Looks good, though I would have used a bit less abrasive power.

Looking forward to hearing how it runs!

- Eric

 

Yeah, I should have mentioned, my random orbital has adjustable speed. I turned it all the way down.

 

I had a hard time getting all the debris out of my oil pump screen so I spent the $12 and got a new one. I had a heck of a time hammering this in. Does it look like I got the angle right?

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Hmmmmm... yeah...

It looks about right.

The common wisdom, to which I subscribe, though I have not had any bad experiences, is that that sort of pickup should be secured by a single spot weld after you have it in position. If not, there is a chance that the pickup could come apart from the pump over time, with disastrous consequences.

If possible, for peace of mind if nothing else, you may wish to bring that to a friend or a shop with a welder and just have it zapped.

- Eric

 

Sounds logical and shouldn't be too much trouble. Although the old one came out without any trouble and the new one is tight enough i can't re-position it. But peace of mind is always good.

 

I have a welder and it's portable, I'm guessing I'm a tad far though

 

He could mail it to ya. You zap it and then mail it back to him

 

Yeah but if I drive up, maybe he'll be with one of his harems. I'd like to see that in person. Whatdya say Tony?

 

What I did on my pick up is I used red Loctite . I sanded the pressed in section of the pick up with 80 grit and the inside of the pump where it goes in and just dabbed some lock tite and so far so good. The last time I took one apart it was a pain in the nads so my guess is it worked. Just make sure you have it on a vice and press it up just to avoid getting the Loctite anywhere near the pump gears.

 

Ya see Copper, that's why I should ask before I do something. Oh well, it's on now. But I think a spot weld will be okay.

 

Just another pan in the sink....right?

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I sometimes like it when the wife works early Sunday mornings.

 

Lol. Just stick it in the dishwasher when you are done and record the reaction lol.

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT EVER let your wife see that picture, unless you are armed and have already selected a divorce lawyer.

- Eric

 

Lol I think my wife would twitch for weeks and nothing would be clean enough

 

She's actually pretty cool about this stuff. She did marry a sculptor afterall. Besides, I do most of the cleaning. Oh hang on, I've got one for ya.....

 

This one DID shock her a little.......

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Making some progress during my few days off for T-giving.

Advice for novices like myself that are installing a new cam; open that sucker and clean it immediately. I had the Styrofoam stuck pretty good and in a lot of places. Took about 45 minutes to get it thoroughly cleaned and prepped. With a final cleaning of brake cleaner. So clean it right away and give it a good oiling if it's going to sit.

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I ran out of assembly lube at this point so had to run to ye ol' parts store for more. There wasn't much in the included packet and I feel I was being a little too conservative with it.

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But the cam is now in and the new Edelbrock double roller timing set is on.

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As per Joe's (actually Eric's) advice, I took a photo of the timing marks with the #1 cylinder at TDC in case I freak about it after getting the timing cover back on.

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The mechanical fuel pump arm seems awfully close to that chain but if nothing moves I should be good.....right? The clearance is a little more than a sixteenth, maybe 3/32".

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Question; the crankshaft key, flush with the front of the crankshaft of further back?
I'm off to get the t-bird (the turkey, not the automobile)

 

Hey! That was me (though I'm sure Joe would have suggested the same thing).

Lookin' good!

- Eric

 

Oops, my bad Eric. Credit where credit is due. Thank you!

 

I noticed your crank sprocket is multi keyed make sure it's on 0 . I didn't see anyone ask or if it was mentioned. Jut thought id ask

 

Thanks Copper. Yeah, that was in the instructions. It said if you don't know what you're doing, put it on 0. Figured that was me
It also said not to advance or retard if you're using an aftermarket camshaft.
How about the key? Flush with the front of the crank or no? And the manual says something about silicone in the keyway? Under the key? Over it? It's a little late for under...unless I must to keep it from leaking.

 

I just usually stick the key in as far as possible since it's what holds the sprocket in. I have never used rtv on it. I just put it in and call it a day.

 

Well that's what is a little confusing to me. The keyway shallows in the rear so when I push it back it raises in the rear and isn't as engaged in the shaft. And since the keyway in the sprocket is much taller than the key, the key can push up really high. Uh...if that makes any sense.
I may add a little rtv to the key since the manual says to. Can't hurt I don't think.

 

The key should fit about halfway into the crank sprocket, if I recall.
The crank groove becomes shallow at that point, so that, considering that the key is of uniform thickness, if the key is pressed back as far as it will go, it will bottom about halfway under the crank sprocket, and will be roughly flush with the nose of the crankshaft in the front.

- Eric

 

take a straight edge and lay it across the block right infront of your cam bolt, shim cambolt with a washer so you have about 10 to 20 thousants inbetween the timeing cover and cam bolt. this prevents cam walk/ "the rednek way of doing it" dont forget the crank cup or whatever that thing is called. dont put nothing on the keyway.

