2015 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

As we progress with fitting the engine cover we discover other little "irritants"

My 261 Chev engine is currently running with a rebuilt 1959 distributor and a off the shelf universal spark plug wiring loom.

Will have some recent pictures after this weekend but the modern dizzy is about 1 1/2 inch taller than the original 216 dizzy. This causes the wiring to be touching far too much against the engine cover.

I was under the FALSE impression that you could just simply replace the shallow dizzy cap and rotor from a 216 dizzy to a 1959 dizzy....NO WAY.

The shaft on a modern 1959 dizzy is taller than the older 216....just will not fit...and caps and rotor must be paired with the proper cap.

So the next step will be to remove the existing 1959 dizzy...... remove the Pertronix system which I will install in an older NOS 216 dizzy and hopefully it will start on first try.

Some of the sparkplug wires will also be replaced with angled boots to allow for shorter cabling and less of a spider's web in there.

The other issue has to do with the "dipstick" ..... no not the neighbours kid.
On the 1959 Chev truck the 261 dipstick could easily be pulled out because it has a long tube and a long dipstick...... there is no way it can now be removed for checking using the round access port hole near the feet of the driver.

We will have to remove and shorten the tube and shortened the dipstick while managing to retain the same oil level measurement.

Final lesson learned..... you have to install the transmission floor cover before you can finish installing the two side engine cover. back cover than the instrument cluster.
We are just in the finishing stages of patching the rusted section of that tranny floor cover. You know rust is bad when you have to work from 3 differently rusted cover to manage final measurements.

Cheers