VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 35 standard 207 engine pull it or leave it?

So I have the hood, grill shell, and radiator off my 35 for a radiator repair/replacement. The engine is so "open" I wonder If I should pull it to repair some pesty oil leaks. One between the engine and tranny. It seems it would be easier to pull the engine rather than putting it all together and doing the tranny later and dealing with the rear end. Any advice???

While you have the front clip off you can see better and repair easier.
Check the rocker cover gasket and side plate gasket as these could be leaking and appear to be a leaking rear main or sump gasket.
Tony

Uh Oh... Project creep!

I'm in the same boat. I decided to pull mine to check out the clutch and put new gaskets in the tranny. I would hate to get it all painted nice and then end up having to pull the tranny off to redo a clutch. Sacrifice now... peace of mind later I guess!

Lahti
I agree with your thinking, while it is apart do all that looks like needing any attention will save you a lot of naughty words a few weeks after it all goes back together.
Tony

Agreed. But how do you stop once you start??? I value the advice tremendously. How many posts have you read and thought "oh yea" I should do that. The clutch for instance. I can certainly get by with what I have but while I am in there. And on and on and on. Sensibly the right thing to do is to stay focused on necessities.

For me what to do/not do is based on the difficulty in getting parts. The chevy stuff isn't an issue with most parts but I have another make straight 8 that is made of near unobtainium i'm going to have to live with some stuff I can't afford to fix.

I'll cut corners sometimes on things that are hidden under a dash or under the car if they are still working as intended and just clean them up. I get real picky with engines though and do the best I can... its the heart of the car afterall. Nothing finer than a good running powerplant.



PS When I was younger I used to spend summers out at my grandfathers house who restored cars. Often times he would clean parts and install them instead of making them perfect little masterpieces. It really used to drive me nuts to see him putting parts back on a car that weren't 110% perfect. It wasn't until later and I restored my own cars that I saw the wisdom... My first restoration I spent hours making everything as perfect as possible, then spent hours after it was done protecting it from damage during use. Now I practice a more mellow standard so I can drive 'em care free and enjoy. As long as everything is working great life is sweet!

Great stuff!