JT
Thus, the black umbrella "shedders" commonly used as band-aid; attempting to overcome oil leaking into chamber from excessive stem-to-guide wear. That works for a while; until it doesn't.

W/ 64cc chambers + flattops, you'll have to dance with deck height And gasket thickness in order to reach an effective Quench Height In Concert w/ acceptable-practical SCR.

If ya use cheap heads, strongly suggest First have auto machine shop pro thoroughly inspect & measure; to help ensure valves are actually seated properly (TIR), proper clearances etc.
OR, buy em bare & have local pro properly fit better-quality valvetrain.
Suggest do Not install VS seals having nylon (usually whitish) lips; they're hard, not pliable, poor conformability and will leak sooner than later.

Don't put too much spring on any flat tappet lifters; especially on New lobes and/or New lifters.

*add*
ya might find a little less wear on intakes, those get more oil (than exhausts) sucked thru them.

 

So now I have some choices to make but I'll wait till the short block is out of the car and I can take a peek at the crank area. Gotta get cracking and make an engine leveler or use a crappy one from Horrible Freight two times.

1. Take the OEM heads to a shop and get them rebuilt and put a stock head gasket in and not worry about quench. Replace all gaskets and seals.

2. Buy a set of aluminum heads and have the deck blocked and have a good quench. This option means new rocker arms and possibly new push rods. Replace all gaskets and seals.

3. Chuck it all and order a BPE.

JT

 

Yup, knock the bolts & guts out of the short block; inspect-measure remainder.

? First: which raised casting number do your heads have ? Both same ?

? have you inspected-measured cam lobes + lifter faces for normal Or excessive wear ?

No matter which head, regardless stock OE C3 or top o' the heap aftermarket, Quench Height matters and benefits from proper quench are worth achieving.
You've already established current Deck Height with current pistons measures 0.025".
If, IF you reinstall same pistons in same OE deck block WITH a 0.015" compressed shim gasket, that WILL produce a good 0.040" Quench Height.
OR, likewise, if you have block decked approx 0.012", BUT use a 0.028" compressed composite gasket, that WILL produce a good 0.040" Quench Height.

Yours may already NEED new PRs; often, normal wear & tear results in micro-fractures and/or spalling at radiused ball ends.
Likewise for stamped rocker arms' PR Cups (inspection).

* FWIW, Fel-Pro recommends embossed-beaded steel shim gasket for Both cast aluminum AND cast iron heads. That's clearly stated in its current Performance Gasket catalog.

** if you do not care about a legally-enforceable engine warranty, then buy whatever floats your boat (hopefully all goes well; please don't bemoan if-when it goes sideways).

But if you Do care, read the manufacturers warranty (published online) And then show it to your local attorney and ask for an opinion. He/she will likely affirm: when the seller has no physical presence in your jurisdiction, you're required to bring any action in the seller's jurisdiction (& that ain't economically feasible re: a $5K to $10K interstate motor dispute).
OTOH: GM clearly has a physical presence at Poplar Bluff MO; several more quite nearby. GM has brick & mortar presence in your jurisdiction.

 

I would recommend this book by David Vizard "How to Build Max-Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget". He talks about the thing discussed here into more detail and the pros and cons. You'll have a much picture on your choices. David is the foremost expert on engines.

 

I'm late to reply here again (as usual)...but back on post #22 if you look at the intake ports you can see oily residue in ports 3,5,6,7,8. So that suggests that the port may not have been completely sealed at the lifter gallery/intake parting line and could be sucking in oil.....blackening those plugs.
I was also thinking about your choke and how it was setup.....you said it was missing on a few cylinders while warming up and then smoothed out once warmed and the choke opened. I'm thinking that you may have your choke set to firmly (rich) and it's not allowing enough air to bypass and give proper combustion....therefore also blackening those plugs.
In post #1 you say that on startup you get a puff of blue smoke which clears.....another cause of black plugs.

Three thing that were causing you issues, all easily fixable. The water out the tailpipe is just condensation, and normal....nothing to worry about.

Your short block has clearly been redone, and with those compression tests seems healthy, I wouldn't do anything with that except change that rear seal.

Have you pulled those lifters yet to have a look at the cam? you might be doing one of those as well if it looks scored.

