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Mark, as a retired mechanic, you'll regret trying to install the transmission with the converter already mounted to the engine. In 28 yrs, I've never done it, or seen it done, that way without ruining the trans input seal. Just saying.

@ericelsberry5585

6 ай бұрын

💯. It breaks the center out of the pump if it isn’t lined up PERFECTLY. Then you are pulling it out again.

@user-lm9wo8xz6g

6 ай бұрын

Hell I struggle enough and question every “click” while the transmission is on the floor and converter in my hand!

@brandonoswald2392

6 ай бұрын

Absolutely. Converter must be engaged in the trans first. As you rotate it while giving inward pressure you should feel it engage at least twice. Access the bolts from the bottom.

@johnmccallum9542

6 ай бұрын

x2 @@brandonoswald2392

@1Truckman

6 ай бұрын

@@ericelsberry5585 Absolutely...That is the 100% wrong method to stab a torque converter...Experience speaks volumes...

Mark - the 30thou or 0.030" means your piston are oversized by the above amount, you can get 40thou oversized pistons and you need your block reboring to suit. Looks like your cylinder heads have been ported to improve gas flow, been machined with a die grinder to remove all the rough edges. Your engine hoist can be repaired you need some square tubing that will slide inside the lifting arm, drill some hole and geta long enough bolt that will slide through the outer arm and a swivel hook for the end

@johnmccallum9542

6 ай бұрын

x2... all good suggestions for mark here. Regards John

@Venomized95

6 ай бұрын

Was just coming to comment the same thing

You have to put the torque converter in the trans first. If you don’t you will risk taking out the seal and the pump in the trans. There’s enough room to barely do the bolts up from the bottom where the starter goes

@waltcarpenter6567

6 ай бұрын

That converter should slide onto that transmission 3 clicks when you push it back in and turn it otherwise it's not completely suited

@johnmccallum9542

6 ай бұрын

x2

@johnmccallum9542

6 ай бұрын

x2 @@waltcarpenter6567

@jetegtmeier71

6 ай бұрын

glad I looked for this comment, I completely agree :)

@tenthousanddays2103

6 ай бұрын

@@waltcarpenter6567 👍 #1 Input shaft #2 stator support #3 trans pump (2 flats}

Hey Twinsticks if you haven’t done a proper engine break in with a flat tappet cam before I highly recommend you switch to a roller cam in the 400. Much less chance of lifter failure. Glad to see the Poncho getting some love!

Once the starter comes off, the torque converter bolts are accessible. Make sure torque converter is fully seated before mating. Should freely spin when mounted trans on engine.

It amazes me at how much some of the things us old fellas have owned is worth today!

@johnmccallum9542

6 ай бұрын

x2 so true

All that's needed for the engine stand is a square tube to fit inside, with a hole drilled in it.. no need to scrap it yet. 👌 Can't wait to see the rebuilt engine go in!

Mornin Mark, I'm sure no one has to guess what that Trans am is going to look like when it's done. The attention to detail that you put into any project gives us all the hint we need, I'm sure even Burt would be impressed. Have a great week Mark say hello to Mrs. Twin stix for us.

Hope you matched your Conrod bearing caps the way they came out should always stamp them Mark ,you will have a hell of a time putting it back together and your mains as well for good measure

On Pontiacs the #1 cylinder is opposite of a chevy, the stock 6x heads will flow just as well as any aluminum head, they're just lighter. if it's not already done make sure the valve seats are hardened so you can run unleaded fuel. Be sure to get the BOP one piece rear main seal from Butler Performance.

21:00 love hearing Mrs loretta playing in the background RIP loretta lynn

Mark, as u should know, replaced those freeze plugs on the block. This motor will look great in ur 76/77 Bandit TransAm.

@RobertForslund

6 ай бұрын

Yup, that's a must! I just want to rebuilt that engine now, it looks so tempting! 😄

Hey Mark, another great upload and the movie was The Hunter. 😁👍

"The Hunter"...Steve McQueen's last movie...And a great one...I always liked the connection between the movie and his TV series where he gained fame as Josh Randall in "Wanted - Dead or Alive"...

