So my 89 has needed alot of work for a long time now. The rear main seal leaks horribly, last summer the clutch started to slip, i already knew my flywheel was at the end of its life, and the slave cyl started leaking fluid. PLUS pretty much every other gasket/seal on the engine was leaking oil. So formed my grand plan.
Pull the engine out, regasket, and fix all the problems in the bellhousing. At the same time, bite the bullet, and finally do my carb swap. Rip out the fuel system, replace the front tank, remove the rear, run all new lines, and rewire, replacing the 26yo failing stock stuff.
That was the plan anyways. Friday removed the fuel system and pulled the engine, and today disassembled the engine to find all sorts of bad. This engine was always supposed to be temporary, and 8 years of muddin truck pullin and street racin had taken its toll:

And it begins! (No thats not me, thats my buddy Tim)


Out she comes


Safely on the stand


Ya id say that clutch was just about done.


I am amazed the slave even worked any more. I was able to pull the outer piece right off, shes all sorts of junk


The rear tank in all its glory


End of day 1 (Friday)


And on to the disassembly pics from today






Heres where things get REAL ugly


I can feel these marks in the journal w/ my nail


Yes i know this engine is in horrible shape, and im ashamed to say i already know why. (and no im not tellin, its that stupid). So now i get to decide what to do next. The only good news from today is that this engine has never been rebuilt, i think its still a viable candidate. Tax time needs to hurry up and get here!!!

 

Let me guess never changed the oil lol. And whats that truck painted with ?

 

Nice thread, will be great to see how you progress man..

 

Wow, big job! Good luck. I'll be following along to see how things turn out.

 

The truck doesnt get driven in the winter, and only randomly in the summer. I changed the oil every spring, but im thinkin that wasnt enough.

it was painted w/ paint... lol. Something happened when we shot the clearcoat, it got real grainy. but i only paid 100 bucks for the job, im not gonna complain.

After thinking on it overnight ive decided to bite the even bigger bullet and build the engine to what i want, rather than a stock replacement. Ive had it planned out for years, just never had the money/kick in the pants to actually build it. Plans are:

Edelbrock AVS off road 650 carb (have it)
Edelbrock performer intake (have it)
Trick flow twisted wedge heads (dont have em yet)
Comp Cams Xtreme 4x4 cam (have it)
Hooker competition LT headers/ true dual exhaust (have it)
Convert to carb, run Duraspark II ignition (have it)

As far as the bottom end goes i think itll stay pretty much stock, i believe my hard parts are still salvageable, just need to be remachined w/ over/under bearings.

Ive had alot of these parts sitting under my bed for years collecting dust, its exciting to think they might actually get put together soon. HURRY UP TAX SEASON!!!

 

Scribed. Always like reading build threads!

 

That clutch is still good. Everybody knows the rivets give extra bite into the flywheel.

 

Subbed. Looking forward to the rebuild!

 

I'm subscribing as well looks fun! wish I had a shop like that to work on my truck, just pulled the trans yesterday

 

Old headers (Hooker Comp LTs)


Old headers, new paint job!!

 

Subscribing, looks like it's a fun project.

 

Update!!! So ive been slacking, heres the pics from the engine build:

Shiney new parts!!


Valve covers:


Heads!!!


Assembling the lower end:




Timing chains on!


All bagged up!


Now heres where things get crappy. Didnt notice it while i was building, but went back 2 days later, all excited to drool over my hard work, and see the engine is covered in a fine layer of dust. My shop is in the middle of a gravel lot, and there was no way i was gonna be able to keep things clean enough. So after alot of internal arguing back and forth I decided to swallow my pride and send the parts into a professional builder.... And heres his results!!!

 

Aaaand this is where things get crappy again. Anyone notice whats missing on those valve covers? No oil/pcv holes... And no bosses to drill, no baffling on the inside... theyre not gonna work. So send em back n get some new ones, that i like even better!!



Now i know im building a 408... but shhhhh I wont tell anyone if you guys dont

Dropped the new valve covers off at the builders today, scheduled the dyno tune for this friday!!!

 

408…is that a 396 (351 block, stoker crank and 5.0 rods/pistons) that is bored out?

(This is my long winded way of saying "subscribed".)

 

Looks good man... /sub