- Joined
- Aug 27, 2021
- Messages
- 218
- Reaction score
- 55
- Location
- Williamsburg Virginia area
- My Car
- 1972 H code convert., 351C 2V, FMX, 9in., Ram air, Pwr Steering, Pwr Disc brakes, air-conditioning, 15" sport wheels, Ivy Glo w/white deluxe interior.
Hello all from the steamy Central Virginia tidewater area. With the day bringing a 113-degree heat index (peak will be approx. 1500hrs.), working outside to sandblast requires opening the dang garage door. That said, sandblasting is out so we turn our attention to the Cleveland.
Everyone can agree that when you have the front end of these cars completely disassembled, it's not a bad idea to tackle a couple things while the opportunity presents itself.
Started with the water pump. So, new one of those is in order. Next on the list was the timing chain/gears and am I lucky I decided to look. Slack was right at the mark to replace so, add that to the list.
Next, we moved on to the alternator and while it's in decent shape, and relatively easy to replace down the road, that came out. Looks as if I'll need to rewire or replace the wire harness for that plus the coil, ignition, etc. too.
That was quickly followed by the idea to drop a 4V on the car, so the intake was removed. I'm still torn between just a manifold and carb without replacing with the late '69 closed 4V heads I have but the decision was made after noticing the carbon build up, even with the intake off. For having replaced the oil only a couple hundred miles before it was taken off the street, the oil was way too dirty too. Now add in the fact the timing chain was uncomfortably loose, I decided to open the 1-4 bank of cylinders, just to check the pistons.
While there was no damage, I can't remember seeing a set of pistons nor a combustion chamber so caked with carbon. Granted there was a 30-year and another 10-year hiatus between my first, second and now last projects, it was a smart move.
So, as I mentioned in the title, one thing leads to another and so, we decided to move forward with the next steps that would follow.
After checking the cylinder ridge, we found it was mostly carbon and after a wire brushing, it's actually negligible. I mean, really nothing at all especially for a motor with 76,000 miles. I was really surprised by that but, we're this far so what's the cost of pulling it really going to be when you compare it to putting everything back together and have something happen. We all know we'd be kicking ourselves in the arse for not going the full field and remove the motor.
So, that's where things are. The motor is getting yanked. This will also allow me to do a better job cleaning and repainting the engine bay. After looking at some of the projects out there by ya'll, it really inspired (more like shamed me lol) into the move.
The plan for the motor is to check the taper, once I do remove the minimal ridge and rotating assembly. The preliminary check of things, with the pistons installed is barely reaching 4.002 - 4.003 on the bore at the top and bottom with the piston at BDC.
I can clean up the block here at home but will probably break down and have it tanked and install a new set of cam bearings. Like I mentioned above that oil was really bad to have had only 300 miles on it.
We'll do new bearings and rings to "refresh things" and something I did with the 351W 4V motor we shoved into my '66. That motor was a bit more worn than this one and the refresh actually worked very well. Lasted me a couple years as a daily driver and weekends at Great Lakes Dragway until I sold it. That motor also had the heads from my 289 since the frenemy I bought it from wouldn't include the heads. In the end, it turned out to be a benefit given the much smaller chamber on the '66 - 289 heads. We guesstimated compression to be somewhere near 13.5:1 with the swap. FYI, it was right about the same time, I believe it was either Hotrod or Car Craft magazines, where they did the article about the swap. Mine was done prior so we didn't make the cooling system adjustment, but we did need to enlarge the head bolt holes. That was easy with a jig to level the head and a steady hand with the drill press. A whole lot of cutting oil too.
By the way, remembering what that move did for the motor in power, finally did break down and sent the 4V heads to the shop. There's a guy here in our area, Jimmy's Engine Service, old schooler like myself, he's soaking them in the tank now and after the guide bosses are cleaned, we're doing new bronze guides and a quick once-over of the seats. I only run 93 No-ethanol so we're not messing with new seats. I do that and somewhere else will need to be cut.
The only thing I'm on the fence about with these is having them machined for guide plates and screw-in studs. It's minimal as part of the whole cost so I wouldn't mind hearing a couple thoughts about it as well as a good source for new valves. Those were chucked when I disassembled the heads, mostly because the stems were mushroomed more than I liked to see. The cam will not be much more than a mild upgrade since I'm not interested in replacing the pistons.
