318 LA rebuild after losing a valve seat

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You can get a 5/16" steel rod from the hardware store, and use a hammer on a vise and hammer it into a hex shape to match the shape of the hex into the pump. Or get a 3/8" rod and file the hex shape into the rod. This is nothing fancy and no need to wait.
 
OR -- this would be the perfect excuse to finally get that hex collet block for the mill...
 
I made my own oil primer for $0 spent.
Cut the gear off an old distributor drive and welded a LA pushrod to the end of it, like 30 years ago, still have it and it works great.
 
Well, another chapter to the 71 Scamp is about to begin. While attempting to install the torque converter, I was encountering some trouble. The pump gear on the TC just wouldn't engage with the input shaft (am I saying that right?). Anyway, I finally gave a closer look and saw two things. The splines on the input shaft were less that pristine, in fact they looked damaged. Also, the pump bushing looked to almost have a chamfer all the way around the first 1/16" or so.

I removed the trans pump and my suspicions were confirmed. Upon closer inspection, the splines on the input shaft have definitely been chewed at some point. I think that explains why I had such difficulty getting the TC on.
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Also, upon closer inspection of the fluid in the bell housing, I found glittery material the same color as the bushing. After removing the pump, the same glittery material was behind the pump. That leads me to believe the damage to the bushing wasn't done by me trying to install the TC, but while the engine was running.
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I'm taking the pump and TC in on Monday to see what can be done with the pump shaft, and to inspect the splines inside the TC.
 
When it rains, it pours. Sounds like you are working your way through the puddles though.
 
Well folks, the time has come. Front end is rebuilt and assembled, front brakes rebuilt and bled. I hope to be dropping the engine within the next day or two. I've done a ton of reading here and watching videos on installing an engine, and it seems pretty straightforward, as I thought it would be.

I'll drop the headers in and bungy cord them to the side, then slowly drop it in. I have a leveler on the cherry picker and it was so useful when I pulled it, I'm sure it'll be just as useful putting it in. I think I'll have to jack up the transmission and play with the angles to get the engine/trans to mate.

Is there anything I should look out for aside from the obvious pinched hoses, snags, etc.? Seems so simple that I think I might be overthinking this.
 
Forgot to update y'all on the transmission shaft. Took the pump and torque converter in to the transmission shop, and the guy said they looked brand new, aside from the marred splines on the shaft and some wear on the snout of the TC. He cleaned up the splines and I went with a new (reman) torque converter. Torque converter went right on with ease!

Lesson to be learned: don't put the transmission in reverse at highway speed. Not even for a SECOND!!
 
Make darn sure the convertor is in all the way. The face of the TC has to be inside the bellhouse. When that is done, rotate the TC about 20* one way and then change directions I usually can hear the pump drive slamming the pump with a satisfying cluck every time it changes directions.
Actually, I'll go you one better; the four attaching lugs should also be inside the BH; that is to say inboard of a yardstick placed across the BH. Later, after the the engine and trans are married, you will pull the TC forward out of the TC, to meet the flex plate. That flexplate has one offset lug and will only fit one way onto the TC. Prefit them now and mark them in such a way that you can see them from underneath the car. Otherwise you could end up drinking a 6-pack before getting them hitched.
 
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Make darn sure the convertor is in all the way. The face of the TC has to be inside the bellhouse. When that is done, rotate the TC about 20* one way and then change directions I usually can hear the pump drive slamming the pump with a satisfying cluck every time it changes directions.
Thanks, I did check and the face is certainly behind the plane of the bellhouse. I can definitely feel it engaging the pump when I rotate it back and forth.

Any sort of final to-dos or a good checklist before dropping in the motor?
 
Forgot to update y'all on the transmission shaft. Took the pump and torque converter in to the transmission shop, and the guy said they looked brand new, aside from the marred splines on the shaft and some wear on the snout of the TC. He cleaned up the splines and I went with a new (reman) torque converter. Torque converter went right on with ease!

