Cat’s Out Of The Bag, ‘65 300L Manual Trans, A/C and More

I found this old post and it mentions a slightly smaller CH.
2.072

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If the starter is working well, leave it alone. Just clean it up and detail it. My $0.02
:canada:
And then when it isn't working well, put a Dodge Dakota mini-starter in it. :eek:

I might've told the story somewhere on here, but a bad starter once caused me to swap an engine. :BangHead:
Don't be me...
 
Slowly getting items in line to proceed getting the drivetrain back together. Lots of parts are painted and today some replacement pieces arrived from RockAuto. One item is a new Idler Pulley that doesn’t have the mounting bolt attached to it like the old one. Here are a couple pictures.

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My question is do I find a bushing that will reduce the size of the mounting hole on the new wheel and then a nut/washer combo to mount it to the bracket?

Probably need a higher strength bolt than a normal one is what I was thinking, sound right?

Or is there a place to by a pulley like the original?

Here’s some painted bolt on parts ready to install.

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Slowly getting items in line to proceed getting the drivetrain back together. Lots of parts are painted and today some replacement pieces arrived from RockAuto. One item is a new Idler Pulley that doesn’t have the mounting bolt attached to it like the old one. Here are a couple pictures.

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My question is do I find a bushing that will reduce the size of the mounting hole on the new wheel and then a nut/washer combo to mount it to the bracket?

Probably need a higher strength bolt than a normal one is what I was thinking, sound right?

Or is there a place to by a pulley like the original?

Here’s some painted bolt on parts ready to install.

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Mancini Racing Fan Belt Idler Pulley Assembly
 
March 12th 2024 Continuation on the “Cat”.

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The 413 is coming together nicely and it’s been a puzzle as parts, bags and labels were added.

Of course there was a bag with “?” labeling it. 6 bolts and washers were in it along with a few nuts. As I went to mount the vibration dampener four groove pulley I found a use and intended place for the above mentioned 6 bolts & washers.

Pictures and more pictures but somehow they sometimes fail to show some specifics and some make me wonder if it was together correctly when disassembled. Here are two examples.

First below is an aluminum strap that was attached underneath the left side valve cover nut. Then the strap at the bottom held this wire organizer bracket. Is this factory and correct?

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Next up is another spark plug wire support that I believe goes into the two head bolts that the red arrows point to. How’s that look and is that correct.
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Below this are just 2 pictures of each side of the block.
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After watching a Nick’s Garage episode I copied his technique for priming the oil pump. I cut the tops off two Mickey Thompson aluminum valve covers. The flange was broken off on one side and the tops will become wall art for me.
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The oil pump was spun counterclockwise and the attached gauge read almost 50 psi.
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Just like in the Nick’s garage video oil cascaded over the right rocker arms and after turning the crankshaft several times the same thing happened on the left side too.
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So I have a few questions above.

Currently the engine bay is also being prepared abate slowly. The engine compartment wiring harness has some bare wires, so I might need another or just repaired. That’s the next squirrel I will be chasing.
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March 12th 2024 Continuation on the “Cat”.

View attachment 649439
The 413 is coming together nicely and it’s been a puzzle as parts, bags and labels were added.

Of course there was a bag with “?” labeling it. 6 bolts and washers were in it along with a few nuts. As I went to mount the vibration dampener four groove pulley I found a use and intended place for the above mentioned 6 bolts & washers.

Pictures and more pictures but somehow they sometimes fail to show some specifics and some make me wonder if it was together correctly when disassembled. Here are two examples.

First below is an aluminum strap that was attached underneath the left side valve cover nut. Then the strap at the bottom held this wire organizer bracket. Is this factory and correct?

View attachment 649440

Next up is another spark plug wire support that I believe goes into the two head bolts that the red arrows point to. How’s that look and is that correct.View attachment 649441

Below this are just 2 pictures of each side of the block.View attachment 649442

View attachment 649443

After watching a Nick’s Garage episode I copied his technique for priming the oil pump. I cut the tops off two Mickey Thompson aluminum valve covers. The flange was broken off on one side and the tops will become wall art for me.View attachment 649445

View attachment 649446

The oil pump was spun counterclockwise and the attached gauge read almost 50 psi. View attachment 649444

Just like in the Nick’s garage video oil cascaded over the right rocker arms and after turning the crankshaft several times the same thing happened on the left side too.View attachment 649447

So I have a few questions above.

Currently the engine bay is also being prepared abate slowly. The engine compartment wiring harness has some bare wires, so I might need another or just repaired. That’s the next squirrel I will be chasing.
View attachment 649449
Here is the way my 413 was...

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Your aluminum bracket holding the plug wire holder looks like part of an old screen door
Travis..
Why yes it does lol. Might just be some Chevy Engineering mixed into my mess! Thanks for the laugh and dose of reality!
 
FWIW, my 300L doesn't have that wire bracket on the side.

That doesn't mean that it didn't have it at some time in its life. I can't help but wonder what is correct though.

FWIW, my car had replacement wires that were way too long and I replaced them with a set from Lectric Limited.
 
