That sounds like a good way to do it. Thanks.

Just edited my previous post. Any experience welding pickup tubes?

 

Mig should work test & set the welder using your old pump.

I use tig & stainless rod.

Remove the pressure spring & by-pass valve, clean/dry the pump = no oil residue.

 

I've brazed in pickups, and it works very well but it does transfer a lot of heat into the pump housing requiring the spring to be removed...easy on a big block oil pump, not so easy on a small block oil pump....so I tack weld with the good old stick welder, very small 7018 rod, D.C reverse polarity, low amperage, a couple of tacks, viola, the pickups secure and there's very little transfer of heat into the pump body = no need to remove and replace spring

 

Ah, testing on the old pump is a great idea. Thanks!

Sadly I don't have access to a TIG welder, and even if I did I couldn't use it.

I'll probably run by my friend's house and weld it today. I'm thinking two or three 1/4" to 1/8" tacks should do?

 

Hmm, noticed the spring in my old oil pump was significantly weaker than the spring in the new. Perhaps that contributed to my oil pressure woes.

 

If you have pressed in the pickup tube into the pump, a single tack should do it. The less heat you generate the better.

 

Just got back from welding it. I pulled the pin, spring, and piston beforehand just to be safe. I did three tacks (didn't read your post until just now) but the housing did not warm up appreciably. Maybe 5 seconds of welding total. Oh, if anyone is curious, I used a voltage setting of 4 (don't know what that corresponds to in volts, sorry, but I'm hoping this is a standardized scale for MIG welders) and a wire feed rate of 50 (sorry, again I don't know what that is in real-world measurements).




Time to add "master welder" to my resume!
...
Okay, so maybe not, but it'll work. Plus it'll be cool to have an oil pickup in my car that I welded on myself

 

I'm going out of my mind trying to figure out the timing mark. I used a piston stop to find TDC, which is about 15* before (to the left of) the 0* mark on the harmonic damper. There's also a "Vertical TDC" marking about 15* before where I found TDC to be. To simplify, I found TDC to be halfway between the damper's "Vertical TDC" marking and its 0* marking.

From what I can tell, there were two or three different styles of dampers used. One had the TDC marking 2* before the keyway, one had it 10* before, and the last had it either 30* or 40* before, depending on who you ask.

Regardless, I found that TDC is 23* before the keyway, which doesn't match up with any of those values.

My dad and I are so confused

Oh, and also, any idea what the difference is between the 0* mark and the "Vertical TDC" mark? I would think 0* BTDC would be TDC, but I can't imagine what "Vertical TDC" could mean.

Edit:
Turns out the "Vertical TDC" marking is for certain engines with the pointer directly above the damper.

I compared to my old engine, and the TDC mark on the balancers are in exactly the same position in reference to the Woodruff key, and the dampers are the same diameter. The timing pointers are also in the same position in reference to the block.

Realizing the only thing that could account for all the discrepancies was my TDC estimate, I went back and used the piston stop to find TDC again. Completely turned the engine over without feeling contact. I have no idea why I felt the piston hit the stop earlier, but it definitely didn't hit it this time, and after inspecting the stop I can conclude it didn't just bend the stop out of the way.

Anyway, my dad and I eyeballed TDC, one of us turning the crank while the other looked through the spark plug hole, and it looks like the pointer and damper are near dead-on. Nonetheless, I'm curious what the heck happened with the piston stop if anyone has any ideas.

 

Timing covers differ.

To mark or find TDC:

Rotate the engine to the piston stop, mark the balancer @ the timing pointer.
Back the engine up until it stops on the piston stop again, mark the balancer again @ the timing pointer.
The distance mid way between your marks is TDC. Use a square & a scribe to mark TDC on the balancer if the factory mark does not line up. I like a line of paint on the scribe mark, makes it easy to see when setting timing.
If the timing cover pointer does not line up with TDC an adjustable timing pointer is available aftermarket. Or you could use the balancer & timing cover from the old engine.

Check new against old balancer diameters they need to be the same. A larger diameter unit could interfere with the steering rack.

 

Yep, did that exact procedure. The crank turned right past where it should have hit the stop when I did it most recently, but didn't bend the stop either. I think I've decided that the piston stop ends up lined up just perfectly with a valve relief, so it doesn't contact the piston.

Seems like the timing pointer and damper show TDC just about right. The pointer is adjustable, but since the piston stop won't work I think I'll leave it as is.

