Here are those pictures of the hole cut in the hood and the tape on hoodscoop.  I don't really like the hoodscoop, but it will have to do until I can find a carbon fiber hood that gives me the clearence I need.  The scoop was only $25 including shipping off eBay.

If you are talking about a big block 427 then I think the biggest problem with that would be the extra 150 pounds of weight and over 3 inches in additional length. 

The weight of a small block (305, 350 etc) seems to be working out well with my existing suspension, but an extra 150 pounds might require a completely new solution for suspension.

As it is with my small block I had to go with a short neck water pump and all the brackets and pulleys that go along with that form factor to give me enough room for a 3 inch aluminum radiator and electric fan.  With the added length of a big block I think you would have to completely remove the firewall and move the motor to the rear for enough room for cooling. I had to remove a portion of my firewall to fit the transmission, but I didn't have to deal with running new brake lines and wiring which you would with a complete removal.

After I run the car at the drag strip to get a baseline for the work I have done I will likely build a 300 hp 350 sbc to drop in place of the 305.  Since both motors are identical other then cubic inches it will drop right in.  You can get crazy horse power out of a small block so I personally wouldn't go to the trouble of trying to shoe horn a big block into the car unless I was building it as a dedicated dragster.

Yep, it is drivable. I drove it from my garage about 100 yards to my new pole barn/work shop.

Sorry to leave you guys hanging again.  I ran into another set back almost as frustrating as the fire.  I hate to admit to this, but I tossed out the cv axles with the motor before realizing that I needed the end shafts off the axle assembly to hold the front wheels on.  The entire time I've been working on it the only thing holding the front wheels on were the brakes.  Yeah, I feel pretty stupid.  I didn't drive it if that is what you are thinking, thank god!  After getting the interior all back in I decided to give the steering another look after noticing some toe in that I had not seen before.  When I jacked it up I noticed the wheels were all wobbly which is when I realized my blunder.  $84 for a set of junk yard axles that I already had but junked  . Any way, I disasembled the cv axles and reinserted the end shafts through the rotors and bolted them back on.

I also had to cut a hole in the hood after failing to find an air cleaner that would clear.  Less than an inch of the front side of the air cleaner sticks through the hood (pictures coming soon).  In order to try and keep the car a sleeper I decided to cover it with an inexpensive hood scoop (pics to come).  The hood scoop is a tape on giving it a ricer want-to-be look when in reality it is fully functional!

Between winter and running out of funds progress is slow right now.  I'm going to try and get some exhaust on it in the next couple weeks which is another head scratcher.  I'm not sure if I want to run it all the way out the back, or turn it out in front of the back wheels (cheaper). 

Even if I don't get anything else done on the car it is at least ready to run at the drag strip at the end of March, first week of April www.greatlakesdragaway.com.  If anyone lives near by, come seem me run it.  I'm hoping for around 14.6 or better in the 1/4 mile.  My friend is thinking it will run a little higher (15's) after running some calculations on weight and horsepower (estimating 175 hp).  I'll post the exact date when it gets a little closer.

List of things to do before driving on the street:
- exhaust
- gauges
- electric fan
- refinement of steering center shaft (the shaft is a little low putting too much angle on the tie rods).
- fix brake lights and turn signals.

About those turn signals and brake lights...if anyone knows what they have in common that would cause both to fail together let me know.  BTW, the center brake light works, but not the tail lamps.  They all worked before I swapped the dash.

Also, if anyone knows of a style of carbon fiber hood that might get me an extra inch and a half of clearence let me know.

One possible problem is that you blew a seal in your clutch pedal hydralic cylinder.  I only say this because the V8 project car had the same issue when I first got it, the only difference was the seal was blown in such a way that the fluid was spilling into the car and running under the carpet.  When I pulled the carpet out I found at least a quart of fuild under it and a paper towel wadded up around the rod that runs through the firewal. Paper towels won't fix it so don't even think about it!    Luckly I never intended on using it since I converted the car to a automatic with a manual valve body.  I did however remove the clutch pedal and don't recall it being very difficult.

Try right clicking on the link and selecting "Save As"

Here is that video I promised.  It is really crapy, but it's all I can muster from my digital camera.  I'll make some better ones with my video camera after I get the thing on the road.

Let me know how it is because I don't have QuickTime installed so I've only viewed it on my camera.  I'll take a look at it when I get to work tomorrow.  The sound was terrible on the camera and I doubt it gets any better on the computer 

http://overlandconcepts.com/v8_avenger_engine_running.mov (10.6MB)

BTW, I got the replacement dash and gas peddle today.  I plan on having it all back in this weekend.

Just a quick update to mark the point at which I got the engine running.  Last night my friend and I sorted through the maze of wires, fuses, and relays and found the ones we need for the starter and HEI.  The motor cracked off and ran, but drained the oil on the floor in about 10 seconds.  After locating the oil plug that I missed during accembly we fired it up again and ran it at 2000 RPMs to break in the cam only to see the headers start to glow.  Shut it down and realized that I never tightened the carberator down, so the motor was running extremely rich.  Fixed that oversight and it is now running good.

