your project reminds me of my first engine rebuild .I had a 72 buick skylark with a 350.Like u i didnt pull the motor but i jacked it up and put wood blocks under the motor mounts.I replaced the rod bearings,pistons(went to flat top),piston rings, cam (erson 292),valve springs,timing chain, intake mainfold( went to 4 bbl).All done with engine still in car.I learned alot from that project, it s really hard to rebuild and engine in car.So the next time i did a engine build , I just went and bought a engine hoist and stand(money well spent).

 

Yes I heard of it back in the 80's when I was a little more ignorant than now. I did it and ended up with a slight rod knock, and all I did was idle it in the driveway for 20 minutes or so with a gallon of diesel and what was left in the oil filter. It made like 15 to 20 psi with the diesel.

But not only is it very hard on the motor but, it is unsafe. As you heat up the fuel, it becomes more flammable. Ask yourself, "how does a diesel work without plugs"? Now I am not saying you will have a crankcase explosion, but I most certainly wouldn't say it won't happen either.

 

I have seen the diesel in oil trick used to clean motors. Unfortunately, it invariably wipes bearings. Anything from a minor knock, to the engine seizing completely. Not a good plan..... There are some additives out there in the world designed to clean your engine, GM's Top Engine Cleaner works pretty good, but I am unsure if it is still available.

 

Well, i have finally had some time to do some more work to her. This is taking forever, hopefully ill have her up and going in a couple weeks.

 

Another

 

lookes really CLean man!!! Great job on this bro Keep the pics coming

 

Still out there, and just as functional as ever. Just make sure you change the oil soon after you do it, or you will still run the chance of messing up the shortblock.

 

those heads don't look like they got any paint on them.

 

They dont, i was afraid that if i painted them and i got paint in the ports that it wouldnt be good, plus that was a good excuse not to do the prepwork. Its been taking forever so i wanted to get the show on the road

 

So dangerous... having the engine open to the elements and cleaners and dirt and carbon floating around inside of it....

I would definately go out and buy a few quarts of crappy oil or tranny fluid (don't waste the good stuff) to run through that thing before you put the intake on.... Have the drain plug out and just pour it down through the lifter valley and the head drainback holes and try to wash down any dirt or carbon deposits down at least into the bottom of the pan and hopefully out of the engine.

Then do two oil changes right away. Once you get it running, dump the oil and filter after about 30 minutes... Then again after about 100 miles.

Oil and filters are cheap compared to rebuilding shortblocks...

 

Looks like you went with a flat tappet cam??? If so, after your 20 minutes of 2000 rpm cam break in, put one quart of cheap dexron II in the crankcase and drive it easy for a week and change the oil and filter. Put in some regular dino oil for about 200 miles then another quart of dexron II and drive her easy for a weekk. Change your filter and run whatever oil you want to run from then on.
The engineers at the General Motors Training Center told me about the ATF to clean the crankcase. It's a very high quality oil with very high detergent.
NEVER USE KEROSINE OR ANY OF THE QUICK ENGINE CLEANERS!!!!!!!!

 

"The engineers at the General Motors Training Center told me about the ATF to clean the crankcase. "


I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not trying to pick a fight. But I'd sure like to see that in writing from GM to their own Service Depts. I'd like to see a bulletin from GM saying that putting ATF in your crankcase won't void your new car warrantee.

 

To clarify, I am talking about pouring the fluid in with the intake still off just to wash stuff down and out of the engine... Not leave it in there while it is running....

 

Well here she is again, its really starting to come together and starting to look like an engine. All i lack is getting the fuel lines hooked up, drive belt and a few other things here and there.

 

i think u need to get that nasty AC compressor out of there it will really clean the engine up and look nice

 

Yea, i have already planned on making that a priority.

 

Well, i finally got her done, it looks and runs a whole lot better than before. Here is the before pic:

 

And the after, its still a little messy, i have a little more cleaning to do:

 

..

 

It took you over 3 months?!? Holy stamina batman!

At least it looks good now.

 

Now that you've got it all buttoned up:

Did you change the push rods? The roller lifter types are shorter than the flat tappet types. You can see the reason from the shot of your new lifters in the bores. If you didn't change the pushrods, your rocker geometry is going to be all off, and part wear greatly accelerated.

 

Yes i know, it felt like forever, but between work, budget and haveing a newborn baby in between, i didnt get much time to work on it.

Yes i bought pushrods that are longer for the solid cam and new lifters

 

Hey Del, looks pretty good!!!!