I've taken some pics and will hopefully get them moved over from my phone to the laptop soon. We did have the presence of mind to pay for the garage to be insulated when we built but, got to get back out and do some stuff before it gets too hot. With the fans, the garage tops out around 85-86 when it's in the 90's outside.
Everyone can agree that when you have the front end of these cars completely disassembled, it's not a bad idea to tackle a couple things while the opportunity presents itself.
Started with the water pump. So, new one of those is in order. Next on the list was the timing chain/gears and am I lucky I decided to look. Slack was right at the mark to replace so, add that to the list.
Next, we moved on to the alternator and while it's in decent shape, and relatively easy to replace down the road, that came out. Looks as if I'll need to rewire or replace the wire harness for that plus the coil, ignition, etc. too.
That was quickly followed by the idea to drop a 4V on the car, so the intake was removed. I'm still torn between just a manifold and carb without replacing with the late '69 closed 4V heads I have but the decision was made after noticing the carbon build up, even with the intake off. For having replaced the oil only a couple hundred miles before it was taken off the street, the oil was way too dirty too. Now add in the fact the timing chain was uncomfortably loose, I decided to open the 1-4 bank of cylinders, just to check the pistons.
While there was no damage, I can't remember seeing a set of pistons nor a combustion chamber so caked with carbon. Granted there was a 30-year and another 10-year hiatus between my first, second and now last projects, it was a smart move.
So, as I mentioned in the title, one thing leads to another and so, we decided to move forward with the next steps that would follow.
After checking the cylinder ridge, we found it was mostly carbon and after a wire brushing, it's actually negligible. I mean, really nothing at all especially for a motor with 76,000 miles. I was really surprised by that but, we're this far so what's the cost of pulling it really going to be when you compare it to putting everything back together and have something happen. We all know we'd be kicking ourselves in the arse for not going the full field and remove the motor.
So, that's where things are. The motor is getting yanked. This will also allow me to do a better job cleaning and repainting the engine bay. After looking at some of the projects out there by ya'll, it really inspired (more like shamed me lol) into the move.
The plan for the motor is to check the taper, once I do remove the minimal ridge and rotating assembly. The preliminary check of things, with the pistons installed is barely reaching 4.002 - 4.003 on the bore at the top and bottom with the piston at BDC.
I can clean up the block here at home but will probably break down and have it tanked and install a new set of cam bearings. Like I mentioned above that oil was really bad to have had only 300 miles on it.
We'll do new bearings and rings to "refresh things" and something I did with the 351W 4V motor we shoved into my '66. That motor was a bit more worn than this one and the refresh actually worked very well. Lasted me a couple years as a daily driver and weekends at Great Lakes Dragway until I sold it. That motor also had the heads from my 289 since the frenemy I bought it from wouldn't include the heads. In the end, it turned out to be a benefit given the much smaller chamber on the '66 - 289 heads. We guesstimated compression to be somewhere near 13.5:1 with the swap. FYI, it was right about the same time, I believe it was either Hotrod or Car Craft magazines, where they did the article about the swap. Mine was done prior so we didn't make the cooling system adjustment, but we did need to enlarge the head bolt holes. That was easy with a jig to level the head and a steady hand with the drill press. A whole lot of cutting oil too.
By the way, remembering what that move did for the motor in power, finally did break down and sent the 4V heads to the shop. There's a guy here in our area, Jimmy's Engine Service, old schooler like myself, he's soaking them in the tank now and after the guide bosses are cleaned, we're doing new bronze guides and a quick once-over of the seats. I only run 93 No-ethanol so we're not messing with new seats. I do that and somewhere else will need to be cut.
The only thing I'm on the fence about with these is having them machined for guide plates and screw-in studs. It's minimal as part of the whole cost so I wouldn't mind hearing a couple thoughts about it as well as a good source for new valves. Those were chucked when I disassembled the heads, mostly because the stems were mushroomed more than I liked to see. The cam will not be much more than a mild upgrade since I'm not interested in replacing the pistons.
I've taken some pics and will hopefully get them moved over from my phone to the laptop soon. We did have the presence of mind to pay for the garage to be insulated when we built but, got to get back out and do some stuff before it gets too hot. With the fans, the garage tops out around 85-86 when it's in the 90's outside.
