Rebuilt 318 install problem

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Calipag said:
I'm a bit nervous to find out what I've done wrong or what is wrong with it! We all should know by this weekend! We added the twin scoops and that turned out real nice, I'll take the small successes!!
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Yeah I can imagine. I would be devastated if that happened to my engine. Check the latest pics in my FABO garage.
 
Well, the shop has figured out my problem/s. First, there was a loose wire at the bulkhead which was giving me intermittent power problems.(I will find out which wire when I pick the car up) Secondly, I did have the Distributor wires backwards.(I thought I tested it properly) Lastly, the power brake booster is bad causing a huge vacuum leak.
They fixed problems 1 and 2 and I'm going to replace the booster at home. They did the cam break in for me timed it, dialed in the carb and topped all the fluids for me.
I'm pretty upset with myself that I didn't see problem #1 and didn't do as instructed by @TrailBeast properly for problem #2. I don't know that I would have thought of the brake booster for the vacuum leak.

I want to say I am a bit embarrassed about the whole thing but I'm happy it is fixed.

I want to thank everyone who helped me along with this and those members who messaged me with their own stories of difficult car issues. I don't know that this was difficult but it sure kicked my butt.

Thank you all again! This site is amazing and its member are the best! I can't say enough good things about the people on here! I'd love to buy you all a beer if we bump into one another in the real world.
 
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Calipag said:
Well, the shop has figured out my problem/s. First, there was a loose wire at the bulkhead which was giving me intermittent power problems.(I will find out which wire when I pick the car up) Secondly, I did have the Distributor wires backwards.(I thought I tested it properly) Lastly, the power brake booster is bad causing a huge vacuum leak.
They fixed problems 1 and 2 and I'm going to replace the booster at home. They did the cam break in for me timed it, dialed in the carb and topped all the fluids for me.
I'm pretty upset with myself that I didn't see problem #1 and didn't do as instructed by @TrailBeast properly for problem #2. I don't know that I would have thought of the brake booster for the vacuum leak.

I want to say I am a bit embarrassed about the whole thing but I'm happy it is fixed.

I want to thank everyone who helped me along with this and those members who messaged me with their own stories of difficult car issues. I don't know that this was difficult but it sure kicked my butt.

Thank you all again! This site is amazing and its member are the best! I can't say enough good things about the people on here! I'd love to buy you all a beer if we bump into one another in the real world.
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Yeah it always seems to be the simple things that throw us off at times. Just chalk it up to a learning experience.
 
Oh I also have a funny story to share:
I once in charge of technical service and warranty for an outdoor power equipment company.
This guy who had purchased one of our machines called me just raising hell and hating everything about our company and the machine. I got him calmed down and told him I was here to help.
The small engine he was having trouble with would no longer start.
I said: okay sir take the spark plug out. What does it look like ? Black, grey, white wet?
He said it was grey and dry. I ask him to check the spark giving instructions on how to do so. He said it had a nice blue spark. I had him put the plug back in. I now ask him to check the bottom of the tank for obstructions by taking the cap off and attempting to see the bottom of the tank. He sat the phone down. I heard him take the cap off waited a moment and heard him say “Oh sh$& !”
He picked up the phone and said “never mind”. He had been trying to pull start that engine for two hours with no gas in it.
Always check the simple things first. Troubleshoot, troubleshoot, troubleshoot!
 
Glad you got it! It’s all the little things come up to bite or so it seems. Have you got to give it the maiden voyage and how is it running?
 
I spent 1/2 of last cruising season chasing an electrical issue(still am).
Dont feel bad, it happens to everyone.
Sometimes I'll read instructions/help from here out loud to help it sink in lol.
2nd pair of eyes both reading the thread and eyeballing the issue?
Keep us posted!
 
All part of the learning curve. ....I won't mention all the simple things that kicked my butt!
The important thing is that it's all straightened out!

Jeff
 
Garrett Ellison said:
Glad you got it! It’s all the little things come up to bite or so it seems. Have you got to give it the maiden voyage and how is it running?
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I'm not using this as an excuse but you are 100% right. A second set of experienced eyes would have helped tremendously. I had my son, who is just learning and my father who has zero mechanical back ground were my second and third sets of eyes in person with hands on. I did have a lot of help, just over the phone and via the internet. What I really needed was someone there to smack me in the back of the head and help me look at things differently. We ordered the brake booster and a new master cylinder yesterday, so we will have it for the weekend.

One problem that persists is we have oil leaking from the oil filter. It leaked when we ran the motor the first time and now after this break in it's leaking again. I had my son buy a new filter and we are going to change it out again in hopes it stops the leak. Is there something else I should look at or look for?
 
Does it have a 90 degree adapter on it? Check the flange first and make sure it doesn’t have an old gasket stuck to it. If it has one, take the adapter off and check the trueness of the filter mounting flange.
 
Garrett Ellison said:
Does it have a 90 degree adapter on it? Check the flange first and make sure it doesn’t have an old gasket stuck to it. If it has one, take the adapter off and check the trueness of the filter mounting flange.
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No adapter. I'm hoping it's the filter and something to do with the rubber seal being bad.
 
