Thanks for the responses! I soaked the antenna in 'caramba' the local penetrating oil here, and hope to get back to the car on the weekend.

Hi guys, In the process of prepping for paint. I got almost all of the trim off the car except a few pieces I wanted to ask about before breaking something.
1)The trim over the rear wheel arches... I was able to remove those 'stamped steel nuts' from inside the trunk and back seat, but I think there are 2 more attaching points circled in red in the picture. Do they just pull out?
2)Also the trim under the rear/side windows. Is that also just 'spring loaded' attached, or are there nuts on the inside?
3)Oh, and antenna removal? Use something to stick in the two holes of the chrome 'escutcheon' and twist I guess?
Thanks for any clues. -Tobs

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Welcome to the forum! Yes it is possible and common to use the 288 head on a 327 engine. It is supposed to raise the compression ratio a little bit. Exaxtly how much it will raise it, I don't know.

Regarding the transmission. I just checked, and I can move the gear right behind the front shifting collar a little bit. The clutch shaft has a little side to side free play also.

First driving out the counter shaft, then removing the clutch shaft, then the tail shaft seems like a big job. Is the preload adjustable, or does it require complete trans tear down?

An OD trans is on the wish list, but a ways down. Crusing at 90-100kmh was what I had been doing.

The ex valves on my (new)'51 288 actually looked better than my old '54 327.
-going on vacation in a few hours. Merry Christmass!

Here's a pic of my 2-3 shifter fork detents. They do show a little wear, but I don't really know if this is acceptable or not.
I was in the habit of shifting into 2nd just to sync the transmission, and then putting in first gear before driving off. I guess the added use of 2nd could have caused extra wear on the detents? I feel like just replacing the brass shoes might be treating a sympton, but don't know if the cause is these detents or someplace else in the trans....

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The gunk was about 1/8 inch think or even a little bit more... Still not too bad? wow. New engine will breathe great with open lungs...
One valve in the picture I already cleaned. The rest are as removed.

Looking at the intake valves from the engine I had in the car (The one that lost rings)...and Holy schnikeys are they full of deposits on the back side.
Is this because I didn't 'Burn the gunk out' by driving it hard enough, or from using lead additive, or not from using something like chevron techron or another fuel system cleaner? Bad valve guids? I don't want this to happen to the next engine I have in this car. Just spent a day wire-brushing the other valves from my 'new' engine, which were not nearly this bad. Thoughts, opinions?

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From what I read in the shop manual, the front, bigger shifter fork controls 2nd and 3rd (direct drive) gears. The smaller brass/bronze shoes are for R and 1st. Since most miles(kilometers) happen in 2nd or third. I guess it makes sense they are more worn. Slowly the gears in my mind are staring to turn...

Well, spent a day in the garage getting dirty.
So far I only took the cover off of the transmission, and did not find any missing teeth on any gears, which I consider good. The two brass 'fingers' on the front shifter forks are pretty worn though, the rears look good still. Is this a result of the front bearing being loose/sloppy?

OK, the trans had slipped out of high gear a few times on me, but not often. I also found the rear transmission mount was torn, so that will also be ordered soon.
Any help appreciated.

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Hi guys,
While the whole drivetrain is out of my car, one of my next tasks is going to try and clean up the transmission, and put a new rear seal and what gaskets I can in it. The 1953 manual three speed (no overdrive) trans operated well enough before, but leaked pretty badly from the rear seal so I don't plan on doing bearings or synchros.
I'd like to replace the shifter fork cover gasket, rear seal, and if I can, the gasket between the main and rear housing...
Reading the shop manual, the cover and rear seal should be pretty straight forward, but going any deeper, and I will have to start removing shafts, which sounds like a good thing for me to screw up.
Any advice for a novice transmission man? What is reasonable for a shade tree mechanic, and what not to mess with?
Danke, Mike