I Love The '80s, -OR- we induct a friend into the Roadkill lifestyle

[TurboMinivan]

On Thursday of last week, Ryan finally got the block and crank back from the machine shop. Reminder: the only things we had them do were clean/tank the block and install new cam bearings, and polish the crankshaft. But that looked like enough.

Saturday night after work, we all met at my place to finally begin the assembly process. Once we got everything more or less situated, the work began. We put Ryan to work prepping each of the pistons--he was to remove all the old rings, then clean off the carbon from the piston tops.

While he was doing that, Mike and I began prepping the block deck surfaces for (eventual) cylinder head installation. Despite being tanked, the block still had some residue from the old head gaskets. We carefully scraped and polished to remove this goo and leave a nice smooth surface for the new gaskets.

After that, it was time to dingleball hone the cylinder walls. This turned into a three-person job: Mike would operate the hone, our co-worker Ben would add cutting fluid (read: ATF) as needed, and Mike's girlfriend Brianda would aim the penlight at the cylinder wall so Mike could gauge his progress.

Seven of the cylinders quickly cleaned up very nicely. Number four had a small issue--there was a rust ring down in the hole near BDC. We theorized that, as the engine sat, this piston must have sat in that position and perhaps some water got in there. This theory was pretty much confirmed when we found out that piston #4 had its top ring collapsed and firmly stuck in place. Mike also had a more aggressive hone with him--a three-stone glaze breaker--so we gently used it on that cylinder to clean up some of the rust. After another pass with the dingleball, some of the rust ring was still there but it was much improved. Mike proclaimed it sufficient for our Roadkill application. With all cylinders now finished, we carefully wiped them with fresh engine oil to prevent flash rust from forming.

We spent quite some time trying to remove the stuck ring from piston four. Eventually, it began coming off in pieces. We were happy to be making progress, until the last remaining chunk (about 1/4 of the piston diameter) refused to budge no matter what we tried. Even PB Blaster wasn't helping. We finally decided to soak that piston in gasoline and see what happens... and it is still soaking at my place as I type. I'll have to check on it when I get home.

Moving on, we then installed the shiny new ZZ502 camshaft (same one Mike and I are running). We cleaned the main caps, then installed the new main bearings and--finally--laid the crankshaft into position. Once the caps were all torqued to spec, we decided to call it a night. We carefully covered the short block with a garbage bag, then wheeled it over in front of the Shelby. (Sorry--I didn't take any more photos.)

We're getting there.

 

[RockChucker]

Exciting stuff. Overhauling an engine is one of the most satisfying learning experiences I've ever had. That first fire-up is emotional.

Couldn’t agree more. Well except about the first fire-up. Haven’t done that yet. But assembling a motor from a bare block is a satisfying experience.

 

[Maverick]

Awesome thread! Makes me want to finally tear apart the seized 454 from the jeep.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Couldn’t agree more. Well except about the first fire-up. Haven’t done that yet. But assembling a motor from a bare block is a satisfying experience.

I still have a picture hanging on a wall at the house of me next to my first solo Deere engine I built. My wife snuck over to the shop and made me stand in front of it while all the other guys laughed at me. First fire ups are scary. Especially with engines that cost more alone than most new cars.

 

[TurboMinivan]

We did get together yesterday to make some more progress. We had planned to install the piston/rod combos, but after spending some time manually cleaning out the ring lands Mike and Ryan decided to bring them to work and put them in our parts washer first. So we set those aside and swapped all 16 valve springs in the heads. Now they are ready for the higher lift of the ZZ502 camshaft which we already installed.

After that, we changed gears and did some repair work on my yard‘s sprinkler system.

 

[TurboMinivan]

One day last week, Ryan brought the pistons/rods to work and Mike showed him how to run the parts washer. After a cycle, everything came out looking like new. Why didn't we think of that sooner? Now we were all eager to get them installed.

We got together again on Saturday night to make a little more progress. We checked the gap on all the new rings, then installed and clocked them. One cylinder at a time, we wiped down each wall, then coated the wall in fresh engine oil, then liberally oiled down each piston's rings and skirts, attached the ring compressor, and gently tapped each slug into its home. This was a 2-man operation, which meant Ryan was hands-on throughout the process.

Lining up piston #6:

Ryan gently tapping #6 into its home while Mike guides the rod over the crank journal:

After all eight were installed and the rod caps were loosely attached, we flipped the engine over and torqued them all to spec. At last, we have a full rotating assembly. Tah-dah!

Due to us getting a very late start, by now it was just past midnight. We decided that was enough progress for the evening and stopped there.

