Okay. The 383 is home. Frank and I snapped up every part that was on the shelf and still came up short in several areas. A couple of rockers missing here, a couple of rod caps missing there, no distributor. Meh. This build is going right back on a shelf for now. And, by all appearances this is probably a very basic, no frills, 383 block. Not that I really care. There is some blue-green paint beneath the orange sooooo this is probably going to be a very run-of-the-mill engine. Still, there is more sleuthing to do.
But, over dinner, I made some 383 inquiries of the internet. The prices people are asking for these are...
Oh
My
God!
They must be charging by the pound. A 383, even it the worst condition, cannot be reduced to that of a boat anchor. Screw that 'power-to-weight ratio stuff. These are more like a SHIP's anchor. And I've hefted almost every pound of a 383 today....twice. Once for loading. Once for UN loading.
One of the things that is pretty amazing about the 383 is the strength of the block. Structurally, it is amazing and the crank is sucked up very deep inside, very unlike your average Chevy where the crank lives very low in the block. Beefy. VERY beefy. It is, literally, a BIG block.
Anyhoo, those are my initial observations.
I snapped up a few extras from what was left of the estate sale, including some fairly good looking 8-track tapes which would otherwise be headed for the dumpster by day's end. The vintage car guys really love to have this sort of stuff laying around when displaying their cars. Gives the car that 'lived in' look. And BONUS, these tapes are all from popular artists. So, I'll see if I can find a few worthy recipients for those.
Cheers,
TJ
Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Moderators: rickf, raymond, Mr. Recovery
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Missing rod caps are a biggie! That means a line bore if you can even find good caps.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Well, Rick.....as Forrest Gump's mother says - estate sales are like a box of chocolates...
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Well, my '93 Jeep YJ (aka 'No.9') has been making this awful rattling noise, which I have dutifully ignored until...
...coming off the line half a block away from Casita del Hombre Con Demasiados Proyectos the YJeep's engine acted as though it suddenly wasn't producing any power so, being a good red-blooded American male, I ignored any possibility of ignominious defeat by abusing an engine that might be getting ready to puke its internal parts all over the street (instead of stopping to actually examine what the trouble was) and instead, I tromped down hard with my go-foot and the Jeep leapt forward up the hill and then bogged again as I pulled to the curb in front of my house.
I smelled gas (and a lot of it) and looked under the Jeep to see it spraying a fountain out of the service hose where it swept upward toward the fuel rail. Phooey. I silently cursed any auto manufacturer who didn't seem to be able to make a vehicle with fuel hose that would last at least half a century and withstand ethanol. Is that really too much to ask? This one had only gone 32 years. I had been cheated.
Ridiculous, when you consider America had put a man on the moon in '69 AND an American had been awarded a patent for the first electric guitar on this day in 1937 (both of which would change the world forever)....but quality fuel hose? Nope. We're still in the stone age, fellas...
...but the music is good.
The fuel line connectors were of the quick release style and there are many types of specialized tools for releasing them and until that day, I had never had any need of 'em. But, I will allow that I find quick connectors to be actually very, VERY good but not necessarily idiot proof (because I can easily imagine some beer guzzling dude with the brain of a turnip removing them with a hack saw). But, if one knows what they're doing, they're quick, easy, and surprisingly effective. Unless you're broke down on the side of the road with no means of releasing them. Unfortunately, the brainiacs in Detroit attached them to cheap, rinkydink, fuel hose...and that's how I found myself dead in the water at the curb.
Frank the Wizard called to chat. I told him what I was up against. He, a man with daily drivers far newer than mine, hadn't the slightest inkling of what fuel line quick connectors were and since he and I would soon be road tripping together (he carries a small bag of tools for self recovery wherever he goes) I asked him if he had the specialty tools that would allow him to remove a quick connect fuel line....because you simply cannot be lucky enough to break down in front of your house.... when you're a thousand miles away from home. This was all news to him and being 'old school' he said that specialty tools for things like fuel lines was the dumbest idea ever and that no auto manufacturer should ever put a consumer in that position.
Suddenly I found myself playing the Devil's advocate, defending the very people who designed vehicles with that in mind. Waitaminute, Frank. Consider this. You are a machinist with a building absolutely FILLED with specialty tools.... which, of course, left him with little or no argument except for the bit about being broke down whilst on the road. I had bested Frank the Wizard but only barely. That's tough to do. Right then and there I decided I would buy Frank the best set of el cheapo Harbor Freight fuel line quick disconnect tools I could afford and Frank's self recovery kit would be all the better for it.
ANYhoo, There are other ways to get these quick release thingies to release by creative use of other, traditional tools but at the end of the day, the proper tool is the best bet. And I didn't want to have to do ANY of it. I have other, much more fun stuff to do. Eventually, I sat down and weighed my options (which were indeed weighty...like 'gold bars' weighty). I bought a cheap quick disconnect multitool and with it, I disconnected the offending assembly of pieces in order to consider them more effectively.
At this point, I will attempt to describe for you what this section of fuel delivery paraphernalia consists of.
1. Quick connector (from the fuel rail) attached to a fuel line by means of some wonky, space-age, heavy duty, heat-shrink hose.
2. From there, the fuel line goes down, down and around till it runs out of ground at the edge of town (in downtown Pagosa Springs),
3. where it then attaches to a fuel hose (undeniably substandard, having lasted only 32 years) by means of swaging,
4. and at the other end of the fuel hose is swaged to yet another quick connector,
5. which is intended to connect (quickly) to the fuel line on the frame of the Jeep.
6. Now double all of the above, 1-5, in order to provide for a fuel return line and,
7. add a clever little bracket to keep all of this neat, orderly and oh so tidy.
Read that again if you're confused and if you ARE confused it is probably for one, very simple reason. At the hose or fuel line end of each quick connector fitting is a modest old-school flare...
...and if they hadn't used a fancy pants swage to connect a hose to it, they could have skipped the quick connector and just as simply have put a worm drive clamp on it so,
why bother?!
Well, I'll tell ya why. To bamboozle the customer. When it comes to making repairs, the manufacturer wants the consumer to think they're the only game in town. Two, crisp hundred dollar bills for the assembly. Thats why. Yup. If you wanted to replace the whole megillah (as many consumers would assume was necessary) that's what it would cost to purchase this odd assembly of fuel delivery chingaderas, and we're not even adding to that book time for the shop or the cost of the cute little tools if you were going to do it yourself.
Now, if you were to have a repair shop do it for you, the book time they would have charged would probably be one hour...maybe two. And in reality, with the quick connectors, I believe a mechanic who had done it before could R&R the whole thing in 15 minutes, maybe less.
Forging ahead, I cut the swages and removed the offending bits of fuel hose, being careful to keep track of which was which because this assembly was designed to be only capable of going in one way so that mixing up fuel delivery and fuel return would be an impossibility. Down below, the connection points were staggered, requiring different lengths of hose. At the fuel rail, one connector was 5/16 while the other was 3/8.
Yup. After removing the old hose, I found flares on the end of the fuel lines and flares on the end of the quick connects. In other words, I could put new hose on, clamp it down and Bob's yer uncle.
And in the future, replace the fuel hoses with a flathead screwdriver.
I went to NAPA. Told DBTC (Dude-Behind-The-Counter) I needed 4' of 5/16 fuel hose (specifying hose capable of withstanding ethanol fuels) and I asked for 4' because I calculated I only needed 3' which is why I asked for an extra foot of hose. I know my limitations when it comes to cutting stuff...
...and having bits of hose laying about are beneficial to the cause when it comes to fixing other stuff.
