si_camaro

Hey all. It's been a while since I was here last. Haven't really driven the old girl for quite a few months now, and a big relocation has taken up most of my time. Still, the nice weather is upon us and I intend to use it well. It's time to breathe some life back into the Camaro.

I have avoided the word "restoration" in the thread title, because this is not going to be as expensive, nor as long-winded as that. A bit of a power injection, and a lot of tidying is what's on the agenda for now, and I thought I'd document it here for everyone to follow, advise, and maybe learn. I'll be hotlinking so not much server space will be required, admin team!

My plans at the moment are sketchy, but the engine will receive :

1. A new cam. Probably a comp cams XE262 as I want to stick to the stock converter but get a reasonable boost in power.
2. A mild port/polish job on the original 416 heads.
3. Screw-in rocker arm studs (for all the extra lift)
4. Performance intake manifold (undecided on specifics)
5. Rochester carb tuning. No computers here!
6. Hedman Hedders which are already present, but some exhaust work required.
7. New piston rings, main bearings, all gaskets, probably a new water pump, oil pump and pickup
8. Uprated ignition coil (undecided)
9. And of course the obligatory chrome rocker covers and thermostat housing!

The rest of the car is ok, but needs bits and pieces. Not to mention a tidy up, rust treatment, MOT and a damn good polish.

Wish me luck, and watch this space!

Si

__________________
Do Not Anger Dragons, For You Are Crunchy And Taste Good With Tomato Sauce

si_camaro

Ok, here's day one of the serious stuff. Me and my Dad started by taking the hood off. A good idea I thought, seeing as it was in the way and all.




I didn't take any pictures of my swear words or bloodshed, but after all that we stuck the hoist in. Without removing the front bumper we couldn't get the thing directly over the engine.



I had to hold the engine back to stop it taking the slam panel with it, whilst my Dad jacked the hoist up. Note the headers stayed in the vehicle. This is because all the y-pipe bolts rounded off. More swearing prevailed....





We got the engine safely attached to a stand and ready for dissasembly...




...and placed it in it's new home.

si_camaro

The following week, I started the disassembly. After years of working on this car, I have never known the pleasures of standing upright to strip the engine, always having to lean over and put my back out for the following week.


Bit of a build-up of assembly paste and crud in there...




Thankfully all the bores look great. They'll need a bit of a light honing before installing new rings, and I'm yet to check for a ridge at the top of the cylinder walls.

si_camaro

Without a lifter removal tool to hand, I decided to move on and turn the enigne upside down

Off came the oil pan and on close inspection, everything LOOKS clean.

si_camaro

Today, the weather looked a bit rubbish so I decided to work on the heads. All I got done today was the removal of the push-in rocker studs, for a later installation of screw-in studs. How do you like my stud removal tool?





Done!

R1UK

Great pix, must admit anything and everything gets in the way when the motor comes out.
It does look nice and clean at the bottom, most of the sludge always forms at the top, good luck with the rebuild.

RMK

This will be a fun thread to watch. It would be interesting to see how much power you gain. Did you ever put it down the trach in the past? btw, you have the smallest garage I have ever seen.

__________________
Some of the best quotes from TGO, d00d.

"I'm interested in learning not coming to an informative sight to get yelled at by some ****** who acts like hes in start treck."

"these arew some new things y fusion which i've never heard of but i'm always up for trying never heard of products"

"either i never did burnouts, or the tires ar so quiet that i never knew. But usually when i do this, the car drifts to a side so iunno"

si_camaro

It is a little pokey isn't it?

I never put my car down the track, but when I got her she was mechanically bone stock. The LG4 is from 1985, so it is the upper end of rubbish, what with the flat top pistons and 9.5:1 compression ratio. I'm trying to base my modifications on Sitting Bull's sig list, only I'm going a little milder and I'm not putting a horsepower figure on it. Not until I have a slip to prove it anyway!

si_camaro

Yesterday was a horrible day to be outside, so I retreated to the shed again, armed with a valve spring compressor





They all came out without a struggle

si_camaro

In fact, they came out SO easily, I decided to test my dremel and have an experimental porting session.




<P>
Anyone know the best place to buy dremel bits?

RMK

B&Q sell dremel bits. I wouldn't attempt to do a full on porting job with a Dremel. You'd be far better with a die grinder.

__________________
Some of the best quotes from TGO, d00d.

"I'm interested in learning not coming to an informative sight to get yelled at by some ****** who acts like hes in start treck."

"these arew some new things y fusion which i've never heard of but i'm always up for trying never heard of products"

"either i never did burnouts, or the tires ar so quiet that i never knew. But usually when i do this, the car drifts to a side so iunno"

si_camaro

Cool thanks...I'm not doing a full on port job, really just gasket matching and polishing.

Once the 350 block comes along and I decide to prep these heads for the transplant....

....THEN I'll buy a die grinder and you won't see me for days

si_camaro

Hey all. Just a quick note to say I haven't given up and the project still plods on. Just getting lazy with the pictures, but so far I am down to a bare block and am calling some engineering firms this week for information on hot tank time.

As far as the heads go, they are slowly taking shape but it's hard to show in photos. Think I need a long-reach burr to finish them though, and then a tapping set to install the screw-in studs.

