Good news from the machine shop today
 

Finally got the call I was waiting for from the machine shop where I dropped off my engine. He said everything looks excellent! All of the oil galleries are clean. The crank is in great shape and doesn't need to be turned. So I ordered my new bearings today all standard size. Also all of the cylinders measure at 0.001" taper. My deck height is currently at 0.020 and he will deck it to 0.005. Also all of the pistons look like new. All he has left to do is deck the block, polish the crank and brake the glaze on the cylinders.He said he's going to try to have it all finished by the end of next week. The only thing I need to get yet is a new dipstick tube. I'm going to order the stainless steel one from our host.

Happy happy happy.

Jim

Yes! Lol he had called and asked if I could stop by the shop; I was expecting the worst. But I was looking at all the old bearings while he was dealing with a customer and everything looked great.

How much is a polish of the crank?

Not to sound, well,crazy but just how can he tell if oil galleys are clean unless he removed the front & rea plugs???

He did remove the front and rear plugs.

With all the work and labor my total is 300 so for just polishing the crank I'm not positive.

I ordered a stainless steel dipstick tube from our host yesterday so I should have everything I need by the time my block is done. I will be doing reassembly and am wondering If I should use blue lock tight on the threads of the rod studs upon reassembly?

Machine Shop Bill like that means a 1-piece oilpan gasket from Butler's sounds affordable.

I thought about one but seeing as how I'm well over on an already tight budget I'm going to use the complete gasket set I already have. I do however need to get another set of valve cover gaskets since I'm adding a valve cover spacer.

make sure you run a good oil pump 60 psi.

Nice to hear good news on a tear down and a fairly simple reassembly.
The one piece gasket is really nice but with some patience the stock type stuff will work. I really like to use Permatex (Right Stuff) seals very nice.
I personally dont use any thread locker inside a motor. If everything is clean and threads are straight then use a good calibrated Torque wrench and your good to go.

Cruiser, you sure seem to have a thing about oil galley plugs not being removed. It seems as though any thread having to do with oil galleys, you accuse shops[myself included] of not pulling oil galley plugs out. You obviously have had a bad experience in this area.

Spud, don't use Locktite on your rod bolts/nuts. If you have ARP bolts/nuts, then use ARP Ultra moly lube. If using stock bolts/nuts, use 30 weight motor oil. Torque them to specs, then go over them after they are all torqued down. None should turn anymore before reaching torque. If they do, they are stretching and need to be replaced. If the bolts/nuts come loose, it wasn't because you didn't use Locktite, but rather because they were not torqued down.

I will be using the stock studs and nuts for the rods as well as stock bolts for the heads and mains. Will 10w-30 be alright for lube as that is the weight I will be using for oil.

Congrats! I love to hear a happy shop story!

10-30 would probably be fine.

thanks! im looking forward to some official forward progress lol

I got the block back Friday. Saturday afternoon I received the new dipstick tube from our host. I wish it would've been a tighter fit than it was but with a little high temp rtv it went in snug. Double checked all of my oil clearances on rods and mains and all are 0.0015-0.002". The rotating assembly all went together smooth as did the windage tray, lower dipstick tube and oil pump. I'm still waiting on my cam and lifters which I'm not too happy about as its been just over 2 weeks now. So since I'm waiting now I went ahead and bagged the engine where paint should no go and primed and painted it and set the already painted parts on the block and everything looks great. So I guess I'll update again once my cam and lifters arrive

Awesome! I always liked that part of the build. Getting new paint on the block and seeing how its gonna look. Grats! :)

Thanks! It's finally a part of the car that's coming together

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmp9bhct3nu4gx3/IMAG0019.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5b3kx9709d69bn/IMAG0020.jpg

nice......love the assembly stage.....good time to crank up the tunes and put all the metal back in place......zen

Well, being its been over 2 weeks now and still no cam and lifters I called the company and apparently it got lost along the way somewhere. After a few hours of headaches and nearing the end of my patience the company agreed to just refund my money. I won't name the company but I will be reordering my cam and lifters as soon as the refund comes through and hopefully will have the cam by the end of the week.

Usually $50 - 75

My total cost was $300, of that I know $140 was for decking the block. So $160 covered cleaning the pistons and rods, taking all measurements, baking and cleaning the block, polishing the crank and installing new cam bearings and casting plugs.