Bojo's 73 Project

[Doug The Dog]

I'd pull the converter so it's not sitting on the bottom half of the seal.

Exactly!

 

[jbojo]

Pat and Travis,

Thx for the heads up. You guys have probably saved me another headache as I didn't think about removing the torque converter. I'll remove it for sure now.

 

[Doug The Dog]

I changed an engine for this girl who had a 73 coupe about 25 years ago, took special care to brace the transmission, but left the torque converter in. Got the engine in and running and you guessed it. The transmission was puking fluid everywhere. Lesson learned.

 

[droptop73]

Pat and Travis,

Thx for the heads up. You guys have probably saved me another headache as I didn't think about removing the torque converter. I'll remove it for sure now.

Be sure to leave the converter in the trans when pulling the engine and then pull the converter from the trans if you feel the need.

 

[jbojo]

Pat and Travis,

Thx for the heads up. You guys have probably saved me another headache as I didn't think about removing the torque converter. I'll remove it for sure now.

Be sure to leave the converter in the trans when pulling the engine and then pull the converter from the trans if you feel the need.

Thx Jeff that was my plans. I already have the converter bolts off and its ready to be pulled. Should be out first thing in the morning and I'll start checking all the bearing clearances. More to come tomorrow.

 

[jbojo]

5/10/14

Just a quick update on progress this morning. Motor is out and on the stand now. Heading off to get some plastigage so I can start measuring clearances. Hopefully I'll know how things stand later this evening.

 

[hyena429]

5/10/14

Just a quick update on progress this morning. Motor is out and on the stand now. Heading off to get some plastigage so I can start measuring clearances. Hopefully I'll know how things stand later this evening.

Cool John..Keep us posted.

 

[jbojo]

Ok, I checked the bearing clearances and its the main bearings that have the problem. The installed bearings are .010 so the crank was supposedly ground however when I used plastigage with a range of .001 to .003 range it didn't even begin to flatten it out. I torqued the main bolts to 105 ft/lbs. It appears that it might have just started to begin to flatten but couldn't really tell. By looking at it the clearance it may be around .005 to .006 or even more (max limit is .0026) so I was bleeding the oil by the bearings pretty badly. It makes sense that oil pressure cold was ok but as the motor warmed it began to drop rapidly.

Can someone tell me what the main journal size should be if the crank was ground .020 under? Do you just subtract .020 from the standard journal size?

The connecting rod bearings were spot on. The bearings for those are also .010 however the clearance is .0015 with the plastigage and that is the optimal clearance that my manual shows so I am ok there.

So bottom line now is that I need to measure the main bearing journals to see what bearing needs to be installed. If anyone know what the journal size should be if its .020 under please let me know. Lastly what is the max undersize a main journal can be ground to?

thx

 

[jbojo]

5/17/14

A quick update as to my engine progress. The motor is completely disassembled now and upon inspection of the bearing surfaces they all appear to be ok. The connecting rods were all in spec however the main bearings had a clearance of at least .010" on all 5 bearings. I mic'd all the journals and the mains should have been .020 bearings. It must have been like a shower head in there when the oil heated up.

Spoke with a pretty reputable engine builder in town and he said that the motor should be ok being .020 over and didn't recommend me using my other crank which is .010 because my current rotating assembly is balanced and we would have to do it again and it wasn't worth the costs.

So I am getting a full set of bearings again and will install them myself and verify everything is in spec. Doing the connecting rods again because I am not sure how much abuse they were subjected to and just want to be at a baseline point with this motor again. The mains did show like the were being hammered but I didn't run the motor enough to cause any major damage to anything.

 

[hyena429]

5/17/14

A quick update as to my engine progress. The motor is completely disassembled now and upon inspection of the bearing surfaces they all appear to be ok. The connecting rods were all in spec however the main bearings had a clearance of at least .010" on all 5 bearings. I mic'd all the journals and the mains should have been .020 bearings. It must have been like a shower head in there when the oil heated up.

Spoke with a pretty reputable engine builder in town and he said that the motor should be ok being .020 over and didn't recommend me using my other crank which is .010 because my current rotating assembly is balanced and we would have to do it again and it wasn't worth the costs.

So I am getting a full set of bearings again and will install them myself and verify everything is in spec. Doing the connecting rods again because I am not sure how much abuse they were subjected to and just want to be at a baseline point with this motor again. The mains did show like the were being hammered but I didn't run the motor enough to cause any major damage to anything.

{thumbs up} Good to hear you found the issue and hopefully wont put you too far back on you're project.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Your story is another example of why I find it hard to trust other people's work anymore. I'm glad you saved it from becoming a great big expensive issue. These teething problems can be a morale killer. Glad it appears you have gotten thru that phase.

