More progress. It's damn near ready for break in. Need belts, different plugs (apparently we've had the wrong ones in it for years so the ones I ordered are wrong) and a different PCV grommet. It got 80psi when primed. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the heads and intake have been very much ported. It's still wild to me that I don't know what this car is supposed to feel like... but we're gonna fix that! I've also decided I should probably replace the heater core and hoses while I have the motor out. I don't want a drop of old coolant to circulate through this thing. Too many memories of the day being cut short by the gauge leaping to 210 as soon as the car stopped rolling.

We've got good news and bad news. Good news is he got it running and broke the cam in with his distributor. Bad news is he then put my stuff in... and it won't run worth a damn. Brand new PerTronix III with matching coil and Accel wires (and yes they're spiral suppression core)

https://youtu.be/ljQr325b4bk

EDIT: He got it to work. I'll be bringing it home in a couple of hours.

Sounds great!!

The vid moves around too quickly to clearly see what distributor the builder is using, but is the stand supplying full 12 volts to your distributor ?? If his doesn't require 12 volts to perform correctly, the Pertonix does, and that could be a cause for it to not run well.

So those videos were with his MSD setup. He did end up getting mine to run. He said it was something to do with setting the rev limiter. He'd never used a PerTronix before and is not a fan :D

It's back home now. Waiting on headers. Dropped em off to get sandblasted and then they'll be getting that Alvin paint (thanks to Chuck_Burg for making me aware of this stuff. Hope it works for me). You'll notice the back seat is out. This is because I'd lost the keys and was worried I'd locked them in the trunk. I spent days looking for them. I just found them like five minutes before I left to get the engine. They were in the dirt where I park my truck in the back. I also need to get the rebuilt carb rebuilt because it's leaking. I knew that price was too good to be true. At least it worked good enough for the break in. And yes, I plan on replacing that fuel line with some hard line.

I went to put in the new torque converter on the TH400. I saw this. Am I wrong or does it look like there's no actual seal and it's just RTV? I know there's supposed to be a seal there but I can't quite tell. The new one is orange all over and it's confusing me. I couldn't get much movement with the seal puller but again I can't tell if I'm doing it right because I can't be sure there's an actual seal to pull

EDIT: I now realize I can see where the seal is bent at the top. There is one. My one track mind was expecting orange so much (because the new one is) that it threw me for a loop. I'll fight with it more tomorrow maybe

Installing TC Correctly...
 

Your project seems to be coming along...I'm enjoying the build.

**Correctly installing the convertor is critical to prevent transmission failure. There are lots of 'how to' videos online that detail the process. You will typically hear three 'clicks' as the unit engages, then you will know it is properly seated on the tranny.

Good luck...

Seal is off. Amazing how easy it is when you learn what it is you're supposed to pry on. I know I'm supposed to hear the clicks. Believe you me, this is getting extra care put into it.

Should get them back tonight