Found out something interesting today. I thought that maybe my head gasket issue could be due to detonation issues. However, a pretty salty mechanic that deals with performance stuff told me that detonation issues beat the ring land out of the piston usually. So I am stuck on the block being cracked.


We will see.

Yep, that's how mine are. I also aquired an Edelbrock performer 289 and a 1850-3 Holley in good shape that's not all screwed up tonight. Surprised the heck out of me with the carb. Nothing is stripped out, de-laminating or messed up. Just needs a kit which I'm in the middle of doing. Only thing that was warped slightly was the accelerator pump body, which I flat sanded and made true again. Full detail for retail. Someone either had it on a really small engine, or it was tuned for fuel economy. 64 jets and 25 accelerator pump squirter.

Drove the truck today, runs good but I still want to check timing since I had to move the dist twice to get to the bolt on the thermostat housing behind the timing cover.

I also just found out I have a slow water leak as the lower radiator hose isnt quite tight enough. So I will correct that, but aside from that I will run the truck till Friday with the peak radiator cleaner/flush then flush the system out and add another bottle and drive it one more week before I put antifreeze in it.

I also will be using Prestone Global, as they dont offer the conventional green antifreeze anymore, its been replaced by their "all makes all models" antifreeze which is basically Global antifreeze.

Only thing left on my list now for the truck is, track down the miss which seems to be quite a bit better now, check the rear brakes as the pedal feels funky, and then track down a NOS brake switch for the prop valve and some stainless steel hex valve stem caps as Discount forgot to put the two back on and couldnt find them the next day. Pisses me off cause all I can find like I had has these tacky logos in the head where mine just had a nipple that allows you to depress the valve to reduce air pressure.

I've had some Mercedes (Continental) stainless steel valve stems that had the knurled cap with O-ring and were like that.

When I switched rims and lugs a couple of months back I bought a set of screw in stainless valve stems from Ebay.
It seeed a good deal compared to the crap tire stores offered.

Put a 4160 on the truck for a test today. Ripped my 1/4" thick carb gasket. That thing was GLUED to the intake and carb. It seperated in the middle. $16 for that crap? no way! $13 for a 1/2" thick phenolic spacer with the gaskets, and studs? sounds better. Still pissed me off a bit though. I noticed it was starting to seep through the middle of that gasket as well. Put the summit carb back on it and took it for a test drive.

You need to learn that dielectric silicone is not just for wires.

You talking to me? never heard of someone using it for that before. :-huh

Yeah.
Silicone grease is great for heat.
We use oxygen rated silicone based grease for rocket motors. Krytox...
If you greased the manifold side it would have come right off.

Checked timing and adjusted carb, eventually got the miss at idle out to once every so often which is more bearable than what it was. Ended up having to idle the engine up some as apparently 500 RPM was too low, so now I am around 600 RPM and its a lot better.

Only thing is I am contemplating if I should go ahead and bump timing up from 8* to 12*. Will have to drive and see but it seems to be running the same it has been so I might leave it alone.

I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip!

I managed to get a little work done on the engine today. I also made the rear engine mount for the test stand. The engine is on the test stand for now as well. I still need to complete the stand; control panel and such.

In terms of the engine, I installed the cylinder head, lifters, push rods and rockers. I then found that the 'new' 'Powered by Ford' valve cover won't fit and hits some of the rockers. I'll need to find a solution to that one..

At this point, I'm down to water pump, thermostat and housing, alternator and ignitions system, intake / exhaust manifolds and carburetor. I know there are a few other things; I'm making a list.

For now, here are some pics..


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...48e1a6596c.jpg


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b46461b5cf.png

That test stand looks GREAT! Good job. Have to do a video of it running, though. Just have to!


As for what I did, I got the AFR meter mounted today. Here's what I see from the driver's seat:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ad2bb267c4.jpg

Changed the in cab light bulb today. Wow that thing was BLACK!

So today I discussed the pulling of the motor and changing blocks with the mechanic I was going to trade out with. He claims they get $1500 to pull and install the motor. Then he farms the tearing down , diagnostic and reassembling out to a machinist that charges $2 per CUI to do that.


With about $600 in machine work on the other block and probably $300 in parts all of the sudden $3100 doesn't sound like a very good deal.


Is it just me or does this sound like a raw deal?

$700 to tear down, check and reassemble a 351 doesn't sound bad but 1,500 to R&R the engine seems way over the top.