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Got a little done over the weekend with some help from my youngest. She's now an expert at measuring ring gaps! Ha! SUPER happy to have her help me out! (and she seems to enjoy it) Bottom half ready for cleaning of holes I used a round brush and some carb cleaner Oil squirters They fit fairly tight I used this screw and a small hammer to GENTLY seat them in the holes Snug as a bug! Still have some surface work to do on the block, but its' getting there. Squeeze and insert, flip down Push ring down the cylinder wall to a depth of 3.5" Ring in place for measurement these Maxiforce rings seem to be manufactured with pretty good tolerances from the get go Chart showing the starting ring gaps Rings gaps after filing and measuring
Got the tape and earplugs off of the block from paint and cleaned up the gasket surfaces using one of the maroon automotive scratch pads. They work fairly well to get grime off, and when coupled with carb/brake cleaner, they work really well. Tough spots were hit with emery cloth and then touched back up with the scrubbie. From there, I sprayed carb cleaner in all the holes, it them with a round brush, and then compresses air to blow any remaining crap out. I was able to put in the piston squirters and get all my rings gapped properly. Since this block has been bored 0.040 over, and I didn't know how tight the tolerances would be on the new rings, I measured each ring, in each hole, and wrote down what it was. From there, I was able to see #5 is just a touch (0.001+/-) larger than the rest. Which, makes sense because that's the cylinder that was the worst and had the pitting (likely from a blown head gasket). So (you'll see from my chart), I marked each set of rings A-F and measured each in Cylinders 1-6. Good news was that most of the 2nd and 3rd rings were right about where I wanted them in the first place. The top (compression) rings had to all be filed to fit the spec I wanted. So, on to the specs.
Top Ring:
0.016 Min
0.028 Max
0.020 Set Point (this is the number I decided to use for my ring gap)
Middle Rings:
0.010 Min
0.022 Max
0.015 Set Point
Bottom Rings:
0.010 Min
0.022 Max
0.015 Set Point
So, set "E", middle ring, cylinder #5 of the original measurements was 0.017. So, I used that set in Cylinder #4. Otherwise, all the numbers were close enough to spec or the gap was smaller and I had room to work so I used A for #1, B for #2, etc. Next steps are crankshaft (main) bearing clearance and then I can install the crank permanently. Then, I'll put the rods and pistons together and get the rod bearing clearance numbers and install those permanently as well. After that, I'll have to do some more painting to get the front gear case and other accessories painted as the camshaft has to go in and the gear case has to go on before that. I still have some glass bead work to do, a turbo to rebuild (after paint), cam gear removal and install on the new camshaft, the list goes on. As of right now, the plan is to start the body removal the first weekend in MArch with a goal of running and driving 3 months after that (first part of June). OH, and I also have a transmission to tear down, inspect, rebuild if necessary. paint, etc, etc....should be fun!
Crankshaft is IN! First real parts in the motor and it feels good! The youngest found out it's difficult to torque main bearings, especially when the engine stand likes to roll around on you. So far, the hardest part of this "putting back together" process has been keeping everything super clean. Lots of dust bunnies seem to appear out of nowhere. First step was to put the top bearings in, set in the crankshaft, plasiguage the crank journals, set the bottoms in the main caps, torque everything down. Torque is done in 3 steps: 44, 88, and finally 130 foot pounds. Remove, check the plastiguage, clean it all again, put it all back together with assembly lube. The main bearing clearance spec is a MAX of 0.0047", and they were dead nuts at 0.004. So, at the top end, but the crank has been polished and it's probably got a ton of miles on it. I don't foresee it being an issue. On to the pics!!!
All the parts cleaned up Crank cleaned up and all the holes cleaned up with brake cleaner and then hit with air Plastigauge Measuring Tops installed with assembly lube Crank in Torqued snug as a bug!!
Next up....piston/rod/ring assembly, rod bearing clearance, final install. Then the camshaft and tappets, oil pump and a few other misc items before piston protrusion, TDC range, etc. I also need to clean and paint some more parts.
Well, ran into a bit of an issue last night. The other day I went to put my pistons and rods together. Reading the manual, it said that the pistons had to be at room temperature. I figured since both the wrist pins and pistons were the same temperature (cold), that it wouldn't matter. It does. They wouldn't fit. So, I went ahead and put one snap ring in and brought it all in the house to warm up. They're still pretty tight going in, but once I oil them up they should slide right in. BUT, I was looking at the pins and found a defective one. It's the pits.
So, I happen to have 2 extra sets in my garage because when I bought the kit, two pistons were damaged so they sent out 2 new ones. I did a review of the kit (and will continue to update) a while back. Hopefully by the end of the week and this weekend, I'll be about ready to slap the head on (provided everything goes to plan). More to come!
Love watching an engine build process. Did this exact same progression on my website (now gone) for my Falcon motor. Lots of hits and fun to document.
