David
You should mark all your rod and main caps before removal and make sure you don't mismatch them.Also after you remove the rod cap,put a short piece of hose over the bolts so you don't damage the crank when you're removing the piston and rod assembly.I usually use the handle of a hammer to push them out.hope this helps

 

It does John, thank you very much.
Best regards,
David

 

Gordon dropped by today with the harmonic balancer puller. Took me about ten minutes to remove it. Took longer to get the timing wheel cover off. Anyway, here is the progress for now, next up is marking parts before removal. I'll keep the pictures coming, hope you don't mind.

The tool mounts easily to the balancer with three bolts. There is a tip bushing that goes up against the cam to prevent damage, then the center bolt is turned and it removes the press fit balancer.



Ten small bolts and two pin locators hold the timing cover on over the timing chain. My bolts were very soft and wanted to roll the threads but using PB Blaster, and moving carefully I got them all out. I then removed these three lower sprocket bolts and the lower gear came right off the cam shaft.


Part number on the lower sproket is 3896960, another item for the investigation later, not now.


Pulling out the cam was very easy at this point. Mine is a cast steel cam, I am looking for how to identify the numbers on it now and I see that it does have the numbers, so I will investigate and get back to you all. One item of note is the timing chain had the words "made in Canada" on some of the links, and the name "Morse" on some of the other links. Significance of that is yet unknown.


Next up is stamping matching numbers on the components here and finishing that before removal of any more parts. I need a stamp or punch set so that is my next purchase, then marking the parts, then removal. Coming along fine thus far.


I will be looking for a shop to hot dip the bare block when I get to that point in this project. I think some research for a reliable local shop would be appropriate, if anyone reads this and knows someone then please forward any names you know you can, and I can, trust.

Thanks again to all for watching and watch for more soon.

Best regards,

David Howard

 

This thread is fantastic! I wish someone could do one of these for a TH-400, and other assemblies on the car. Up for the challenge?

 

David,
I had done some local research for machining for my heads. I asked around and the places I can up with Chucks Machine in Harmony NJ and Leindecker down in Saucon Valley area. After speaking with them both I would have gone with Leindecker.

http://leindeckerracingengines.com/

Chuck was going to do my work in batches when he was doing other work. I had several references for him, but I didn't get a good "vibe" after speaking with him. At Leindecker, its a guy who is an area cop who does engine building as a hobby. He has a machine shop in his garage that appears to have everything. If I had chose to have my work done locally, I would have gone with him. The guys house is nice but has no landscaping or frills, you can tell where his passion lies. The time he spent explaining to me what he was going to do sold me on future projects.

I say all this and chose neither of them. I had my head work done at Finger Lakes Machine in Auburn, NY. This is local to my father and he had received strong reco's from his local club to go there. Being unfamiliar with the LV I elected to send them upstate.

Thought I would share my experience for whatever its worth......

Dan

 

I've got my hands full with the engine for now but you never know what I might dig into next...stranger things have happened.
I love a good challenge.
David

 

David
Great thread.Before you take it to get hot tanked,I usually remove all the casting plugs(frost plugs) and oil galley plugs and the cam bearings(they will be ruined anyway) as I think you get a better job.

 

David, Thanks for taking the time to post all these great photos. Is the build going to be a stock build or a little warmed over?

Thanks Scott

 

Great suggestion John. Gordon showed me the plugs and bearings to remove to get this down to what I guess is called at Hot Dip Cleaning.

I want a machine shop to inspect the block and make sure we know what I have here is worth taking through to completion. Hot dip and measurement of bore are the two primary interests I have from a shop initially. Any other suggestions of things to look for would always be appreciated. I hope to be at a bare block by Saturday. Thank you.
David

 

Hi Scott, good question. I spoke to Gordon yesterday and depending upon the condition of the block I will make a determination to warm it up a little bit. How warm I am not certain yet, depends on the condition of the parts.