 

[jbojo]

Your story is another example of why I find it hard to trust other people's work anymore. I'm glad you saved it from becoming a great big expensive issue. These teething problems can be a morale killer. Glad it appears you have gotten thru that phase.

Thx Jeff, lesson learned.

The main bearings and some of the gaskets arrived today. The rest of the parts will be here tomorrow. Plans are to start reassembling the motor tomorrow evening and be completed by Memorial Day if everything goes smoothly.

 

[hyena429]

Ya..Last 3 i seen built by engine builders have been screwed up...Simple things from not gapping the rings for nitrous, too breaking off bits inside a crank..Like what i found in my motor " rag left under the manifold" It sure does pay to do it your self now days when it comes to putting together an engine, We use to have alot of good engine builders here, but most of the good ones i grew up knowing have passed on.

 

[jbojo]

5/23/14

Wasn't able to start on the motor yet because of other commitments. Getting ready to go out and start working on it in an hour or so.

I did decide to install a power steering fluid cooler because I noticed that the fluid was getting warm when I had the motor running. It is actually pretty small cooler and should fit in nicely. Figured that it would be easy now since the engine compartment is empty and I'll have lots of room to work with. While I am at it I'll wash everything down again because there is a lot of sanding dust on everything.

The one last thing that I saw was that Totalled had asked me about whether I had clearance issues with the trans pan and header collector flange. I didn't think so but when I removed the motor I saw that the header flange was not sitting firmly against the heads so they were leaking. Decided to go with parallel exiting headers vice ones where the collectors angle in so I needed to get new reducers. I found a set of Hedman ones and welded a new O2 bung to it. The last set it was welded on the collector but I read that putting it on the reducer was a better solution. Hopefully the motor is back together this weekend. The 3 day weekend will help here.

Update:

I spent time removing the old rear seal, cleaning the gasket sealant and measured the clearances on all 5 main bearings. Happy to say that the clearance on all 5 mains is now .0015 which is well within spec. So tomorrow I'll install the rear seal and torque all the bearing caps down. Then as I install the pistons I am going to remove the rings and check those clearances. Not going to trust anything that was done by the machine shop anymore.

Tomorrow I'll update on the Piston rings and connecting rod clearances. I did get new Windsor bearings just to be on the safe side in case cleveland bearings were used. Not sure why Eagle specifies Windsor bearings for their forged Cleveland connecting rods.

 

[1972MustangSVH]

One of the signs in my old garage...

"When there isn't time to do it right, there will always be time to do it again."

I found it hanging in an abandon gas station.

 

[liftmech]

Hello Jbojo

glad to hear you got a handle on your oiling problem and sorry that you missed the 50th

I did make it to my 50th in Charlotte and it was a pertty good show but for the rain all day saturday

i had to tow my 71 vert as it wasnt road ready yet me and my son worked on it up to the time i was

putting it on the trailer and i did not get the front end alinged it had 4 mi on when i left

 

[jbojo]

Hello Jbojo

glad to hear you got a handle on your oiling problem and sorry that you missed the 50th

I did make it to my 50th in Charlotte and it was a pertty good show but for the rain all day saturday

i had to tow my 71 vert as it wasnt road ready yet me and my son worked on it up to the time i was

putting it on the trailer and i did not get the front end alinged it had 4 mi on when i left

Liftmech,

Yeah I was disappointed that I couldn't make the show in Las Vegas. I really wanted to go to the get together that Travis had set up but my motor issues prevented me from getting my car done on time. I really like your vert. Hopefully you'll get it done soon, sounds like you're close.

1972MustangSVH,

I like that sign!!

5/24/14

Made good progress today. I got the rear seal, main caps torqued, timing chain on, checked all the connecting rod and piston ring clearances and got them installed and torqued. Tomorrow the heads can go back on and then I am going to repaint the block again. The connecting rod clearances all were .0015 which were a bit better than the old ones. If this does not fix the oil pressure issue then I am not sure what the issue will be. I also checked to make sure that all the internal plugs were installed. Here is a pic of the engine today.

Oh yeah. it didn't have the oil slinger when I disassembled it. I have one somewhere in my pile of parts, is it necessary?

 

[Don65Stang]

Can't wait for the next video John. I'm glad you caught this early. It'll be on the road before you know it.

 

[Totalled]

Oil slinger isn't a bad idea. It helps lube the timing set, and divert oil from the front crank seal.

 

[liftmech]

Hello Bojo

The only thing i see is maybe to check the cam bearing clerance i dought anything

is wrong but i would just want to get that out of mix seeing the problems you have had