Putting head on slant six

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MadMaxCustoms

MadMaxCustoms

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Finally did it guys. Found myself a complete 72 swinger. Every piece is there from head to tail Virtually rust free. The guy I bought it from said the previous owner took the head off for some reason (thinks to replace head gasket). Car has been sitting in a car port for sometime so there funk in the cylinders and I want to know the best way to clean things out in the block before reassembling. Also any tips for re assembling the head (valves are still in head. Needs lifters and rockers out back in.). Any good threads anyone knows about or tips? Thanks!!

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pics of the head/open block will help. The funk in the cylinders can range from dust that can be just wiped out with a little solvent, to rusted surfaces that will need more attention
 
Whoa! What is that? Looks like some turbo reduced CR piston with that dish. Not like any slant six piston I have ever seen. Bore to me looks like remove the engine and go through it. That looks crusty.
 
Hope to see more pics of the car, too! How was it optioned and what are your long term plans for it? There's really no wrong answer here as long as your able to get it out and start enjoying it as soon as possible.
 
Sweet car, even if it's tipped over on its side. Hyper_Pak is right; those are very nonstandard pistons. It'll be interesting to find out what other nonstandard/hop-up parts might have been built into this engine. I agree with H_P that rust/crust is enough to warrant a complete engine teardown, cleanup, and rebuild; this looks like a case of "you might get away without it now, but later you'll wish you hadn't" (when you have to go back in and do it anyhow).

Someone upgraded the headlamps to H4s, those look like they might be the excellent, no-longer-produced Marchal units (too far away to tell in this pic; look for a kitty cat logo in the middle of the lens).
 
Thanks for all the feedback. The picture I posted is not from my vehicle but similar to the condition it’s in. I will post pics in about an hour and a half of the actual vehicle. It there is no rust present, is using a wire brush in with some carb cleaner to get the funk out of the cylinders and cylinder head?
 
Get some SeaFoam Deep Creep and spray the cylinders down liberally. Then turn the engine over and let the rings clean it up. That's really nothing. The cylinders would likely rust worse than that if the car sat up a couple of months with the head still on. It's not bad at all.
 
Those cylinders look fine (for me, oil them down and clean with scotch brite and get EVERYTHING out with a shop vac and then acetone on paper towels until they come out clean. everything else is drop in and bolt up. Adjust .013/.023 cold. Should get you close, check 'em again when hot for .010/.020
 
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MadMaxCustoms said:
Thank you. Will post pics of similar issue but don’t have pics of my dart engine compartment right now

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Use a wire brush on a drill to clean the rust off the cylinders and sealing surfaces... Then blow it off real good with compressed air...

Then before installing parts, clean off real good with brake cleaner and a shop rag...
 
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your cylinders look MUCH better than the first picture you sent, shes going to need a little work but she should be back on the road with minimal time and $$$
 
RustyRatRod said:
Get some SeaFoam Deep Creep and spray the cylinders down liberally. Then turn the engine over and let the rings clean it up. That's really nothing. The cylinders would likely rust worse than that if the car sat up a couple of months with the head still on. It's not bad at all.
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Turn it over with the head off?
 
You might consider a valve job since the head is already off. Could have been the reason it was removed in the first place. At least you can reassemble knowing the head is good and cross your fingers on the rest!
 
slants didn't have hardened exhaust seats: check the valve sink on a few exhaust valves. or put a straight edge across the valve stems. you may find a few that are taller (sunk). As they are adjustable, Id be more concerned about the condition of the valves than the sink rate. Just eyeball them if you can get them off the seats and if they look spongy, replace. Not that expensive.
 
340doc said:
You might consider a valve job since the head is already off. Could have been the reason it was removed in the first place. At least you can reassemble knowing the head is good and cross your fingers on the rest!
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If that was the case I think I’d like to cam it up and put proper springs in etc. Really just trying to get her back together and rolling on the cheap as I’d like to do a v8 swap down the road. Don’t know where I’d get it machined currently as everything is pretty much shut down here in Washington.
 
pishta said:
slants didn't have hardened exhaust seats: check the valve sink on a few exhaust valves. or put a straight edge across the valve stems. you may find a few that are taller (sunk). As they are adjustable, Id be more concerned about the condition of the valves than the sink rate. Just eyeball them if you can get them off the seats and if they look spongy, replace. Not that expensive.
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pishta said:
slants didn't have hardened exhaust seats: check the valve sink on a few exhaust valves. or put a straight edge across the valve stems. you may find a few that are taller (sunk). As they are adjustable, Id be more concerned about the condition of the valves than the sink rate. Just eyeball them if you can get them off the seats and if they look spongy, replace. Not that expensive.
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Any tips on compressing valve springs?
 
As stated, I would take the head to your local machine shop & get them to tear it down, check the valves & seats, check it for cracks, & do the valve job before reinstalling it. In my opinion, you will be dollars ahead so you can drive it while collecting the pieces to convert to a V8.
 
ESP47 said:
By hand. Either with a ratchet on the bolt on the harmonic balancer or if your fan belt is on, you can push down on the fan belt and turn the fan by hand.
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hell I see no reason you couldn't wing it over with the starter. just jump the terminal on the relay. ( and make sure everything is clear )
 
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