I have new reworked heads on order now from the same shop that did my heads for my 71. They did a great job on the 71 heads so I will placed my order with them yesterday and the new heads are on the way to me now. They are capable of handling up to 400 HP so that is a start, I am targeting something North of 300 HP, not looking for much more really, will see where I can land affordably.
I will inspect parts and make that assessment on parts this weekend. Depending upon block condition I will either have it honed or bored, but not sure yet. 30 over and a mild cam upgrade would be my preference along with the improved heads. A change in the intake is important as well, old one is toast. So it will become a new and improved engine, have to wait and see what I might have in HP for a while longer though. Regardless it will be an improvement over the 165 or so rating it had when I got it.
David

 

Thank you Dan for your information. I got my heads order placed yesterday with a good shop I have used in Mason City, Iowa in the past. They built the heads for my 71 project car Sparty and those worked out very well, so I got a set for this engine purchased yesterday. Old heads will be my opportunity to play further at a later date, so it is all good. Intake manifold search is on now, along with a shop to hot dip my block and check the diameter of the bores. I'll give Leindecker a call and may drop by his shop as it is only 30 minutes away from me and could be a great source. Decisions will be made from that spot on where to head next.
Having fun though. Thanks again for the suggestions.
David

 

any help or tools needed you know who to call.

 

Great thread!

 

Great post and pics. Keep it up.

 

Today I got a set of steel punches from my good buddy John T. and I marked everything in anticipation of removal. The punch set was the alphabet only so I got innovative and used A through H for the individual piston rods, one, two, three and four dots for the top seals, and I used the V to point in to the front of the engine. Then all you have to do it align A with A, and point V to the front, B with B and point V to the front, C with C, and so on. No mix up at all. Top seals all have an arrow point forward already so 1 dot is the front seal, 2 dots is the second seal, and so on. Documented it, photographed it, and made a royal mess having a ball in the garage.

So here are the first six pictures showing the process as I moved through this stage of the stripping. Starting point is here.



Here you see all of the items still in the engine, but marking as I went forward I got the alphabet stamps moving from front to back.


I started at the front of the engine and remove one at a time, first the two bolts, then the sleeve and bushing, then I pushed it through and out the other side. This is what it looked like half way through the process.


And this is how I aligned the pistons out of the engine. Same location, same order, and this is the first four of eight.


Nothing like some initial success to motivate a person to keep moving so I moved on to the second set of four and here is the block with all eight removed.


And here is the alignment of the eight cylinders after removal.


So I kept going...

 

It was time to remove the top seals and get the crank shaft out of the block so that is what I did, again from front to back, then lifted the crank out of the block and took some pictures.




Then I flipped the block back over and took some pictures from the top side.




And I attempted to take one picture of Cylinder one, though it didn't come out well enough to make a judgement on the wear of the walls it was fun to try.


So let me show you how I have the parts organized...

 

Just a couple of pictures showing the parts as I have them organized. Ready for inspection when I can open the garage door and let some sunlight flood in. Until then they will remain at rest just as they are...for now anyway.





So my last activity is trying to remove the plugs in the block. Any suggestions for the best, most effective, safest, smartest, etc. way to get these out???



I am all ears guys, let me have it.

And thanks for your ongoing support, I appreciate it.

Best regards,

David

 

Tell me how you remove them please. Curious minds (and me) want to know...
David

 

David, looking at those bores they need to be bored and honed. As for taking out the freeze plugs take a punch, not pointed, flat and hit one side of the plug. Kind of like rocking it out of the block. It will start to twist. Once you have it at about a 45 degree angle grab it with a good size pair of pliers or pry it out with a screw driver. Should only take a few minutes to have all the plugs out. Also remove the oil pressure sender unit and all threaded plugs in the block.

 

If you want to have some fun, wheel the block outside with all the frost plugs removed and put some compressed air through the water jackets. It's amazing what comes out!