chevy1500z71

iv got a few small questions here, im kind of stuck and want to get these answered before i move on.

first of all, iv got new heads with new valves, a new cam and lifters and im re using the old push rods, rockers and studs. is it important that i kept these in the same order that they came from the motor because iv already lost the order of the push rods and the rockers, does this mean ill need new ones?

when assembling the rockers and such, can i use a multi purpose engine lube like that white stuff, or do i need a special lube? it seems like he only lube i can find at any parts store is the white stuff.

when putting the head bolts in, do i just put anti-seize on all of them or do i put a sealant like black silicone on the water jacketed ones, or whats the proper procedure there.

on the back of the crank, the flex plate lines up on a little dowel pin that is pushed into the crank, the stock motor had this dowel pin, my new motor just has the hole for it. can i just buy this dowel pin or what? do i even need it or is it just for easy alignment for if you ever tried to swap a flex plate while its in the truck or soemthing like that.

and lastly, what is entailed in rebuilding a distributer, is this something i should consider since im re-using the 200,000 mile distributer on my new motor? and yes, i know i need a new gear, steel or iron for flat tappets right?

thanks in advance.

TylerP

You can use the old pushrods however you want. New ones are not very $$ though.

Any auto parts store should have engine assembly lube. I work at a Yamaha dealer and we use Belray assembly lube. It would be perfect for what your doing.

I use anti-seize on every bolt unless it requires Loctite (cam sprocket bolts). If a bolt does go into a water jacket it needs sealer on it. Dont take shortcuts here,buy the best stuff available.

You should be able to remove the dowel pin and reuse it. If not the bolts will work ok. I use blue Loctite on those to.

I've never had to rebuild a distributer. Maybe someone here can enlighten both of us.

the zander

You didn't mention if your reusing stamped factory rockers, or aftermarket rollers. If you reusing the factory stamped rockers i usually consider it a good idea to keep each rocker and its respective pivot ball together, but aside from that, the rockers/ball combo and pushrods can go on any cylinder.

When reinstalling the head bolts, first clean them with a stiff brush and some simple green/super clean, then coat the bottom 1" of thread with silicon thread sealant (not RTV). then install them and torque to spec.

heres a link to ARPs brand of sealant.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1∂=ARP-100-9904&N=700+115&autoview=sku

-Z

wilecoyote160

Some tips from part time race motor builder.
Loctite teflon liquid on all head bolt threads, decreases drag for more accurate torque numbers.

Permatex form a gasket on all gaskets, forms a good bond.

Good aftermarket dist is cheaper than getting a "shop" to build you a new one.

If the pin does not come out of the crank, which I suspect it will not, you can go to fastener wharehouse or bolt supplier and ask for 5/16 by 1 1/2 spring roll pin. Just measure your size to be safe..

Good luck
Keep your tires smokin

wilecoyote160

I also forgot to mention. Lucas engine treatment is a ausome engine assembly lube and costs very little compared to the speciality stuff. and when you are done the build add the left over to the breakin oil at the first crank and run of the motor.

chevy1500z71

i cleaned the bolts pretty good, i must admit tho, there was still some old thread sealant on the threads(no dirt or grime, just some leftover sealer from the last tiem they were used), i put fresh thread sealer on all of them and around the washers and torqued them to 65ft lbs in 20lb increments. i kept the ***** with the rockers. i put the arp rocker studs in with assembly lube and torqued them to 55ftlbs, i couldnt find any real specs or anything but some say they go up to 70ftpounds on some forums. my service manual says 50 for the 7.4 liter, so i just took an educated guess based off of that.

i got some permex assembly lube which said it was good for anti friction for things like cams and lifters. it was real thick and sticky like the stuff that came with my cam so it looked good enough to me.

for additive iv got 2 bottles of crane cams break in additive, they are supposed to have way more zddp in there additive than any of te others.

i put it all together and when i tightened the rocker all the way down it didnt tighten up on the pushrod, so i guess my pushrods are too short to re-use anyway. i dont know anything about sizing pushrods. the motor had stock type heads and now i put these dart iron eagle heads on with the same rocker studs and rockers and pushrods and all from the old heads that were on the motor and the pushrods come up short by quite a bit.

the rockers are stamped steal 1.6 crane cams rockers.

im leaving the distributer alone other then a new gear

one quick question, i put the timing set in prety much dry, it was used(barely used, not even 100 hours on any parts form this motor) and still had some motor oil on them. im now thinking that i should ahve smothered it all with assembly lube. will i be ok there?

thanks for the help.

the zander

the timing set should be fine, if you want you can squirt some engine oil on it when you prime the engine. it doesn't take anywhere near the same beating as the cam/lifter system.

-Zander

chevy1500z71

i ran into a littlke problem the other day. when i went to put the new timing tab on the timing cover i went to torque it to 100 inch pounds and i couldnt get one inch pound, i pulled the bolt out along with all the threads from the block. i ordered a helicoil on summit since i was ordering a pushrod length tester tool anyway. my question now is this, are the timing cover bolts threaded in blind holes, or does it go through. if its a blind hole then im in luck, if not i have to take it back apart to clean out the metal shavings. im thinking they are blind holes since i assembled them with engine oil and not thread sealer, but just want to be damn shure.

i don't know why the damn thing stripped out, the guy i bought the motor from had red lock tight on the timing cover bolts, i guess running the bolts out with lock tight boogering up all the threads and then toqueing them down one time was all the threads had left. it certeainly wasnt my mistake ,i set the torqque wrench to 100 inch pounds just like the first time with engine oil on the threads.

what really left me scratching my head is why he put the rocker studs in with red locktight, i had to use an impact gun to run them off. i guess when theres no specs in the service manual(since most 350s came with push in studs) people just want to cover there *** and locktight it, its not like hed ever have to take them out or anything lol. i ran them in with assembly lube to 44 ft pounds.

TylerP

Just stick something small thru the hole and see how far it goes in. It needs to be deep enough that the Heli-coil tap can cut enough threads in there to insert the coil. The tap will be tappered on the end so part of it wont cut new threads and may bottom out in the hole before it cuts deep enough. If the hole goes all the way thru,cover the tap with grease before you run it thru. The metal shavings will stick to the grease.

chevy1500z71

well, if it goes through im going to take it apart, the shavings from the threads would have already fallen in, its pretty easy to take the motor apart since its sitting on a stand in the garage not in a car. if i had to bet money, id bet that is a blind hole and that it will just barely be deep enough for a helicoil.

thanks for the tip, i didnt know the helicoil needed alot of room, iv never had to use one. i always prefer to just drill and tap to the next size bolt(had to do it on one of the tbi bolts on the back of my blower once, now im thinking a helicoil would have been better then drilling the tbi for a biger bolt) but i want this to match nicely and it would be impossible to drill that little billet timing tab for a bigger bolt. and then id have to drill my expensive aluminum timing cover, i hope i dont have to go that route.