I ran the steel shim head gaskets in my car for several years without any issues, and I recommend them for increasing that compression and helping with the quench. Get the coated ones.

It sounds like your getting some aluminum heads, which is great all around (weight and power), don't overdue it on port size stay in the 180cc size with the 350 for great mid range performance.

 

I've actually watched some of his videos in the past but forgot about him.

Edit: looks like David put out a new version of that book in 2009 but the old one is still available

JT

 

The valve guide I checked (see above) was right at the service limit and the valve stem seal was shot I put more stock in oil in the combustion chamber. The choke was set exactly as the instructions stated to do (I'm very ****).

I have not pulled the lifters yet but I have pulled the engine.


Can you spot what fell off when I pulled the engine? You can also see the 2x8 and shims that I used to hold the 700R4 up as I raised the engine.


All in all I think it was a good idea to pull the engine and deal with some of Bubba's work in the engine compartment and be able to do what I need to do to the engine while it's on the engine stand.

JT

 

Motor Mount. How did you like swinging that iron over your pristine fenders??

 

It is was a nervous moment for sure.

Edit: thinking back at the moment of jacking up the engine I was so in tune to the engine hoist I heard every tiny creak the hoist made as I jacked the engine up. The pulling the hoist every so slowly over the fender so as to not screw up... and being very relieved once I cleared the car and the lift.

JT

 

The steel shim gaskets are fine for aluminum, they are coated but I sprayed mine with copper kote. I removed the a few years later to swap the heads over to my 406 with none of the damage some folks here like to warn about. Hopefully other with experience with this will chime in.

 

Did you try measuring the wear side-to-side or just front-to-back? Those stock integral guides are usually trashed at about 60K miles. The add-on rubber umbrellas help control the oil burning on the intake side for a while before you require a full valve job. Exhaust side is not usually much of an issue.

 

Yes, I realized that I measured them in the wrong plane right after I posted that and posted the results of measuring the play in the correct direction.

JT

 

WAG
once-commonplace: fully-separated driver-side motor mount. Wonder why lock tab didn't hold it together ?.

? head casting number(s) ?

 

Because the locking tab is only meant to limit parallel movement. Once everything's unbolted the two halves of free to move in any direction.

 

Head casting number 462624

JT

 

Compared to earlier castings, 624 are thinner, lighter castings. They're not good candidates for milling for purposes of reducing chamber size. And they won't take much of a cut before that alters the sealing perimeter for gasket. They'll usually take enough cut to level; but no more. JME: earlier 487 can be cut to yield smaller 70cc chambers; with no ill effect.

 

I'm trying to decide what direction to take at this point, the engine is out and it's very dirty on the outside. Should I completely disassemble the short block and plastigauge the bearings as I disassemble it then get the block cleaned at the engine shop or just take the block and heads to the engine shop?

JT

 

Do you know how to read the bearing inserts; patterns on inserts overlay can/will disclose many details of how true crank's been running.? If ya want shop pro to read it. suggest leave inserts & crank in situ. Plasti-Gage ain't as accurate unless bone-dry. Highly suggest iron block & iron heads cleaning via Bake n Blast; if shop has it. Same for pan, VCs and TC. Can't tell it from new; block so dry, it'll sop up lots more oil than ya might expect. If any thought to coat insides w/ Glyptal; that's the best opportunity..Shop'll easily mike crank journals. You have top-shelf dial indicator; perhaps mikes as well ? Although gaging crank's fillets isn't as straight-forward.

 

Let me see if I can help you out here. If you had good oil pressure and you had good compression with good looking bores you really don't need to do anything other than a good cleanup. It will probably give you years of service and who knows what you're intentions will be then. Here's my thoughts. Do you really want to invest.money into a thin casting, 2 bolt main, non roller block? Personally some seals, a timing chain, and a can of paint and send it. That's about as far as I would go with that short block IMHO. The Flotek heads are inexpensive and a good upgrade so I would just automatically chuck them. Just my $0.02

 

Yeah, I guess I got a bit disgusted with how dirty the outside of the block was yesterday trying to clean it. Going to try and clean it with something different today. The oil pan I can blast the outside to bare metal in my blast cabinet and prime and paint it to look like new.

JT