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Jeff Smith's Blog

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Posted August 21 2008 05:00 AM by CarCraft 
Filed under: Editorials

Pack rats


What is it about car guys who can't throw anything away? Recently, I helped a friend, Brian Cox, bolt a new engine in his ’67 Chevelle. The original 283 was junk. My neighbor gave me a 283 with Corvette aluminum heads that we bolted into Brian's Chevelle. We had the new motor in by noon but ran into a couple of snags. One roadblock was the classic too-tall valve covers on a short water pump engine. The alternator hit the valve cover, but the upper bracket didn't have the length necessary to accept a longer belt. To make matters worse, a too-long belt would rub on the power steering pump. The auto parts store was already closed, so we were in a quandary. I'd run into this before with my ’65 El Camino and dived into a box of old belts I'd saved. One belt was the perfect length, so Brian could drive home that night. The next day, he found a new version of the belt that's still on the car today. That's why I save old parts. As soon as you throw them away, you'll need them within a week. Count on it.


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