 

[TurboMinivan]

As it turned out, all three of us worked the early shift yesterday--a rarity for a Monday--so we decided to gather at my place late that afternoon. We began with Ryan thoroughly cleaning the exterior of the cylinder heads. Next, we bolted them on and taught him the head bolt tightening sequence. It's really starting to look like an engine now.

With that done, we decided it was finally time for some paint. Back when we discussed color options and why you might choose one over another, Ryan felt--and Mike and I both agreed--that it was only right to paint the engine classic Oldsmobile gold. Ryan had two cans of paint plus one can of clear coat, and he dove right in with Mike giving some helpful instruction and tips.

Two cans of paint was a great idea. His finish turned out much better than the blue on my GP's engine.

With he paint set, we opened his bitchin' new intake manifold just to set it in place and take in the view. We also put one tall chrome valve cover in place to compare to the stock short cover so Ryan could decide which one he prefers. He went with the tall one. Now we just need to wait and make sure they will fit underhood (without hitting the brake booster).

We still need to install the valvetrain. After that, it's time to haul the engine to Mike's place and test fit the stock oil pan in the car.

 

[Jesser04]

 

[TurboMinivan]

We got together this morning for a short engine session. Our plan was to install the lifters, pushrods, rocker arms, intake manifold, and valve covers, then haul the engine to Mike's place in preparation for its install. When Ryan showed up at my place, I removed the lifters from their jug of oil (where they have been soaking since we first removed them from the engine) and began to closely inspect them one by one. I was focusing on the roller itself--how it looked, how it felt, etc. Fourteen of them looked and felt like new. Two of them, while also looking great, felt just a little... crunchy... when applying pressure and rolling them with my finger. Hmm.

I decided to validate my theory by performing a blind test with Ryan. I handed him one good lifter, told him to roll it under pressure, and asked how it felt. Then I handed him another good one. Does that feel any different? "No." I handed him another good one. Any different? "No." Now I handed him a suspect one. How about that? "This one doesn't feel smooth like the others." Ah-ha, suspicion confirmed.

Looks like two new lifters have just been added to his shopping list.

By now, Mike arrived. We explained out lifter findings, and Mike confirmed them. But, hey--we can easily install the valvetrain at his place later. So we decided to skip ahead and move the engine to his place. With that, he backed his Suburban up to my garage door and we used my hoist to maneuver the engine into the vehicle.

(Mike loves his barn doors)

We then headed over to Mike's car farm to unload the engine and await its first test fit. Before we could do that, we still needed to remove the Oldsmobile motor mounts from the subframe. So for the first time in this whole project, Ryan got to climb into his engine bay. Mike and I explained that not only was this a rite of passage for an engine swap, it is also mandatory to take a photo of the event. Ryan seemed unconvinced and he refused to pose for us, so I waited until he was in the middle of removing one motor mount and then quickly snapped a photo:

All of the above took way longer than anticipated--doesn't it always?--so this is where I had to bail in order to get to work on time.


Oh! There is more good news. Just the other day, I was researching the gear ratio differences between Ryan's 200-4R and my 4L80-E. As I was reading the Wiki entry for his transmission, I was surprised when it said the vast majority of 200-4R bell housings were cast with both the B-O-P and Chevy bolt patterns. Really? I quickly called Mike (who was at home) and asked him to go out to the wagon and check. Sure enough, Ryan's transmission has both.

Well, look at that. I guess we won't need to use that bell housing adapter kit he bought after all. Sweet.

 

[TurboMinivan]

I know last week I was wrenching on my Miata project, but this week we decided to get back to the wagon.

Ryan finally managed to get the cross member de-greased, then hit it with some paint. This morning, we used our small window of time (before Mike and I had to go to work) to bolt the new Chevy engine mounts to the subframe, then we took some measurements to see if the truck oil pan was gonna clear. Just from eyeballing it, it looked like it might fit. Hmm. Guess there's only one way to know for certain, right?

In order for us to have better access to the underside, we pulled the wagon onto ramps for this procedure. We then hooked the engine to the Off Road Engine Hoist, and used the Jeep to pull (and then push) the hoist across the yard and into position in front of the car. Work smarter, not harder.

At last, test fit #1 was underway.

Silly us. The ramps were a few inches too tall for the hoist, which prevented us from setting the engine all the way down onto the mounts. But even with these critical last two inches of space, we looked from above and below and concluded that this oil pan just might work. Sweet.

With that, we lifted the engine back up and used the Jeep to pull it away from the car.

