So much for my hopes (at the end of last week) that I'd have the engine finished & installed by the end of this week...
Hit plenty of snags (especially last night / this morning) & now I am experiencing a bunch of D words (despair, disbelief, disgust, depression...) Looking for some input from you again!
1.) Installed the cam last night & when it was in position it would not turn by hand at all! Pulled it out & reinspected all surfaces- nothing irregular... Tried my best to view all the cam bearings- still nothing irregular (no scratches, burrs, etc). Re lubed the cam & installed it again... if left 3/16-1/4" out (not in all the way) it turns by hand very easily. Once you get it in further it "locks up". Putting the cam gear on it allows you to turn it by hand, but it seems like it takes more effort than it should. Pulled it again to check for damage- none visible either location... Makes a squishy oil moving noise when turning it w/ the cam gear... Do you suppose that it is a form of hydro-lock causing the trouble? Leaving the cam out 1/4" probably exposes the oil hole in the last cam bearing & allows air to move, but when in further the hole is blocked & the combo of air / assembly lube is causing trouble being trapped by the plug at the end of the block? Anyone have this issue before?
2.) Was cleaning my mildly used longer than stock pushrods & perceived that a couple might be bent. Performed the "roll test" after cleaning & only 2 show no perceivable "wobble", 4 of them are very blatant & the other 6 show varying degrees of bend
I am sure that these will degrade lift & cause issues with valvetrain harmonics, but what else can I do (short of angering my wife with yet another expensive/unforeseen purchase)? They'd probably serve their purpose for a while (the ends all look great)- I just don't know...
3.) Was skimming my Haynes Manual (hadn't done that for a while- rebuilt numerous engines in the past & am comfortable enough with procedures that I hadn't felt the need since verifying clearances & torque values) to check for info on 2 issues listed above & ran across the wonderful info that the Rod Bolts are tty (torque to yield) just like the Head bolts
Why did they not come with the rebuild kit, why did I not determine that when ordering parts? I haven't flipped everything around to see if I can replace them with the pistons/rods in place without putting other parts in jeopardy... I assume that you (who've already rebuilt their engines) replaced your bolts. Anyone not? Honestly- I haven't even checked price yet...
4.) When desiring to turn the crank last night to place the piston in cylinder 1 to TDC- I grabbed my new Harmonic Balancer (I had knocked all the packing peanut debris off of it earlier in the day & painted it to ensure long lasting good looks
)... There was a piece of tape over the small end (presumably to keep it from filling with packing peanuts), so I removed it & grabbed some degreaser to clean it up. I quickly determined that the Balancer had been dropped at some point prior to being shipped to me. The end was dinged & looked terrible. Undeterred (this was before I discovered any of this other info), I grabbed my die grinder & sanding rolls & began carefully removing the deformation. This took a while longer than I hoped, but I finally got it to measure the same all the way around... I re-polished this area w/ 600 & then 1000 grit wet/dry paper & it looked pretty good. It only goes about 3/8" (maybe) onto the crank before exhibiting major resistance. I turned the crank to TDC & decided that I'd deal with it later. I assume that the drop deformed the inside too (hadn't measured because it looked ok visually)... Anyone know how far it should push on before needing to be pressed on?
I am going to temp the head back on (to keep everything condensed) & cover the engine in plastic again... Then finally make myself port match the exhaust manifolds!
If it were your build & you'd already sunk a bunch of money into it trying to do things right & ran into these issues- what would you do?
Run the cam w/out concern? Use the pushrods or order new? A person might be able to have the rocker shaft stands milled (half of the measurement that the pushrods need to be longer) and just use the stock length pushrods that I have (I have new ones), but that might affect how the rockers contact the valves... Would it make a big enough difference to matter? Then I'd have to take the rocker shaft assemblies back apart again (for cleaning, or for the milling procedure itself)... I don't really want to buy another balancer, but if it were dropped (as it clearly has been)- is it still alright to use? Has to be better than the crusty/cracked unit that I removed from the engine... Run the tty bolts hoping for the best (I know- that really shouldn't be an option), or take the engine back apart again to put new bolts in the rods? Aaaaahhg! Why does every project I get into seem to become a nightmare lately? I'd love it for something to go smoothly for once! Going to get to work- let me know your thoughts... Thanks!