Travis' 1984 Supra Rider

[stinky_1]

stitching is a patch job. it can hold up for many many years, and is an acceptable means to do that. But, if your getting a block that is ready for rebuild so cheap you may as well go that way. It will cost you more to get the block that needs stitching repaired and ready.

Hope that helps

[DAFF]

Start looking for another parts boat with a good driveline but bad interior, stringers.... Have seen some for $800.00 on CL. Never a bad idea to have too many parts on hand. NTM marine parts will get pricy very quickly, I bet the maninfolds and odds ands on the exhaust will be more than $800.

When you are done you can sell of all the unused parts and put some money back in your pocket.

[sydneyACE]

It's a good thought DAFF, but unfortunately there are no old Supras in my area. I looked and looked forever just to find this one.
My budget is very limited (I know, not a good boating combination), so I'm trying to save $ wherever I can by puting-in the labor myself.

Anyways, I called the machine shop to see how my heads were coming along only to find-out that they have soft valve seats. So... basically my block is cracked, and my heads are no good... sounds like time for a different engine to start-over with.

[sydneyACE]

After searching craigslist for several days and finding nothing promising, cept for a few used "350s" that turned out to be 305s! (Check casting numbers!)
My co-worker asked if a 400 would work because he had seen a few for sale.
For those who don't know a 350 and a 400 are almost identical. The primary difference (besides the displacement) is the fact that the 400 is externally balanced whereas the 350 is internally balanced. All of the accessories, manifolds, intake, trans, ect bolt right-up.
Long story short, I picked-up a used Chevy 400 small-block which I think is gonna work really nicely!

I decided to buy my own sandblaster ($150) since all the places that quoted me were too expensive ($250+).
I don't have any pics of the 400 yet (it's nothing to look at anyway) but I do have some pics of my carb rebuild. So, here ya go...

Cleaned and Painted the float bowls. Lot's of time spent with a Dremel LOL!




Completely disassempled the throttle-plate and wire-brushed with the Dremel, then painted the linkages.




I brushed and sanded the metering blocks...




Assembled without the throttle-plate...

[sydneyACE]

Assembled from the top...




With the fuel lines on... mmm looks nice!




Here's a couple of "before" pics for comparison...

[TitanTn]

Looks great! Keep us up-to-date as you make progress.

[dshaff24]

looking good man. you got a looonnnngg way to go but it looks like your going to get there a day at a time!

Keep the pics coming.. most of us had a running boat that was used every summer and just tore it apart.. Your build is like building an old hot rod that you found in a barn!

[sybrmike]

Looks great. Although it doesn't look like a standard marine carb - no j-tube vents (skidim has em for $8 ea if you wanna be marine legal), dual metering blocks, etc. I really like how you left the aluminum bare.

I just rebuilt my 4160, but it didn't clean up near as nice even after 4 days disassembled in a bucket of carb cleaner (dang EPA - that stuff used to strip off paint!). I may just hit it with the dremel wire brush & ghetto paint the whole thing.

Again, great job!

[sydneyACE]

Yeah, I tried to just soak it first, but it didn't really do anything.
I spent quite a bit of time on it with the Dremel w/ wire brush. I used some rattle can paint and did LOTS of thin coats. Honestly it will probably flake off after a couple of hours of use but I couldn't just stick a nasty looking carb on there.

I also wire brushed and painted the raw water pump and thermostat housing. I'll post some pics of the pump when I get the new impeller.

If I can find a big enough air compressor I'll be sandblasting the rest of the engine acc. this weekend. I also want to blast and put some fresh paint on the "new" 400 and the trans.

[sybrmike]

Think my carb's staying raw. Never seen a carb paint job hold up too well & flaked paint ends up looking worse than rust and oxidation, but sounds like you prepped it good so hopefully you'll have better luck. Just gonna pain me to put an ugly carb back on top of a new polished aluminum intake.

Sounds like we're working the same schedule. My old 5 hp Craftsman compressor will almost keep up with my cheap a$$ sandblaster using Lowe's playsand. Blasted and painted all the accessories last weekend & assembled the raw water pump last night (had to cut a new thrust plate gasket). Hope to blast & paint the engine/trans this weekend & start reassembly next week.

Keep up the good work!