I'm going to be rebuilding my 350 soon and have a bunch of questions. First off, I read that before removing the pistons I need to take some ridge off the top of the cylinder<- never heard that one before, I already took two of them out without doing anything to the cylinder.

I've got a choice on which cam to use, both of them being in blocks right now, the cam which is in the engine i will be installing had the lifters dropped out and I lost track of which bores they belong in. The other cam is in the block that I know which bores the lifters belong in, i hope that's clear enough.
Which cam to use?

If I do happen to buy a new cam and lifters is it absolutely neccesary to replace the pushrods, valve springs, screw in studs and the such?

I plan on doing a home porting job to my heads which are labelled 441. Do i need to have the valve springs reground in order for them to seal properly upon reinstallation. Also should the valves be shimmed to get correct seat pressure, and what would correct seat pressure be.

For ring gap I read that the minimum gap is .016, I cant see gapping 16 rings individually one at a time by installing and removing the piston that many times, is their a better way?

Whats the correct break in procedure to seat the new rings?

What kind and where should i use lube.

Sorry for the long post i just figured i'd knock it out all at once.

 

It's probably going to be easier to just buy a new cam and lifter set, i mean, your rebuilding the engine anyway, if your going to be taking the engine apart and doing headwork you might as well put a cam that would match it pretty well in there, itll be easier than trying to guess where the old lifters go.

It depends on how much power you are looking to make but it mgiht be worth it to put in the hardened pushrods if you are going to make a lot of power. Really it just depends on which parts are worn, youll need to examine them upon teardown. If you are doing headwork the heads need to be disassembled anyway so for the cost it might be worth just replacing them, how many miles are on the engine?

If your going to be doing the headwork yourself, you should at lesat buy a book detailing how to do it properly so you dont end up needing buy new ones. Im not sure about the ring gap, but when you buy your engine rebuild kit you can get all new pistons and rings that should fit fine. But make sure you take the block to a machine shop to get all the resurfacing done first, then you know if you have to buy anything oversized, or if work needs to be done on the crank or rods, so you might need undersized bearings there. An engine rebuild kit should also come with assembly lube.

A book on rebuilding chevy small blocks might not be a bad idea, i got one as im going to rebuilding an LT1 and it helps infinitely.

After breaking in the cam (dont forget to change the oil after this NOT SYNTHETIC) and you want to go break the rings in you should take the car oonto a fairly open road, and drive, with varying speed (3/4 thottle slow it down, repeat, etc) for like 15 minutes this should help to seat the rings. and then change the oil again after 100 miles, and then every 3000 after that. be sure to check the oil for large metal particles that could indicate problems. Sorry for the length i hope this helps.

 

sometimes you don't need to remove a ridge, if it isn't there you don't need to worry about it.
you need to figure out which if either cam is good before you think about using it. you might also want to consider buying a cam to match your application. really doesn't matter if lifters go back in the same hole they came out of.
you don't grind valve springs, where'd you get that from? you need to change push rods if there is damage or if you need to change length, dummy it up and check geometry. i'd get rid of pull out studs above .48 lift. you don't shim valves to get seat pressure. if you need to shim springs to get seat pressure buy new springs. you might need to shim springs to get the correct installed height.

it'd be dam nnear impossiable to check the ring gaps with the rings on the pistons, yes there is a better way. leave the rings off the piston and check the gap.

considering how much of the basics you have worng you need to buy a book, or two and read it/them. when your don try to get soemone to help that has done some of the work before.

 

you should be able to push the pistons out the bottom of the bore, maybe with a rubber hammer and wooden rod say....

cam and lifter kits are cheap, not worth re-using one. summit cam and lifters can be had for $80, not top notch cams, but if you're not going for a full out performance car, should be good enough.

you can always pin the rocker studs too, instead of pulling and tapping. but yea, not unless it's over .480 lift, otherwise you can leave them

new valve springs are a good idea

measure your ring gap, as ede mentioned how to. you shouldn't have to file them though, but it's still a good idea to measure. 20 mins of time to measure, if you find one ring that "got through" quality control, you may have just saved yourself $1000.

441 heads don't ring a bell.


lube? anything that moves.

 

Thanks guys, that helps a bunch and yea i planned on buying some books and getting help from my auto shop instructor, he's rebuilt a large amount of engines. I thought that I pretty much had the basic engine rebuilding down but i guess not,nothing wrong with constructive criticism. Also planned on getting it balanced so at least i got that part down. Again thanks.Also i meant get the valves reground to get them to seal properly again, not the valve springs.