'68 318 to carbed Magnum 5.2: Check my checklist
Opened up the valve cover today and did a compression test on the entire right bank. 150+ PSI on each cylinder. Nothing wrong there, so no Miss Valve hooking up with Mr. Piston, thankfully. Granted, a leakdown test would be a better indicator, but hell with that - I don't have the tool.
I'll say one thing though - this thing does NOT starve for oil. I can idle my Valiant's 225 with the valve cover open and don't need anything more than a cardboard box, but this thing shoots oil through the pushrods as if it were at war with the valve cover.
That said, I found that the fifth rocker in from the front was just a tad looser than it should have been - probably had a bit of load on it when I tightened it initially. Tightened the crap out of every rocker bolt, closed up the cover, and...
...perfection. This thing runs so smooth you could build a house of cards on the intake manifold (if it wasn't for the fan). I've heard that the HEI conversion improves the idle considerably, and the 3.9's timing chain tensioner helps keep the distributor timing accurate as well - but I've never heard a specific report of how the two work together. Flawless seems to be the word.
Keeping it running is another matter entirely. I don't have the choke hooked up, and it's quite apparent that either the Edelbrock or this engine is very picky about having the perfect A/F mix or it won't stay running.
I don't have the alternator (a squareback I found on Craigslist) hooked up to the pulley system yet (still need that compressor), so I'm not sure if there will be any output off the field terminal if I wire it up as-is. Electricity isn't my strong suit (yet, anyway).
-Kurt
Opened up the valve cover today and did a compression test on the entire right bank. 150+ PSI on each cylinder. Nothing wrong there, so no Miss Valve hooking up with Mr. Piston, thankfully. Granted, a leakdown test would be a better indicator, but hell with that - I don't have the tool.
I'll say one thing though - this thing does NOT starve for oil. I can idle my Valiant's 225 with the valve cover open and don't need anything more than a cardboard box, but this thing shoots oil through the pushrods as if it were at war with the valve cover.
That said, I found that the fifth rocker in from the front was just a tad looser than it should have been - probably had a bit of load on it when I tightened it initially. Tightened the crap out of every rocker bolt, closed up the cover, and...
...perfection. This thing runs so smooth you could build a house of cards on the intake manifold (if it wasn't for the fan). I've heard that the HEI conversion improves the idle considerably, and the 3.9's timing chain tensioner helps keep the distributor timing accurate as well - but I've never heard a specific report of how the two work together. Flawless seems to be the word.
Keeping it running is another matter entirely. I don't have the choke hooked up, and it's quite apparent that either the Edelbrock or this engine is very picky about having the perfect A/F mix or it won't stay running.
I don't have the alternator (a squareback I found on Craigslist) hooked up to the pulley system yet (still need that compressor), so I'm not sure if there will be any output off the field terminal if I wire it up as-is. Electricity isn't my strong suit (yet, anyway).
-Kurt