Question: Why use assembly lube on the crank bearings? I was taught, years ago, to use a very light scotch brite to prep and standard oil for assy. Done it that way for years and never an issue. Race car goes mid 9's on this type of build technique. I do however use assy lube on the cam. Just wondering, not a big deal.
I certainly enjoy the work and sharing!! Thanks for following along!
As far as the assembly lube on the mains, I have a technical manual from the Army that I'm using for the build and it says to use assembly lube on them. No other real reason than that. I also have the Dodge service manual for that year engine (though it didn't come from a Dodge) and I haven't checked it to see what it says as the Army manual is VERY detailed.
I've never rebuilt one and I do have to say that I'm a little apprehensive about the break in of the new cam, so I figure a little extra lube won't hurt anything. Nothing like firing it for the first time (or essentially the first time), cranking it up to 2,000 RPM and letting it eat for 20 minutes to make the pucker factor go way up!! On the upside, I suppose if it's gonna let go, that'll be the time it does!
Finally pulled the trigger on new springs. I'd been dead set on the V/Mod B plan and had decided I was gonna mod the B's myself when the time came. I don't want much lift, if any at all and I have a set of Michelins (stock size) that should last me quite a while. I don't want to change them out for a larger size unless absolutely necessary (and I don't want it to look weird). So, I decided on the ProComp springs. 22415 for the rear and 22210 for the front. I'll remove the rear block for sure and depending on how it sits, I may modify further based on Sammie's thread. Best I can tell from the suspension thread is I'll be sitting right around 27" from center of hub to fender. That means I'll gain a few inches over where I'm at with the stock springs I currently have. Got them from Amazon so I could get free shipping (and honestly they have very competitive pricing anyway). Also ordered the Russell braided brake line 5 piece kit and a quart of chassis saver in gloss black for the frame. Now to figure out what shocks I want.....leaning towards the KYB if I can find ones that are appropriate size (length).
All major running gear installed!! Woo! This past weekend, the rods were mated up with pistons, rings installed, assemblies installed in the motor, front gear case on, tappets (lifters) installed, camshaft gear bolt torqued, oil pump installed, and camshaft installed. Everything took about 4 hours of steady work. I would have taken more pictures, but my hands were full, oily, and greasy with assembly lube. All the clearances came back within spec: gear lash and end play for the crank, oil pump, and cam. All the bearings are new, so I didn't expect anything to be out of spec. Next up will be the rear main seal, for which I'll have to remove the motor from the stand, pickup tube, oil pan, tappet cover, front seal, front gear case cover. Planning on giving a local shop a call today or tomorrow as I'l want my injection pump gone through to make sure everything is up to snuff and have them run the injectors through as well. Debating on whether or not to have them put in new governor springs. Probably should since they'll have it on the flow tester and running the pump to make sure everything goes as planned there. Here's to hoping no major work needs done to the pump!! On to the pics!!
Tappets in their holes Oil pump and gear case on, ready to install the camshaft, block upside down Oil pump installed Camshaft ready for lube Camshaft in and retainer bolted and torqued
Procomp Springs arrived last night while I was out at the store. Shout out to my better half helping the UPS guy unload them and get them into the shrinking space inside the garage (even though she was a little perturbed at the fact that she bruised her leg and smashed a finger). I'm not super happy with the fact that they were obviously floating around in the back of the truck, but no major shipping damage aside from scraped up paint. I was thinking they were powder coated initially, but apparently not. I'll have to touch up the paint when they go in.