Our next move will be to install the new oil pump and seal the pan to the engine. After that, we'll install the proper intake manifold and related hardware. With all that done, we'll drop the engine back in the car and actually bolt it in place.

 

[ID Bronco]

I saw an old Catalina yesterday and thought I should join you in this silliness, but I resisted. I love watching this.

 

[johngottfredson]

Yes. I will never do this, in my lifetime. But I’m glad you guys do, super cool to watch.

 

[Hickey]

I feel like you should run this exhaust.

 

[TurboMinivan]

The last time or two we got together to finish the engine, we were sidelined by a lack of parts. We would then order what we needed, and disband for the day to wait for the items to arrive. On Sunday we thought we were finally ready to drop the engine in place, so we met up in the morning to make it happen.

First was the bottom end. Now that we had the oil pump driveshaft bushing, we were able to install the pump itself. With that done, we installed the oil pan and torqued the bolts to spec. Finally. (Sorry, no photos.)

Now we flipped the engine over to finish the valvetrain. We installed the pushrod guide plates and the shiny new ARP rocker arm studs. I began cleaning the pushrods themselves, and Ryan was dropping them in place while Mike went to install the first rocker arm. It was at this moment we discovered we did not have any rocker arm pivots to match the upgraded 7/16" ARP studs. Oops. We went looking through Mike's shed, and we even looked on the random SBC engines he has lying around, but nothing in this specific size. Well, sh!t.

Installing the intake manifold would help keep debris out of the engine itself, so that was our next task. First, Mike chased the threads in the heads to remove some gunk that was present.

We temporarily put the valve covers on to keep crud out of the heads until the new pivots arrive. Mike laid down beads of RTV along both China walls. We also set the intake gaskets in place, adding some more RTV around the water jacket openings. With all that done, it was time for Ryan to drop the intake manifold in place. Remember, you need to go straight down and get it perfect--there is no sliding it side-to-side once you let go. But with some real-time coaching and guidance from Mike, he did great.

With that bolted in place, I applied masking tape over each intake manifold opening while Mike and Ryan torqued all the bolts to spec.

At that point, we had a quick debate. We could go ahead and bolt the engine into the car, then finalize the valvetrain in the engine bay. However, the temperature was already over 90^ and still climbing... and knowing how quickly the engine will drop into place, we all felt it would be much easier to finish the valvetrain on the engine stand... so we stopped there for the day.

Ryan ordered a set of pivots (and some other odds and ends) on Monday. They are supposed to arrive Wednesday. Once they do, we told ourselves, that engine is going in.

(Fast forward to Wednesday)

Our plan was to get the engine bolted into the car this afternoon. However, two of us got stuck at work well past our scheduled end of shift, so we weren't able to rendezvous until dusk. Well, why not go ahead and get the last few odds and ends completed so the engine would be ready to drop in the following morning? So we ran an extension cord, set up a couple lights, and dug in.

The new rocker arm pivots had arrived earlier that day (thank you, Summit Racing) so we were finally able to loosely install the rocker arms. We carefully checked the pushrod guide plates and made sure to center them around the pushrods as best as we could. Once we were satisfied with that, one by one Mike would remove a rocker arm...

... which allowed Ryan to final torque the rocker stud to spec...

... and then Mike re-installed the rocker arm. We repeated that process 15 more times. Good deal.

Now the only thing left to do was adjust the valve lash. This is old hat for Mike and I. One of us (this time, me) slowly spins the engine via the crank snout, while the other watches one cylinder's rocker arms. When we see one arm move in a way that indicates the other valve is completely closed (and thus its lifter is on the base lobe of the cam), then we adjust the closed valve's lash. Easy. I grab the 1/2-inch ratchet and start turning the engine... and turn it some more... and some more... and some more. There is no valve movement at all.

Light Bulb Moment #1: "Whoops--we haven't installed the timing chain set!" Back at my house when we painted the engine, we installed the timing cover to protect the engine innards. With the cover still in place, we forgot that there was no chain installed. Silly us. While Ryan is getting the timing set out of the car, we get hit with...

Light Bulb Moment #2: "Oh, $#*+! We've already sealed the oil pan in place!" Yep, removing the timing cover requires dropping the oil pan, which we just sealed in place on Sunday. Stupid us--that was a rookie mistake, for sure.

We flip the engine back over and pull the pan. With the timing cover removed, we open the shiny new timing set and lightly hammer the crank sprocket into place. We then go to install the cam gear, only to then learn it is the wrong one and doesn't fit this engine. Well, crap.

With that, we call it for the night. We'll go find the right timing set in the morning.