I happened to bring in one of the original quick connects for one last measure with my calipers before ordering the fuel hose. DBTC stepped away and returned with two, brand new quick connects in blister packs. "Uhmmm, that's not 4' of fuel hose." He looked embarrassed and moved to scoop up the parts. "No, just leave 'em. I wanna look them over." Soon, he had returned with 4' of 5/16-flavored, fuel hose that (he claimed) was ethanol resistant. "How much for the connectors?" He replied that they were $16.50 each. I contemplated having to crawl under ol' No. 9 to replace the old quick connects that might just have decided to get leaky after all the handling, not to mention the inevitable shower of gasoline in the doing of it. Did I want to risk it for a paltry $33? Nope. A little insurance would be wise. I'd risk the ones up top only because they required less bending/crawling/genuflecting to replace if they leaked later on. Putting new ones on the bottom seemed like a damned good idea.
"I'll take 'em."
I took my new stuff home and put it all together with mo bettah old-school worm drive clamps. It was siesta time. Cleaned my refurbished fuel delivery assembly so that it looked like someone actually cared, showered, took a nap. I would put it back on the Jeep in the cool of the morning. The following day, success!...and not counting all the cursing and being soaked with motor fuels in the tear-down phase, it was a learning experience and only cost right around $50. Now imagine what having a shop do it would have cost me. I don't wanna make mechanics starve, mind you, but I have less important things to do with my money...like shop on eBay.
Oh, as a bonus, I found a vacuum line that had come off the intake manifold and put it back on to stay.
And that rattling noise? Not the transfer case. Definitely the ceramics in the catalytic converter have broken up. Sounds horrible but isn't really so bad that I'm in a hurry to replace it. I'll get around to it.
Cheers,
TJ
...coming off the line half a block away from Casita del Hombre Con Demasiados Proyectos the YJeep's engine acted as though it suddenly wasn't producing any power so, being a good red-blooded American male, I ignored any possibility of ignominious defeat by abusing an engine that might be getting ready to puke its internal parts all over the street (instead of stopping to actually examine what the trouble was) and instead, I tromped down hard with my go-foot and the Jeep leapt forward up the hill and then bogged again as I pulled to the curb in front of my house.
I smelled gas (and a lot of it) and looked under the Jeep to see it spraying a fountain out of the service hose where it swept upward toward the fuel rail. Phooey. I silently cursed any auto manufacturer who didn't seem to be able to make a vehicle with fuel hose that would last at least half a century and withstand ethanol. Is that really too much to ask? This one had only gone 32 years. I had been cheated.
Ridiculous, when you consider America had put a man on the moon in '69 AND an American had been awarded a patent for the first electric guitar on this day in 1937 (both of which would change the world forever)....but quality fuel hose? Nope. We're still in the stone age, fellas...
...but the music is good.
The fuel line connectors were of the quick release style and there are many types of specialized tools for releasing them and until that day, I had never had any need of 'em. But, I will allow that I find quick connectors to be actually very, VERY good but not necessarily idiot proof (because I can easily imagine some beer guzzling dude with the brain of a turnip removing them with a hack saw). But, if one knows what they're doing, they're quick, easy, and surprisingly effective. Unless you're broke down on the side of the road with no means of releasing them. Unfortunately, the brainiacs in Detroit attached them to cheap, rinkydink, fuel hose...and that's how I found myself dead in the water at the curb.
Frank the Wizard called to chat. I told him what I was up against. He, a man with daily drivers far newer than mine, hadn't the slightest inkling of what fuel line quick connectors were and since he and I would soon be road tripping together (he carries a small bag of tools for self recovery wherever he goes) I asked him if he had the specialty tools that would allow him to remove a quick connect fuel line....because you simply cannot be lucky enough to break down in front of your house.... when you're a thousand miles away from home. This was all news to him and being 'old school' he said that specialty tools for things like fuel lines was the dumbest idea ever and that no auto manufacturer should ever put a consumer in that position.
Suddenly I found myself playing the Devil's advocate, defending the very people who designed vehicles with that in mind. Waitaminute, Frank. Consider this. You are a machinist with a building absolutely FILLED with specialty tools.... which, of course, left him with little or no argument except for the bit about being broke down whilst on the road. I had bested Frank the Wizard but only barely. That's tough to do. Right then and there I decided I would buy Frank the best set of el cheapo Harbor Freight fuel line quick disconnect tools I could afford and Frank's self recovery kit would be all the better for it.
