73dartswingerlover
Well-Known Member
Nice!
Well I have to say that I think that I got a better engine than I would have if I'd ordered a crate short block but it costs a lot more. Keep in mind that I didn't have a lot of the stuff I needed sitting around. I had to buy the the heads, intake, oil pan and a lot of other pieces and parts. It seems that all of the "little things" are what get you in the end. But that being said I have about $12,000 into this engine. The machine work certainly added up and of course the dyno time ($500.00). If you order Edlebrock heads I suggest you get the bare as the valve guides need to be checked by your machinist (mine were too tight) and it will give you the opportunity to pick the springs and valves you want (my machinist put in 2.08 intakes). Al lot of guys on here are ordering the Blueprint short block and adding the top end, it will certainly be cheaper (I feel a little light in the a$$ right now). I guess time will tell if they made a good decision. If you have any questions or I can help in any way just askGreat write-up. Just finished with the whole thread. Very helpful as I know I want a stroker under the hood, just not sure how much motor I want to start with: crate, long block, short... get a kit for my 340. I enjoyed your build, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, it took a lot of work, my buddy Larry is a great fabricator. Look at the car he made for the top of the rad.Nice!
It is ALWAYS the little stuff that chews the time and money. Looking forward to a road report! Had mine out first time of season the other night, great fun was had.So here I sit on another Sunday morning with the Dart still not started. Ya know, it's all of the "little things" that are chewing up GOBBS of time. We are down to just a few annoying items. The shifter cable is way close to the headers as is the starter solenoid wire that comes out of the starter. I wrapped the header with insulation for the starter and I put Velcro attached insulating wrap around the shifter cable. Not sure how it's gonna work out. We were in the garage until 3;30 this morning and my *** is dragging. Looks like another week for me as I'm heading to Texas for work on Monday. Should be started next Saturday as we only have a few more items to go. Fluids and shifter cable, I will keep you guys posted.
the roadIt is ALWAYS the little stuff that chews the time and money. Looking forward to a road report! Had mine out first time of season the other night, great fun was had.
Thanks for the help and words of encouragement. I actually plan on changing the oil before I even try starting it again. $60.00 in oil and filter is nothing compared to what I have in this engine. I will cut the oil filter open just for piece of mind. This won't happen until Friday or Saturday as I have to go out of town tomorrow (Boardman Oregon, middle of nowhere) field service jobs suck, they eat up a lot of personal time. I will keep you posted and thanks again!Hello Glenn,
I imagine that caused unease for sure. While I don't have first hand experience with this happening I know others who have had this or similar occur. In 30 seconds I would not think huge damage would have occurred, without heat built up clearances should have been at there largest so hopefully there was a safety buffer there.
Troubling is the lack of oil to the top end while using a priming rod. Is it possible the system has air pockets in it now? I have worked with gas compression equipment for years and often our packing lubricators would get an air pocket in the system after a filter changer. If this happens we have to bleed the entire system of air or oil just will not pump, much like bleeding brakes. Perhaps this is your issue, since you had great oil pressure and flow on dyno I can't imagine much has changed in that regard.
I too know the frustrations, my build had many obstacles and setbacks that we needed to overcome. Some nights I wanted to throw in the towel. Stick with it, your results will bear fruit very shortly. The end is so near for you, don't lose hope.
I suggest when you do get oil problem solved and get it running, do an oil change shortly after and do a filter cut and oil analysis. This will help indicate any damae that may have occurred although I suspect it will be fine. This will put your mind at ease.
Glen,
I remember when priming my 340 in my duster, it took forever to get oil to the rockers.
I even took the pressure gauge off, to look for oil flow.
All at once oil shot up and hit the ceiling.
Even after that it still took a little bit of time for the rockers to get flow.
I bet you are just air locked, keep priming.
Lol yeah we started with my battery operated Dewalt drill. When that wasn't enough we switched to a right angle drill that was close by and the finally to a 1/2 inch hammer drill, that go results. I am using 5/30 as well.My hv pump was bogging a 3/8 drill out, needed to go to a 1/2 drill.
I was only using 5w-30 oil.
I just got off of the phone with Ironmike, he informed me that Bullet cams oil at different degree location than the stock Mopar cams and that it's not at 90° and 20°. He suggested that I use a piece of tig wire down the oiling hole in the head and slowly rotate the cam until I feel it drop into the hole in the cam. I think I will give that a try. Honestly I can't see anything being seriously wrong because I haven't changed anything internally since the dyno session other than fixing a oil pan leak.I still think you are air locked.
Remember the cam only oils each side in a certain spot, if you don’t hit it, you will never see oil there.
Thanks for your reply. Well I am going to try using a piece of tig wire to line up the oiling hole in the head. I am getting 70 PSI now with a drill so after I verify that oil is getting to the head I'm going to try firing it up again. Keep your fingers crossed for me.Possible with pan off for leak repair pick-up moved? Maybe just enough to cause issue? Hopefully nothing major, it will all work out I’m sure.
Yes I did but I guess I have to turn ULTRA slowly because I couldn't get anything. I guess I am just being paranoid as I watched my engine builder get a flood of oil while priming it and I've done nothing internally to the engine. It was just the scare of 3 PSI of pressure on initial startup that has me wigged out. Like I said after we switched the lines on the remote filter we had 70 PSI with the drill.did you try turning the motor over with a breaker bar slowly while hitting the drill (drill turning correct way for a SBM- but you allready got oil pressure
you have to turn the motor over twice- and maybe twice with the wire trick- do not shear off the wire !