[steve25]

Looks like you will be fine with that repair Sam!

[glhs#116]

Well lookie what just arrived...

[glhs#116]

Spot and I got straight to work. The one piece rear main seal was a surprising pain in the backside because it won't sit straight on the crank once you have "slinkied" it on as per the instructions. But it did go with a little bit of protest.

I measured all the journals before installation. I intended to measure all the bearings but these stupid telescoping dial gauges are a joke. It seems impossible to lock them to length consistently and if I take three readings I get three numbers. But the journals, which I could measure directly, look great. None were more than 1 ten thousandth out measured at two different positions. For the mains I had two that read the same value and three more that read another value (but the same as each other). The difference in these two values was 3 ten thousandths. Crank journals seem to be identical within variation of 1 ten thousandth. Honestly, it looks great.

Crank is now in and #1 piston installed. Next up, camshaft and degreeing time.

I put grease in the valley of the seal. I'm sure I remember reading that in the instructions even though I didn't see it there when I checked just before installing


Spot is wondering why this part isn't done yet


Crank and seal in. The seal has to be on with the split facing down. Since the seal doesn't sit straight after getting it on the crank it likes to hang up when the crank is being lowered. I was able to put the crank in with the seal only slightly hanging up and then gently feed the ends the rest of the way by gently pushing them


Tempting as it was to continue, I'm trying to pace myself so I don't do anything quickly and forget anything important


Sam

[Tim Corcoran]

I just saw this post and I am in Doha right now staying at the Doha Hilton. Would love to come over and take a look at what your doing. My Doha phone number is 3358 9430. Is that beer in that glass, drinking beer during Ramadan? Just kidding.

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

I just saw this post and I am in Doha right now staying at the Doha Hilton. Would love to come over and take a look at what your doing. My Doha phone number is 3358 9430. Is that beer in that glass, drinking beer during Ramadan? Just kidding.

Just sent you a WhatsApp.

[gtofreek]

Sam, I measured all the bearing shells, and crank journals, then I did the math to get an idea of bearing clearances, and you should be good to go, providing your rod and main housing bores are on size. Did you find the balance sheet in there?

[Tim Corcoran]

You sent me a what? Sorry I am not up to speed on that Whats App thing

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

Sam, I measured all the bearing shells, and crank journals, then I did the math to get an idea of bearing clearances, and you should be good to go, providing your rod and main housing bores are on size. Did you find the balance sheet in there?

Paul,

I sure did. Thank you so much again!

So, tonight I degreed the cam. I'm coming up with 108.5ICL. I know that if I use a timing set that takes 2 degrees off then I will be losing 4 at the cam. So I guess my choice is 104.5 or 108.5. Which would you go for?

Voodoo 702

Sam

[glhs#116]

Geoff sorted out my confusion by PM. I put my adjustable timing set on with the 2A slot and BAM 105.5 ICL. I think that’s pretty close to 106.

Sam

[gtofreek]

Yes, you'll be good there.

[glhs#116]

Work proceeds apace. Pistons in. All was going great for the first three. The fourth one (#4 as it happens) kept hanging on the first oil ring. Not joking, like ten or twelve times. So I was carefully checking everything. Even swapped the oil rings top to bottom. Filed a tiny bit more chamfer into the top of the bore. Finally, I went searching on PY and -- as usual -- found a helpful post from Paul. I had not been sure how tight to run the ring compressor and his advice to tighten until it slightly drags on the piston skirt was the bit that got me through it. Thanks again, Paul!

The piston was OK even with all the failed attempts. I didn't let myself loose my cool and really beat on it and the oil rings still looked good. Also, the oil film on all the cylinders is perfectly even and smooth. I understand (from Paul again) that if you bend an oil ring you should see a vertical line.









Sam

[glhs#116]

Next was putting the heads on. I had gotten the ARP stud kit which I carefully installed, mostly. Well, like I'm sure many people I couldn't somehow just screw the studs in finger tight as directed. Especially with that little allen head. So I put them in very gently snugged using only the short end leverage of the allen key. I know it's wrong but I bet a lot of people do something like that. I used the ARP lube and torque specs in even steps and everything. After it was installed though, I got bugged. It struck me that there is now more torque on the block threads than with the bolts and reasoned that if the last rebuild was done with a torque plate it would have been with the bolts. On a previous head removal ten years ago one of the bolts had made me nervous on tightening which was why I had ordered the head stud kit.

Anyway, I started sorting the head bolts by length to do the swap and then I saw that my head bolt set (the ones that were in there) is a mongrel set anyway. One is clearly from another engine. Two (now that I have seen them) are clearly ARP studs with the nut locktited in place to make a bolt. So I kept the studs.





Heads on


I was worried the studs would be obvious but it's pretty subtle...


Sam

[glhs#116]

Everything torqued up and double-checked in the bottom end (rod and main bolts)







Sam

[glhs#116]

I'm running the BOP one piece rear main seal and the BOP one piece oil pan gasket. Installed as per instructions with just a dab of RTV on either side of the rear cap and either side at the block seam to the timing cover. I am impressed with the quality of the parts. Sure hope they perform as they should.

P.S. Don't worry, there is an oil pump and oil pump drive rod under there as well as the lower dipstick and windage tray. I got tired of cleaning off my hands to take pictures with the phone...







Sam

[gtospieg]

That's looking great...can't wait to see you get it back in the car running. Good Luck

[steve25]

Looks like paint time Sam!

It must feel good to be back to this point?

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by steve25

Looks like paint time Sam!

It must feel good to be back to this point?

Don't talk to me about paint! LOL.

I have a can of Pontiac Blue engine paint and primer sitting at my wife's dad's house in LA. Long story short: You can't ship aerosol paint to Qatar (or anywhere really). Also, you can't even put it in your checked luggage. And it isn't for sale here. So, it's going in ugly!

Sam

[krisr]

If you can get liquids into Qatar, Eastwood make a 2 part epoxy for Pontiac blue. I brushed it on my engine after i'd cleaned it down VERY thoroughly and etched it with that POR15 metal ready. But to be honest, i'd just use whatever colour you want it to be that you can get hold of over there and give it a couple of licks and call it done.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-ce...lue-quart.html

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by krisr

If you can get liquids into Qatar, Eastwood make a 2 part epoxy for Pontiac blue. I brushed it on my engine after i'd cleaned it down VERY thoroughly and etched it with that POR15 metal ready. But to be honest, i'd just use whatever colour you want it to be that you can get hold of over there and give it a couple of licks and call it done.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-ce...lue-quart.html

Yeah, a liquid could probably get shipped. Basically, I have the colour here listed for 1971 - March 1973 and I really like that colour.

http://www.pontiacpower.org/enginecolor.htm

So I'd rather have it ratty than paint it some other colour. Given I'm probably ready this week it's almost certainly going in ugly.

Believe it or not, I'm still somewhat stuck on the distributor gear. Tom's gear seems to be made of diamond with a teflon coating and has too small a hole. I literally ordered a new set of inch size titanium nitrided bits from Summit and they were just as useless as the bits I have here. Seriously just will. not. cut. And I did find an online seller for iron gears with the big hole. That shipment has been stuck for weeks now.

I'll probably start with the good used gear I have (not the trashed one).

[johnta1]

P.S. Don't worry, there is an oil pump and oil pump drive rod under there as well as the lower dipstick and windage tray. I got tired of cleaning off my hands to take pictures with the phone...

I was all ready to ask if you put the dipstick thingy between the tray and the block.





Looks good.


Hoping for a good start up.