Today I idled it out of the garage and back in (no gas peddle, it melted in the fire) and all seems well for motion.  I'll need to hit the junk yard on Monday for a new dash and gas peddle.  I'll make short video of the motor running with open headers tomorrow and post it, I just rememered my digital camera can make videos.

Again it has been a while since I have post, but not because I haven't been working on the Avenger, instead because I didn't want to bore everyone with all the little details I've been working on like running brake lines and the like.  Here are all the things I can think of that I have completed since my last post:

- Power steering pump mounted (had to make custom brackets).
- Custom power steering hoses made by Tubes N Hoses installed.
- Radiator Hoses installed.
- Rear brake lines hooked up and bled (even got parking brake working!).
- Valve covers bolted on with new stainless stud kit.
- Oil Dipstick installed (new chrome dipstick to replace previously orded that did not fit).
- Torque converted bolted to flex plate.
- Trunk floor patched (see pictures).
- Rear battery mounted (see pictures).
- Fuel cell mounted (see pictures).


I patched the floor with a left over piece of metal siding from my new workshop I just had built (haven't moved the car into yet - want to drive it in). After the fire from welding the transmission tunnel I was in no mood to take a chance with burning up the back seat so I caulked and riveted the metal in followed up wit some foam to true up the seems.  You can also see the grommets where the fuel line, vent line, and battery cable will exit the trunk.


I welded in some bolts to hold the tubing that bridges the new tin work.  The tin was not as ridged as I wanted for mounting the accessories directly to so I made up some mounting framework to handle the load.


Carpet back in place with studs cut through.


Framework in place.  You can also see where the ground cable bolts to the frame.


Another look at the framework.  The stains came with the car for no extra charge.  Something I can improve in phase II.


New battery and aluminum battery box.  All that framework should be starting to make sense now.




20 gallon aluminum fuel cell.

Just a quick update, and sorry no pictures.  I got the shifter mounted and cable hooked up (B&M Hammer shifter).  Also mounted the power steering pump using custom brackets I made to locate it on the passenger side.  Belts for the pump and altenator are in.  Also ran the fuel lines up front tying them into the old fuel line that ran along the firewall.

I'm now working on tying the rear brake lines into the new rearend.  After that I'll be running the transmission cooling lines.  Plan to tie those lines into the original loop used by the original power steering pump that is mounted just in front of the radiator.  I'm also looking into some places to make custom hydrolic lines to run from the power steering pump to the gear box. I hope to have all this done by the end of this weekend.  Then on to the fuel cell and trunk mounted battery.

I'll post pictures this weekend.

One more thing to check off the list, Radiator mounted.  I think I will get the shifter and cable mounted next.  Got a great deal on a B&M Hammer Shifter off eBay for $50 with shipping.

Took longer to get the headers in than I first thought.  The drivers side had to be heated up with a torch and bent out an inch to clear the stearing, and the passengers side had to have the end cut and angled down slightly to clear the firewal.  But they are now in.  Next is the mounting of the radiator.

Here is the motor as of today:

It has been a while since I've posted, but believe me a lot has happened.  I got the tunnel all patched in, but not without paying a big price.  While welding up some of the seams a spark started a flame behind the dash board up against the firewall.  Took my wife and I over an hour to put it out completely.  It melted the plastic ducted work and cracked the windshield.  Looks like I'll be pulling the dash completely out.  I'm hoping it didn't get to the wiring.

To say the least I was pretty bummed about it.  I cleaned the smoke off the inside of the windows and vacuumed out all the water.  To look at it now you wouldn't know there was a fire unless you looked close at some of the vent grills which melted some along with the duct.  The good news was I at least had the carpet out so it didn't spread beyond the back of the dash.

The next day I decided it was best if I just put the fire out of my mind and deal with the dash and windsheild replacement later (there goes the budget!).  I finished welding up the transmission tunnel and sprayed it all down with rubberized under coating. 

My friend helped me put the motor back in after some more cleaning and painting.  I also put on a new chrome oil pain, new cam, lifters and timing chain, not to mention a new chrome timing chain cover, fuel pump, and harmonic damper.  The cam was a last minute decision after finding the rocker arms to be loose I figured it had a bad lifter or warn cam lobes.  Turned out I was right on both counts.  The timing chain was replaced because the one on it was so loose it could almost be advanced a full tooth.  I have an Edelbrock carb and intake that is going on soon also.  I'll take some pictures this weekend and post them.  Currently it doesn't look that much different then some of the earlier pictures.

Sorry, but your link is associated with an expired session.

Thanks for the concern, but actually the shock body tapers providing almost a 1/4 inch clearence that is difficult to see from the angle the picture was taken.  I appriciate the feed back, I do make mistakes now and then... if I had a dollar for every time I read the tape measure wrong...