My Dad and Me
My brother gave our father a 74' Chevy Luv pickup. My Dad lived on a hill and got tired of down shifting with that 4 banger. He told me he wanted a V8. I told him I would build a motor first before I do the swap. That weekend, I went to Vegas. When I came home, he had the top of the motor disassembled. Sigh! I ran out and bought a long block from a local engine re-building shop. I added a mild cam, Edelbrock intake and Hooker made headers for the swap. Hooker also made a swap kit, but it placed the motor too high and I would have to modify the firewall, so I made my own motor and trans mounts.
After the swap, my Dad complainted that the factory gauges didn't work. I explained that everything was metric, that's why I added aftermarket gauges under the dash. He said, nope! He wanted the stock gauges to work, @#%&#@ sigh......I got threaded brass plugs, drill and threaded them for metric and now his gauges would work. Then my father complained the parking brake didn't work. I explained that the bellcrank for the parking brake was too short and the headers were in the way. He said, "I want the parking brake to work!". Jeez!!!! @#$#@%&* OK! Took the bellcrank, welded on an extension and heated the arm, to bend it over. The parking brake now worked. Then my father said, "The heater doesn't work". I explained that the coolant outlet was on the opposite side of the motor. He said he didn't care, he wanted it to work. (Someone shoot me!) I got tubing, flaired the ends, ran tubing and hoses under the radiator support and got heat.
Once everything was complete and working, I have to admit, it looked like the factory installed the 350/350. At the time, I hated my father, but I glad he made me do everything right.
When I added a Ford 9", to get better gear ratios, I KNEW he was right.
