Midlife 814 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 While you're at it... 2 RPM and Caseyrhe reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 17 minutes ago, Midlife said: While you're at it... Oh I’m already neck deep in while I’m at it... new cam and lifters... complete cleaning and repaint... clean and paint engine bay... new valves, springs, retainers, and locks... new oil pump... new water pump... good news is, the bores are completely healthy. No wear at all, no ridge... just some carbon that I’ll clean up. Hopefully the mains and rod bearings are as good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midlife 814 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 Now that the engine is out, the tranny is much easier to take out and overhaul it as well. Don't forget to get your radiator flushed, recored, and painted nice and neat. And then there is that small paint smudge that needs to be fixed...I know it gnaws at you every time you look at it...Tee Hee Hee! 2 Caseyrhe and RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 You're not wrong Midlife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 He’s the devil... 1 Caseyrhe reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayEstes 172 Report post Posted May 9, 2019 engine compartment walls could use some cleaning and paint. Maybe some Ni/Cu brakes lines bent and installed. And while you've got that stuff out, I'd suggest a full rebuild of the steering and suspension... I mean, you know, SINCE you're in there. 1 Caseyrhe reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 13, 2019 Steering and suspension is next winter. I’ve got the whole engine disassembled. Found that all crank journals were undamaged, but main bearings 3 and 4 were damaged - 4 had a groove in it all the way around. I checked the journal, no damage, but I’ll check again. 3 just had some rough spots on it near the parting line. Cam bearings 3 and 4 were also shot... any damage on those is bad news, considering what I am putting into the new cam and lifters. So the tool to pull and replace those is ordered and en route. Rod bearings had normal wear. Replacing those anyway. Just got done cleaning the rods and pistons. Oiled up waiting for rings. Replacing the rod nuts with ARP pieces since it I’ve read that they tend to strip out. Should have bearings and rings tomorrow, but my next step is to clean and paint the externals of the block and heads. Then I’ll focus on the internals. I figure if I clean everything first, I’ll either get paint in the engine or oil in the paint. I plan to have it back into the car by end of May. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 13, 2019 Received the bearings and piston rings today. Also received my engine paint - going to try Eastwood's ceramic paint this time around... and brush instead of spray. Fingers crossed. Plan is to strip old paint from engine tonight... I was hopeful that I could put paint down, but its only in the 50s here today, so probably not. Looking at the bearings... the main bearings look like they have some sort of varnish on them... is that normal, and do I clean it off? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 14, 2019 Stripped the old paint off the block tonight. Lots of rust underneath. As expected, but now leaves me wondering if I should try to get the rust off. Also powerswashed out the coolant passages. There was a LOT of orange funk in there. Was. It’s gone now. Oiled the bores to prevent rust. Next step is to wash the outside of the block (and get rust off if that ends up being important) and get paint on it. After that, I should have all the tools I need to recon the short block. Dingle berry hone showed up today. Cam tool tomorrow. Should have the shortblock done by Friday. Still don’t know about the “varnish” on the main bearings. I’m guessing I should get that cleaned off, but I’d rather someone tell me that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayEstes 172 Report post Posted May 14, 2019 Regarding painting the engine: I think you definitely want to kill that rust on the engine block. I use this spray on acid “osphor” that I get at my local hardware store. Just spray in on the surface and let it sit for several hours or overnight. Then I use a wire brush wheel to clean all of it off I can, then hand wire brush tight spaces, then I clean the surface with laquer thinner right before I put the paint on. I recently repainted my intake (while installed) like this and it came out nice- paint seems to be sticking well (I only used 500deg duplo rattle can for this- approx 3 coats.) 1 Cantedvalve reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 15, 2019 Looks great. I went with Evaporust as it got good reviews and was available close to home. It’s applied, bagged, and we will see tomorrow how it did. Also got my cam bearing tool today and I knocked out the old cam bearings. I have everything I need to finish the short block now. Waiting on springs and valves to do the heads. 1 JayEstes reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayEstes 172 Report post Posted May 15, 2019 Evaporust is good too. Should work great. Just clean the hell out it with chemicals before you paint. Laquer thinner applied via clean rag to get all oils off is what I always do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 15, 2019 I have that and wax and oil remover. I checked on it today... not the results I hoped for, but it’s working. I used the soaked paper towels method as the Evaporust is more of a soaking solution. It’s hard to get into the different tight areas, so I may have to get a bottle of the gel to do those areas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 15, 2019 So at noon the Evaporust had been on there for 15 hours. I pulled it off, brushed the area with a steel bristle brush and water, and it did a decent job. The "saturated paper towel" method doesnt appear to be particularly effective, but the product works. I went and got the gel version, and applied that to the highly visible portions of the block. It will have 4 hours (directions say 1-2) before I get to clean that off. At that point, I'm cleaning and painting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 16, 2019 So that was a trip. The gel dried to the block, so we (me and the boy) had to wash that off. Then we had to wash it off again. We