More work on the motor this weekend. I had intended to install the dampener, mark it for TDC, pull the engine off the stand, install the rear main, pickup tube, and oil pan, and then re-hang it. That didn't work out. So, two total snafu's this weekend: 1. The dampener bolts are too long because the original engine had a massive pulley mounted on the front (it was in a bus and I don't need them); and 2. I broke my brand new water pump. I'm blaming it on the time change. IT was only after I had worked on other things that I realized I should just cut the bolts I have shorter and use them, which I'll do. The water pump is a different issue. Essentially, the impeller sits VERY close to the inside of the block. The manual tells you to make sure that it spins freely, which I was doing as I was installing the two bolts. First Install, it locked up. Removed, sanded the block as it was a little more crusty than I originally thought. Cleaned everything up, went to put it back in, and I had it almost all the way seated and it locked up again. I looked down at the housing and a crack was opening up. I'll get a hold of the vendor later today and see make sure I have the correct part and probably end up ordering a new one. The impeller is pressed onto the shaft, so I suspect that it wasn't all the way on. There's also a rather large and thick o-ring that needs compressed while installing. With only two bolts holding it on, I'll have to be careful for sure. So, I moved on to other things: timing pin, oil cooler, and rocker pedestals. The timing pin was pretty straightforward. Take apart, clean, change o-rings, install. Two torx screws, locktite, and torque to 48 Inch pounds. Easy Peasy. Oil cooler was a little more involved in the cleanup. It was pretty dirty and had paint left on it, which I got most of off (the paint). Clean all the parts, wire wheel the bolts, install the parts, find the gaskets, put it on. However, the gasket kit comes with two gaskets and they are different. So, I dug out the old one and compared to place the correct one. The gasket that goes on the block is metal with flimsy rubber around some of the bolts. There are 2 gaskets and two main plates that have to be sandwiched together and then bolted on. I ended up lining them up enough to get two bolts through as a package (away from the flimsy rubber holes),set it in, and then work all the bolts in. It's a bit delicate, so I took my time after just breaking my water pump. Got all the bolts in and started and then worked my way around slowly running them all in by hand and lining everything up to make sure I didn't mess up that gasket. The manual doesn't have a torque sequence, so I started in the middle (vertical) and worked my way out. Torque is 18 foot pounds. After that, I went ahead and worked my rocker pedestals over. I had one that was pretty rusty (probably the #5 piston as that's where the problems were originally). They have the main pedestal with two rods, the rocker, a washer, and a snap ring. They're very simple to take apart. Cleaned all the oil holes with brake cleaner, scrubbed them down, removed the adjusters and cleaned them up, hit everything with compressed air to make sure it was all dry, hit with assembly lube, and put back together. I also put a squirt of oil in the holes on top of the rocker.
Overall, a good day in the garage with decent weather. On to the pics!
Timing pin All cleaned up and ready for assembly Installed, operates freely, and lines right up with the cam gear. Water pump Inside the block where the impeller sits
Rocker Pedestal rebuild This one was from #5. It cleaned up pretty good. Adjusters were very tight. About halfway through, I got smart and hit it (lightly) with an impact to get them loose. Fully disassembled Most of them looked like this Fully back together and lubed up
Outside prior to cleaning Inside of outer part, dirty Cooler core filthy Ready for installation. This is the package that all goes together Bolt that holds the spring and plunger Plunger Spring that hold the plunger down Inner gasket with flimsy rubber Package installed with bolts started Fully installed and torqued
More progress this past weekend! Got the following installed: Tappet cover, rear main seal and housing, block heater, lift pump, oil pan, and head assembly. I had originally, decided to just hang the motor on the hoist and do the rear main, but once I had ~800 pounds swinging in the air, the pucker factor forced me to set it down. And, I'm glad I did. I've never put a rear main seal in, so orienting it was a little weird at first with the seal driver. Once I had it placed correctly, I was able to put it most of the way on by hand and only used a hammer on it to drive it home. From there, the housing bolts got tightened and back on the engine stand it went. That was a bit of a challenge to do myself as the stand and hoist don't fit together very well. What I ended up doing is installing the bolts and then just sliding the part that bolts to the engine back into the stand itself. After I got it back on the stand, I rotated it over as the extra gasket material has to be cut away from the rear main seal housing (After tightening the bolts). Once I did that, I realized it wasn't exactly flush where the oil pan meets the block, so had to loosen it up a bit to make sure it sits flush. From there, installed the pickup tube and oil pan using the black RTV sealant. From there, rotate the assembly back over to install the tappet cover. I purchased an aftermarket tappet cover that has a cork gasket and small bushings that sit behind the cover. They aren't welded on, so the instructions say to use some RTV on them and stick them to the back of the cover and install the bolts. They then say to install all the bolts and then take one out at a time and use blue locktite. In my infinite wisdom, I let it sot overnight, thinking that the RTV would cure enough to make sure the bushings didn't fall down. So, next day I start pulling them, locktite, reinstall. Got to the 5th one and CLINK! UGH! Went ahead and finished out the last bolt. I used a stick magnet with a piece of tape on the end to try and stick the bushing and bring it out. That didn't work, so I had to run and grab a parts grabber as I didn't have one. Was able to get a hold of the bushing, but it was too big to fit out of the pushrod hole. I could get it manipulated around to line it up with the hole, but with the claw in it, the bolt wouldn't fit. So, I used a small