The filter goes onto a adapter plate for the regular filter mounts... that is the silver/gray circular thing that you seen when the filter is off. This is your most likely problem area.
  • There is a gasket between that plate and the block. The gasket can leak.
  • Or the adapter can get bent/distorted if/when removed
  • Or the threaded pipe adapter in the center, with the hex machined into it that is used to tighten the adapter plate in place, can be loose.
  • And IIRC the later Magnum filter adapter is shallower than the LA one so will not seal well against an LA block
 
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Yeah there is;
I do not use the 90* adapter. I didn't think it was such a good idea at 7000rpm.
In my experience, when the oil pressure gets up it, it seems to blow the filter off the seat.Any filter/every filter. Or it may be blowing out from the baseplate and the block, IDK for sure where.
In any case I cured my problem by putting on a second base-plate and drilling 4 more holes in both of them. I also drilled out the center hole in the adapter fitting. There are at least two kinds of these; One has a square drive inside and the other has an external hex,like a bolt. You will need the second kind. If you install the second plate (I can't say mine still needs it or not) you need to pin the two together, cuz if one rotates out of sync............ it could spell disaster. With this new assembly, I no longer have to tighten the filter, any filter, on with a breaker bar.
Instead of a second plate for stiffness, I think you could probably put on just the one( after double drilling it), but I would put it in a press and attempt to bend it just a little, so as to put some more preload on the outter perimeter. Actually, now that I think of it, I mighta taken the second plate out of mine , and double gasketed it on the perimeter only. Yeah I seem to remember doing that in 2004, the last time she was out for freshening..
 
nm9stheham said:
The filter goes onto a adapter plate for the regular filter mounts... that is the silver/gray circular thing that you seen when the filter is off. This is your most likely problem area.
  • There is a gasket between that plate and the block. The gasket can leak.
  • Or the adapter can get bent/distorted if/when removed
  • Or the threaded pipe adapter in the center, with the hex machined into it that is used to tighten the adapter plate in place, can be loose.
  • And IIRC the later Magnum filter adapter is shallower than the LA one so may seal well against an LA block
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I understand. That was removed and we reinstalled it after the rebuild.
Do you recommend getting a different adapter, coming from the Magnum motors?
 
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AJ/FormS said:
Yeah there is;
I do not use the 90* adapter. I didn't think it was such a good idea at 7000rpm.
In my experience, when the oil pressure gets up it, it seems to blow the filter off the seat.Any filter/every filter. Or it may be blowing out from the baseplate and the block, IDK for sure where.
In any case I cured my problem by putting on a second base-plate and drilling 4 more holes in both of them. I also drilled out the center hole in the adapter fitting. There are at least two kinds of these; One has a square drive inside and the other has an external hex,like a bolt. You will need the second kind. If you install the second plate (I can't say mine still needs it or not) you need to pin the two together, cuz if one rotates out of sync............ it could spell disaster. With this new assembly, I no longer have to tighten the filter, any filter, on with a breaker bar.
Instead of a second plate for stiffness, I think you could probably put on just the one( after double drilling it), but I would put it in a press and attempt to bend it just a little, so as to put some more preload on the outter perimeter. Actually, now that I think of it, I mighta taken the second plate out of mine , and double gasketed it on the perimeter only. Yeah I seem to remember doing that in 2004, the last time she was out for freshening..
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I know I drilled the 4 extra holes as suggested. I believe I have the adapter that has the square drive.

So is my problem- that the adapter plate is not sealing properly against the block? If so, could I double up the gasket there? Or will I save myself a lot of aggravation by getting a magnum adapter as suggested by @nm9stheham ?
 
I guess either or, but the sq drive adapter has to go. It has an area of just .141 sq inches, whereas a round 7/16 hole has .150, a 6.5% increase.. But, IIRC, I drilled close to or perhaps even to .500 which is .196, which is plus 39% over 3/8 sq. Overkill perhaps, but the leak is gone and......my engine lives!
 
AJ/FormS said:
I guess either or, but the sq drive adapter has to go. It has an area of just .141 sq inches, whereas a round 7/16 hole has .150, a 6.5% increase.. But, IIRC, I drilled close to or perhaps even to .500 which is .196, which is plus 39% over 3/8 sq. Overkill perhaps, but the leak is gone and......my engine lives!
Click to expand...

What is IIRC? What adapter should I order to replace the square drive?
 
Calipag said:
I understand. That was removed and we reinstalled it after the rebuild.
Do you recommend getting a different adapter, coming from the Magnum motors?
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No, not at all. Sorry for the confusion.

The Magnum adapter is shallower and will not seal as well, or at all, on an LA block, where the recess for the gasket is machined a bit deeper. I mentioned the Magnum adapter as a possible problem area, if you have leaks at this point on an LA block.

Bottom line, and what I think AJ is driving at, is that the adapter has to press hard enough on that gasket to make things seal. You may help it with some gasket sealer too, but getting the filter adapter to press on the gasket hard enough, and evenly all around, is the key.
 
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