[Onestone]

Ok, I will take that into account, upgrading the front crankshaft seal to a lip seal. Great hint with the alignment tool, I think I can make one with 3D print.

Can anyone say something about the compression?

[Onestone]

Things are moving forward

I carefully removed the transmission last week:




I brought it to the workshop already, which will do the rebuild. I hope they will contact me next week so I can take a look inside whats the problem. I'll do some pictures if I get the chance.

Beside this "transmission mission" other things are going on too:

I took the power steering pump out, cleaned and painted it, and did a new (liquid) seal between the pump und the reservoir - another big leakage eliminated



I also replaced all water hoses - including removing all the water flanges, sanding and painting them, new seals, new screws tec. I also took the thermostat out and literally coocked it, to check if it is still working as it should Forgot to take more pictures...:




A few days ago I ordered the big gasket set for this engine, and also the engine paint in the original color.

I' will remove the engine soon, "beautiful engine" mission incoming

I'm still not sure about the compression I measured - is 110psi a good compression for this engine?
The answer to this question would have a major impact if I do the small engine job (all gaskets, cleaning, new painting) or turn the big wheel (cyl honing, new piston rings, regrind valves etc.)... Any hints are welcome!

[Onestone]

Next step happened: Engine -> out
Fairly easy since the transmissionw as already out:



First parts reconditioned already:

[Onestone]

Last week I had the appointment with the workshop, to check out what the problem of my trans was.
The result was really frustrating, because a lot of the parts are damaged... See the pics:

These are all the parts of my trans we checked out together, a lot of marks from the brake bands:


This is how the reverse cone looked, disastrous:


...this is how it should look:


This pump was at least ok:


Screws from neighbor parts have damaged and blocked one of the planetary gears:


All the clutches where completely black, burned out and most of them hat a wavy surface becaue of too much heat.


Also the brake bands were in no good condition, heavily worn and rather egg-shaped than round.

The good news is, that I got parts from another Hydramatic transmission (that`s where the other rev cone pic is from), from a '56 Chevy pickup (I guess). It is slightly different, shorter propeller shaft housing for example, but some of the defective parts can be used (the rev cone e.g.). The workshop owner told me that they can rebuild it with these parts, and renew all wear parts. It will take about 6-8 weeks they told me.

The bad news is the price, I will be even more expensive than I expected

While the transmission is being rebuild, I will take care of the engine. Started building a stand:



The gasket set also arrived a few days ago. More to come shortly.

[Onestone]

I started to dismantle the engine, really dirty inside:



Are these the original gaskets? Cylinderhead gaskets are fully metal, the intake manifold also has a metal part in the middle. Completely different from the new ones I got from Best Gastkets. Looks to me like this engine has never been opened so far... Or what does the experts say?

Valve train sort box (c) by Amazon package :


I discorvered that about half of the valvelifters have no more shock absorbing function, so I think i will replace them completely. Just saw they are available again on RockAuto

While all this work was really dirty, I had the need to do something beautiful too, so I cleaned, sanded and painted the intake manifold:



Today's two questions:

- I discovered that if I turn the crankshaft, the camshaft starts to move only after the camshaft has already turned approx 5 dgrees. This isn't normal I think, could be a worn out timing chain or loose timing gear, right? I Haven't opened the timing cover yet.

- How do I pull off these two bolts without destroying anything???:


I need to remove this middle cover to get the middle valvelifters out.

[TXSTARFIRE]

A lot of head gaskets have the part number stamped into them. Should be able to tell if the gaskets are GM or Fel Pro or something else. Those look like some type of a rivet holding the center cover in place. May be able to drill them out or use a cold chisel on the sides at the bottom to lift them a bit or make a dent or depression so that you can get a vise grips or something on them. Best would be to remove them without destroying them so they can possibly be reused, otherwise dont know where to get a replacement. It seems maybe I have seen a similar fastener on the bottom of a small block Chevy intake manifold. They have a tin shield in the center to keep oil off of the crossover if I remember right.

[Bill Hanlon]

IF (big if) you take the water inlet tubes out of the heads be real careful. They are made of unobtainium and are real fragile. 55-6 are made of brass and 57-9 are stainless. Or maybe it is the other way around. 55-6 are the same both sides, 57-59 are side dependent.

[Parkman51]

Today's two questions:

Amazing work you're doing

[Onestone]

An new post - without pictures ** !

I could remove the cover and got the valve lifters out. Also cleaned the heads and removed any red color
Then I removed some of the valves to check the condition of the valve guides and valve seats. While the seats were quite good, some of the valve guides (mostly intake valves) had a significantly higher valve tilting (...is this the right word? Not sure...) than others.

So I decided to give the cylinder heands to a good engine workshop I know, to renew the valve guides and do the seats.

You can guess it - I decided to do the "big job" with the engine, do it once, do it right

I will give the block to the workshop too and let them renev all bearings. I hope honing and new piston rings will be enough, and I don't need cylinder boring and new pistons.

