the guy take the car back and that he (the screwee) would eat some shipping and repairs for the privilege of getting his money refunded (from the screwor), or just sue the guy with a local attorney, as I had to do on my twin-engine (non) purchase two years ago after ALL other avenues failed.

It's rewarding to see that my diligence and research has moved me quite a ways in this little niche of the sport, and lets me be of some service to other enthusiasts.

The battery did not hold up (but it was a very close call), when I went out to Montrose to start it up. SO I now have the battery back here on the chargers. Yes plural. First a more robust 6-amp charge, then the Tender at .75 amps.

7/3/07
I DID hear from Art Carr, who said he had food poisoning and blood pressure of 74/40 and that his wife took him to the doctor/hospital. Yikes. I noted I didn't think he made calls.
I gave him the Dodge Hemi as a precursor to the Impala. He claimed the Hemi trans works well now. I then asked what the WOT shift points were, and he said he did not test the car in that way. I have asked him a half dozen times to do exactly that. I reiterated to him that I did not want to drive to Huntington Beach to put my foot on the floor and have it not right. I also asked how the kick down worked. I noted that the trans WAS kicking down to first too high, wouldn't let me get off the throttle and back on to stay in second but would kick back down, shifted at 6400 instead of 5400, etc. “Oh, I'll have to have my guy go out and test that and call you back.” He seems unwilling to WOT the car, despite my repeated requests that he do so. I noted for him that Mike Landy will stand behind the motor.
Smelly.
So now I am in a dilemma: do I take the 700 out of the Impala and just give it to him, without the ability to road test the car? Or do I take it down there, drive him around myself, show him what it does, THEN take it out for him? Or do I let him fix it in the car with the TPI motor, and worry about the throttle pressure linkage later?
OR, do I take it out and give it to Mike Stewart? Or put it behind the 348 THEN do the routine? Or some combination of all of the above?
Yuk.

On other fronts, Ron from Salt Lake called asking me to check out another Impala on line for him. I asked him to update me on his decisions. He said the seller of his “bad” Impala has accepted a deal for Ron to pay the shipping back, get $40K refunded, and gift the seller with his new gas tank and other goodies. He is basically eating about $3K to get out of the car immediately. Good call.

I strongly recommended him to a gorgeous stick-shift car for $70K. Ron is 6-5 and has had knee replacement(s), and does not want a stick shift car. He, he could swap out the trans easily. Whatever.

7/23/07

John and I went out to Montrose today and installed two solar battery trickle chargers, one for the Impala and the other for the Buick. I extended the cord length on the Impala panel by about 60', and it worked out fine. These cars are in an underground parking with the south side open to the air, said side being behind a block wall. There is an approximately 10' concrete parapet wall facing south, and we drilled into that wall, set a plastic anchor, and hung the panels each from a single screw and some tie wire. The bottom of the panels have extender legs to kick them toward the sun. It turns out that, happily, the garage has a maze of plumbing pipes running along the ceiling, so we had perfect raceways to run our lines up out of view and harm's way.

The wires are zip-tied to those pipes, and drop right off the ceiling directly onto the battery areas of the cars. So we'll see how they work in a few weeks. The batteries were fully charged, the cars started, so we're starting from 100%.

The 348 motor is far from ready, notwithstanding about 6 weeks already at QMP. I need to line up someone to go through the 700R-4 trans built by ACTR (Salim) and correct the 3-4 shift. I'd be tempted to take it to Art Carr, but I fear he may not discover any issue out of the car. Perhaps I'll run it down to him and see how it feels to him behind the current motor. It's shocking to realize I've had the car 2 years already. Wow!!

Once I hear from Mike at QMP that they are ready to dyno the motor, I'll get the car over here, pull the engine and do some further engine compartment sanitizing.