Woo hoo! 40 degrees! Let's get crackin' on this intake!
On B/RB Chrysler engines, the lifter valley is covered by a stamped steel gasket, which also serves to seal around the intake ports with a raised boss. Copper spray all around here helps with this seal.
There's clamps at the front and back of the engine that hold this tray in place, and there's a sheet of insulation (not pictured) that goes on top of the tray to insulate it from the intake manifold.
Then, bolt on the manifold.
The throttle bracket had to be modified to fit the new, larger (taller) manifold:
Huzzah for angle grinders!
And this bolt, on the passenger side rear, was so close to the manifold body I had to use an open ended wrench to tighten it. Luckily, it was also really close to the firewall, so I could only tighten said bolt 1 flat at a time with said wrench. 
I really wanted this picture TODAY, so I bolted the carb on lightly; the linkages and stuff all still need to be connected, though. Still, it's starting to look like an engine again!
Didn't have a lot of free time this weekend, but the coil is now bolted onto the manifold and the Demon carb mostly attached. I still have to connect the throttle cable- a custom adaptor will need to be fabricated.
With the dash still out, I hotwired the coil and used a remote starter to crank her over. Amazingly, without even pumping the gas, it fired right up. Using the setting just as the carb came out of the box, the engine idled smoother than it ever has and had excellent throttle response. This Demon carb is crazy good. I can't wait to get the rest of the car back together and try it out!
Unfortunately, when I attempted to add water to the cooling system, it began pouring out the bottom of the engine. Two more freeze plugs decided to corrode themselves to death. Ugh. Looks like more pokey-cleany and pressing in new plugs.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse:
may i be the first to suggest that you replace them all this time?
I have the Edelbrock adapter for the carb linkage on my Holley in my truck and for under $15 it's really the easy button for that.
AngryCorvair wrote:
In reply to volvoclearinghouse:
may i be the first to suggest that you replace them all this time?
Oye. Yeah...I really should. I did replace all the ones behind the exhaust manifold on the one side. Problem is, the front and rear lower freeze plugs are badly obstructed, in a "might have to pull the engine" sort of way. The middle lower two, the two leaking now, are easy to get at.
Interestingly, when I replaced the middle one under the exhaust manifold, the front and rear ones were in pretty good shape. I replaced them all, to be safe, but they probably would have been OK. I'm wondering if the center freeze plugs collect more crud for some reason and thus corrode more?
I may be able to hoist the engine up slightly, remove some parts, and get to the to other 4 plugs. I still need to get the dash back together, though, first.
Winter, we are officially not friends anymore.
Work has pretty much stopped on the car, due to an unheated garage and temperatures that stubbornly refuse to go above freezing. I found some NEVR-DULL and polished up the chrome pieces I'd removed from the dash in doing the speedo job, which I did in the comfort of my wood-stove-heated-home, but apart from that, all I do is stare out my window across the frozen tundra and look at the poor wagon, half sticking out of the garage, the back part of the roof covered in a snow drift that only seems to grow larger.
It's been far too long, and other house and automotive projects managed to steal my time over the past few months, but last night I was able to get back out tot he garage and make some progress on the Town and Country.
The (new, working) speedometer's back in!
I also wire brushed and rust-encapsulated the heater box panel, which Chrysler in it's wisdom left unpainted from the factory.
The list to make the car road-worthy is now thus:
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Finish putting dash back together around new Speedometer
-
Install new heater core, reinstall heater box.
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Replace lower freeze plugs on engine
-
Bleed brakes
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Investigate weird clunk in driveline (I have new U-joints to install, suspect that's the problem)
DRIVE.
Check out the 8.75. Lots of them clunk with automatic transmission. Want to say its cause of loose tolerance in the ring and pinion, but its been a few years since I investigated.
Wish I could say so, but ever since we bought the Suburban, that's proven to be an awesome family hauler so the impetus to push forward with the T&C has fallen. Plus, it turns out that all of the freeze plugs in the engine have to be replaced, which means pulling the entire engine. The past couple of months have been spent getting the LeMons car ready for the race back in September, and building a barn, and other house projects.
So, the poor Chrysler wagon sits.
I've actually toyed with selling it, though a this point I've got about $5000 into it and and I hate taking a bath so badly. I really want to at least enjoy the car for a bit, but I need at least a solid weekend to yank the engine and fix the freeze plugs, put the heater back in, and address the other 100 issues that I'm sure have crept up since it's been sitting.
At least the new Demon carb found a good home on top of the 350 in Katie's Camaro. 
Uh oh. A long road coming to an end? Hope not.
Petrolburner wrote:
volvoclearinghouse wrote:
Unlike so many of my previous projects, though, I am determined, this time, to see it through.
Stay the course VCH.
Thanks for the encouragement. There's a '72 Vista Cruiser on my local CL, runs and drives, and I was tempted to jump ship for a running project, but my wife stepped in with her verdict that the VC was "ugly", and she preferred the T&C.
Plus, now that I've sold the Imperial, I have some cash in my pocket and a little more focus. I looked over the T&C the other day after the Imperial left, and felt motivated again. The heater core is almost done, and I think if I just jack the engine up a bit, I can get at the rest of the freeze plugs that need doing. So, maybe a day's work.
Maybe this weekend...
