Chevelle Restoration - Part 4
Well, for this birthday edition of our restoration project, the 307 engine has completed its full rebuild. While much of the details of how this is all done went way over my head, what I do know is all the shiny bits from the last post now live inside the engine. Not to understate the amount of back-breaking labour my father went through to get it all set up, but the orange boi has all the requisite parts strapped on and is ready to rock and roll!
It was with much excitement and a little trepidation that I approached the milestone of this engine's 55th birthday compared to my measly 34 years of age. Would these shiny bits of expensive metal, meticulously installed into the bowels of this mysterious orange machine, reignite its thumping heartbeat in a flurry of noise and smoke?
Yes indeed! After much effort, patience and money spent, the 307 is truly ready to roar and screech rubber. Now begins the arduous journey of transporting said 307 to the patiently waiting Chevelle after months of separation. However, before the journey begins, let's take a moment to remember from whence this engine came: carted around in a pretty undignified manner in a rusty wheel barrow, to now ferried boldly in a custom built dolly designed specifically for its treacherous journey across the Crocodile River.
For this momentous occasion of reuniting engine and car, Bear Blog's very own Herman arrived for the (hydraulically assisted) heavy lifting and escorting of the engine back to the wilderness.
And heavy lifting it was, as you dear reader may slowly be gathering, this project involves a little more than the occasional getting greasy in a fully kitted workshop. I have yet to find a howto YouTube video titled 'How to transport a 300kg V8 across a swiftly coursing crocodile-infested river with no vehicle access and only a hectically swaying suspension bridge'.
Alas this is South Africa where boere maak planne, and planne het ons gemaak.
As we began this particular step in the transport process, we really relied on the preceding preparation in the form of my father's bespoke design of the dolly and Herman's years of five days a week in the gym.
This is really where the 160g of daily protein starts to pay dividends:
Airborne with the 307:
While this blog was intended to be informational in respect of vintage muscle car restoration, I've included some ancillary information for those interested in transporting SBC V8s across the Highveld countryside. Nonetheless, engine and car have been reunited and make quite the picturesque pair:
After some chicken and egg puzzles on how to get the 350 dismounted from the hoist and get the original 307 off the dolly, I'm pretty chuffed that the engine is going back into the car!
In she goes!
While largely ceremonial, as we'll be lifting the engine out again to attach the original Powerglide gearbox and new engine mounts, it's been a pretty satisfying weekend of hard labour and engine lifting. Next up is sorting out the transmission, drive train and brakes, but one thing is for certain, the stance of the Chevelle looks pretty good with its thumping orange heart!
