79 Camaro block terminal question

[Franksride]

Hi everyone -
I inherited my brothers 79 Camaro Berlinatta recently after 10 years sitting in his garage.
He never got to finish the work he started and it’s now a tribute project to him. We started by checking if the engine could be hand cranked after oiling each cylinder and letting it sit for a week. It turned fine. Next we got a new battery to replace the one that made a big mess in the engine bay. Cleaning the surface rust is the least of the problems. The starter ended up being bad so we started changing the braking system. After removing the booster assembly we found a Terminal block just to the right of the booster for the engine harness. (Fig.1) http://www.njfboa.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1508881686
Each terminal has some black semi-malleable crud on it. My question is, can this be cleaned off and then sealed with a good silicone? The wiring is in good shape but it will be tested before the new engine goes in.
Your help is much appreciated.
Thanks….
- Rich

[The_Bishop]

Looks like it has undercoating or sound deadener sprayed on it. Might be a bear to clean off.

[PolarBear]

Looks like the grease they put in from the factory, it's all dry and hard now. I wouldn't bother trying to clean it off

[BonzoHansen]

that's factory goop, leave it alone.

Welcome! where are you located?

[TaKid455]

Inside is electric grease and exterior is a petroleum base sealant. Leave it. Its all there to prevent corrosion and water/ moisture leakage. You can clean the wires with carb cleaner along with the terminals. Reapply electric grease and carry on.

[Franksride]

Thanks for the reply's...
I thought it was something like that. It's kind of brittle now and I was thinking to clean it up. can I put the new grease right over the old? And maybe make a plastic cover for it. Just looks so ugly.

[Franksride]

I'm in Stanhope.

[IROCZman15]

nice ! awesome project, especially as a tribute project. !
I am over in Roxbury. There are a few of us in this area. Larry (TAKid455) is just down the road in Hackettstown, and he knows 2nd gens really well.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by Franksride

Thanks for the reply's...
I thought it was something like that. It's kind of brittle now and I was thinking to clean it up. can I put the new grease right over the old? And maybe make a plastic cover for it. Just looks so ugly.

I'd leave it alone unless you are redoing everything under the hood. You really can't see it once everything is together

[TaKid455]

Clean off old grease before applying new grease or , if it works as is, leave it.

I do have some camaro parts if you need stuff.

And welcome neighbor!

[Franksride]

I cleaned it up with contact cleaner and I'll leave it at that for now.
Doing a complete brake job before I do any thing else.

[Franksride]

I'll probably need some advice soon. The last complete build I did was on a 69 GTO back in the 80's. This project brings back some great memories.

[PolarBear]

What kind of advice?

[Franksride]

All that's left to do is to cut the rusted exhaust bolt flanges. Gonna try the dremel since it's smaller. If not the 3" angle grinder is next. I'm hoping I can start the complete break line install by next week after we pull the engine out. Lots of de-greaser and elbow grease to remove all the sludge. After the break lines are in I need to figure out where the cut outs for the new clutch pedal go. We're swapping the the 305 and TH350 with a new 4 bolt and 5 speed manual. Gonna be a while before this thing runs. Another work stopper is the rear. It's a 2.41 posi and I'm researching changing the the gears to 2.73's since I'm told they are compatible with a series 2 carrier.

[TaKid455]

You will need a spacer to do such. You can run up to 4.11 with such. You will also need longer bolts.

Regarding stories of spacers, when installed properly,, they are fine. I've run them an a few applications with big torque.

There should be an indention on the firewall for the clutch rod. Everything else bolts on.

[Franksride]

Hey guys this is Danny (his son). I’m gonna be posting for a bit cuz my dads feeling a little under the weather and I’m gonna be taking over the project for a bit. At this point we have torn the engine out completely. The tranny is ready to come out but I ran into a problem. I’m trying to drop the drive shaft but it seems that it does not want to come out. I took out all four bolts out of the yolk and the drive shaft will not drop from the rear. I sprayed it with penetrating oil and hopefully it can be done tommorow. The tranny is a turbo 350. Due to the limited space in my garage we had to do a two part drive train pull.

[deadtrend1]

Get a small prybar behind there and try and wiggle the ujoint out. Its common for the caps to rust into place. Be careful not to loose the needle bearings, unless youre replacing the joint anyways...

[LS1ow]

Pop a small prybar or a large screwdriver if thats all you got behind there and have it at.

[Franksride]

It worked. dropped the back but now we spent an hour trying to pull it out of the th350. Some say bang the hell out of it but I'm don't wanna damage anything since it's going in another car. Never had this happen even on my old pontiacs. The all just pulled out of the trans nice and easy. Any suggestions.
Thanks.
Rich

[BonzoHansen]

getting the trans out?

[Franksride]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

getting the trans out?

I’m trying to pull the drive shaft out of the transmission. I dropped it from the rear with no problems but it’s stuck in the transmission at this point. Any suggestions? Isn’t supposed to slide right out? Thanks!

[BonzoHansen]

Yes it should slip out. I can't remember that happening to me. Maybe a punch and light taps with a hammer on the yoke.

[Franksride]

Yeah I tried that. I tried unbolting the tail of the tranny (4 volts) and she ain’t budging.

[sweetbmxrider]

That won't help. Probably twisted the splines. Maybe its rusted real bad which isn't good either. Try some penetrating oil between the yoke and tail shaft.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

That won't help. Probably twisted the splines. Maybe its rusted real bad which isn't good either. Try some penetrating oil between the yoke and tail shaft.

Time for overdrive! (looking for the bright spot!)