I just rebuilt this 1973 Chevy 350 for my 1986 TransAm.........got the engine in the car, and trying to rotate the crank by hand with a breaker bar, it seems to be pretty hard to rotate. It will turn ok. The plugs are currently out of the engine. Engine was built by the specs, and turned over by hand freely before total assembly. All breakin lube was applied to everything. Could the rough in rocker arm adjustment make this hard to turn ?This was the last part on the engine. the engine has .030 pistons, stock valve job, cast iron heads, timing was set right on the marks.

Is a new engine supposed to be this way because of the new parts? Im so used to turning older engines that have considererable wear.

Thanks for any input !!!!!!!!!!

 

if the bores have a fresh hone job that can make the engine stiff to turn by hand untill it has been run a little.

 

yes, it was bored .030..........thanks for that reply !

 

Wrapping it in sheet metal shouldn't have changed the crank tightness.

If you're trying to turn it with the bolt, STOP, lest your next post be either "how do I get a broken crank damper bolt out" or "how do I fix stripped crank damper bolt threads".

If rocker adjustment makes any material difference to how hard an engine is to turn, it's not right. Loosen em up 2 full turns and see what happens.

A fully assembled engine, new pistons rings bores bearings valve springs etc., should take around 35 - 40 ft-lbs to turn, USING A CRANK TURNING TOOL instead of the damper bolt.

Only thing that could have happened to make it tighter after installation, would be not having the converter in the trans right; and it binding up on the pump. In which case, the pump is probably already ruined.

 

+1 Undo the flywheel bolts and try spinning.

 

This was tried before engine was put in car............trans had nothing to do with it. Im thinking it may just be that its new, with tight tolerances and not broken in yet...............

 

Once you adjusted the rockers, you're now having to provide the force to compress the valve springs. Of course it's gonna stiffen up.

 

Freshly bored motors with new rings are harder to turn over than a multi 1000 mile broken in engine. Have to be careful turning by crank bolt for sure.