ANYhoo, There are other ways to get these quick release thingies to release by creative use of other, traditional tools but at the end of the day, the proper tool is the best bet. And I didn't want to have to do ANY of it. I have other, much more fun stuff to do. Eventually, I sat down and weighed my options (which were indeed weighty...like 'gold bars' weighty). I bought a cheap quick disconnect multitool and with it, I disconnected the offending assembly of pieces in order to consider them more effectively.
At this point, I will attempt to describe for you what this section of fuel delivery paraphernalia consists of.
1. Quick connector (from the fuel rail) attached to a fuel line by means of some wonky, space-age, heavy duty, heat-shrink hose.
2. From there, the fuel line goes down, down and around till it runs out of ground at the edge of town (in downtown Pagosa Springs),
3. where it then attaches to a fuel hose (undeniably substandard, having lasted only 32 years) by means of swaging,
4. and at the other end of the fuel hose is swaged to yet another quick connector,
5. which is intended to connect (quickly) to the fuel line on the frame of the Jeep.
6. Now double all of the above, 1-5, in order to provide for a fuel return line and,
7. add a clever little bracket to keep all of this neat, orderly and oh so tidy.
Read that again if you're confused and if you ARE confused it is probably for one, very simple reason. At the hose or fuel line end of each quick connector fitting is a modest old-school flare...
...and if they hadn't used a fancy pants swage to connect a hose to it, they could have skipped the quick connector and just as simply have put a worm drive clamp on it so,
why bother?!
Well, I'll tell ya why. To bamboozle the customer. When it comes to making repairs, the manufacturer wants the consumer to think they're the only game in town. Two, crisp hundred dollar bills for the assembly. Thats why. Yup. If you wanted to replace the whole megillah (as many consumers would assume was necessary) that's what it would cost to purchase this odd assembly of fuel delivery chingaderas, and we're not even adding to that book time for the shop or the cost of the cute little tools if you were going to do it yourself.
Now, if you were to have a repair shop do it for you, the book time they would have charged would probably be one hour...maybe two. And in reality, with the quick connectors, I believe a mechanic who had done it before could R&R the whole thing in 15 minutes, maybe less.
Forging ahead, I cut the swages and removed the offending bits of fuel hose, being careful to keep track of which was which because this assembly was designed to be only capable of going in one way so that mixing up fuel delivery and fuel return would be an impossibility. Down below, the connection points were staggered, requiring different lengths of hose. At the fuel rail, one connector was 5/16 while the other was 3/8.
Yup. After removing the old hose, I found flares on the end of the fuel lines and flares on the end of the quick connects. In other words, I could put new hose on, clamp it down and Bob's yer uncle.
And in the future, replace the fuel hoses with a flathead screwdriver.
I went to NAPA. Told DBTC (Dude-Behind-The-Counter) I needed 4' of 5/16 fuel hose (specifying hose capable of withstanding ethanol fuels) and I asked for 4' because I calculated I only needed 3' which is why I asked for an extra foot of hose. I know my limitations when it comes to cutting stuff...
...and having bits of hose laying about are beneficial to the cause when it comes to fixing other stuff.
I happened to bring in one of the original quick connects for one last measure with my calipers before ordering the fuel hose. DBTC stepped away and returned with two, brand new quick connects in blister packs. "Uhmmm, that's not 4' of fuel hose." He looked embarrassed and moved to scoop up the parts. "No, just leave 'em. I wanna look them over." Soon, he had returned with 4' of 5/16-flavored, fuel hose that (he claimed) was ethanol resistant. "How much for the connectors?" He replied that they were $16.50 each. I contemplated having to crawl under ol' No. 9 to replace the old quick connects that might just have decided to get leaky after all the handling, not to mention the inevitable shower of gasoline in the doing of it. Did I want to risk it for a paltry $33? Nope. A little insurance would be wise. I'd risk the ones up top only because they required less bending/crawling/genuflecting to replace if they leaked later on. Putting new ones on the bottom seemed like a damned good idea.