While checking the availability of the parts I need, I saw that the main bearings for this engine are not available in STD size at the moment
At least not at Kanter, they only have oversizes on stock.

So my questions this time:

Does anyone have a hint where I can get the main bearings for the crankshaft in STD size?

OR: Is there any bearing from Chevy that fits too, since Chevy bearings are widely available??

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Onestone

Does anyone have a hint where I can get the main bearings for the crankshaft in STD size?

OldsObsolete has a listing for a set of Moraine 400 (considered an upgrade, used in the GMC truck versions of the 287/317 Pontiac V8) in STD size, GM part number 2336025.

Listing is here: https://oldsobsolete.com/products-pa...&gsc.q=2336025

But be careful. The picture shows two sets of bearings that go in any of the front 3 positions, one set of thrust bearings and no rear main bearing. Check with them "Is this a full set?"

Pontiac in their evil ways (at least in my 1960 Pontiac Master Parts Catalog) lists separate part numbers for each pair of bearing halves. In standard sizes the front three are part number 522728, thrust bearing is 522732 and the rear main is 520237. Bearings were also listed in .001" and .002" undersize.

OldsObsolete also has a listing for a single set (last one in stock) 522728.

The Pontiac book doesn't list any other sizes. GMC book lists under sizes of .010", .020", .030" and .040".

If the standard size parts don't pan out let me know and I'll post some more of the GMC numbers if you have to cut the crank.

I'd get a blessing from an older Pontiac motor guy (Jack Gifford comes to mind) before I mixed Moraine 400 and the other bearings (I think they were a Clevite part) on the same crankshaft.

[Bill Hanlon]

... and a quick question. Is this https://golf1wiki.de/downloads/pontiac/50251.jpeg an electric fuel pump that mounts in the same position as the stock mechanical pump? If not, what are the electrical connections for?

[Onestone]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

OldsObsolete has a listing for a set of Moraine 400 (considered an upgrade, used in the GMC truck versions of the 287/317 Pontiac V8) in STD size, GM part number 2336025.

Listing is here: https://oldsobsolete.com/products-pa...&gsc.q=2336025

....

OldsObsolete also has a listing for a single set (last one in stock) 522728.

Hi Bill!

Thank you for these hints - I already found the single set, but I need a complete set. I checked the Moraine ones you linked - I'm afraid it's not even incomplete, it looks also like it's an undersize (see last picture in the listing...).
But I wrote them an E-Mail and asked, no answer yet.

The fuel pump I switched to a "Hardy", see one of my older postings:
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...2&postcount=33

It's a really comfortable upgrade, starts so much easier after standing for a longer time.

[Onestone]

Another question regarding cylinder head bolts:

- are they reusable?
- where the heck can I get new ones?

I searched a lot, but couldn't find a complete bolt set for this 287 engine.

All bolts have a 1/2-13 thread. The long ones with 4" and 4-5/8" length seem to be normal grade 8 bolts (reagarding the sign on the head of the old bolts), but the short ones with 2-1/2" length have a "M" on the head - whatever that means...

Any hints on the head bolts?

[TXSTARFIRE]

No reason to not reuse them.

[Onestone]

Originally Posted by TXSTARFIRE

No reason to not reuse them.

Well, 70 year old bolts, no clue if any of the preowners had overtightened them, since they have marks on their heads wich say they have been turned before.

If I have the chance I would prefer new ones, now that I will spend so much money on the engine job anyway.

Isn't there an Fel-Pro set with at least some matching 1/2-13 bolts?

What I need is:
- 1/2-13x2-1/2, 8 pcs
- 1/2-13x4-5/8, 6 pcs
- 1/2-13x4, 4 pcs
- 1/2-13x4 with 3/8-UNF thread on top, 2 pcs

I already tried to find them on Rockauto with the original partnumbers from the master catalogue, with no luck. Same on the Fel-Pro catalogue, looks like FelPro doesn't have single bolts at all, just sets

OR - if any of you can honestly say "just use normal grade 8 bolts, worked fine on my engine the last 20 years", I would get them. The only problem I see here, is that standard grade 8 bolts dont have the thickening below the head, since the holes in the cylinderheads are bigger...

[Bill Hanlon]

Have you checked with ARP?

[Onestone]

I found the bolts meanwhile, CPR sells them as single bolts. It's the only source I found, surprisingly....

My block is at the workshop too meanwhile. They already told me I will need undersize main bearings and oversize pistons, Just waiting for the measurements at the moment so I can start looking for the right parts.

Another question regarding the valve lifters:

Do new valve lifters require a "burn in procedure" with high zinc oil, like a new camshaft does?

I really wonder why the workshop manual doesn't say anything about this...

[Jack Gifford]

The small loading of stock valve springs is in your favor, as is the small lift of a stock cam. I would just use a good assembly lube and not worry about it.