awl, put it in the hole, went back to the tape on a stick, stuck it real good, pulled the awl, insert bolt. WHEW! Disaster averted!! I would have had to completely remove the tappet cover, destroying the gasket (for which I'd have to ask the guy who made it to send me a new one). I would have been super irritated. Next up was the block heater. Simple enough. Knock out one of my brand new, just installed and painted freeze plugs, and install the heater. Pretty simple, but I was a little irritated with the fact that I totally forgot about having the heater on the shelf. Oh well. Next was the lift pump. Plunger rides on a camshaft lobe, so I dabbed a bit of assembly lube on it, built the gasket and spacer package, and carefully placed it in there. It's a bit of a challenge because the plunger wants to slide around on the camshaft, but Once I got the bolts started, I was able to press it all the way in by hand and then tighten the bolts. Last piece was the head. I ended up using the gasket form the kit I bought. The kit maker is MaxiForce and the kit came out of a diesel shop in Memphis. While most (if not all) Cummins guys will say to never use anything but a Cummins or Felpro head gasket, no matter what, I used this one. I may smack myself later for it. But, the gasket was an exact match to the stock head gasket that came out of the engine (I kept it for comparison). The colors are all the same, all the same holes, same construction and feel, same everything. So, I'm gonna run it as I believe that this is in fact either a Felpro or Cummins gasket. Prior to installing the head, I did check piston protrusion and rechecked my valve installation. Piston protrusion was right around .020, which is on the low side of the spec. I found it tough to be able to measure, but I think I got a good enough measurement to be confident I won't have issues. Some of the valve springs had spacers in them (Between the spring and head) that I found when I changed to the 60lb springs. So, I removed the springs, installed the keepers, and measured the valve height. All came back very close to the same, so the spacers stay. This is to ensure that all the valve have roughly the same spring tension. There are measurement tools to do this check, but I don't have them, so this is the only way for me to check. I also measured the valve depth to head deck, all within spec. THEN, I got to install the head. It's heavy (115 pounds) and awkward for one person, and I would have been better off using the hoist. I placed the gasket on the block, got it all lined up, and was able to set it down almost exactly where it needed to be. It sat up on the front dowel, so I was able to look at all the holes and move it ever so slightly and get it to drop. From there, I put in all the pushrods. Glad I used assembly lube in the tappets because that gave me a positive "feel" for making sure they were in the right hole. Put a little dab on lube in all the tops where the rockers go, set all the rocker pedestals in place, oil on all the head bolt threads, run them all down by hand. Run the pedestal bolts in by hand, and the fun begins. I won't go through the actual torque sequence, but there are 26 bolts in all and here's how it goes:
1. All 26 to 66 foot pounds
2. Recheck all 26 to 66 foot pounds
3. Long bolts that go through the rocker pedestals only to 89 foot pounds
4. All 26 turn 90 degrees
5. Overcheck all 26 to 102 foot pounds. If one is loose, loosen completely and retorque using the sequence.
6. Torque the rocker pedestal bolts to 18 foot pounds
After that, it was valve adjustment time. There's a chart in the manual, but essentially, place the motor at TDC compression (timing pin engages), adjust certain ones, them rotate 1 full turn, adjust the others. Intake is 0.010 and exhaust is .020. Simple enough. They'll get adjusted again after I do a retorque on the head, and again after the first run.
Overall a great weekend in the garage, weather was pretty nice, and now I have basically a built engine!! I have issues with my injection pump that I'm dealing with, but I'll leave that for another day. On the the Pictures!!!! Main seal with driver This is not the correct orientation Partially installed Housing and gasket Seal fully installed Almost all the way in
I'll get a hold of the vendor later today and see make sure I have the correct part and probably end up ordering a new one. The impeller is pressed onto the shaft, so I suspect that it wasn't all the way on. There's also a rather large and thick o-ring that needs compressed while installing. With only two bolts holding it on, I'll have to be careful for sure. So, I moved on to other things: timing pin, oil cooler, and rocker pedestals. The timing pin was pretty straightforward. Take apart, clean, change o-rings, install. Two torx screws, locktite, and torque to 48 Inch pounds. Easy Peasy. Oil cooler was a little more involved in the cleanup. It was pretty dirty and had paint left on it, which I got most of off (the paint). Clean all the parts, wire wheel the bolts, install the parts, find the gaskets, put it on. However, the gasket kit comes with two gaskets and they are different. So, I dug out the old one and compared to place the correct one. The gasket that goes on the block is metal with flimsy rubber around some of the bolts. There are 2 gaskets and two main plates that have to be sandwiched together and then bolted on. I ended up lining them up enough to get two bolts through as a package (away from the flimsy rubber holes),set it in, and then work all the bolts in. It's a bit delicate, so I took my time after just breaking my water pump. Got all the bolts in and started and then worked my way around slowly running them all in by hand and lining everything up to make sure I didn't mess up that gasket. The manual doesn't have a torque sequence, so I started in the middle (vertical) and worked my way out. Torque is 18 foot pounds. After that, I went ahead and worked my rocker pedestals over. I had one that was pretty rusty (probably the #5 piston as that's where the problems were originally). They have the main pedestal with two rods, the rocker, a washer, and a snap ring. They're very simple to take apart. Cleaned all the oil holes with brake cleaner, scrubbed them down, removed the adjusters and cleaned them up, hit everything with compressed air to make sure it was all dry, hit with assembly lube, and put back together. I also put a squirt of oil in the holes on top of the rocker. 
