[mechanickeith]

Its my own fault!!! I was pushing the limits in fuel economy!! Had her jetted a little too lean!!! I finally did it in & burn'd an exhaust valve. I have 9 years & over 140,000 miles since I overhauled the engine. last year it started a slight missfire/chugging & slowly got worse. I ran a compression test in March & # 1 cyl was down to 60 psi, 2,3 & 4 were at 135, no blowby. Ran a leak down, exhaust valve!!! Ran another comp test couple of weeks ago, down to 30 psi!!! Time to come apart.

Got the top end apart tonight. Was very surprised to find that the rockers & associated gear was very clean!!!! 4 to 5 oil changes a year will do that!!! The only oil filter I have ran since overhaul is the NAPA 1049. The cylinders still have cross hatch & no discernable ridge. Pistons have little carbon buildup. Number 1 exh valve was sunk into the seat & had 2 burn'd spots. # 2 looks fine & # 3 & 4 are sunk but not burn'd. All intakes are ok. Looks like I need 4 valve seats, 4 exh valves & guides. All lifters & cam looks great!!

I am pulling the short block out, going to put in a carbon graphite rear seal, new front seal, timing chain & check the bearings, If everything looks ok, will toss it back together!! The bottom end should be ok, 65 psi oil pressure cold & 30 hot in gear at idle.

Soon, I will no longer be able to tell friends I am running on 3/8 of an engine!!!

Will keep everyone updated as progress continues.

Keith

[elefantrider]

That kind of durability is amazing, especially in the hot desert of Phoenix. What kind of oil are you running? What type of driveline do you have and has it proven to be as durable as the engine? Chris

[mechanickeith]

Chris, I have allways ran Shell Rotella T 15-40 oil, NAPA 1049 filter, with LOF every 3000 or 90 days. Car is numbers matching with trans axle. I pulled the trans 5 years ago & all I did was to reseal, gaskets, & adjust band & put back in. Trans is starting to show its age, has a hesitation in gear, HOT in the summer, can feel it slip a bit till rpms come up
some. I have a 4 core radiator, flex fan with a 62 Tempest A/C fan shroud. 180 stat, runs at 190- 230 on the gage in the summer. ( BTW, car has a total of 379,000 miles!!!)

[TempestFugit]

379,000! Awesome! That tells you something about the soundness of the original design. At Norwalk last year (or the year before) there was a guy with a '63 (Eitel's car) that has been a constant driver (40+yrs) with a 421 (slightly de-tuned) in it since '63 and is still running on the original automatic transaxle. Shows to go you what proper maintenance and sensible driving can do.

[mechanickeith]

First.....Some things to remember!!!

1. Make sure the parking brake is set real tight!!!! Enough said!!

2. Make a list as you go! Dont wait till your at NAPA & try & remember everything!

3. And the most, most , most important thing to remember!!!! What ever you do, DO NOT EVER ,let the wife of 32 years see in the back of HER brand new 07 Vibe after you have come home from work!!!!! ( 1 cherry picker, 2 floor jacks, 4 jack stands, 2 ramps, 1 tool box, box of rags, box of parts & cylinder head back, from machine shop!!)

Now the Tempest stuff!!! I started digging back into the motor tonight. Looks like it is going to come all the way apart!. I found a mark in the #2 cylinder about 2/3 of the way down in the bore. Looks like it was caused by the piston rings. mark is about 2 inches long going around the bore. (not up & down like a broken ring score mark)

This engine is allready .030 over, may not clean up at .060!! This mark is deep!!! There is no score mark on the piston. looks like there was a sand pit in the cyl that the rings made larger. I will have the block at the machine shop on Monday to get everything checked out. may just sleeve that one hole & bore it out to .030. Other 3 holes look great!!! .002 out of round & taper, well within limits. Pistons are fine. All bearings were ok, no copper showing!!! After 144,000 miles still had .008 on the thrust!!

The rubber front seal was just starting to seep. The balancer bolt was not tight!!! Oil was leaking out around the bolt/washer. Checked balancer, its ok, not cracked. The old fiberglass style rope rear seal was junk!!!! parts of the seal were worn out so bad, looks like it was disintigrating (sp). Timing chain was real loose!!! I was changing it every 2 years for a while but this one has been in for 4 years.

Cylinder head got vatted, 4 exh valves & exh seats, ( I provided the valves ) 8 guides, decked .005, all valves & seats ground, spring height checked & set, assembled, out the door, $150.00!!!

