SB engine rebuilding got ya! School is Open!

[64ragtop]

... NEVER trust a /6 nylon distributor gear with a hairline crack in it for a "test trip" down the road to try your now non-lean burn setup. -At least I got a tow home with my buddies Dodge truck, so the humiliation was far less.

It'ud be a real bummer to be dragged home by a shivvy! What would the neighbors think?

BC

 

[dodgedude]

Here is a tip that I learned about the hard way...when installing a Hi-Lift camshaft, whether it be Roller or otherwise, check the lifters at max lift to see if the oil "band" is being exposed and causing an "oil leak", causing low oil pressure. This was my 422 stroker build in which I learned that Mopar "chamferred" the lifter bores deeper on some blocks than others. Had it up and running, but had LOW oil pressure at warm idle. After a bunch of research, I found my problem. Either have the lifter bores bushed or check for this issue while assembling. One other option is to go with a MP mechanical lifter like I ended up doing, but had to give up my hydraulic roller. See pictures below:

 

[Rapid Robert]

make a mark on the dampener 2 & 7/32 clockwise from the TDC slit which is 35 degrees and have the guy manning the timing light/turning the dist to set it there when it fires (35 deg) with vac adv capped. Read "breakin secrets" at www.mototuneusa.com stat out for breakin. one guy above to check for fuel leaks, one underneath to check for pan and coolant leaks, the guy turning the dist, you in the dr seat to gun it/shout orders. Any issue dont think about if it is serious or not just shut it off/fix it then restart. The "how to rebuild your small block mopar" by taylor and hofer has alot of basic info & I still refer to it on occaision after decades & it has dist bushing rebuild info that I have never seen anywhere else. Drill a .015" hole in the front pass oil gallery cup plug plus a large hole in the cam plate to get a pressurized shot of oil to the chain, a problem area. Alot of VERY GOOD info has been posted. I mockup the eng completely from head to toe to confirm everything is dead on then tear it down & scrub/clean/oil everything & assemble for real. Costs time & a set of gaskets but the end result is NO surprises in the middle of the build. If you have to remachine anything in the middle of a build you are going to have a very bad day. Achiece quench if you can. check VP clearance/preload/wipe pattern/pickup to pan clearance/oiling mods on a perf app

 

[john27pa]

I have that same book. And also have Mopar chassis-Carroll Shelby's speed secrets for a,b,e,f,and j body. Chrysler corp part # P4349341. Has suspension mods, trans build ups, and drivetrain tips. It also has a section of what engine to use and what parts to buy to get into a certain time bracket for what cars.
The engine modification performance book # is P4349340. Not sure where you can still get these books at, but def has a lot of great info in both.

 

[MuddMan74]

I need some schooling! These are great tips but I have some more specific questions? Background first...74 GoldDuster 360LA...I needed a timing chain for sure and a water pump....decided to yank the motor to inspect, clean, re-seal everything after a rally in which we pushed it past it's limits. We ran it hot for a good while knowingly......don't kill me. I also decided I'd replace oil pump while I had the motor out.

Tear down/Inspection- to my surprise almost everything looked marvelous! Valves looked new, cylinders look spotless, cyl walls look nice and barely see crosshatch still, oil was clean with absolutely nothing on the pickup strainer. Also found out it was a '75 HD block with '75 HD shotpeened crank with aftermarket cylinders (never ran numbers on block when bought used) Water pump bearing not good, timing chain slack as I've ever seen one!

Following steps taken- have Jheads got them cleaned, 3 angle valve job, seals the works, replaced 2 valves...but forgot to ask how much heads were milled? Replaced oil pump with melling standard pump. Cleaned everything block and all mating surfaces, installed comp cams dbl roller timing chain set.

Main questions- if I want to replace lifters and pushrods do I need to use an adjustable pushrod length checker or get same length rods?
Should I degree the cam if I didn't replace it (I don't fully understand the process) even if timing marks line up?
Should I have the engine deck surface milled or checked? On a tight budget but do not want to miss crucial issues
Should I use cometic gaskets or similar high end MLS gaskets? Fel pro is horrible in my experience. Victor reinz ok usually but new technology has me wondering?
Are their any tips or advice you can offer at this point?

BTW- I'm new here, and thank anyone for acceptance and advice!

 

[MuddMan74]

Here she is during the rally from Athens to all over GA then ending in St Marys. Hood up cooling off during a pit stop

 

[z_daddy]

Keep it CLEAN! Bag it when you aren't working on it.

Always degree the cam, even the cheap streeter engines. Timing sets, dot to dot, can and frequently are WAY off.

Have a question fur ya book says bring #1 piston up compression stroke (TDC) put cam gear at 6:00 o'clock crank gear at 12:00 o'clock , the crank gear has 3 key ways O, A , R , so I'm using o setting , there is a zero right on the key slot , and one by the teeth which zero should I go by ??

 

[PhillH]

Seen this missed a few times on engines that come in to get fixed- Rear galley plug needs a small .030"-.050" hole in it to oil the cam gear properly.

As I'm building my 360 many, many, tips are used from here (actually all of them since this is my first build, thank you all) I'm so glad I caught this one early on and it's great to see a pic of it actually proving itself. :finga: