Looks good. My friend had his exhaust manifolds coated with cast iron gray Jet Hot. I was amazed at how much that lowered the underhood temperature.

 

A good looking car for its age, they must have stored it well. It reminds me of my old 70 Roadster SB 4 speed. There is something about roadsters over coupes.

 

The roadster profile with the top down was very enticing. It looked like it was going fast just sitting still.

 

Got some shop time in today! Some pretty good progress I think, the exhaust manifolds are done. So is the clutch linkage. Also got bolts in the trans mount. Still waiting on parts. I have 4 Chev starters in my shop, and none of them fit. Bummer. But hey, isn't that part of the fun?

 

Looking good one step closer to operational. I would say cast exhaust manifolds are easier than headers to install and have a lot more clearance. unless you are racing cast is the way to go.

 

What did you put on the exhaust manifolds?

 

I used headman 2in headers, for a 74 454 and it makes a very tight fit. I lift the engine 4in's to get them out. Everything back from transmission crossmember back is 74 2.5 in pipe and mufflers with no cats at this time with Corvette Central special mufflers that sound pretty good, not too loud. A few months back I pulled the engine out because of lower compression on #1 and 6. I replaced the rings and bearings while I was there. The flat tappet camshaft had more wear than I was happy with so I replaced it with a mild Summit billet roller cam with about the same spects, sounds good and power is also good, not done with breakin. Found out while reinstalling the engine the ring gear had a half a tooth missing, replaced that. last month I replaced the trailing arm bushings. I think i'm done underneath for this year, time to start driving.

 

I meant what kind of coating like Hi-temp paint, coating like Jet-Hot, etc.

How much wear is considered to much on the cam? Mine had about .025" on the rear and got progressively less towards the front. I'd heard that small blocks were notorious for soft cams, ie the hardness was too thin. I put a hydraulic roller in just to be safe.

 

I used a high temp stove paint on the manifolds, I have had pretty good results over the years with it.

 

Years back we used flat black regular paint and it worked ok then. On headers I used Rust-Oleum High Heat Barbecue paint goes on flat black but if you rub it it shines. I had .o30" difference between cam lobes I'm sure it could have worked for a while but I didn't want to pull the engine down anytime soon, so now it's done. It's not as much fun as it once was.