Paul Bell

On the upside, I received my custom plates!

So this is where I’m at. I have a mechanical cam and the needed mechanical lifters, they’re 25 year old Crower roller lifters. The cam is a custom grind from Bullet with the LS firing order. The lifters are from before anybody knew to give them a wheel oiling hole, they rely on “splash lube”, which doesn’t happen a lot at idle or sitting in traffic. One broke, somehow the cam isn’t damaged. I never lost oil pressure which means none of the needle bearings got into the pump, they’re in the pan. I’ll get them out. Bushing style bearing lifters (no needle bearings) are the most reliable today but the most expensive, a set is over $1,000.00. Worth it to me. Lifters need to have specific spring pressures. The lifters from Crower or Isky need over 700 pounds at full open valve. These springs are about $500.00. All these springs have different inner diameters so Titanium retainers are about $300.00. There’s no way I can install these springs in the car so off come the heads-add in $170.00 for Cometic head gaskets. I’m swapping out the ARP head bolts for ARP studs, another $190.00. My headers are kinda beat up and they hang very low. I want those American Racing Headers, made specifically for and only fit big block Monte Carlos (it’s not a poor fitting Chevelle header). They are a whopping $1,465.00. ARH is near me and I know them so I’ll ask to go watch them make them, this is a made to order header. This hits about $3,500.00. A mechanical cam is noisy and as it has a lash gap, when the cam lobe hits the lifter, it impacts it. Bullet says they can make the cam slightly bigger in a hydraulic and I’ll have the same power. It’ll be smoother and quieter. If I do this, add $500 for the custom cam and $380.00 for shorter pushrods (hydraulic roller lifters are taller) but the springs are less pressure and less expensive. Going this route puts everything at about $4,300.00. Either way I choose, my car won’t be running until springtime.

Rob, you can keep your left pinky-for now. The three speed manual transmission was the standard/base transmission in all three years. All were column shifted. It was only available with the standard/base 350/2bbl engine. Any optional engine and you had to step up to at least a Powerglide transmission. No four speed manual transmissions were available in 1972. Pic from 1972 publication but is the same for 1970 & 1971 (except the HP ratings).

Welcome Michael! I too noticed a few things. The roof vinyl break moldings should be half painted flat to match the roof. The exhaust tips should end just before the rear bumper, not further forward where they are now. They should be just visible when you're standing behind the car. The wipers are pretty far out of adjustment, they park up on the windshield. Make sure they work in all speeds and park, repairing the wiper motor wiring & switch can be difficult. A tiny thing, always irks me, the windshield squirter hoses should poke into the cowl, you can see the holes they come through. The center caps are the incorrect short style. A few body stickers are missing, door ID and trunk lid jacking. Door/fender/hood gaps seem to be all over the place but closer inspection is needed. The 5500 RPM redline tach is correct for a big block car. The battery cables are incorrect, by 1971, all Chevelles and Montes had side terminal batteries. Above the speedo is a very incorrect screw head for the dash pad. The body under and around the door sill plates should be black. I believe the windshield sun tint should be blue, not tan. Correct me? The rear package shelf is really bad. It's odd they did so much body and paint work and ignored the interior, other that armoralling everything. When you go to look at this car, take a refrigerator magnet with you, one of those rubbery flat ones that's like a business card. Use it to check for heavy bondo around the bottom of the quarter panels and fenders and the lower corners of the rear window. Although it's common to not have the original factory fenders on a almost fifty year old car, the lack of all three hood bumpers on both fenders indicate they've both been replaced sometime in the car's life. Don't let them tell you "original fenders". In my opinion, the color change from classic copper to red detracts from the car's value. As mentioned, all big block cars received a bolted steering shaft. This allowed the exhaust manifold to be removed, not an issue with a small block car.

James, my lift is .630/.630. Bullet says they can grind my cam with slightly more lift in a hydraulic version but it's $500.00, no-needle hydraulic roller lifters are actually $100.00 more and I'd have to strip down the front of the motor-no small task with a serpentine front drive. I have a magnet on a flexible wire so it'll grab whatever isn't in the filter. Any bigger chunks wouldn't pass the oil pump's pickup so they'll be in the pan.

My current valve springs have 600 lbs open valve pressure. I installed them in the car. Super difficult, I needed a five foot bar to compress them to get the locks in. I had a bunch of rope in the cylinders to hold the valves closed. Crower says the new lifters need like 700+ lbs. No way was I gonna change springs in the car again. Although pulling the heads are a lot of work, it's easier than an in-car spring swap. And I can do a few other things, like cleaning out the evap box, I want AC next year.

I had to put down the beer for today's task.

ah-HA! Sorry, I thought the radio ends were all the same except for the number of wires actually used. This looks to be the 9 pin: https://www.ebay.com/itm/70-71-72-CHEVROLET-CHEVELLE-CAMARO-NOVA-DELCO-PLUG-9-PIN-STEREO-RADIO-CONNECTOR/351716550954?epid=10009635411&hash=item51e3f0a92a:g:Ba0AAOSw9N1V1nQ4

Here's one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1970-1971-1972-CHEVY-CHEVELLE-SS-CAMARO-MONTE-CARLO-NOVA-RADIO-PLUG-70-71-72/253257550257?hash=item3af75389b1:g:W9UAAMXQOT5Q~LN9

Ahhh yes, you're quite right.

Good catch Rob! A few seconds later it has a shot from behind the grill.

yessir

Being able to stand between the fans and the engine makes engine work pretty easy. This time, I did it blindfolded, one hand tied behind my back and a beer in the other hand.

Looks like the lifter body at the roller axle broke. I'm happy to say the cam lobe doesn't have even a scratch. I hope to find the broken lifter parts in the pan. New/better lifters and I should be running again.