Buy a square pipe to slide inside and drill a couple of holes to extent. You can buy a ram cylinder at harbor freight cheap then you will have a nice working engine picker cheap

Hey Mark yeah people exceed the weight limit of the engine stand.. the end bends and cracks over time. Prob why it's missing Haha

Well, that didn't seem to hard. ... No, I would not be able to say that out loud... Ha! Great show Mark! I'm going to read through the comments. Got some learning to do!

It is another Thursday!... Thanks Mark

Ohhhhhh yeahhhh wooooooo ❤🇨🇦✝️🇺🇸❤️.... decent looking huh...as always I enjoy the background music ..love the ending credits 😂😂😂 lol

Get you a piece of square tubing steel piece to go inside that lifts and you can fix it and be a good little lift I got one and I like it

Mark on the converter, you have to install it into the transmission first and you have to do the bolts from the bottom one at a time and rotate the engine around. You cannot can not install the torque converter first because you have to properly seat it on the pump

Mark you can get a piece of box tubing to fit inside of the engine hoist. Drill new holes to make adjustments. Get the cylinder revealed and it will work fine.

The Hunter, I saw this with my folks in the theater and I believe that was right before Steve Mcqueen died. This will show my age, I used the Smokey and the Bandit 2 ERTL diecast to recreate the scene with the Massey Ferguson ERTL toy or was it an International tractor when I got home and played with my toys.

hello Mark & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool thanks Mark Friends Randy

Nappy New year to you and yours and the rest of the viewer's, God bless you and best wishes from the North West of England Jay 🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤🇨🇦

Ok that lift is going to be your friend to put those torque converter bolts back in once it’s on car, you do it from underneath when starter is off. But you will need to seat the torque converter in the front pump. With any luck your trans shop will do that for you. You can have the trans shop build you a 200-R to have overdrive if you wanted instead of 3 gears on that turbo 350 trans. Also go with the aluminum heads upgrade and intake. Check out butler performance, they are the top choice in Pontiac performance. Contact them might work something out with you 👍🏻👊🏼🙌🏼🔧🔧🔧

The Hunter!

Another great video Mark. When disassembling the motor get in the habit of put the rod caps and main caps back in their original location after you remove them from the assembly. As they have been machined in their location. A lot of times if the motor has been rebuilt, they number them. Good Luck with the build!

Always install the converter in the trans first to insure you get it all the way in . A lot of people try bolting the converter to the flywheel first and don't get it all the in the Trans only to destroy the pump on first start up

Mark great episode as usual, want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year as the next episode will be after the new

Hello Mark. Transmission. You take the torque converter bolts out from the bottom. Same with install. Engine stand. Take the head of the stand while it’s ok the engine hoist and mount it like that. Then hang the engine stand from that.

DON'T mount tourque converter first. It must be seated by 3 clicks BEFORE you mount it to flywheel. If you don't it will tear up front pump on trans. That intake is cast iron,hole is for EGR valve. Also aluminum heads are almost always a better choice both economical and performance wise. Great videos hope this helps.

Definitely enjoy watching the progress on the Trans AM now all your missing is Buffords police car.

@TwinStix

4 ай бұрын

Already started looking for a ‘76 Lemans 👀

Happy New Year🎉 to you and yours❤ always grateful love your channel thankyou😊

awesome video an i hope you have a happy new year 2024

thats a minty looking engine stand!

Quick fab up of a drip tray that fits over the legs of the engine stand will save you ages of floor washing!!!

Fantastic Mark! I felt like I was back in "Shop"class in high school, we're talking 1971! Giggles

There’s nothing better than a cold adult beverage after a good job.

that's an ace job mark, just that one piston to replace, have a good new year.

love the no 5 shot, that was Nice!

Mark Love the channel. Been watching it from the beginning. Keep up the great work.

Happy new year

Your right there is a square tube that goes in the end of the engine crane .You should be able to get a tube at local metal supply if you want invest in it or go to Harbor Frieght or Princes Auto in your area and buy a new one.