 

[Pile of parts]

I was actually thinking about this thread earlier today. Happy to see an update - even though it's not where you hoped to be.

 

[TurboMinivan]

And that brings us to today. Since we all have the day off, we agree that the engine is going in the car today no matter what.

We gather at Mike's house late in the morning, and begin by taking an assessment of what crucial items we lack that would prevent us from reaching our goal. With our shopping list formed, we all pile into Ryan's car and start hitting all the local parts stores. At every stop, we try desperately to acquire a correct timing chain set. Nobody has one in stock. Are there any around in neighboring stores? Advance, AutoZone, Napa, and even the Chevy dealer all say no--they would need to order one from out of state. Finally, O'Reilly tells us that a store 45 minutes away has one in stock. It's a Cloyes set, and a single roller chain one so certainly not a bad choice. It will definitely suit our needs.

We go back to Mike's place. I personally call the distant O'Reillys to verify they have it on hand--they do. I tell them to hold it at the counter for me. We then form a plan: we will send Ryan to go pick up the timing set, and while he is gone Mike and I will jack up the tail end of the wagon and install the 'clicker' external electric fuel pump and wire it in. Sounds great, and Ryan drives off.

Mike and I dig through his shed. We find one of his clicker fuel pumps, some bulk wire, a relay, some bulk fuel line, and a few hose clamps. It takes a bit of testing and some creative engineering--these things always take longer than you expect--but we eventually manage to get the pump installed. Wanting to test it, we drive Mike's Jeep over next to the wagon and use its battery and some jumper cables to feed power and ground to the pump's wires. It comes to life and, after it fully primes, it begins pumping a solid stream of gasoline out of the hose in the engine bay. Success.

Just as we complete this test, Ryan appears with the timing set. Perfect! We install the set and the timing cover, then re-seal the oil pan. One final time, we flip the engine over to address the valvetrain. Now when I rotate the crank, the valves actually move--imagine that. One by one, we methodically adjust the lash on each valve.

Just as we are completing this task, I notice it is 3:30pm. I am out of time, as I (a) have other plans at 5:00 and (b) I need to stop by work on the way there plus (c) I need to stop by my house to clean up. Initially, Ryan is dejected that I am going to leave before the engine is in place--he asks when I'll be able to return so we can drop it into the car. "Don't wait for me," I admonish him. "Two people can easily bolt the engine into place--Mike and I do it all the time." With that, I hopped in my car and left.

Sure enough, a couple hours later I get a text message containing some photos.

"Here is the engine sitting on its motor mounts."

"And now the motor mount bolts are torqued, plus the trans is bolted to the engine."

Well, hot damn--there it is!

I know Ryan also had other plans for the evening, so he and Mike stopped soon after this last photo was taken. But we're definitely in the home stretch now.

 

[TurboMinivan]

BIG NEWS!!!

But, first, a story... because I am of course obligated to explain how we got to where we are today.

The short version: due to scheduling difficulties, we didn't get the car "finished" until Saturday, October 24th. When I say finished, I mean the engine was entirely assembled such that it would be in proper running order... if only it ran. It basically looked like this.

Shiny new air cleaner, an entire serpentine belt setup (which required wizardry when we deleted the air pump and decided to install the non-functional A/C compressor simply to use it as an idler pulley), fuel lines, transmission completely connected, all fluids filled, etc. This thing was ready to start, and at almost midnight on the 24th of October--I know because that's the date stamp on my cell phone video--Ryan turned the key for the very first time.

The engine sloooooowly, barely turned over, kinda like what you get with a near-dead battery.

Okay, we can work around a dead battery. We moved Mike's Jeep into position, hooked up jumper cables, gave it a minute, and tried again. When Ryan turned the key, the sudden drag on the Jeep's alternator was so great that its engine died. Seriously. I didn't even know that was possible. We re-started the Jeep and kept fiddling, but we could never get the wagon's engine to spin more than probably 30 rpm. So we quit for the night.

We got together the next day in the sunlight to try again. No change. Mike crawled under and noticed the starter's pinion gear was still engaged (read: stuck) in the teeth of the flexplate. What the hell? Maybe the starter isn't up to task. We reasoned that this was an untested, unknown old one that was just lying around, so we removed it and replaced it with another one from Mike's shed. We tried again. Now the engine cranked slightly faster (which was probably due to the battery having been on a charger), but we were still nowhere near fast enough for the thing to actually fire up.

We quickly discovered that this starter was also doing the pinion-not-retracting thing, which we thought was a sign (and it was, but we mis-interpreted what it meant). Deciding to rule out these two old starters, we ordered a brand new mini high-torque one. It arrived a few days later, and when we installed it nothing changed--including the pinion problem.

