hey guys, I have a problem i ran into on my block while putting it back together. I just recently bored out the cylinders 40 over and purchased a complete master rebuild kit. The bearings are oversized .010. Now according to the specs, a 59 y-block 292 main caps should be torqued to 95-100 ft lbs. however when i torqued it to 95 ft lbs, the damn crank wouldnt move.At this point i already have the pistons installed and the timing gears. Is it normal for the crank not to turn once it is torqued to specs? Also when i was installing the #7 pistons the bottom piston ring, the last one warped on me. Will i have to replace the entire set of 3 rings on the bottom of that piston or can i just install without that last thin ring??? some senarios please if you can.

 

No it is not normal. With all the pistons cam and timing gears in place, the crank should turn with approx. 30 lbs of torque applied in a newly machined motor. Are you certain that the main caps were replaced in the proper sequence and orientation? They are not interchangeable, and the front of each cap needs to go back in place facing the front.

The first thing I would do is plastiguage the main bearings and determine their clearance.

 

well, how do i know where each cap goes? they are'nt numbered like the connecting rods were.

 

They may have punch marks on each one. I don't remember if mine were already like that or if I punched them before disassembly though. The machine shop did actually turn down the crank .010, correct? They didn't simply clean it up. I've learned to never assume even the obvious.

 

Oh yeah, about that ring, it is there for a good reason. I don't know what exactly, but I would not leave it out. You've clearly spent a lot of time and money on this motor - don't risk it by being cheap and sloppy now or it will come back to bite you big later.

 

Certainly agree with Sam on the wiper ring. Maybe someone here has an incomplete set of rings to get another wiper ring. Are the rings cast? Just curious.

Yeah look closely at the caps for marks like punch marks. If none are found, I once matched up a set by looking at the machine marks of caps and matching machined block surface. Actually on the block there were what I can describe only as faint shaddows on the machined surfaces that also helped. It was like matching to faint ink blotches. It required a strong light.
However if the block was tanked the "shaddows" may be even more difficult or impossible to see.

The worst case scenario is that you cant make a positive determination on the caps, and then you would be best off taking the motor back down and hauling the block back to the machine shop to check cap and bore alignment.

The connecting rod caps are the same song. Each cap must go back onto the rod it came from and in proper orientation. If that wasnt done, it isn't too hard to get them sorted out using the matching machine marks method.

Just keep on track and be patient. Even if errors were made, they can be learned from. I had my motor all ready for assembly. Full balancing performed. One day I was in a hurry and rotated the motor on the stand forgetting that number 1 cylinder was left with a bare rod and piston in the hole with no rings and cap removed. Crash, and saw one rod and piston bouncing off the leg of the motor stand. Ruined the piston and had to buy another set, luckily finding one piston closely matching the weight of the trashed slug.