Cool idea there RC, who would of thought it?

 

I have gotten a bit discouraged at the back end of the truck. Based on everyone’s input, I know what I have to do to get the rivets out, but I’m just not having any luck. I bought the correct punch for it and put some heat to it. I just have a MAPP gas (plumber’s torch) and no oxy acetylene set-up so I haven’t got it glowing red or anything, but it was very hot. I put some muscle into it, but still, I just can’t drive them out. Maybe I just haven’t got it hot enough yet?

Anyway, I moved over to the motor to begin its tear down. Before shot.



Removed the steering pump, alternator, fan/pulley, hoses, distributor & wires, water pump and dip stick first.



Then the exhaust manifolds. This went surprisingly well until the second to last bolt on the driver’s side. The head rounded off. So, off to Sears for a “Bolt Out” kit. Now, I have wanted/needed one of these kits for YEARS but never got one. I bit the bullet and know it will be one of the best tools I own for years to come. That sucker came out with ease. I am so happy I have this in my arsenal now.



Next I took off the intake manifold, and then the valve covers. I disconnected the heads from my chain fall and now the block is only supported by the engine stand.





Removed the rockers and then will take out the push rods.



“OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!”



So far, everything has gone smoothly on this tear down. I have never taken an engine down before, but have seen enough in various build stages, so no surprises. Still need to remove the oil pan for a look down there as well as the crank pulley and timing parts.

I will then give everythting a thorough examination. (I already know I have some issues....)

 

Still staying organized.

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OH….THE BIGGEST NEWS, It’s a 351M! I measured the stroke of the piston and it was 3 ½”. Nice to finally have that confirmed. So now I will be able to gauge it against something more powerful i.e. a 400 or 460.

Some preliminary issues as I went along:

Something to keep in mind, my biggest reason for pulling it was I was having some coolant leak by somewhere and it was burning off through the exhaust.

1. There was a lot of moisture and rusty flaked metal sitting in the valley pan. The intake is aluminum so I imagine this blew up from somewhere down in the block. Is this an issue or somewhat to be expected?

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2. The head gaskets didn’t look as bad as I was expecting, and can’t definitively say they are the reason the coolant was getting by, but that was my number one go to as far as eliminating the problem.

3. Not sure what you call these, but they are like a seal that the pushrods go through. There were about 3 or 4 that were raised up like this and not fully seated. They don’t just push back into position (and need to be driven). Thoughts?

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4. Big disappointment here. I got a good look at one of the tops of the pistons and it was stamped 040, so I guess this thing has already been honed out .040 over so there is no room to go right? I read that was about the extent of honing one. So, should I be looking for a new block when it comes real build time for the truck? I’m still going to run this motor for the few months I put it back on the road just to see what a 351M is like. I will put the performance timing set-up on it if it doesn’t have it already.

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on Question #3 those things are called lifters and some will be up because they ride on the cam and hope you kept track of what rod went in what spot

 

You should still hone the bores if you are taking everything out and replacing rings. In order for them to really seat correctly the cross hatch pattern is needed it doesn't take all the much a few minutes and they should be golden. You could check the wall thickness but yes I believe you are right there is no more room to be bored out. water locked pistons are no fun.

Wasowski is right those are lifters I am sure you noticed that the push rods actually rode on the tops of these lifters. as the cam rotates the lobes will lift and lower these and it will lift the rockers. These along with the ratio of the rockers will determine the final lift of the cam.

And the third edit is for congradulations the first tear down is always an interesting one. My first was a seized 460.

 

GULP!!!! No I did not keep track, other than what side of the motor they came out of. I did keep the rockers organized though. I checked the lengths of the rods when I pulled them and "thought" they were all the same size. I will have to look at them again tomorrow and see if I'm screwed or not. Can't be that big a deal to get right....right? I mean if I orderd some new wouldn't they all just come in the same bag all mixed up or something?

I had pulled the push rods out while the valley pan was still on so NO, I didn't see that those simply rode (kind of snapped in) on top right there. I thought they went through that piece and down in further. I will need to get a better look at that as well.


At first I was not going to take them out, BUT then was thinking I would do so just to clean EVERYTHING out. Then reinstall them with the same rings. Is that not even a good idea. As in, if the ring was slightly twisted from it's original position it would be trying to wear in a new seating position and then I would have an issue like oil leaking by? So I better just leave them in?

 

If you were planning on replacing the rockers and lifters I would say no not really a problem. One thing you ned to look at is there are three major things to see each cup will have some kind of wear on them due to use. The same is true of the lifters and the rockers. Now generally you do not want to mix rods becuase then you would have to readjust every rocker to the correct lash. in order to prevent valve-train instability.

No problem you will see it when you put everything back together.

What you are going to see here is a problem with the rings themselves. Generally the idea is to never trust the PO's and any work they had done. If the engine had been rebuilt in the past and since it is 40 over that wouldn't be hard to imagine =P. You still never want to trust what is going on inside you do not know if they used a cheap product and maybe those rings are already broken or maybe they never seated correctly and when you pull them out there will be a bad wear pattern. Rings are pretty cheap and easy to replace the safer bet is just to get a set. Total seal rings are almost the industry standard they make a great product.

 

wow. just went through the thread and all i have to say is DAMN! you got a DEAL! my ford's body is in far worse shape, but the frame is in far better. you should drop your cab on my ford's frame! lol jk man, you're doing good work!

also, never been a huge fan of flames (well, i downright hate 'em) but that truck definitely pulls it off. someone did their homework with that paint!

 

I don't know if you tried this or not but I used to grind the rivet head smooth and then punch it out.

I now use a plasma cutter to wipe the head off and use my Snap On air chisel to push the rivet out. The key to the stubborn ones was after wiping most of the head off...grind it smooth til you can see the outside diameter of the rivet and then they will usually pop right out.

 

i had a few stubborn rivets when i was doing my shackle flip. i just kept on beating the hell outta them until they just popped out. one took me a good half hour. heating the metal around the rivet should expand it enough to get some progress.

 

About the rivets, grind the face down some more on the side you are hitting them on. I found that if there is any flange left they will hardly budge. Once more material is removed they should some out better.

 

that motor looks clean, how long has it been since it was rebuilt?

Another trick with the rivets is to use a large drill bit, smaller than the rivet, and drill about 3/4 of the way through. Now get a punch that fits loose in the hole a drive away. By not going all the way through it gives something to punch against and the hole allows the sides to fold in just enough to let it slide out.

 

bdawg...haven't heard from you, ..still wanting those frame sections..OR..maybe a whole frame and a complete 351M w/ it??

 

Sorry for the but can you give us a little info on that barn/shop/garage you have. Is that a post & beam? Did you buy it prefab or just build it that way. That thing looks awesome.

Oh yeah, I love the build your doing. I have 3 70's trucks I want to restore and 2 are crewcabs. Great job cant wait to see the final product.