68 383 HP with 906 heads.
Picked this up and sold my other 383 because it appeared to be in better condition.
Apparently it was in long term storage, a few years maybe, and was going to rebuild.
Here goes:
Why are the rods a rust color? They look like they have surface rust, but in the pics they look different.
I've seen those copper colored rods in small blocks before, nothing to worry about, just something the factory did from time to time...
Are the rods supposed to have play on the crank front to back?
Yes, that's called side play and there is a spec for that in the service manual... You want a little clearance between rods and the rods and crank, but not too much, that's why there is a side play spec...
Purple flakes in the pick-up screen, looks the same color as the cam, what's up with that?
Some of the paint from the cam may have come off... On the good side, it may be a purple shaft cam....
What say you on the plugs? Some have some black stuff on them, they're all the same plug so my guess is they were run in it.
Those plugs don't look too bad... May need to lean the mixture a bit, but not a show stopper...
Turns over fine, is it safe to put a starter on it and check compression on the engine stand?
Why not??? Go for it...
Oil pan was full, oil looked good. It had some minor sludge pieces which looked white-ish and further inspection revealed those to be insect carcasses.
Looks like it was rebuilt and they used the stock rockers, and possibly springs, but I have zero info on it.
Just want to check it out the right way and understand some things before I go any further and install it.
Thank you fabo.