Pics to follow soon, I promise!

88blkbird

make sure you use a tap guide to get the studs in straight, I think summit racing sells one, they're reasonably cheap.

RMK

Thanks for the update. I was just about to post for an update.

__________________
Some of the best quotes from TGO, d00d.

"I'm interested in learning not coming to an informative sight to get yelled at by some ****** who acts like hes in start treck."

"these arew some new things y fusion which i've never heard of but i'm always up for trying never heard of products"

"either i never did burnouts, or the tires ar so quiet that i never knew. But usually when i do this, the car drifts to a side so iunno"

si_camaro

Ok. Here's a little more progress...

Porting/polishing progress so far





And engine progress so far.

My newly bent harmonic balancer removal tool, complete with balancer


My stretched timing chain complete with nylon gear teeth


And a bare block which I'll have to photograph next time

fin170703

hello again.

Nice to see someone in the same position as me. Here's how far i am



As you see from my thread in the tech section i'm about to purchase heads and a comp cam XE274 . I've also gone with forged con rods and froged pistons. I've also got shed loads of pics of the engine pull , i had the benifit of a forklift




I pulled my engine and trannie out together cause i couldn't be arsed to detatch it under the car
----------
I had my block bored .030" and also reground my crank just for safe measure , there was some light marking ,.

Wht sort of figures are you hoping to get out of yours

si_camaro

I don't like this game. Guessing a power output will probably lead to disappointment. I've seen people in the States get 300+ hp from the 305, but they tend to do a little more here, and a little more there, than I'm willing to do to a 305. I'm not reboring as there is hardly any ridge on the cylinder walls, and I don't want to buy new pistons. The headers I'm using are for a 305, whereas the 350 headers have larger pipes and a larger collector. I'd be happy with 250hp but that's not to say I'm expecting it. I doubt I'll even get the car dyno tested, except for the trusty butt dyno.

When I've finished, I'll start my search for the 350 block and start spending the money where it needs to be spent. Right now I just want a car that goes as good as it sounds without throwing money away. The cam and heads will probably be reused on the 350, but things like pistons can't be.

si_camaro

Here's my progress for today.

Crankshaft out


The worst camshaft in the world out


The cam sprocket, complete with broken teeth. I think it was about due


A dirty piston. Anyone suggest a good cleaning solution/method?


And a bare block


The block is off to the machine shop next week to be cleaned and honed. I'm also getting them to remove the cam bearings as I don't have the tool and don't wish to damage the block with my clumsy hammer-and-tongs approach.

88blkbird

check with the machine shop on cleaning the pistons, you can clean the tops with scotchbrite but you've got to be careful on the skirts... the machine shop should be able to tank them which should to a good job of cleaning but wait until they clean the block, if the cylinders require cutting the pistons will need to be replaced anyhow. I am waiting to hear from the shop on my block, I already honed it and removed the cam bearings and after honing it became apparent there are a few small pitted areas that may need to be cut out. When they have evaluated it I will know whether or not to buy stock or oversize pistons. ( one of mine was cracked from detonation ) I decided not to trust any of my pistons and replace them all.

R1UK

That sprocket is a real chamber of horrors special, you junked that just in time.

fin170703

I here what your saying but if you know the components your putting in and the CR your running then really you'll have a rough idea of what bhp you'll be running.

250 out of a 305 sounds good to me si and i bet your torque will be preaty good too. My timing sproket and cam was as bad as yours , my engine was effectively running on 5 cylinders as 3 of the lobes would not have done anything and the other 5 were crap.

One thing that has been more important than anything else is the amount i have learned stripping the engine down , i've read loads of books but nothing compares to getting your hands dirty.

where abouts in portsmouth do you live mate , i was born in st. marys and lived in paulsgrove for 4 years . Alot of my family still live in Portchester.

Keep up with the good work si , i will follow your progress with interest , i'll send ya some pics when my block has been built up ( it should be going off to realsteel for balancing in the next few weeks )

si_camaro

I live in Gosport, which is where the car lives too. Due to space limitations the engine lives in Milton and the Cylinder Heads live in North End. I'm looking forward to the next reunion!

Just a small update - I'm collecting the engine from the machine shop tomorrow. The final bill is very cheap, so I'm not quite sure what kind of cleaning and honing to expect. If it's done properly, then it's the cheapest machine shop ever and I'll be singing their praises forever more. If not, then I've wasted 2 weeks of good weather...

andrew91rs

Hello, just wanted to say this is a great thread and good luck with the rebuild. Thanks for all the pics. I will be following this one closely.

si_camaro

Wow thanks. Nice of you to say so.

Well I got the block back on Thursday. And what a difference! Here it is now:



Here's the underside...looks like a new block, apart from the cam bearings still in situ:



The lifter valley has some small pools of gunk which the machine didn't shift. Won't take long with a bottle brush and some degreaser:



Here's some honing:



And some more:



And as I was on my own with a Renault 5, here's how I got the block out. Shortly after this pic, I attached the engine stand to the end and let gravity "lever" the block from my car. Worked pretty well!



Not a bad job for £23.50 including VAT. Banda Engineering 02392 828224, located in Southsea, Nr Portsmouth.

Next I'll be ordering some new bits. Hurrah!

RMK