As far as any information goes that I've ever found, it should be black. It appears there was no underhood chrome on a 66 big block B body. 67 had the chrome valve covers but not 66. As near as I can tell, my engine detailing should be pretty much authentic other than my throttle return spring is wrong. I plan to buy a reproduction spring that looks correct. And of course my hose clamps are wrong.
Can you post a picture of your air cleaner?
GREAT JOB!!!
Thanks
Randy
Thanks!
It was fun picking away at this job this winter. It was nice, no pressure, no real deadline. It gave me time to do the little details. My goal is to make it look very authentic. I still need to figure out how to get the gloss off those valve covers, they shine way to much for a 53 year old car. Someone suggested wiping them with a rag and gasoline, so I may try that in the summer outside on a nice day when the engine is cold.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
It just occurred to me that this post was kind of a coming out party for your 'new' 427. I was too caught up in nitpicking your master cylinder to notice...
Congrats, Carl! Looks great! You've done some nice work there.
I should post a newer pic. Today I got the oil change decal moved over to the other inner fender like it should be on a big block, and also removed that copper line and mechanical oil gauge I had set up under the hood to view during the cam break in period.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I'm thinking of putting a pair of aftermarket gauges in for oil and temp but have to figure a way to do it without drilling holes.
i was thinking the same way, no holes. But found it impossible. You may have the hole for the old 3 speed column rod open.
I had to drill a 1 hole for the water temp sender. And a 1/4 hole for the oil line grommet. I went with a copper line for safety reasons. Best location was inline with the valve cover edge. I have spare grommets if you need. I think they may be for speedo cables.
I was too caught up in nitpicking your master cylinder to notice...
You're not alone here! I either get picked on for the single master, or for putting a 427 4 speed into a survivor car! No worries though, my skin is like leather....
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I'm thinking of putting a pair of aftermarket gauges in for oil and temp but have to figure a way to do it without drilling holes.
i was thinking the same way, no holes. But found it impossible. You may have the hole for the old 3 speed column rod open.
I had to drill a 1 hole for the water temp sender. And a 1/4 hole for the oil line grommet. I went with a copper line for safety reasons. Best location was inline with the valve cover edge. I have spare grommets if you need. I think they may be for speedo cables.
Thanks for the offer Pete. I am thinking I may wait until I reroute my speedo cable the correct 4 speed route. That will leave a hole in the firewall and I could put a grommet in there for the temp and oil lines. We'll see.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
It was fun picking away at this job this winter. It was nice, no pressure, no real deadline. It gave me time to do the little details. My goal is to make it look very authentic. I still need to figure out how to get the gloss off those valve covers, they shine way to much for a 53 year old car. Someone suggested wiping them with a rag and gasoline, so I may try that in the summer outside on a nice day when the engine is cold.
Would one of those Mr. Clean magic erasers work to soften the gloss?
Carl for gauges, you're not considering one of the Pontiac ralley dashes for 66 like you sold to me? It would actually be sort of correct and look stock.
Not on this car. I know it seems crazy, but other than the 427 4 speed, I'm trying to change absolutely nothing! I had to install the tach because all 4 speed cars had the tach, or I wouldn't have done it. I'm adding NO options. I'd love to have a trunk light, tilt, power seat and a number of other options but I am using all my willpower to keep it as close to original as possible. We only go around once, I'm over 60 and I have been wanting a 427 4 speed 66 Pontiac B body for a long long time so I made that exception. Otherwise the 427 would have been in the black car that Tom bought but I needed to reduce stress in my life at that time. It was clear to me that selling that car to Tom was the right thing to do. And to this day I know it was the right move to sell him that car. He is the perfect caretaker for it. I would never have finished it at the rate I was going on it the last year or two I owned it.
I sure gave lots of thought to installing a cluster though. It's so clean.... I don't think I could bring myself to cut the end off the harness to convert the cluster, although as you know it really does look original from the back when you see the wiring.
The 427 installation didn't require any modifications. At this point I have drilled no holes in this car except when I installed the 4 speed and tach. I really hope to keep it that way.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I was too caught up in nitpicking your master cylinder to notice...
You're not alone here! I either get picked on for the single master, or for putting a 427 4 speed into a survivor car! No worries though, my skin is like leather....
Oh yes, the survivor thing! Ha! You know we just like to pick on you because you're such a good sport!
I've said time and time again, it's your car, your money, your time... do what makes you happy, which this obviously does.
I wasn't actually trying to be picky about the master cylinder thing - it's a safety issue, but I know you're being proactive about it. It's all good.
At first I thought that is a 427 air cleaner but now I'm looking and I'm thinking the snorkel is round like a 396.
Jim Osborn Reproductions lists that 6421213 decal as being for a 396. However, certainly not all the reproduction decal listings are accurate, that's long been proven such as the case of the 66 Canadian oil change decal for the inner fender.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Ever since I installed this engine, one thing has been bugging me. I finally fixed it today. We'll see how sharp your eyes are. (It's pretty obvious, at least to me...)
