thebeebe5 Posted December 10, 2017 Author Report Posted December 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Bryan said: The threads look stripped up on the right side hole on the oil pump face, or am I seeing things? What's it for? Not stripped. And really the only threads that will matter are the ones between the send/receive holes where the plug will reside. Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 10, 2017 Author Report Posted December 10, 2017 (edited) Got as far as checking the flywheel for proper fit and getting a fixture made to accomodate the pully hole so the Sunnen balancer knows the crank orientation. It's bigger than any fixture we've needed to this point. Need to either add or remove about 30g at the back and 15g at the front. Will have to wait til Monday. Edited December 10, 2017 by thebeebe5 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 12, 2017 Author Report Posted December 12, 2017 (edited) Took me all day (it was my first try at balancing a rotating assembly) but am happy with the final result. I started with the crankshaft alone and got that to about .2 g front and back. Added the flywheel and did the same. Added the front pulley and ended up at .7 g and .1 g front to back. Installed the clutch which needed 30 g of weight added. My final numbers were. 07 g out at front and .01 g at the back. Definitely better than what that little engine was running on in the past I'm sure. A great day of learning!!! Edited December 12, 2017 by thebeebe5 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Posted December 17, 2017 Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere on this build. First thing today was cam bearing install. Mark the bearings for oil hole orientation and drive them in carefully with the cam bearing installation tool. They're stepped in size with the smallest diameter bearing rearmost. Cam bearings can be a real PITA sometimes and moreso with certain engines, but these went in beautifully and the cam turned textbook perfect, with no noticeable binding. 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) Then on to gapping rings. Piston manufacturers will have recommended ring gaps to be followed based on bore size. I use a piston inverted in the bore to push the ring in nice and square for an accurate measurement. Gapped my top rings to 0.015", second rings to 0.017" and oil control rings to 0.015". Unfortunately two of the top rings came out of the package with a gap already at 0.018"- 0.019", so they'll be replaced. I should have time to visit Total Seal on Monday and get what I need. Edited December 17, 2017 by thebeebe5 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) I also mark each ring for its respective cylinder. Once the rings were done I had just enough time to check the deck height of my pistons. Got the bearing top halves installed and lubed (since I'll be rotating the crankshaft for the measurement), and also snugged the maincaps with their bearing halves in place and a good supply of assembly lube on all surfaces. Edited December 17, 2017 by thebeebe5 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) To check the deck I assembled both #1 and #6 pistons onto their respective rods and installed their bearings. Noticed a tiny dimple in one of the bearings I used.... It was a simple matter of smoothing the raised bearing material with the outer edge of half of a broken ring Pat keeps on hand for just such situations. He'll also use it to scrape cam bearings if needed to acheive adequate cam rotation with some stubborn installations. It's a handy tool to keep around. The measurement is made without the rings in place so the piston can be rocked on its wrist pin to make the deck measurement accurately. Using a dial indicator on a magnetic stand set the needle to zero. Edited December 17, 2017 by thebeebe5 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) Then move the indicator over to the piston edge at the center of the pin and rock the piston by pushing down and then up while making note of the measurements. Recall I had these pistons made to stick out of the block to gain a small SCR bump as well as a better quench. Measurements were 0.025" down and 0.0335" up. Add the two numbers and divide by 2 to get the actual deck, which in this case turned out to be 0.02925". The deck measurement for piston #6 was 0.028", so the deck is not perfectly square, but that's a really minor difference and not something I'd want to try to correct for this build. Things are looking good so far! Sorry for the multiple posts, but I'd like to upload the best quality pictures I reasonably can in case anyone's interested. Edited December 17, 2017 by thebeebe5 3 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 23, 2018 Author Report Posted January 23, 2018 Been away for a while, mostly due to health issues. Spend some time in a hospital, got out and feel quite recovered so I went to the shop Saturday and got the valves and springs installed. That's all I got done besides more parts cleaning prior to the rest of the bottom end assembly hopefully next Saturday. And had other cars to work on, so not too much Plymouth time. Installed NOS replacement valves and reused the springs that were in the motor as they were on the money per the manual. Lost one of the original keeper halves but had ordered a few extra in anticipation of, so all good. Shimmed springs 0.060" for about an additional 7lbs spring pressure in case we do install a turbo at some poont which is the plan. Anyway, not much progress is still progress. I'm getting there.... 1 Quote
Mike36 Posted January 23, 2018 Report Posted January 23, 2018 Interesting.....thanks for the pictures and explanations. 1 Quote
Andydodge Posted January 23, 2018 Report Posted January 23, 2018 Beebe............just went thru the thread again and am still impressed with your ability to show what is done in the machining/assembly process..........many thanks..........sorry to hear about health issues, I trust things are o/k now...............being a hotrodder I liked the throwaway line about putting a hairdryer on the engine at some point........lol..........anyway keep up the good work.........thanks, andyd 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 24, 2018 Author Report Posted January 24, 2018 23 hours ago, Andydodge said: Beebe............just went thru the thread again and am still impressed with your ability to show what is done in the machining/assembly process..........many thanks..........sorry to hear about health issues, I trust things are o/k now...............being a hotrodder I liked the throwaway line about putting a hairdryer on the engine at some point........lol..........anyway keep up the good work.........thanks, andyd Thanks @Andydodge. I find it interesting and am happy to share. Hopefully its interesting/informative/useful information for someone. Yeah, was a touch of pneumonia that had me down. I'm 99%+ now. And I mentioned adding a turbo to a pal of mine that rolls a 800hp 55 Chevy and he laughed and said I never would, so I'm laying the groundwork . I'd like to finish the motor and dyno it, then head back to the shop and add a small unit for roughly 5lbs boost at the most. I'm not wanting to get the nose in the air, but I do want to see the look on his face when I cruise up next to him and give it gas and he realizes that I really did!! 1 Quote