 

I assume the pan is on? if not, or if you don't mind pulling it and reusing the gasket (which should be okay) you can observe the bottom of the piston to locate TDC

 

The pan is on unfortunately, but we were able to estimate TDC by looking through the spark plug hole with a flashlight. One of us would turn the engine and the other look through the hole, and consistently the points of where the piston started moving up and where it started moving down would average out within half a degree of the pointer.

 

Buying a few more things for the engine.

I'll be getting Mobil-1 Synthetic 5w-30, since that seems to be the popular choice on the forum.

I see some people recommending buying brand new plugs for a new engine, but the plugs from my old engine are fairly new. They were replaced by the previous owner, I think in the last 10k miles. My old engine was on its last legs, and I think it was experiencing some detonation, but they seem to be in fairly good shape to my inexperienced eye. They've got some dark spots on the white insulator on the electrode though.

Have you guys ever had problems reusing (new) plugs from an old engine, or do you see any other reasons to replace them?

 

Sorry but buying expensive synthetic oil and reusing sparkplugs is little backwards to me. And when u need to change the oil soon after breakin it gets even more expensive.

But i do know how to make an adjustable and strong piston stop with a used spark plug. I knock out the insulator and cut off the electrode. Then select a tap thats close enough to thread (course) the inside of plug where the insulator and electrode used to be - now just a shell with threads for the head. Then select a nice stove bolt that threads into that shell - something like 3/8" which is larger and stronger than more cheap piston stops. Finally i grind or file the threads at the very end so it cant hurt the piston. Use some regular nuts on the stove bolt as double nutting lock nuts. This should allow u to change the location the stop hits the piston if needed.

Good luck.

 

Save some money on the oil and use it to buy new spark plugs

Buy some inexpensive oil and a cheap filter; you're only gonna run the engine for thirty or so minutes before you change both the filter and oil; take the old filter, let it drain overnight and then cut it apart; you'll be surprised at what flushes out of a supposedly "clean" rebuild.

After you put a few hundred easy miles, constantly varying engine rpm, hopefully the rings will have seated; now change out filter and oil for Mobil One or other high quality synthetic.

 

Go with a decent standard oil 10-30. You could change the filter as recommended after about 1/2 hour of running. You can do this without having to drain the oil from the pan. Add a new filter, run the engine for 500 miles to break it in. Drain the oil and change the filter and add your Mobile 1 10-30.

Your getting closer.

 

My reasoning was that good oil will prevent wear, but new spark plugs might just give me a tad more power. But I'd forgotten about emptying the oil that soon after startup, so I'll definitely put cheap oil in it to start. Thanks for catching that. Does it matter synthetic/non-synthetic? And is there any reason to choose 5w-30 over 10w-30 or vice versa? I read people advocating each but also that the manual says 5w-30 (I admit I did not verify that last part though).

Thanks for the tip about making a stop. I just bought a longer bolt for the one I have though so I'll see if that works. I'll grind off the threads on the end and take emery cloth to it to make sure it's nice and smooth.

Is there any particular reason why I should replace these plugs? I understand that newer plugs are always better, but I'm not sure what harm using older plugs would cause. I'm starting to see "Might as well replace ____, it's cheap" add up so I want to make sure I only replace what is necessary. Also, I'm doing this to learn about cars and I find learning why you do certain things is helpful.

 

I would use the old plugs for the first 500 miles while you break in the engine. Your going to get some oil consumption as the rings seat which could foul the plugs. Just plan on replacing the plugs when you change the oil.

My 95 says to use Mobil 1 10-30 and I have as did the prior owner. I used dyno oil 10-40 for years in my other cars. Only changed up to the synthetic with the ZZ4 engine since it was new and in Lynda's 94 and my 95.

***Sent you a PM

 

That sounds reasonable, thanks John.

I'll check my own owner's manual and see what it recommends. Sounds like it changed at some point over the years.

 

Made some more progress tonight. Got the engine on the hoist, installed the pilot bushing and flywheel, and was going to install the clutch as well but O'Reillys sold my dad the wrong alignment tool. I also pulled the plug on my ZF6 to drain the oil (I took out the fill plug first). I'll let it drip overnight then probably refill it (with AMSOIL) tomorrow evening.

Oh, and I put a light coat of moly graphite lube in the groove on the throwout bearing. Sounds like that's recommended?

Edit:
The FSM says, "Make sure that the reference marks on the clutch cover assembly and flywheel are aligned so as to maintain proper balance." I see a dot of green paint on the edge of the flywheel and a splotch of yellow paint on the clutch cover assembly, each near one particular bolt hole. I'm assuming those are the reference marks? Here's a picture:



Sorry for the endless questions. I just don't want to have to drop the transmission or pull the engine again to fix a mistake I make now.