Another great episode in the books neat to watch up close on an engine tear down as i am NO machanic i find this process very inresting keep up the good work mark

Hey Mark your suppose to put in the converter on the transmission so that it will connect to the (trani) oil pump shaft, be careful you hurt the internal off the converter! Your supposed too get access too converter bolts from underneath between oil pan & the bell housing...

dans la partie supérieur de la petite grue qui sert a lever le moteur,il manque un morceau . un tube carré de grosse section avec les trous pour fixer la vis suivant le poids a lever ... chose simple a réaliser ! bon reveillon de noel a vous et vivement la prochaine vidéo

Great video Mark! Awesome to see how far everything has come when I first watched the third video you put out. Been a sub ever since! Happy new year!

For one guy to accomplish all of what you have is a testament to what one can do when you put your heart into something.

Hey Mark. Happy New Year to you and the Twin Stick Family. Keep doing what your doing👍🏾

Love the new intro!

Happy new year to you an yours buddy

Merry Christmas, Mark. Nice to see you working on a petrol engine for a change. I did a 455 years back, with all the goodies, pistons, camshaft, lifters, valves and seats. Had the cranck balanced and pistons and rods weight adjusted. New carb and inlet manifold and headers gave us a nice ride until the rear end diden't care to transport the power to the ground any longer. The diff was transformed into a puzzle in very small pieces. The car is still resting in a dry shelter with some friends from the seventies. Has not been touched ever since. Keep up the good work, Mark. Looking forward to the next one.

Steve Earle is good truckin music, I listened to him alot back in my truckin days!🥰

Just go down to metal supply and get a piece of square tube that fits inside of the engine hoist and drill hole for the "Ton" setting and put a slot with a bolt through the end for the chain.

Just need a piece of light wall square tubing for that engine lift

Ya the go to performance guys for Pontiac wide blocs are the Butler Performance people. All their stuff is geared to those Pontiac blocks. They refurbish and sell them including blocks but they have the intakes and aluminum performance heads as well. You can also go with Trick Flo heads and accompanying intake.. get whatever comp cam you want for it but as I say though... Butler sells a balanced package for the Pontiac Block... bearings, rings, crank if you need one all balanced up, CAM, intake, heads, rockers and valves, lifters, push rods, timing chain with the double or better roller timing gear and chain... yada yada... Summit Racing will organize a balanced build set ... if you have a local mechanic you trust I'm sure they'll do all the ordering and options for ya... chaper if you do that yourself though. :-) Fin if you can afford itk or even if you can't afford it and do it anyway lol 😎👍👍

Mark and miss twinstick happy New year

Hey Mark aluminum heads will be less pricey than if you have those stock ones redone. I've found that out when building my race motors. If you want to now what heads to use let me know. Thanks again for all your hard work and giving us something intelligent to watch on KZread!

Tore that engine down. I still remember that rumbling sound

Mark, make sure you put a tag on the heads so they will know what side of the engine they came from. 🤓😂🤣✌️ Great job on everything, especially the keg beer.

I went looking for a Trans Am in England in 1996. Drove a couple of autos, but found them rather lazy. Ended up finding a '76 400ci 4 speed manual car. It was a lot more lively & fun to drive. It had an earler, pre-smog motor too, which helped.

That cherry picker is just missing a section of 2'' square tubing

Hey Mark. Great video. The number on the intake is the firing order.

The numbers on the intake manifold is the firing order good luck getting her back together and hope you make big h.p

