Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Wow, this really woke you guys up!

I guess I should have been more clear about a couple of things. Yes, there will be more bracing at the bottom of the seat, either two,or more likely four braces from the side of the seat down to the floor. And I always planned on a roll bar (hence the lack of a back seat) which will, of course, have a brace to the back of the seat.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Hey Dave just stopped by to check out your car.
It's looking good and can't wait to hear you're making some passes soon
Chris
Cold n dreary here in New York
Need to get outside soon to mine n get ready for spring too.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Ah, I remember shivering in the garage during Long Island winters. Then I left the dark side and came out here.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Smart man you are Dave. Cold and snowy here. Shoveled around garage but did not make it in. Am looking at getting a trailer this year and get more involved in the 10.0 racing up here. Enough with the uhaul deals.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Other than the back brace to the roll bar that isn't there yet, this completes the seat mounts. I added braces to both sides of the front of the seats. I did the right seat also since my son may ride up to the staging lanes in it, and he's a pretty big guy... if he's not careful getting in the way it was he could kink the aluminum seat. In fact I might even brace that one to the roll bar as well, just in case he gets careless plopping down in the seat.

http://i.imgur.com/eUy19YB.jpg

And here they both are installed. I put the Kirkey cover on the left seat to check how I fit in the car with it in. That is a really nice product! I'm very impressed. It's almost too nice; there's enough padding in the seat that I wind up sitting a little higher than I expected. I accounted for that when I set the hight, but there's about 1/4" more padding than I figured on. I think it'll be okay, but I can always build new angled channels to lower it later if needed.

http://i.imgur.com/itMtSfr.jpg

And finally I added a light that will come on when I hit the brakes hard enough to trigger the pressure switch. Because I have nightmares about not quite having the two step engaged when I floor it.

http://i.imgur.com/9zGm2rL.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Today I performed the 283 shuffle. Pulled the black engine out and put Red in. Still a lot of little things to take care of, it'll likely be Thursday when I start it. But we'll see. Doesn't help that I have company coming tomorrow and I'll have to spend some time Tuesday and Friday at my job (via telephone and internet) even though this is a vacation week for me.

Anyway here's Johnny Black on the dolly in the background with Red going in.

http://i.imgur.com/mwipyJC.jpg

I finally got tired of this lift trying to turn the engine cross-wise on me. I pulled the chain out and cut off one link. Now it holds the engine almost perfectly straight.

http://i.imgur.com/bR9pg8v.jpg

Back in my stock car days I was told that black engines radiate heat better, and therefore run a bit cooler. That may be true, but I really like the way Chevy Orange looks in here!

http://i.imgur.com/zMqhiu2.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Progress continues this week. With a moderate amount of bending the powerglide cooler lines fit okay.

http://i.imgur.com/HJcEBRi.jpg

My son came over to help out the old man with starting the engine. When we did, it lit up instantly. I barely even heard the starter. Went right up to 3000 RPM. I got it to slow down some as we checked for leaks and checked the trans fluid. The only leak was where the cooler lines enter the transmission. I presume I didn't tighten something there enough, or maybe I didn't get the cooler lines lined up perfectly enough, but I don't expect to have a lot of trouble correcting that. And I put it in gear and the car moved under its own power.

http://i.imgur.com/QAiYUdA.jpg

After doing some research via google on the effects of different engine colors on cooling, I found out there's virtually no difference. So I couldn't resist painting the primary engine red (Chevy Orange). The number pad at the front of the block is still black, and it'll still be Johnny Black.

http://i.imgur.com/ul3EdUw.jpg

I should be starting up the primary engine late Sunday afternoon or an evening early next week. I have to spend some time working tomorrow and this weekend due to a big change-over in a key system, so that'll limit how much I get done on those days.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

On a earlier post about getting the right intake gasket thickness so everything lines up, I just make my own out of gasket material using a regular available gasket as a template. I then use anti-seize compound as a dealer , also can remove intake and reinstall with same gasket.

Will Lamprecht
65 Impala I/SA 396/325

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

There's some good ideas there, Will. The gaskets I'll be using are meant to be cut-to-fit, as someone here suggested a while back. It turns out they fit the ports almost perfectly. But they have large elongated bolt holes, I presume to make them compatible with different port locations. I use gasket cement around the water passages only to glue them to the heads so they won't move while I drop the manifold on. I've been leaving the manifold side dry, but using some anti-seize on that side sounds good, I think I'll try that next time.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Never had a Chevrolet Orange 283, unless it was original!
Probably my least favorite OEM color.
To each his own, buddy.. ;-)