Fakser

I think Mike Tyson said it best when I think about how my build went "everybody has a game plan till they get punched in the face".

I finally got the block and heads assembled but it wasn't without a couple of hiccups. First hiccup I had an oil ring fold over the side of the piston during installation and it scratched the cylinder wall. It wasn't deep but I sent the block to the machine shop for a quick hone of the cylinder and got a new set of rings for one cylinder just for the oil ring total cost of mistake 82 bucks.

Second when torquing a rocker stud to 30ft lbs on the #3 cylinder the stud sheared off, it wasn't my torque wrench it was the stud sent an email to ARP they were very nice and courteous and promised to send me a new one but Junior from Mondello's down the street sold me a new single stud for 6 bucks. Taped off the top of the head and put a couple of magnets near the sheared stud and drilled then extracted it.

Ok now the build part.
I'm not going to put clearance numbers in this post I really enjoy the wilaboutcars.com website and will promote their ease of use every opportunity I get so you can get all your manuals with the technical information you need from there very easily with a simple registration.

I like to slide the camshaft in before I install the crank, mains and pistons because it's easier to slide your fingers in there to help keep it from bouncing around. I used Royal purple max tuff assembly lube on the cam journals and the thicker Torco lube that came with the camshaft from Engle Racing purchased from Mondello's.

When bolting down the main caps I have always been taught to plastigauge the main journal bearing clearance my journals were spot on and all were pretty even. I always bolt my mains on from the center out then check thrust clearance, lubed the bearings generously and used a thread lube. I got ARP main bolts and it came with lube.

I welded a washer and bolt to the front of the old timing sprocket to turn the crank easily without damaging it and to degree the camshaft (I'll post about how I degree'd the camshaft later) be careful if you weld on old engine parts that get lubed the oil surfaces when heated and catches fire and can make your 14 year old son scream like a girl that your sleeve is on fire....ask me how I know this.

When installing the pistons get a good ring compressor the one I first used was thin and flimsy and I did not notice an oil ring slip out, the piston wen't in and when I turned the crank over I heard a scraping sound that sent chills up my spine. I got a new one from summit 4.000-4.090 it was thick and worked like a champ. Checked the ring gaps before installing the pistons and just about all but one were spot on I use Melling moly rings. Plastigauged the rod bearing clearance too. When installing pistons REMEMBER THAT THE SPIT HOLE GOES TO THE INSIDE OF THE MOTOR if you are assembling and you feel you crankshaft getting extremely hard to turn or has locked up you have put one in backwards or put the rod cap on backwards. Turn the crank at least one full revolution after each piston goes in to ensure everything is smooth lube the bearings generously I used royal purple max tuff.

With the bottom end done I installed the oil pump and drive and slapped on the oil pan I used Best Gasket gaskets from Mondello's.

I installed my shaft seal and water pump onto my timing cover then installed it as a unit.

After lubing the headbolts with ARP lube I got to work on the valve train. I had a horrible accident and sheared a rocker stud off as mentioned above so be sure to put a wrench on the stud when tightening the locknuts on the rockers, you may need to grind the sides of the wrench down so it will fit (it doesn't bother you if you buy cheap wrenches at Harbor Freight like I do). The locknuts are tapered so it takes a bit of oompf to tighten em down.

I ran a thick bead of silicone on the ends of the block and a little around the ports and edges of the intake gaskets (I didn't use the turkey tray) and dropped on the intake.

When I taped up the engine I took care to trim the tape and I got a stainless steel bolt kit so I taped them off to contrast the gold a little bit. The oil pan is chrome for easy clean up so it matches nice. The taping process took several hours but it was done right and everything looks nice to me. I painted over everything on the valve covers because I am waiting on new D shaped grommets.

This was a blast my son actually hung out in the garage the whole time with me and I had a great time teaching him how to do this.

Enjoy the pics

Fakser

The rest of the pics

DENT

That looks good. How much taller is the intake compared to sock?

RetroRanger

haha i had a similar response from my son last week when my shirt caught on firing grinding some stuff

motor looks good

Fakser

The intake is #2711 it's an OEM replacement with the EGR already blocked off so it's the same height.

nonhog

L69

Nice build. Bet you cant wait to run it.

L69

Nice to see a father son project and nice to see the young generation still interested in building motors and getting their hand dirty.

Fakser

Thanks guys the goal is to have the drive train done be summers end next is the transmission rebuild on the TH350. We stopped teaching transmission rebuild in the Army's 91B10 MOSQ course (wheeled vehicle mechanic) so as I go along I'm actually going to create a powerpoint to give my soldiers as they leave the schoolhouse and I'll take lots of pictures for the website. My son is pretty excited the fall and winter should be bodywork and next spring and summer interior he will be a freshman, for his sophmore year it's gonna be a budget garage paint job. Slowly but surely we are pluggin along seeing the engine come together really motivated us.

70cutlass831guy

very nice looking motor.

815Cutlass1972

Looks good. Job well done!

DENT

I thought it looked almost the same , so that would be a good fit under a ram air hood. Is that why you went with it?

deejai35

Nice documentation. I am at the same stage with my 355 build and this is very helpful.

Octania

nice detail work.

I hope you put the timing cover on before slapping the oil pan in place.

Assembly lube on the fuel pump eccentric's business surface?

Why must you wait for D-grommets? Any GM dealer should have them. Try to get a real GM PCV grommet- in my experience other brands do not fit right and work right.

I usually remove the valve cover grommets before paint so that the paint goes right to the edge of the hole. A small wad of paper towel in the hole keeps paint out of the inside where it does no good.

Nice hardware, SS bolts on the intake, eh?

Fakser

It's a louvre hood not a ram air I got the 2711 intake for the lower profile it's going to a driver. Yes I put the timing cover on before the oil pan the front Pan seal sits in the groove of the timing cover. The stainless bolt kit was from alloybolts.com