Why yes it does lol. Might just be some Chevy Engineering mixed into my mess! Thanks for the laugh and dose of reality!
I recall my 65 NYer had a wire holder on the left front head. I believe it was on the forward exhaust stud like the picture posted.

I know a thing or two about screen doors. My bro built a panel for the lower part of his dash in a 50 Studebsker pickup to hold some switches and a modern radio with a strip from a screen door. You never would have guessed the source, it looked really good.

Travis..
 
I had to put my thinking cap on and dialed it up to 11. That hurt but so what if I crippled a few more brain cells, it’s for a good cause this time.
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This jerry rigged storm door bracket doesn’t belong on the motor and the bracket attached to it goes on the first exhaust stud on the driver’s side. The other 4-wire separator is now removed from the first head bolt.

Now before anyone gets their undies in a bunch let me tell you that the engine block was painted with the same paint/color as the oil & water pump. Here’s what went “haywire”. The block was painted with a brush and unfortunately I didn’t get it mixed well enough with a stick. The other components were sprayed with cans of the same paint that was put into pressurized cans at a Bumper To Bumper store. I have found besides Bumper To Bumper there are other custom paint shops can put your personal paint from jars into pressurized spray cans, fyi.

Now on to the heat shield on the driver side and the black single spark plug wire holder….
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Now the crippled brain cells told me this bracket doesn’t go where the red arrows point. It goes under the black heat shield to the right. WOW, what a moment of clarity.
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The next break through came as I picked up the stock exhaust manifolds from my new secret machine shop hidden just around two blind corners, nestled in a cozy community, don’t blink.
Nice work surfacing the mounting faces. The manifolds have coating of Slip Plate covering them.
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I had to put my thinking cap on and dialed it up to 11. That hurt but so what if I crippled a few more brain cells, it’s for a good cause this time.View attachment 649924This jerry rigged storm door bracket doesn’t belong on the motor and the bracket attached to it goes on the first exhaust stud on the driver’s side. The other 4-wire separator is now removed from the first head bolt.

Now before anyone gets there undies in a bunch let me tell you that the engine block was painted with the same paint/color as the oil & water pump. Here’s what went “haywire”. The block was painted with a brush and unfortunately I didn’t get it mixed well enough with a stick. The other components were sprayed with cans of the same paint that was put into pressurized cans at a Bumper To Bumper store. I have found besides Bumper To Bumper there are other custom paint shops can put your personal paint from jars into pressurized spray cans, fyi.

Now on to the heat shield on the driver side and the black single spark plug wire holder….View attachment 649933Now the crippled brain cells told me this bracelet doesn’t go where the red arrows point. It goes under the black heat shield to the right. WOW, what a moment of clarity.View attachment 649918

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The next break through came as I picked up the stock exhaust manifolds from my new secret machine shop hidden just around two blind corners, nestled in cozy community, don’t blink.
Nice work surfacing the mounting faces. The manifolds have coating of Slip Plate covering them.
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Although this "guide" emphasizes '66 and later big blocks, it may prove helpful:

Ignition Wire Bracket Installation Guide Page 1

More info and parts:

Hoffman's Winners Circle Ignition Wire Brackets
 
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Over the last few days the rear axle and leaf springs with mounting brackets were removed.
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The complete “742” housing will be cleaned up and sand blasted, then taken apart to change the
seals. The internal 3:23 gears and sure grip will be inspected. There were no tags, 3:23 or sure grip lubricant, attached to the gear housing. Replacing them will be done.

One unique item was the orange paint on the pig unit underneath the part number. It may be a factory inspection mark. What do you think?
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The wire brush cleaning continued today.
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Here’s some numbers on the leaf springs. The part numbers “605 & 606” and an unknown number 1205.
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I set the two springs together and noticed a height difference. A measurement of 1 1/8” was estimated. Both leaf springs have 7 leafs. Do you think one was worn out more then the other or the factory rate was less on one side or…?
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I’m planning on getting replacement springs from either Eaton or Espo.

A question, Does anyone ever think about reusing the spring plates with the part numbers only, on the new springs to keep the factory numbers?
Is that possible?

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The dual point distributor was rebuilt by @halifaxhops a while ago. Here are the before pictures.
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It was determined that the 2 point sets had a very weak spring pressure. Halifaxhops also found that the vacuum advance diaphragm had a slow leak and replaced it with a new better rebuilt. I think it turned out Super Nice. Of course it was tested on the famous Sun Distributor Machine.
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The maybe original Factory Starter was mentioned earlier in this article. It had a 1965 date code stamped on it. Well I took it to a local Auto Parts Store. The parts slinger was actually someone who used to use the huge old parts books and he would humor his younger work mates with lore of searching through the magical pages!
This Wizard of the Old World had to spend some time wondering the computer to find the correct numbers/ values to load into the AI starter testing machine but he prevailed. He and the starter disappeared behind the side wall and it only took a few moments until I heard that wonderful mesmerizing gear reduction sound that is exclusively Chrysler. He came back out and cheerfully handed it back to me.

I tried cleaning the outside but that black stuff may be undercoating.
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