Progress Thread '88 Gt Project Blue Storm

In theory, you could stack the blue neoprene gaskets to get clearance. They have metal inside them and won't leak. I've had a set for a long long time....no leaks. Those things have been off and on too many times to count.

You've had them double stacked, and also reused them?

The blue neoprene Fel-Pro are what I got now for it. I could try that, and get another set for the other side.

I'll give it a shot when I get off of work.
 
Ah for sure. Well I was able to get it bolted up by doubling the gaskets, so that's a start. However it was hard to tell if it was interfereing or not. So I'll have my brother rotate the crankshaft and I'll have to listen to it. Will of course update when we can get around to it.
 
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Take some gum and stick it on top of a closed valves rocker arm, bolt the valve cover on...take it off and measure the thickness of the gum. That's the " po mans plastigauge. o_O

Lol yeah that would work. I should have specified what part I was having clearance issues with though. My bad. Pretty sure it's the valve spring hitting on the recess for the bolt holes. Causing it to not line up good enough to get the top center bolt in. It was extremely close though. That's why I was thinking about removing some material, and specifically from the bottom left, and right recesses.
 
Lol yeah that would work. I should have specified what part I was having clearance issues with though. My bad. Pretty sure it's the valve spring hitting on the recess for the bolt holes. Causing it to not line up good enough to get the top center bolt in. It was extremely close though. That's why I was thinking about removing some material, and specifically from the bottom left, and right recesses.

Ive put stock covers in a bridgeport mill and went to town removing material to make 1.72rr work with stock covers.
 
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Ive put stock covers in a bridgeport mill and went to town removing material to make 1.72rr work with stock covers.

The stamped steel?! Lol

Well I was able to test it and I don't hear a thing and the engine rotates freely. Though I may remove them again and try the playdough thing just to see what I got. Maybe remove some material too depending on how close they are, or maybe try to clear with one gasket. These blue ones doubled up aren't too confidence inspiring. I'm also just very anal about my things. Haha
 
The stamped steel?! Lol

Well I was able to test it and I don't hear a thing and the engine rotates freely. Though I may remove them again and try the playdough thing just to see what I got. Maybe remove some material too depending on how close they are, or maybe try to clear with one gasket. These blue ones doubled up aren't too confidence inspiring. I'm also just very anal about my things. Haha
Stock fox aluminum ones
 
If you set the covers in place without gaskets and crank it over by hand and you do not see the covers move you should be fine by the time you add a gasket.

But you said something about thick gaskets so. Nvrmind
 
I got the valve covers mounted. The engine already looks a lot better, even disassembled. Lol Should be miles better once I get the rest of it.

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On a side note, what's the difference between a progress thread, and a build thread?

I read someone said a progress thread is when you're not doing the work, and a build thread is when you are.
 
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This'll be purely subjective.

But from my perspective: A Build thread requires work that goes beyond mainly bolting stuff on, or paying to have it done.
If the above situation exists,..you have a progress thread.
If you are fabricating, cutting, welding, painting, wiring, or any other thing that goes beyond turning a wrench or a screwdriver, you have a build thread.
 
For sure, I feel like I'm in the middle. I will obviously be mainly bolting stuff on, but I am doing wiring, and I will be cutting and welding stuff too. however still technically just replacing the part (core support, floor pan etc.) haha I still don't think I deserve the build thread prefix. Most of the build threads I've seen are packed of some pretty killer work. I was just curious if there was some fact to it. Thank you!
 
IM BACK! I got some updates too! I have done a lot of work and still have a bit but here is some pictures!

Started tearing it down. Looking pretty gross. Haha

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Started prepping for paint! Don't judge, I never planned to do it properly, I just wanted this one to look... Not as ghetto. Note: I taped too much of the TFI module. It looks ugly later. I'll probably remove it and paint it again or replace it. lol

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Painted.

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New water pump, March performance alternator bracket. I had ARP bolts for it, but when I had it all together, I realized I could only use like two of the bolts from the kit. So I just replaced them with grade 8 as well and will sell the kit. Whoops

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Engine bay prepped.

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Painted with Semi-gloss black

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Assembled. New engine harness installed, most of the wiring completed, new dist cap, rotor and plug wires and SVE 3G alternator kit. The belt tensioner comes in contact with the alternator housing, and the lock nut is stuck against it as well, so I had to purchase another little bracket from march performance to work correctly with the 3G alternator.

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Where we are at now. I got most of the wire loomed and where it needs to go, still have to figure out a few things though. I'm no professional. The wiring is kinda crazy around the starter relay, but bear with me, I have no control over some of this, and I'm not done yet. Someday I plan to remove the fender and hide some of it behind there. BUT my favorite part is that it all makes sense now, and is clean and I can follow a wire if I need to.

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Look at those beautiful gauges! So far I'm very impressed!

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I will be back with more things! I have not included everything and have more pictures to show, but here's something. I hope you find the progress as satisfying as I do!
 
Have you tried to see what they painted it with?

Take a little laquer thinner and a rag and test it to see if it wipes off. If it does, it's fairly easy to get rid of them. Albeit time intensive on a long Saturday.

Let me know what happens with that.

Update with this! I got lacquer thinner and tested it out, and it does not even touch the blue or the clear coat, but does remove the stripes. but they are THICK and it takes forever to get anywhere. I'll go back to that at a later time though.