Mark, When you install the 400 in Ban-One Do Not install the Torque Converter on the Flywheel and try to then install the Transmission there is a 998 chance out of 1000 that screwing up/damaging the pump in the transmission. The flywheel/torque converter bolts are accessible from the bottom. Additionally if you do not have the torque converter shield I would highly recommend you acquire one to install when installing the engine and transmission in the car. With regards to your engine Cherry-Picker it looks like one I used to own but is missing the square/rectangle length of tubing to extend the reach of the “boom.” The only reason I sold the one I had is because I now have an overhead crane to lift engines, etc with. The only modification/repair I ever had to do on mine was wrap and weld a piece of 3” flat stock the same thickness as tubing of the Cherry pickers around the mouth of the tubing where the boom extension slides in because it was starting to deform and split a little bit from me using the Cherry picker to pick up things that well exceeded its advertised lifting capacity. I also installed an air over hydraulic Ram on the Cherry Picker with one I got dirt cheap at an auction (and yes it exceeded the specs of the original Ram). If you just want the Trans Am mostly for Mrs Twinsticks to drive and do not intend to use the car for drag and drive events / drag racing I would recommend using the cast iron Pontiac heads and installing something like an Edelbrock Performer manifold with a Holley Sniper (TBI style injection that looks like a carburetor) They are easy to install and the self learning feature of it is pretty good. Lastly as someone who had a 76 Camaro and installed the same A.S. cb antenna on roof I highly recommend considering spot welding in a piece of sheet metal to reenforce and stiffen roof skin otherwise overtime that area of the roof will distort and the antenna will leak. Have a Happy New Year!

Just watched engine tare down all my comments have already been said so Happy New Year and keep on TRUCKING😎

Mark on your cherry pickker you have you could weld a exstion on it it should be fine. Doing a great job say hi to the famliy❤

Hi Mark. Long-time watcher, first-time commenter. That TH400 that was bolt to the replacement engine would be the one you want. I'm assuming that it was a TH350 in the car. Gear Center can rebuild that TH400 into a great performance transmission with very few modifications. When working at AMCO Transmissions, that TH400 was the preferred transmission for GM, big block, street cars and drag cars. Great channel and my 2 cents.

Take the plate off the engine stand and bolt it to the engine then put the stand onto that. It’s so much easier.

Since you're getting a new distributor for that engine, go with a nice contactless electronic ignition system, it'll give you a bit more power! 😛

Always great having oil pan laying around so things can fall in it!😂

Damn it, Mark. I have to drive 12 hours home really early in the morning and I'm supposed to be sleeping... Guess we're leaving half an hour later now.

26:37 I can hear the solo from Willie in "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" in the background. You have some awesome music during your incredible builds Mark.

they do still make that style antenna today just aftermarket ive ran into quite a few of those antennas like the one the fan sent you ive just never cared for them great episode mark happy new year

Nice video. I had a 400 built for my 78 a few years back. Had a company around strathmore do the work and it came out nice. 404 hp and 531 lbs of torque. Grab yourself a swivel hook to for your engine crane helps a bunch. Butler performance has some nice parts to for your engine to.

What’s really cool is, as I’m watching this, I got a Jada toys 1/24 scale Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am for Christmas that looks exactly like the real thing!! Good job Mark! Keep it up. God Bless you and your family! And I’d also like to see you put an edelbrock 4 barrel intake manifold on the 400 with like a, I don’t know, a 650 Holley 4 barrel double pumper. That’d be awesome!

Hey mark while you already have the block down to just it you might want to pull the freeze plugs out and wash the block out real good because that is where there rust from the radiator or in the cooling system likes to hang out, when you put a new radiator in or the old one it helps you not have to flush it out so many times and the water will flow better. I am not fond of the trans am but as far as mustangs and fords go that in the inside the freeze plug is where the rust likes to be because of all the water that goes through there. Just some tips I have learned building my on engine for my mustang. Great video and can’t wait to see what happens with the next.

The Hunter.

Mark the #'s on the intake are the firing order of the spark plugs in the order they'll fire,and those torque converter bolts are easier to have taken out from the bottom of the motor like behind the oil pan.

Hey Mark, Make sure you mark all those bearing caps. Mains and rods. They need to go back in the same location as they came out.

@TwinStix

6 ай бұрын

Mains already back on and I’m planning all new pistons and rods and a stroker crank 🤔

Hello Mr. twin sticks wonderful to watch a video about cars and engines that I remember fondly and actually understand lol the first part of the video was a microcosm of your life the way you encounter problems work through them and come up with an alternative idea to solve the problemyou should be a motivational speaker using these videos as examples. Thank you for your hard work. It is appreciated.