We incorrectly surmised that the engine's excessive resistance to rotation must be causing the starter pinion problem. Why is there so much resistance to the engine turning over, we wondered. We put a 1/2-inch ratchet on the crank bolt and tried turning the engine by hand--it felt normal. We started grasping at straws. First we removed the serpentine belt to make sure there was no accessory drag. No change. Later, we unbolted the torque converter from the flexplate so as to uncouple the transmission from the engine. Still no change.

Maybe we're not getting enough power to the starter? Every attempt now required us to have the Jeep jumper-cabled to the wagon, and the Jeep's engine would always rev down whenever we twisted the key to the wagon. This made me think the wagon was drawing enough juice, but we installed two new battery cables in the wagon anyway. No change. We tried connecting the negative jumper cable to the wagon's engine block and also to the battery terminal directly--no difference either way.

By now, weeks had gone by. My phone was filled with dozens and dozens of short video clips wherein Ryan was behind the wheel, trying to get the darn thing to start. It never did. He was getting very frustrated. So were Mike and I.

Maybe the flexplate is to blame? It's the only other piece in the engine stating "system" and it is also a wild card because Mike had to custom drill holes to make it work with this torque converter. Maybe we somehow ruined it? We ordered a new flexplate which was manufactured for our exact engine/transmission combo.

This brings us to Wednesday, November 18th. The flexplate just arrived, and we were eager to swap it on and see if it made the difference. All three of us got off work early enough to have a couple hours of daylight, and we hustled to Mike's place to dive in. Since it had been a few days since our last attempt, we were not surprised to learn the wagon's battery was again totally dead. As is old habit by now, we brought the Jeep over and hooked up the cables. Before we even opened the flexplate box, we gave it another try. Again, the Jeep's engine died when we tried.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head.

Say, what if the wagon's stone dead battery was somehow sucking/blocking the voltage we need to start the engine? At first, Mike didn't buy this--after all, the Jeep's battery kept starting the Jeep's engine just fine so why wouldn't it be able to start the wagon? I persisted. "Dude, let's just eliminate the wagon's battery and use another one in its place--one that has good voltage." Mike always has a couple car batteries sitting around on trickle chargers, so we grabbed one out of his shed, verified that it had good voltage, and we set it in the car above the dead one. We attached the car's battery cables to it, and then also attached jumper cables from the Jeep for good measure. We then told Ryan to give it another try.

I'll be damned if the thing didn't fire right up! The serpentine belt was still off, so we didn't leave it running for very long, but... IT RUNS!!! (Sorry you can barely hear it thanks to Mike's loud ass Jeep running at the same time.)

After shutting it down, we noticed the crank pulley is out of alignment with the rest of the pulleys... so before reinstalling the belt, we needed to solve that problem. It looked like installing a 1/4" spacer on that pulley would solve the problem, so Mike and I began to make one out of some scrap 6061 aluminum. Once the general shape was made, he put it on his lathe and cleaned it up nicely. The thing is a work of art--too bad it's in a place nobody can admire. While we were working on that, we sent Ryan to go by a new Group 78 battery for the car.

By the time Ryan returned, it was dark. We realized someone needs to make an Ace run to get longer bolts to reinstall the pulley, so we decided to stop here for the night. We'll get together tomorrow in the daylight to install the pulley and the belt, then we'll start 'er up and run it long enough to seat the rings.

Yee-haw.

 

[TurboMinivan]

And now I've got to let you all in on a little secret.

Right after we shut the engine off in the above video, it suddenly dawned on us: we forgot to include Mike's girlfriend in this first start ceremony. Oops. She has made a bigger deal out of the car running than all three of us guys combined, and we know we'll all catch hell for starting the car when she wasn't present. We quickly formed a secret pact: we would get together the next day, bring her out to the yard, make great fanfare about how we're going to try again, and then we'd start the car and all act surprised.

And that is exactly what we did earlier today (Thursday). We installed the crank pulley with our fancy new spacer, then put on the serpentine belt (and marveled at how perfectly the crank pulley was now located), attached the battery cables to the new battery, and turned the key.

Ryan was flashing a huge smile from behind the wheel while Mike cheered (and Brianda screamed). It was perfect.

The three of us are taking this secret to our graves.

 

[I Lean]

The three of us are taking this secret to our graves.

Well, except for the whole posting-on-the-internet part of it. (which I appreciate, don't get me wrong)

 

[Kiel]

I wont lie, between the smiles and the ghetto jack stands, I love it