 

The cam does not walk on a flat tappet Olds engine.

The reactive force of the oil pump drive pulls the cam backward away from the timing cover and keeps it there.

- Eric

 

Sorry mac that's what I meant by all the way back I means as far back as you can lol .you push that key way as far as you can and call it good.

 

Thanks fellas. I think it was the fact that the key doesn't span the depth of the sprocket that was throwing me.

 

No worries Copper. I appreciate your input.

 

I disappointed myself a little today but you tell me if I really messed up.

I started by pressing out the front oil seal from the front. That was really tight but I used a couple pieces of pvc, one over and one in the seal. I used locktite on the new seal and it went in easy-peasy. But first I cleaned the interior with my dremel and the bit shown.

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Then I cleaned all the front cover bolts on the wire wheel and laid out all the parts, the tools, and gaskets. What I didn't do was compare the gasket to the water pump so as to know where the silicone would go. Nor did I dry fit everything and I had a clearance issue with the timing gauge/pointer. The waterpump wouldn't go on with the pointer installed.
So in short, I ended up with silicone where I didn't need it and no silicone where I wanted it. The manual and the instructions both said to put a bead around both water holes and that, at least, did happen. But other than the water holes I have some silicone under the pump and other areas where there is none. So.....do I need to tear it off and start again? Somehow I ended up with three waterpump gaskets so I have plenty of those, lol. So, for the pics....

You can see I wasn't counting on all the extra gasket...
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It took about an hour but I got all the excess silicone cleaned off. I'm not trying to be fastidious necessarily but I want a good paint job and paint doesn't stick to silicone.
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Did you compare the pattern on the water pump gasket to the pump. you get like 2 or 4 because there is some diffrences from pump to pump. I once installed the incorrect one and I knew my issue right away.

 

Absolutely.
Each of those gaskets is slightly different, and only one will work properly. For instance, I believe that one is Toro only, because of its unique motor mount and timing cover arrangement.

You'll see soon enough...

Be sure to fill with water only the first time, and antifreeze only when you know it doesn't leak.



- Eric

 

This is the old pump which I compared to the new one and they are the same. The gasket on the left is an exact match. The one on the right came with the pump and is exactly like the one I used. Which is why I used the one I did. I compared it to the three in the kit and chose the Felpro over the gray one. I'm confident that all the surfaces are covered and the small port on the lower right is not (which it shouldn't be).
However, if you look at the above image of the gasket on the block, the top and bottom have beads between the gasket and block that aren't behind the water pump. I'll pull it and do it right. I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Question; should I run the silicone bead around all the bolt holes or just on the outside? Or the inside?

[IMG][/IMG]

 

2nd time's a charm

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After removing it I could see that it would have been fine. But nothing like peace of mind, and it didn't cost me anything.

 

Goop goes all around bolt holes, but you're done now, so never mind.

Looks great!

- Eric

 

Yeah, I got it Eric. I pretty much covered the entire gasket with a thin layer both sides. Thinking more clearly today. I pushed through fatigue yesterday which is always a mistake for me.
Question: I'll be installing the heads soon. For the rockers, do I need to make sure the lifters are off the lobes for each cylinder before torquing? The manual doesn't say anything other than to torque them to specs. And how do I know if my pushrods are still the appropriate length?

 

In general it is considered good practice to torque each set of rockers at TDC compression stroke, so as to get the torque right, if nothing else, but I really doubt that it matters.
It's a small amount of extra work, so I just do it.

As for push rod length, I am under the impression that you replaced the original head gasket with one 0.030" thicker and did not deck the heads. Is that correct? Or did you send the heads out to be machined for the difference in height between the two head gaskets?

In general, the hydraulic lifters will self adjust within that 0.030" range, so you're probably okay, but there is always a small chance in these cases that you could have your valves opening a bit less than spec'd. You could be certain with a dial indicator.

- Eric

 

I brought along my head gaskets (the felpro blues) when i dropped off the heads. They said they would compensate with the decking. I'm assuming they did but I'd like to know for sure. Should I be able to turn the pushrod after torquing? (assuming it's off the lobe).
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, when i picked them up I had asked if I could have increased my CR by milling more off the surface. After talking for a bit, he chuckled and said we probably raised the CR by about .1, not sure what that equates to but it sounds like the heads are very slightly shorter. Plus I did had Mark grind me a slightly more aggressive cam.

 

*music* He's singing the Felpro bluuuuuuuueeeeessssss, oh yahhhhhhh */music*

 

Lol, Prof, i was waiting for that.
Dar dar deh dah nud....well I blew a gasket yesterday..... Dar dar deh dah nud.....it made my old lady cry.... Dar dar deh dah nud.... it was blowin' smoke and steam.....Dar dar deh dah nud...... right before my eyes......