360
almost forgot,whoever pulled this motor apart didn't seem to mark the main caps from where they came off of. Is that going to be an issue for me in any way?
Yes, it may be an issue if you can't get them back in the proper order that they were originally on. Hopefully they didn't mix them up on the rods as it will be a little more difficult to piece them together (but possible if you like to do puzzles).
We should be able to figure out how they go back on. As long as they are the same set that came off of the engine.
Look on the top of the main bearing caps. On the four "skinny ones" there should be a number cast into the top of the cap on the outside. They should all be numbered 1-4. That is the order that they go on the engine. #1 goes in the front of the engine, then #2, and so on. On the middle main cap #3, you should look at the sides and see round machine marks on the front and rear face of the cap. This cap is the one for the thrust bearing that keeps the crank from going back and forth especially under heavy loads. The big "fat" known as the rear main bearing cap goes on the rear of the block.
The rear main bearing cap can only go on one way. Now take the other caps and turn them over and look at the side where the bearings go. On one side you will see a "notch", this is called the anchor slot. The purpose of the anchor slot is to keep the bearings from rotating in the engine (it can cut off your oil supply to the rest of the engine if they spin). Now look at the block and see what side of the main bearing "rib" that the anchor slot is on in the block. Now put the caps on in the proper order #1 in front and #4 on the last one before the rear main bearing cap with the anchor slots for the caps and the block together on the same side (called lining up the anchor slots). This keeps the slots opposing each other and prevents the bearings from spinning.
You always line up the anchor slots on the same side for all main bearing caps and connecting rods and caps.
Also note at the top of the main bearing ribs in the block, there is a hole. These holes feed the oil to the cam bearings and then to the lifters, and finally go to the head to oil the rocker arms.
Also before you take the block to the machine shop, take pictures of it from all angles. You will want to document the oil galley plugs which I will address on another post.
Ok, here's more pictures to help you get this:
Here is the main bearing cap set (main caps for short):
View attachment Main caps A02 B.jpg
Here they are with the cap #'s circled:
View attachment Main caps A02 B2.jpg
Here's another shot with the flash on:
View attachment Main caps A03 B2.jpg
Here's a picture of the bearing face showing the anchor slot:
View attachment Anchor Slot B.jpg
Here is the same picture with the anchor slot circled:
View attachment Anchor Slot B2.jpg
Here's a shot of the bottom of the caps showing the bearing face:
View attachment Main caps A06 B.jpg
Here's the bearing face with the anchor slots circled:
View attachment Main caps A06 B2.jpg
Here's a side view of two main caps:
View attachment Main caps side A05 B.jpg
Here's that same picture with the machining for the thrust face circled. This is the thrust bearing cap #3 and goes in the middle (the block will have matching radius machining on the main block ribs):
View attachment Main caps side A05 B2.jpg
Here's a picture of the top of the caps with the thrust cap machined radius circled. Notice it is cap #3:
View attachment Main caps side A04 B2.jpg
Note: There was a running change sometime in mid '74 where they increased the radius of the thrust face machining to improve thrust face wear on the thrust bearings. Your engine being a '77 will take the bearings for the larger thrust face radius. From what I've seen, they started machining the thrust face early on some blocks before '74 (like some '73's).