Getting late!!! Must sleep. Will pick up on it Sat. night.

Later, Keith

[elefantrider]

$150, nice price for all that work.

Ever think about running a gear drive on the street? The big advantage is it will never stretch and you don't have to worry about it breaking like a chain. I understand Milodon's gear drive will fit under the stock cover and makes less noise than most.

[mechanickeith]

I use this machinest a lot & send a ton of work his way!! He allways gives me a good deal!!! I used a Milodon for a year. As this is a stocker daily driver, the noise it made masked out everything else, drove me nuts, so I went back to a chain. That gear drive is going into a blown 4 bolt main 4 banger. Noise wont be an issue then.

Well, it rained hard this morning & is sprinkling now!! Dont think I will get anything done tonight. have to work at night!! 110 degrees during the day, only 85-88 at night.

Later, Keith

[mechanickeith]

Block is totally gutted & at the machine shop. Will need a sleeve in # 2 & bore'd back out to .030 The crank is fine, sent it out for a polish. Everything is going back in with new rings, bearings, timing chain & gaskets. Should have the block back Thursday evening. Cleaning everything during the week & reassemble the engine this weekend. Hopefully be able to drive it to work next Monday!!!!!

[mechanickeith]

Things have not gone well this weekend!! I didnt get the block back till late Saturday afternoon! Sleeve is done, all parts are clean & painted. Got the crank back after work on Friday. Did final inspection before reassembly & took inventory of everything, cant find my .030 set of piston rings!!!!!!! Found this out at 4:30 pm Saturday. No place in town to get them sat evening, sunday & monday out of the question!!! All I did this weekend is set in the main bearings, new graphite seal, crank, caps & torque to specs. Installed the new timing chain set & fuel pump eccentric, timing cover with new seal & install the balancer & torque.

All this between dust storms, some rain & 110 + degree heat!!! I can have a set of rings at the shop before noon Tuesday!! Will start back on it Tuesday evening after the sun goes down!!

Keith

[mechanickeith]

Short block is back together, everything has fresh paint, engine compartment is clean & buffed/ shined up, got short block back in & bolted up, started to finish assembly when I had a MASSIVE brain fart!!! I forgot to put in my other flywheel!!! I was going to trade out the stock 61 flywheel & put in a 62-63 4 cyl flywheel!! The 61 weighs 39 pounds!!!! The 62-63 weighs 17 pounds!!!! 22 pound difference!!! One of the reasons for the Hp gains in the 62-63 4 bangers! I am NOT pulling this thing out again. I am swapping the flywheel with block installed!!!
I am getting this done slowly as work, family & nursing my wife back to health will allow!!

Keith

[Johnny406]

Nice project you have going, glad your wife didn't kill you over the parts/tools in her new ride.

Any pictures?

[mechanickeith]

As allways, everything in the world has got in the way of me working on my car!!! Only thing I have had time to do is read the latest copy of HPP!!!! Was surprised to see a pic of my car from this years Pontiac Heaven drags event here in Phoenix. It's on page 67, top right corner! Also in same pic is my latest 4 banger going in a 62 Lemans & some other goodies I have!

NOTHING is planned for Sunday!! I will get some reassembly done!!!

Keith

[Steve Barcak]

Good luck with it Keith. glad you got it in there. I bet you cannot wait to drive her again.

see you,
Steve Barcak www.pontiacheaven.org

"Real Poniacs only....no corporate nonsense!"

[mechanickeith]

Finally got some time to work on the car! Head is on & torqued, valvetrain is in & torqued, valvecover, starter & 4bbl manifold is on with some more touchup paint. Lighter flywheel is in with prop shaft & torqued with locktite!!!

Decided to make a few upgrades. Cant find the exhaust to go with the 4bbl so am putting on a 3 tube header. Never ran real well with the Rochester 4gc even after the last rebuild, so I am putting on a Carter AFB to see if it wakes it up some. I have never had any problems with the points ingition so am leaving it alone. Have new plugs, thermostat, hoses & belt. Radiator is back from being flushed/cleaned out. Still need to mount the water pump, (my own rebuild), pullys, fan, shroud & radiator. Fab a throttle for the Carter & need to get a choke cable assembly.

