well... its time... 400 getting some refreshment
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well... its time... 400 getting some refreshment
was smelling some burnt oil and thought it was just my valve cover gasket... look underneath and see a stream of engine oil pouring out of the bell housing onto the y pipe. 
was 3-4 quarts low. filled her up and got home.
i guess its time to yank her out and take my time going through it. i dont know the history of the motor, but she still runs like a sewing machine and has not consumed oil until this point. i did an oil change 2 weeks ago with valvoline 10w30 as i always do.
it is a great running motor and i dont want to touch anything that is perfectly fine. the only thing done to it so far is an edelbrock performer 400 intake and holley 650 double pumper. i would like to put a lopey cam in it, new timing chain, valve springs, roller rockers? and headers, maybe msd ignition? i am going to ditch the flex fan and get a normal metal fan. with those parts should i be doing anything to the bottom end? sorry for being a newbie on engine building here, it will be a learning experience and im looking for all the advice i can get.
tomorrow i'll start removing the front clip and disconnecting everything, then once i get the engine picker upper from my buddy she will be out.
was 3-4 quarts low. filled her up and got home.i guess its time to yank her out and take my time going through it. i dont know the history of the motor, but she still runs like a sewing machine and has not consumed oil until this point. i did an oil change 2 weeks ago with valvoline 10w30 as i always do.
it is a great running motor and i dont want to touch anything that is perfectly fine. the only thing done to it so far is an edelbrock performer 400 intake and holley 650 double pumper. i would like to put a lopey cam in it, new timing chain, valve springs, roller rockers? and headers, maybe msd ignition? i am going to ditch the flex fan and get a normal metal fan. with those parts should i be doing anything to the bottom end? sorry for being a newbie on engine building here, it will be a learning experience and im looking for all the advice i can get.
tomorrow i'll start removing the front clip and disconnecting everything, then once i get the engine picker upper from my buddy she will be out.
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id like to pull the motor so i can do some upgrades while im at it. front clip was a breeze to take off and theres not much to remove the motor. radius arms are connected to the crossmember and id like to leave that in tact.
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so the cam i am looking at is the edelbrock 2172, along with the matching timing gears. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ed...commendedparts
should i upgrade valve springs, lifters, and pushrods? trying to keep the cost down as much as possible, but what's cheap when building a motor. do i need to replace the cam bushings, or if they are good no?
im hearing that any cam/timing gear upgrade in these motors is a huge improvement.
this may be a stupid question, but, im in school for manufacturing and we have a heat treat furnace.... would it be crazy to take my old pushrods and harden them? or is this proceedure beyond me.
are the stock rocker arms strong enough with these valve springs? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ed...commendedparts
should i upgrade valve springs, lifters, and pushrods? trying to keep the cost down as much as possible, but what's cheap when building a motor. do i need to replace the cam bushings, or if they are good no?
im hearing that any cam/timing gear upgrade in these motors is a huge improvement.
this may be a stupid question, but, im in school for manufacturing and we have a heat treat furnace.... would it be crazy to take my old pushrods and harden them? or is this proceedure beyond me.
are the stock rocker arms strong enough with these valve springs? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ed...commendedparts
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Go with the suggested spring etc.
The also sell pushrods for $55 or so.
I would ask them how this will work with the stock low compression, as I don't see any reference to new pistons--that right?
Cam change is good for this motor, cam and compression a bit better.
The also sell pushrods for $55 or so.
I would ask them how this will work with the stock low compression, as I don't see any reference to new pistons--that right?
Cam change is good for this motor, cam and compression a bit better.
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Those open chamber heads sported all of 8-8.5:1 CR, not the best for economy or performance. New higher compression pistons should really be considered.
Something like 9-9.5:1 max should be considered. An alternative would be to mill the heads but I have no idea how much you can mill them or what kind of compression you will get if you do.
Something like 9-9.5:1 max should be considered. An alternative would be to mill the heads but I have no idea how much you can mill them or what kind of compression you will get if you do.
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I have been looking high and low for flat top pistons and can't find any. My other option is to mill the heads. There's a few shops around here. Not sure if that's something I would take on myself or not because that's an expensive mistake. From what Im seeing .025 off would give me 9:1 compression and that's the most I should go. So once I mill the heads I would also have to mill the intake to fit? That's the part that makes me not want to do it because I don't know how I'd securely get that intake on a Bridgeport table. What would I expect to pay?
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Why on earth would you tell him to remove the trans to change the rear main seal ? No reason to even pull the engine to change a rear main seal in that.
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i'm only a few bolts away from getting the motor into the air, i might as well do it at this point. also gives me a chance to give it a fresh coat of paint and not have to lay on the ground under it. also gives me a chance to paint my whole engine bay. and i'm doing other things to the motor too. so nobody has made me do extra work, even if i'd known i probably would be doing the same thing anyways.
so im obviously going to replace that oil pump while im in there. have been seeing mixed opinions about installing a high volume oil pump. with the cost out of mind, should i do it or not? my thinking is that more oil circulation would be better for the longevity of the motor... but its going to shatter my distributor?
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