I picked up a one of those "ran when pulled" 350 olds motors the other day and began tinkering. It's a 1970 2bbl low compression (i believe the factory claimed 9 to 1 compression and 180 hp correct me if im wrong)Ive already found badly chipped original timing gear. i was thinking of putting the original cam from my 76 455(had 60,000 miles on it)and a new timing set i had laying around.if i go that route im guessing i would at least need new lifters and push rods. it has decent number 6 heads that im going to try and clean up lap the valves new valve guide seals (possibly springs)and done .ill pull the oil pan and check all bearings and their clearances.This is another one of my tinker projects i have no plan for other than to just hear it run again.I want this one to be fun and cheap.

 

1970 specs were GROSS and also did not take into account single or dual exhaust as the later 1971-up NET ratings did, so take them with a bit of skepticism. The 1970 350-2bbl engine was rated 250 hp and 355 ft-lbs and likely is very similar to the '71 NET ratings of 180 hp for single exhaust and 200 hp for dual exhaust.

 

I wont get caught up in the hp on this motor as it is just something to tinker with .i do have a 4 bbl intake and carb for it and im thinking replacing the cam with my low mile 455 cam .Its not much of a change but some . I also have a nice timing chain and gear sitting around that I'll use . ive been cleaning the heads up a bit and did a home lapping job on them and think I'll just get a new set of springs and seals.Time will tell where this project goes

 

I have no idea if this is a factory crank gear but something doesn’t look right

 

That is the factory nylon coated aluminum gear. The one in my 1970 Supreme didn't have any nylon at all when I took the engine apart in 1982 - the aluminum gear teeth were so pointed they could easily cut your fingers.

 

From a 77 403 w/125K miles

I’m not sure what your question is about the crank gear but the teeth are different than the cam side if that’s why you asked.
Plain Jane Cloyes set installed below:

 

not so much a question as an observation . My crank gear appears to have two notches for the keyway . One looks like it was man made. Note the oil slinger with two notches as well . God only knows the story behind it

 

working on disassembly . Crank , rods and all bearings actually look pretty good . The plan as of now hone the block new rings and bearings .

 

Getting a little closer on this motor . Got the cylinders honed ,degreased the block and power washed it . Painted and crank reinstalled . I’m going to try a home port job on my # 6 heads ( wish me luck ) .

 

Looking good. BTW, did you have a chance to remove the core plugs and coolant drain plugs? Now is a good time to clean out 50 years of rust and crud built up in the bottom of the block.

 

yes I actually did remove all the frost plugs and drain plugs and gave everything a good cleaning . The water jacket areas were in pretty good shape .

 

Excellent, keep the progress posts coming! I enjoy an old fashioned low budget backyard build, like I did so many times back in the seventies.

 

Pushrods may be fine. Examine the tips for wear, roll them them on a piece of glass to check straightness and make certain they are clean inside and out.

Good luck!!!

 

this motor didn't come with any pushrods so im on the lookout for a set . i wonder how changing the head gasket from the .017 original shim to a .040 felpro will affect the pushrod length? if i do the math the pushrod would need to be .023 longer now if everything else stays the same. Does this make sense?

 

I’m going to start buttoning up this motor tonight . Will temporarily bolt the top of the timing cover until my water pump gets here . I’ll cross the push rod bridge when I get to it .

 

don't beat up on me too bad the filter is just for start up

 

What engine paint are you using?

 

x2 that color is bad@$$

 

The paint is actually a rust oleum product that is available at a nearby hardware store nothing correct about it but it looks good and easy to get I’ll post the exact color when I get home.

 

thanks..it looks more correct than some of the Olds parts suppliers

 

 

Looks good, I may try that colour. I have used their aged copper, goes on really nice, high temp but not very gas resistant, so hopefully no leaks.

 

i finally got back to this engine .after my first home porting job i had the #6 heads cleaned and blasted . after a final clean and paint i installed new springs and put the heads back on.The engine didn't come with pushrods so im going to have to source some new ones. I do have a question, if i went from a factory shim gasket(.017)to a felpro .040 would that in theory require a .023 longer pushrod ? with all else being stock. Or, do i just go with the factory length 8.234 pushrod?

 

Are you running the stock cam with the original lifters or an upgraded unit with higher lift?
Will the heads be skimmed?

I had an issue with my 76 350 where the stock no.8 heads were not skimmed, after installing a Comp XE262H + Comp lifters and Felpro .040 headgaskets. The pushrods were lose, there was no to minimal preload on the lifters
This was mainly deu to the smaller base circle on the cam and the thicker head gasket
Had the heads skimmed by .052 and that solved the issue, it also gave a little bit more compresion and the bolt holes on the intake still lined up.

 

Stock cam, lifters, and pushrods nothing milled off the heads.the motor is mostly put together now but still not getting oil to some of the rockers when i preprime with my drill. other things took priority so i have to get back to it and figure that part out .

 

That engine looks real purdy, yes it does.

 

If the oil is not coming to all the rockers, rotate the engine by hand on the crank and prime again with the crank at an other position. This will take the load of the lifters which in the other position would be compressed. Then you should get oil everywhere.
I assume you cleaned out the original pushrods?

 

After a long break from this engine ive been getting after it for the last few days .waiting on some pulleys and brackets and should be close to refiring this old girl after who knows how long .

 

Cool! Look forward to the hear whats next.

 

What vehicle is it going into? I see the valve cover breather is on the drivers side, whereas original was on the passengers side where the air cleaner connection was located. May not matter depending upon what air cleaner you use.

 

no plans for where it’s going just something I’m tinkering with. At this point I’m just going to see if it’ll run, when it does I’ll fine tune some of my cobbled up work👍

 

Well i got sidelined by the "chinese virus" for several days but have been picking away at it .got my slightly modified bb headers bolted on and the brackets and pulleys . Have to get to the hardware store for bolts for the water pump pulley. then figure out what belt im going to need ( i have several on the shelf one of those will work! not!!)Maybe give it a whirl this weekend.

 

Looking good, any plans on a dyno?

 

no dyno plans just hoping for a good running motor . Maybe sell it or keep as a spare

 

Tonight was the night to give it a try after a few pumps of fuel and a twist of the distributor the engine fired right up. my issue now is im still not getting oil to all the rockers. prior to putting this together i tried pre priming the oil with my drill many times and using the method of turning the motor over in different positions but never did get it to prime all the lifters. a few guys told me to just put it together and start it and the lifters will start priming. well so far that hasn't happened . the motor doesn't have any knocking or ticking sounds and actually sounds real good .im taking a break tonight to figure out my next move ive only pulled one side so far maybe check the other side tomorrow.

 

Don't let the rockers run dry, oil them if you're going to run it to get it flowing. The camshaft was well lubed, yes?

 

yes liberal dose of assembly lube on the cam ,lifters ,pushrods ,and rockers . About 60 lbs of oil pressure on my guage and I packed the oil pump with vasoline.

 

Vasoline? 😳

 

yeah i know it sounds strange but i think i read in my manual it helps in picking up the oil quicker (thought i would try it )didn't help getting oil to the rockers though.

 

I remember that "tip" being kicked around back in the seventies. The only thing that was good for was causing the oil pressure by-pass to open and plugging the oil filter also causing the filter to by-pass. Needless to say that didn't last too long.