[dataway]

Jeez, that had to be making some noise.

[wbnapier]

Oddly, no noise. The "step" in the pilot bushing is bizarre. I need to see if the tranny input shaft is galled.

The ID of the pilot bushing is too large, there is slop when it is fitted on the input shaft of the tranny. I'm not sure if it was like that from day one or is sloppy as a result of some other alignment problem.

Also, I will go back to using factory thin head bolts, so they clear the clutch springs.

What is your opinion on the clutch? Do you think the springs are compromised with that level of wear?

I'll send out better picks of everything later

[tom s]

There are a few things I change whenever I SEE them.Pilot bearings,throwout bearings and clutch discs are 3 of them!If the pressure plate looks good and flywheel look good I usually clean them up and reuse them.Just went through this 2 weeks ago when I swapped engines in my 69 bird.FWIW,Tom

[Murf]

I’m not trying to be insulting but is there any chance the disc was put in backward? It can happen. DAMHIK!


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[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Clutch disc looks like it was in correct,the sprung HUB goes toward the pressure plate.. long head bolts on the flywheel mount look to be the causal part.

How is the ID of the pilot bushing?

The crank may have not been machined for a pilot bushing, and someone made a custom bushing(not necessarily well ), it does not "appear" to have been spinning in the crank. The diameter of where the flywheel meets the crank can be telling of the year of the crank, also if it has thin counterweights. Casting # to start with can rule out if it is a late crank with smaller mounting hub.

If it is not a close fit to the trans input shaft pilot OD, someone may have blown it there on size, or it may have worn from disc to bolt interference.

Did it have a gear crunch going into gear at idle or increased rpm with vehicle stopped?

You need to make sure it is 455 crank also, and not a shorter stroke!

Post up pics of heads, block, crank and rods, pistons.
ID 'ing what you have is important going forward.
There may have been no noises because everything may have self clearanced ...

More pics of input shaft and bushing could be very telling.

A measure of the depth from flange and width of pilot bush/bearing bore in the back of the crank should tell if work will need done there. I don't believe there is a definitive way to know by casting #, some are machined....some are not. Crap shoot unless you know it is the original crank...to that engine.

What is the engine code on RF of block??
2 capital letters stamped just below deck surface. ALso casting # on R REAR SIDE of block. And year by dizzy pad, if there is one.

[63gpman]

I had issues with the flywheel bolts hitting the springs. Easy fix was to replace the bolts with the Mr. Gasket 914 thin head bolts. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...SABEgKCRfD_BwE

[wbnapier]

Murf, don't worry about being insulting, I thought maybe I screwed up big time too and put it in backwards! But, how would I have driven the car so many miles? It wouldn't function if it was in backwards?

STEELCITYFIREBIRD, good points. I will do as you suggest tomorrow or Thursday and post the engine ID info, etc. and better pics of some of these things.

Tonight I did a little more tear down and found another issue. The valve lash was really loose on a bunch where the pushrod would jiggle and spin quite a bit. The plugs were pretty nasty too. Pics below and to follow.

Rockers are Comp Cams 1.52 Rollers. The pushrods are 7262 Comp Cams. The cam looks like an FT.

[wbnapier]

Tranny input shaft doesn't look too bad from the pilot bearing issue.

[wbnapier]

Some head and block ID numbers.

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Looks like the casting flash was cleaned up in the block valley.
Get the 2 digit code on the RF of block below head .
http://www.wallaceracing.com/cgi-bin/engine3.cgi

Date codes on heads too.

[wbnapier]

Does anyone have any machine shop recommendations in San Diego County?
I'm thinking I can get the block and heads to one later next week.

I know of, but have no experience with a few:

http://wamenginesd.com/
http://arceengines.com/
https://www.mjmengines.com/
https://www.machinetechracing.com/
http://www.paradisemotorsport.com/machinework.php

[STEELCITYFIREBIRD]

Can't help you on the shop recommendation.

Check the rocker arm ball pivot area, you may have heavy wear there, hence the loose rockers. Probable, those rockers are known for galling the pivots.
Bring them the heads block crank and rods, and the tin/valley pan to be cleaned, Intake as needed.

Soda pop 2 liter caddy from local convenience store makes nice tray for protected transporting piston/rod assemblies.

[tom s]

Not sure who is good down there,Dugans in the IE is very good.I now use Engine Supply in Santa Ana.He just finished up a 428 RA V engine for me.Tom

[65sport]

Originally Posted by Scott65

If it doesn't have dished pistons, the 48 heads and resulting compression ratio are likely the reason for needing octane enhancement.

X2. Over 11:1.

[65sport]

# 5 picture (right hand side) shows what might be a bad cam lobe. This can make the rockers loose if it wears down the base circle.

[wbnapier]

I took off a head tonight. Here's a photo of one of the pistons.

The lash was sloppy everywhere.

More to come...

[wbnapier]

More pics.

Starting the hunt for a reputable machine shop with an appropriate Pontiac torque plate.

[Scottch]

Tom S.
Can you give a little more information about why you decided to go with Engine Supply in Santa Ana? I am getting ready to get some machine work done on my numbers matching 400 and could really use a recommendation on this. How were they on getting things done in a timely manner? How were their costs? Sounds like they have experience with Pontiacs? Did you supply all the parts or did they make recommendations and supply the parts?
Thanks in advance for your help.

[mgarblik]

Well, from the pics so far, some things are clear. You stated the engine was leaking a quart of oil every 100 miles. That's quite an oil leak. I would estimate a substantial portion of that oil loss is consumption from the engine. You have an oil burner there. Lots of burnt oil residue on the pistons, combustion chambers and valve fillets. Good news is that's why your overhauling it. Put the valves back in the guides and wiggle them. Some may be worn guides/seals, some may be pistons/rings. The need for octane boost is more a function of the oil burning than the compression ratio most likely. As an engine burns oil, the octane rating of the fuel charge goes down requiring higher octane fuel to essentially burn the 2-cycle mixture you are feeding it. It can all be fixed and boy will you be happy when you stab the throttle on that fresh engine!

[wbnapier]

Well, I am down to the short block and there is catastrophic damage.

It is a miracle the car drove.

The oil pick up came off and was loose in the crankcase AND I had a SECOND oil pump driveshaft inside the crankcase. The photos speak for themselves.

The car actually drove well with no noise! To round things off, there was a random dowel pin that came out of water galleries.

I have no explanation for any of this, or how the car drove.