The front of the block was pretty ratty looking, especially compared to the fresh paint on all the bolt-ons for the front, so....





better?

Looks good!!!!

Update...

My back hurt so bad that I had to take a few...well...five days off from working on the thing.

I've been dickering with some electrical issues that needed to be taken care of, and FINALLY found a harmonic balancer installer I could "rent" from a parts store, so I can keep going on the engine.

I have pics and stuff to post, but later...

Getting closer for sure. Sorry to hear about your back. I know exactly what you mean on the back deal. Been having back issues all my life. Sometimes you gotta rest it.

qtrmile2 wrote:Getting closer for sure. Sorry to hear about your back. I know exactly what you mean on the back deal. Been having back issues all my life. Sometimes you gotta rest it.

That's when you lay on your back and work on something under the car....Zzzzzzzz(snork)Zzzzzzzzzz

WoodStock wrote:

qtrmile2 wrote:Getting closer for sure. Sorry to hear about your back. I know exactly what you mean on the back deal. Been having back issues all my life. Sometimes you gotta rest it.

That's when you lay on your back and work on something under the car....Zzzzzzzz(snork)Zzzzzzzzzz

LOL...true story...working on my 65 and was under the car.
Back spasm hit and I laid there until my brother came out and pulled me from under the car and helped me up.
I think I laid there for about a 1/2 hour.

Again, I'll have to catch up the pictures , but I was able to get some work done last night. I think I finished the wiring mess I've been chasing around. I got the damper on, crank pulley, water pump, fan pulley and fan, radiator, shroud, YES!!!! I'm getting excited all over again now.

This is what sparked (not literally) the wiring repairs.


I had to pull in a new 12v coil wire from the fuse panel, and make a couple other fixes that were discovered along the way. I think I have it set now, I left the ends of all the new wiring ready to snip, strip, and crimp to size.

Balancer


Crank Pulley (With the cam gear still sitting dot to dot with the crank gear, the mark on the damper is exactly at 0 on my pointer)


Radiator and fan shroud


I took this one too, and it showed me that I forgot the fan pulley. It is on now.



I'm going to hook all the wiring up next, and fix the starter heat shield, and start working on the top end. I got the oil system priming tool today, and everything else I need (that I know of;) )is in the shop.

Everything looks great. Good catch on the wiring. It pays to pay attention when your working on stuff. It's gunna turn out nice.
Good job.

Thanks Vince. I'm sure you know...GM put #14 fusible links on the power wires for the starter solenoid. At some point the one in my car got smoked and replaced (poorly, I might add) with a length of #12 stranded wire with red insulation. Also the HEI coil wiring was ALL screwed up. I added a wire through the firewall so there is a 12v supply there for the tach I'm hooking up under the hood for during break in.

I set the .028" compressed GM composition gaskets, put orange silicone on all the cleaned bolts before torquing in steps and helical pattern. The heads got a good cleaning with compressed air again, and the deck surface got a quick wipe down with lacquer thinner. Those gaskets are supposed to go on dry.







My camera makes the orange paint look iridescent, weird, huh?

Next, I doped up all the lifter faces with gray moly paste and set them up on their ends so I could rub the sides with zinc-treated oil and drop them in. Pushrods next, which had been soaking in oil, and each tip got a dab of moly as well.






I am using GM stamped self-aligning rocker arms (1.5 ratio). They are used, but looked pretty good. I set them in place with moly on the valve mating surface and on the pushrod dimple too. The grooved pivot balls got moly'd up and set on, then I tightened them all to where the nut was flush with the tip of the rocker stud.







After reading about setting valve lash, and not having done it before, I took what I thought to be the best approach. In 45 degree increments from TDC #1, there is a sequence for tightening them that "guarantees" that each of them is on the base circle of the lobe, and the engine only needs to be spun around 2 times. That makes sense, since there are sixteen 45 degree increments 360 degrees. This was the suggested method in my "how to rebuild chevy small block" book from SA or Vizard or whatever. It said 1/4 to 1/2 turn past zero lash is best. The GM service manual for my car says that setting lash is done in 2 steps, 8 valves on TDC #1, and the other 8 valves on TDC #6, and that the valves should be turned 1 full turn past zero lash. A few people have told me that they still wind up with clatter when done this way, and that the one at a time following the firing order method is the best way.

Anyways, after I set all the valves, put about 4 qts oil and a pint bottle of break-in additive, plugged in the oil pressure gauge and primed it up with the tool. I got oil out of all the pushrods.

Next, I applied silicone to the intake surface of the heads, and laid the gaskets on with the heat crossover restrictors installed, and put more orange silicone on the top side of the gaskets. I use Permatex black for the front and rear of the intake instead of the rubber gaskets. A good bead of that, and I set the intake on perfectly, so all the bolt holes lined up. I used a criss-cross pattern for the 4 bolts around the plenum of the intake, then criss-crossed outwards towards the front and rear of the manifold. I primed again once the intake was tight with the priming tool.

After jerking around with the distributor, trying to get it to point to # 1 for better than 1/2 hour, I just left it where it was. It is pointing at #5 or so. I just need to remember where the rotor is pointing and hook up #1 wire to there, and wire accordingly.



That's where I'm at now.

Before you fire it up and want to call me to go over stuff give me a call anytime. I'll PM you my number . I've got a way to set your valves after it fires. It's easier for me to talk about it than type. Just want to make sure everything goes OK for ya.

Cool!! Thanks Vince, I got your PM.

No further progress as of now.

Great Job JLK keep up the good work everyone has hiccups lol