Starship in the spacedock for engine upgrade.

Looking forward to seeing what you're up to

You've been messing with the hubcaps for a while now, I'm guessing you finally got the right setup.

buickman1 said:

You've been messing with the hubcaps for a while now, I'm guessing you finally got the right setup.

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The hubcaps are basically done, but need a little refining. The surfaces need a coat of resin, and sanding to smooth. I have the mounts pretty much made as well. The mounts will be glued inside the rim, and the caps themselves will have Dzus fasteners to hold them on. I must make a hole for the valve to fill the tires. Details are a PITA.

I found out that I should have put the Starship in the garage a month ago. Last week, I was on my way to get some barbecue ribs, and WHAM BANG it broke a rod. I have it apart down to the heads, and today I am going to take the heads off. I must remove the heads to get the block out of the car. Maybe tomorrow I will have the block out, to examine the damage. From the outside I can only see two holes in the oil pan. I will take pics of the carnage and post.

Damn, that sucks. Hope it's not a lost cause.

I got partway done with removing the heads. I forgot about the head bolts under the headers, so I have to remove the headers before I can pull the heads. I can not get to the top trans bolts with the heads in place.

I must walk to my dad's to work on it, because the White Elephant is not running, and my "friends" seem to have better things to do than help me. I am headed there tomorrow at about 9:00.

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I am working on jack stands, and it is not easy to get to it from the bottom. If I had a lift, it would be a different situation. I also do not have a 36 inch extension.

toonwarrior said:

Build some wheel cribs, just so worth it without having a lift to work under the car freely.

Got any pics of the starship? I just see the one on the profile pic.

View attachment 202084

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I do not have the room to store them. I would have to get the car on them as well, and that is not a possibility right now.

I got a number of the peripherals detached and tried turning the engine by hand. It stopped at one point, but I can turn it the other way to access the TC bolts. I am going to lift the engine to get the headers out, so I can pull the heads,.There are head bolts under the header flange that I can not get to with the headers in place, even when they are loose.

I got the headers out of the way, and the head bolts are all loose. Tomorrow I take the heads off, and see which rod broke (piston not in sync). I should have the engine out this week, and I will take some pics of the carnage. I am almost afraid to open it up, but I can not fix it if I don't. I don't see any holes in the block so far, so maybe I am going to come out of this in reasonably good shape. I can turn the crank far enough to get to all of the TC bolts, so I can just pull the engine, and not the trans too. I am going to send the TC back for a refreshing as well. It was acting weird with no engine braking at all.

what makes you think something is wrong with the TC because you lost engine braking?

When hot, the engine would fall to idle/near idle at 50 mph when I took my foot off of the pedal. When it was cold/warm, the engine would only fall off a few hundred RPM. The converter is a 2500 rpm stall unit with lockup capabilities.

🤞Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Damn, that sucks, serious carnage on the block. What are you thinking of doing now?

I just started looking for a good block. I have everything to rebuild it except for the block, and maybe the crank.

Fred Kiehl said:

I just started looking for a good block. I have everything to rebuild it except for the block, and maybe the crank.

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That really sucks, Fred. I wanted to say at least you were blessed with the timing of it happening over the winter, but if you live in Florida then I'm guessing you really don't have a winter LOL Keep us updated on how the rebuild goes. Going to be a beast when it's done I'm sure.