Morning Mark ...yes you will have difficulties with the trans

Do as you want with the 400, it’s every gear heads dream to have a radical engine. Just think about street ability. Me myself and I would go for something in the ballpark of 375-400 hp. Certainly enough for the TA but still mild enough to enjoy for Mrs Twinstick to drive to the grocery store 😂

I had a 79 with the 403 had a Quadrajet 4 barrel and it had a miss and man when it kicked in it would dam near put you in the back seat 😅

Fix the host. Looks simple enough. When putting the engine on the stand remove the arms from the center and bolt the engine up then slide on the post. And why are you using the balancer on the engine? Really adds to the length with all the chains. I only use those when putting the engine in the car. Looking good so far though!

We stuffed a pontiac 400 in an 81 Cutlass. Bought the car with a blown up 231 V6. And got a great deal on the Pontiac engine paid $100 for it. That was a fast car and it would light the tires where ever you wanted to!

A mild build on that 400 will have no problem boiling the tires off that thing. They are a torquey motor. There are a few good books on Pontiac engines out there. I have the stock 400 in my 68 Firebird and it has no problem spinning the tires. I don't have to wind it out and dump the clutch to spin them like a small block Chevy, just roll into the throttle in second gear. And remember that the Pontiac platform is pretty much the same from the 301 all the way up to the 455. Don't chuck out the accessories from the 301 until you are finished. Good chance it has the oil pan you need.

Helpful hint, watch some Freiberger n Dulchich. Just saying. Love the channel 👍

Pontiac made ram air heads. Been nice to have seen you build a 455 SD RAM AIR Engine.

Hey Mark! Not sure if you have seen Gentry and sons channel but he’s been using a stripper on a truck that seems to be amazing. It’s from Benco, it’s called B15. Multiple layers of paint just melt off. Just thought I’d tell you first future reference. Keep up the great work. Your channel is definitely my favorite and I can’t wait for Thursdays lol.

@TwinStix

6 ай бұрын

Yeah don’t think you can get the “good stuff” in Canada - I’ve tried

If you look on youtube extrusion honing they push under force an abrasive compound into engine intakes and possibly heads to smooth out the imperfections and improve flow

Another great video Mark. Some of us learn better by doing. Ford did the same with their Blocks back in those days too with the Modifieds

@stubstoo6331

6 ай бұрын

Yes with the 400 they put the modified in car's, but they had a true 400 for their pickups whole different animal.

@mattlyle455

6 ай бұрын

​@stubstoo6331 The also put the Modifieds in Bronco back in the 70s as well. 351M 400M as well Had a 1979 Bronco my Dad owned came Factory with a 400M with a C6 automatic trans

When I was 21 I bought a brand new 1976 T/A Firebird. White with blue interior, 400, automatic. Boy was that car anemic…all the smog stuff and a 2:41 rear axle. Car was just under $7000 cdn in White Rock, BC.

I was watching gentry and sons. He was using a new paint stripper on a sleeper cab and it was just falling off. It’s called Benco Industrial

Nerry Christmas Mark!! In response to your Torque Converter idea, you'll have to seat the converter first, or you'll break the tabs in the pump and possibly other things. I have done several Allison AT545 r&r's in school buses, and you'll never perfectly line the converter up if you bolt it to the engine first. Ask your transmission shop if they can weld the nuts to the new converter (you may need to let them borrow your flexplate)--you'll save the hassle of holding the nut while torquing the bolt. As for your engine hoist, see if you can locate some thickwall tubing to slide in if the cylinder is working fine. That hoist looks big enough to support your semi truck engines--hang on to it.

Mark you need make sure the converter is engaged into the pump in the transmission 3 engages do not bolt torque converter onto flex plate!!!

Mark I think the nuts are supposed to be welded onto the torque the torque converter goes in the transmission and slotted transmission installed then put your bolts through the flywheel

Access to the converter bolts is best on the bottom.