CS project update 1/5 a few questions???

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Guys,

Spent most of the day over at my buddy's cleaning on the CS...
I totally forgot the camera... and my glasses.
I couldn't see anything that was closer than 3 feet away...

I got the driver's side engine perch out and spent a couple hours with the scrapper gettin' rid of the major part of 40 years worth of oil and dirt.
I did some more cleaning and degreasing on the engine and got the pan painted with a couple of coats of Ford blue.
I used some carb cleaner and got the Holly carb and Edlebrock intake cleaned up and sprayed the intake with some high heat silver (aluminum paint) It looks alot a better...
I'll make sure to take some new pics next time I go over.

I pulled the valve covers off to give them a fresh coat of Ford blue...
I noticed that the inside of passenger side cover had alot of sludge build up on it... the other side was really clean.
Does that indicate that the PCV valve is clogged?
It still rattles and I have been told that they are good if they rattle...
I'm gonna replace it anyway, but am just curious.
It still has the stock style breather caps... can those be cleaned and reused or should I get replacements for them as well?

I also wanna replace the plugs... I can't even remember that the last time that was done... I think I need to to go a tad hotter plug than Autolite plugs that are in it now...
I had always used Autolite in my Ford products, but have heard that they arn't very good anymore...
What kind of plugs would be best for a healthy 390?

I also had some questions about setting up a Pertronix points eliminator.
I have a couple of units, but am not sure how to even set them up.
Anyone know how? Is there gap or timing to be concerned with?
I am pretty sure that my current timing is set somewhere between 6 & 8 degrees BTDC.

Another question came to mind today...
Are there any differences between a '68 and a '71 radiator support?

I gotta go burn some dinner...

Take care and God bless,
KaptnKA S

[craftsman]

As for the pertronix goes, set the gap between the magnet pickup and the modual at .030", there should be a little plastic peice in the pertronix box, that is what is used to set the gap.
Run the red to + side of coil and black to the - side of coil and your done. Reset timing, no more adjusmets, i have ran one in my 240 for 6 years with no problems.

[kaptnkaos]

Thanks Craftsman...

I pulled the unit off of another truck so no instuctions or gauge so that helps alot...

KaptnKA S

[kaptnkaos]

Got alot done today, getting close to getting the engine back in on Sat...


Paint stripper... this stuff works great


First coat of stripper


After wiped down


after 2nd coat of stipper


one painted and one primered


Engine bay prepped for paint


Engine bay painted with Eastwood rust encapsulator


Another view


KaptnKA S

[Nausea]

Looking good, Kapt! That Klean Strip appears to work pretty well.

[kaptnkaos]

Yeah Nausea...

I was really pleased with the stuff...
It just sprays on and bubbles up the paint.
I used a small paint scraper (to take the bulk liquid stuff off).
Then used paper towels to take most of the rest of it off.
Then I used a pot scrubber at the very last (the heavy duty steel kind) just to get the small spots that hadn't come clean.
The whole process to me about 10-15 minutes per cover (most of that was just letting the stripper sit and do it's thing).
I cleaned them with some laquer thinner to get any residue of the stripper of before priming them.
I am really pleased with the end result.
I had cleaned them and painted them already, but the new paint orange peeled really bad as it reacted to the old paint.

KaptnKA S