finally resorted to a pressure washer to get it all off. Cleaned the block, wiped it down several times with wax and grease remover, then mixed up the paint. Used Eastwood Ceramic Engine Paint - a urethane with embedded ceramic that is said to be good to 650 degrees. It came with an activator. We used foam brushes to paint the engine... we went in a continuous circle, probably three times around. Weren’t too careful with gasket surfaces, I can clean those up later. The shade is probably a bit lighter than I expected ( might darken as it cures)... but I don’t care. So long as it lasts. I did everything I could to make this paint stick and stay stuck. After it has cured, I am going to start cleaning the inside and making ready for short block assembly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midlife 814 Report post Posted May 16, 2019 No pictures, CV? Shame on you! Respectfully, the Evil One. 1 JayEstes reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shopofwax 2 Report post Posted May 16, 2019 Bolted on a wilwood master cylinder, powder coated the dash vents and now I'm replacing the felt lining 2 Cantedvalve and JayEstes reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 17, 2019 Today would appear to be uneventful, but it wasn’t. First, I chased all the threaded holes in the block. Then, I pulled out the 240 dingle berry hone and gave each cylinder 10 strokes. After that, I washed down the inside of the block... for 3 hours. Finally, I installed the new cam bearings. Why are people so spooked by cam bearing installation? I’ll admit I was too, but once I figured out there were only 2 bearing sizes and not 5, I was good. Get the right tool, and it is easy as long as you take your time. Tomorrow, cam installation, crank cleaning and installation, and hopefully pistons in the holes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayEstes 172 Report post Posted May 17, 2019 On 5/15/2019 at 9:57 PM, shopofwax said: Bolted on a wilwood master cylinder, powder coated the dash vents and now I'm replacing the felt lining wow, that powder coat looks perfect. Can you let us know what specification (color/material etc) you gave the shop to get that finish? it looks like exactly the dark charcoal color of the original paint. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 18, 2019 Found out why my rear main seal was leaking a bit. Back when I "rebuilt" this engine 12 years ago, I tried to drive out the pin that holds in the rope seal because I was switching to a rubber seal. I was unsuccessful, and it looks like I smashed it down instead. Took a Dremel and ground down what was left of the pin. Now no leak... hopefully. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shopofwax 2 Report post Posted May 18, 2019 The dash was too big for my oven so I got it and a NOS gas tank blasted and powder coated satin black by a local company... The registers I blasted and powder coated satin black... The satin came out flat black... Don't know if Eastwood goofed or what on that but I blasted them again (glass beads) and went with a semi gloss black.... There a hair too shiny than I wanted but matched up pretty good with the dash. The vent balls I had sent off and vaccum plated... This restoration has been on the back burner for the better part of 20 years.... It was nice to finally see all these parts coming together after having them collect dust for so long Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mach1 Driver 560 Report post Posted May 18, 2019 8 hours ago, shopofwax said: The vent balls I had sent off and vaccum plated... This restoration has been on the back burner for the better part of 20 years.... It was nice to finally see all these parts coming together after having them collect dust for so long Nice, who did the vacuum plating for you? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 19, 2019 So... today was productive. Sand blasted, cleaned, and painted the oil pan. I’d really rather get a new one... this one is scarred with pitting and it looks like a previous owner hit something with it - certainly wasn’t me - but I’m going to stay with this one for now. Also accomplished today was installing both the camshaft and the crankshaft. Main bearing clearances checked out between 0.0015 and 0.0020 on standard journals. Can’t complain about that! Thrust was in spec, and I remembered to install the rear main seal. Also brought the heads home to be disassembled and cleaned. Got one disassembled before mosquitos chased me back inside. Both are soaking in cleaner overnight. Should clean up nicely. The one I did get apart had really good valve seats (not original heads), so other than lapping the new valves in, I don’t plan on doing anything with them. Today I received my new valves, springs, retainers, locks, and seals from Alex’s Parts. Went with single groove one piece stainless valves made by Qualcast. Probably same company that OEMs for larger brands. Everything was packaged beautifully. I got beehive springs to offset the heavier roller lifters, and Alex set them up to the specs for my cam. I’m excited to try my hand at setting installed height. I’ve got the shims ready. Pictures attached. Used Eastwood paint on the block and Duplicolor engine paint on the pan. Not quite a match, but I don’t care so long as it lasts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 19, 2019 More peekers... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantedvalve 128 Report post Posted May 20, 2019 So today wasn’t as productive. I did get the other cylinder head disassembled. Haven’t started cleaning it though. The first one I got cleaned up and brought it inside to check install heights. Every single one was between 1.795 and 1.800. No shims needed on this head. That leaves me with 130 lbs seat pressure, 356 lbs at max lift, and 0.114” before coil bind at max lift. On both heads, valve guides were previously serviced with the coil type bronze liners (just noticed that one). All guides are nice and tight. All valve seats look new. So it’s just a matter of cleaning, painting, and assembling (and checking installed height on the other head). Both heads though had a boatload of carbon build up in the exhaust ports. It was coming out in chunks. Oh well, I’ll get them clean. I can’t even begin to describe how stoked I am! 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