I was greeted this evening when I got home by the guy from the Phoenix Gov't for the neighborhood preservation program. Someone complained!!! I am working on my car in my own driveway!! Talked with him for about 45 min. Turns out he is a car nut!! I picked up a few things, told him it would not be apart much longer. He said he could see it was being worked on & not a clunker/junk car, so No citation this time.

Have to go tomorrow & pick up a cheap muffler with a header flange so I can get it to the shop for an exhaust system without getting a ticket. I think the local 24hr Checker has them for about $20.00 If it sounds ok, may just run a pipe with a turnout by the back tire & save a couple hundred at the muffler shop. Hope to have it running & on the road this weekend, cant wait!!!!

Keith

[mechanickeith]

I don't understand why this has taken so long!!!!!!! Here is the latest progress......

Water pump, fan shroud, new 19" flex fan & radiator is in. All new hoses T-stat & coolant is in.

Carburator is back from the shop & mounted. New fuel pump,lines & filter are mounted. Fabricated up some VERY adjustable throttle linkage for the AFB & got it mounted. Fab'd a bracket & mounted a manual choke cable.

Replaced a motor mount I found was broken when the block was out.

Went down & got a muffler, some pipe & hangers. Fabricated up an entire exhaust system from header collector to all the way out the back. 2 1/4" pipe end to end. Should breath a lot better!

Rechecked all fluids, turn'd on ignition to prime carb, (have an inline fuel pump in addition to the mechanical) Pump NOT running!!!! Check & found the battery was dead, go figure!!!! Get out charger & put on battery. Going to let it slow charge overnight.

Time to turn in, picked up tools & called it a night!! Am not going to fire this thing up at midnight!!!! Will start back on it tomorrow!!

Later, Keith

[Engine-Ear]

man I get more interested in tearing into a slant 4 with every thread I read on these things... Hmmm...like I need ANOTHER distraction!!

mechanickeith, how about posting a pic of your engine when you get a chance??

[mechanickeith]

Came out this morning, My battery & charger are GONE!!!! Driveway was blocked with cars, gate at sidewalk locked. Someone climbed over the fence & stole my battery & charger. Had charger tucked up under the front end & hood was down but only on the first latch. Time to get out the Mosberg!!! Have not had any problems at my house for over 5-6 years, not since I held a car thief at gunpoint till the cops arrived.

Engine-Ear, I dont have a digital camera. Will see if I can get a daughter to come over & get me some shots. I did have a good pic of my car with a engine & other stuff in the Nov High Performance Pontiac. I need to get some shots of the motor & exhaust for my own records.

Just looked over the rest of the car, looks like I have a coolant leak somewhere. Its dripping off of the headers. One more thing to do!!!

Later, Keith

[mechanickeith]

Got a battery, primed the oil to 80 psi while turning the crank, dropped in the dist. & set timing with a test light. Primed the fuel system & she fired right up!! Let it run for 30 min @ 2000 rpm & let it come down to an idle. Oil pressure @ 40 psi, water temp @ 180. I have a lot of tuning & adjusting to do, need to check everything!!!!! The coolant leak is coming off the back of the head from the intake manifold. I tightened it up some more but I think it is still seeping. May have to pull the intake back off. The exhaust high temp paint burn'd right off the headers!!! Thought it would last at least a day or two!!

Neighbors came out to see what all the noise was!! I think the glasspack is a little too loud!!! I have a couple other mufflers around here somewhere. Will have to dig them out & see what sounds best.

Club function in the morning & the boy's are coming over in the afternoon to help with some yard work & moving some cars around. May get time on sunday to tune & adjust.

Till then, Keith

[mechanickeith]

Put about 100 miles on her today!! I have to pull the carb back off. Has issues, cant get one fuel air mix screw to make a difference at idle. Now has a full new tune up. Plugs at .035, dwell at 75*, idle at 700 hot, with choke off. Timing at 8*. Has a lousy idle due to carb, runs great at rpm around town & on the freeway. Am taking it to work on monday to put it on the scope & sniffer to check everything out & fine tune. I still need to pull the exhaust back out & weld in a quieter muffler.

Next project is putting the new motor in the 62 LeMans!!!!

Later, Keith

[Jack Gifford]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

... Neighbors came out to see what all the noise was!! I think the glasspack is a little too loud!!!

Hey... don't take the "nice guy" thing too far- not sure I'd cave in that easily to the neighbors (ask Steve if my tractor is 'quiet')!
Congratulations- sounds like you're really enjoying getting the slant-4 going- and that you're the great mechanic that Steve described to me.