Andydodge Posted January 25, 2018 Report Posted January 25, 2018 Well look after yourself..........last thing we want is you throwin' up all over the engine...........lol.........there was a post or thread on here a while ago that had some pics from Europe I think that had an engine with a turbo.............might be worthwhile asking here if anyone remembers it.........andyd 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 25, 2018 Author Report Posted January 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Andydodge said: Well look after yourself..........last thing we want is you throwin' up all over the engine...........lol.........there was a post or thread on here a while ago that had some pics from Europe I think that had an engine with a turbo.............might be worthwhile asking here if anyone remembers it.........andyd Thanks, mate! Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Posted January 27, 2018 Today's progress... pistons mounted to rods and rings installed. I'm awaiting that neoprene rear main seal so I can't finish the bottom end until it's in place. No worries. Plenty to do. I marked all my piston tops with an arrow pointing forward so that when I install I'm sure all the oil pee-holes are oriented correctly to lubricate the valvetrain. Installed double spiral locks in one side of the piston, oiled the contact surfaces up well with Torco engine assembly lube and slipped the pin in, then spun in two more spiral locks. 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Posted January 27, 2018 (edited) The assembled pistons rods and rings will be stored until I have the rms in hand. Edited January 27, 2018 by thebeebe5 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Posted January 27, 2018 Have to duck out of the shop early today so time for one more job. The oil pan. It was rusty inside. It was rusty outside. The only thorough way I'll be able to get the rust and leftover goop out is to bead blast it, and if I bead blast it I'd better be prepared to clean it thoroughly. Don't need a left over bead sneaking into the fresh engine. So, I drilled out all the baffles. Brian looked thrilled and thanked me for the extra TIG work I'd created. I've never been accused of not being able to create work. Now that it's clean inside and out I'll just need him to plug weld all the brand new holes shut for me. 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Posted January 27, 2018 (edited) Some of the goop stuck to the back of one of the baffles (factory baffles...? I don't know). All clean now. Edited December 24, 2021 by thebeebe5 Spelling Quote
Frank Elder Posted January 28, 2018 Report Posted January 28, 2018 I have always put a strong magnet in the bottom of the oil pan before reinstalling the pan. 2 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted January 28, 2018 Author Report Posted January 28, 2018 40 minutes ago, Frank Elder said: I have always put a strong magnet in the bottom of the oil pan before reinstalling the pan. I've heard of folks doing that, @Frank Elder. Also heard of madnetic drain plugs. I wonder if I could afix a magnet to this drain plug. It's obvious someone repaired this pan at some point as the drain plug area has been brazed, but I don't know if it's original or not. Its huge though.... requires a 1 1/4" socket...! I could easily drill it out and press fit a strong "rare earth" magnet in it prior to reassembly.... 1 Quote
thebeebe5 Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Posted February 11, 2018 Yesterday's progress. Don't feel like I got much done, but there were other jobs going on I was busy with, and any progress is progress. Definitely getting closer... Rear main seal was installed. The machinist Pat wasn't impressed with the included Fel Pro rope seal. I sourced and bought a neoprene seal, but when it arrived it was obvious that the seal halves were not going to mate well and didn't give me any confidence that the seal would keep oil in the engine. Called Jeggs to discuss the product as it looked defective, and I was directed to Tod Fitch's website on installation for a '29 Plymouth.... Nice sidestep. Definitely didn't want to use this seal. Ordered a Best Gasket rope replacement seal and got that installed first. Really impressed with the quality, and it actually includes instructions!! I trial fit the crankshaft a few times until I was sure the seal was making good contact 360 degrees around the seal. It's an interesting seal.... Took the trimmed ends apart and it's like a graphite impregnated plastic weave.... Not sure how else to describe it. Anyway, it went in quite well and I'm reasonably confident it will seal the back of the motor properly for me. Quote
thebeebe5 Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Posted February 11, 2018 Once the seal was set up in the seal retainer I took them off and set them aside and tackled the end play. Initially I found I had a 0.00" end play, but my target was going to be 0.004". If material needs to be removed from the thrust bearing when setting end play remove it from the non thrust side of the bearing. I measured the non thrust (or most forward thrust surface) of the bearing and sanded it slowly and carefully on a block until I'd reduced the thickness by 0.003" so as not to go over my target. Reinstalled bearing and crank and found I now had roughly 0.002"+ of end play whereupon I repeated the sanding process. Just took a couple of tries and I'm set right between 4 and 5 mil. Should be good here. Quote
thebeebe5 Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Posted February 11, 2018 Once I was satisfied with my end play I cleaned all the caps, bearing halves and crankshaft thoroughly and installed the crank (hopefully! for the final time. Running thin on time today. I'll install the already assembled pistons and rods next time. Quote
thebeebe5 Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) Brian (the shop owner) and I discussed a clean up head cut once the bottom end was complete, so we located my cylinder head to have a look at it. His sharp eye caught what looked like a crack under the water neck. Figures... He pulled out his magnaflux equipment, and sure enough there's a crack extending down into the #1 plug hole. Being water jacket it should'n't be a problem to have it welded up. That should get done this week and then we can cut the head for a nice gasket seal surface. Edited February 11, 2018 by thebeebe5 1 Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted February 11, 2018 Report Posted February 11, 2018 Could you post the Best Gasket Rope Seal instructions and is that what you did? Quote
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