Lesson to be learned: don't put the transmission in reverse at highway speed. Not even for a SECOND!!

Chrysler sedan, 440, automatic; my dad's daily driver and rv tow car. When my oldest son was around 3 or 4 years old (around 1973 or 74) he was standing on the seat next to his grandpa (no car seats in those days) rolling down the highway doing probably 65 or 70 mph. My son reached up and pushed the shifter into reverse. According to dad, the car came to a screeching halt and tried to go in reverse and stalled. Restarted, put in drive and drove home. Took it to the local dealer and had it checked out. No problems found. 727 is a tough trans. Grandson tested and approved.
 
The only thing I changed was to remove the timing set and rotate the cam gear so that when installed, both gears lined up at 12. I'm going to look and see where the pistons are when the gears are both at 12 o'clock.

all u needed to do was rotate crank 1 rev.
 
so in pic 118 where was the crank key?
It was at 6 o’clock. We figured out that I had used the wrong keyway. I was supposed to have used the triangle keyway for 4* advance, but I had it installed in the rectangular keyway, which would’ve given me 4* retarded.
 
did you drive it 4 retarded
do a compression test
tells you where you would be with an 8 degree bigger cam
 
I honestly have no idea where it was when it was driving. I had only had the car a couple months before it took a dump.
 
Okay, another bump in the road. I’m getting ready to push the car into the garage so I can drop the motor in. It won’t shift into neutral, the shifter seems to kinda miss the proper stops But randomly clicks into maybe 2nd sometimes. I took a look at the shift linkage, this part seemed to be bound up.
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I removed this part, as I remember when I installed the headers last year that it wasn’t connected to anything, just swiveled inside a bushing. The car was born a column shift, somewhere along the way it was made a console shifter.
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I’m still not able to shift into neutral (or into any gears, for that matter). Any ideas?
 
Are you saying?
that with BOTH shifters removed from the trans, That attempting to shift just the little short lever, is a no-go?; and the little lever is NOT hitting anything externally?

In that case , I suspect the trans is jammed in Park. That can happen if the E-brake is on, or the car is parked on a slope, and only the park-pawl is preventing it from rolling. Chock the tires, and raise one wheel off the floor, if an open diff (both if a SureGrip) and try again.
 
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This is long...

So, pardon my ignorance, but I know very little about transmissions and shift linkages. I'm trying though. The part in the last photo wasn't connected to anything of any function, just fixed to the frame on one end and swiveling in a bushing on the bellhousing. It did nothing. I suspect it was a leftover part from when the car was a column shift, and they just didn't remove it?

The boys at the parts store I frequent also suggested the park pawls were engaged, and especially agreed when I said the car is on a slight incline. However, I then mentioned another piece to the puzzle. The bellhouse was twisted a bit counterclockwise and pointed towards the passenger side a little. It was held up by a ratchet strap to keep the angle correct for the drive shaft, so that when I moved it the universal joint wouldn't rub against the body. Anyway, I noticed that when I pulled on the strap in an effort to straighten the bellhousing, the car would move forward. I figured out that if I moved the car forward, the bellhousing would right itself. I pushed the car forward about 4 inches and sure as ****, it corrected itself. But it's still angled towards the passenger side.

So now I'm left with the shifter problem. I tried manipulating the linkage under the car, and at first it would go through all gears. So I went back and tried the shifter again, same problem. Went back underneath and now the linkage at the transmission will only click once in each direction. The shifter will engage random stops, but never really at any of the correct locations. If I hold the button down and starting in park, I feel slight resistance until I get towards the end, then feel multiple clicks like it's going through all gears.

One more thing, I do remember that ever since buying the car, it never would go into 1st gear. Park, reverse, neutral, drive, second, not first. After engaging in neutral, the shifter wouldn't quite line up with the indexes on the console. Hope that makes sense.
 
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