"I'll take 'em."
I took my new stuff home and put it all together with mo bettah old-school worm drive clamps. It was siesta time. Cleaned my refurbished fuel delivery assembly so that it looked like someone actually cared, showered, took a nap. I would put it back on the Jeep in the cool of the morning. The following day, success!...and not counting all the cursing and being soaked with motor fuels in the tear-down phase, it was a learning experience and only cost right around $50. Now imagine what having a shop do it would have cost me. I don't wanna make mechanics starve, mind you, but I have less important things to do with my money...like shop on eBay.
Oh, as a bonus, I found a vacuum line that had come off the intake manifold and put it back on to stay.
And that rattling noise? Not the transfer case. Definitely the ceramics in the catalytic converter have broken up. Sounds horrible but isn't really so bad that I'm in a hurry to replace it. I'll get around to it.
Cheers,
TJ
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by m3a1 on August 11th, 2025, 10:31 am, edited 8 times in total.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
If you are going on a road trip in a modern car another cheapie tool set you need is a set of picks, https://www.harborfreight.com/pick-and- ... 69592.html. These can come in real handy for releasing the locks on the multitude of electrical plugs on these cares. "technically" you can remove them all by hand. I have found otherwise, especially when they get old and stiff.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I just finished going through something similar with the RV. Turbo cooling lines on the Cummins diesel. I got a couple of pics of the lines that came opff but getting pics of where they went............... Yea, that ain't happening. Most of this work was hanging in through the top access under the bed for the one line and finding JUST the right exact position to get one hand up to the fitting underneath. Forget about being able to see the fitting, this was all by feel. On the first pic if you enlarge it and look at the end of the line that was cut off and look at the rotted away metal crimp band. On a stainless line. That line only cost my 140.00, the shorter one was 130.00. The special gaskets needed were 5.00 each time 5. Add in two units of blood from assorted cuts and still on blood thinners. Also notice how thin the wrench grip surface is on that banjo bolt. And it was beyond tight. 2 foot long very large screwdriver minus the handle and a hammer was all that would loosen it.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
I've got em alreadyrickf wrote: ↑August 10th, 2025, 1:21 pmIf you are going on a road trip in a modern car another cheapie tool set you need is a set of picks, https://www.harborfreight.com/pick-and- ... 69592.html. These can come in real handy for releasing the locks on the multitude of electrical plugs on these cares. "technically" you can remove them all by hand. I have found otherwise, especially when they get old and stiff.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Looks like a hacksaw cut on that. Were you 'THAT guy'?!
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
It was not a hack saw, it was a mini air saw and yup, that was me. That end of the fitting was not coming off of the fitting into the block so it all had to come out together. This is a flat face fitting with an O-ring in the other half and it was so tight I still had trouble getting at apart in the vice!!! No way an o-ring seal should be that tight. I had the new line so this was the easiest way to get it done without damaging the block fitting. And like I said, this was mostly by feel. Really tight in there.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
Well, that's really what bimetal saws are for. To get you out of trouble faster than you got in it.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
That was a bimetal blade, Note I said "was". They are jig saw blades and that one has been on it's last legs for a long time. There are maybe 5 teeth lef on it. I have several hundred around here I bought at an auction but........................ Yea, I am you but in another state. 
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
As long as the debris doesn't get into where it's not supposed to be. With this old stuff, especially where you are, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
it was quite a new experience tearing down that thrashed Mutt engine, what with all the nuts and bolts and everything else easily removed. The difference being, I'm used to having to fight everything, tooth and nail.
it was quite a new experience tearing down that thrashed Mutt engine, what with all the nuts and bolts and everything else easily removed. The difference being, I'm used to having to fight everything, tooth and nail.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
A 718 ambulance body in pretty good condition. No rust and in much better condition than that 105 trailer fender in front of it. So, did you buy it?
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
1953 M37 W/W
1953 M37 converted to 12 volt
Re: Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux
We're in negotiations...