Rebirth of my 1970 GTX!

[t.flatt]

I'll take the spiro locks any day vs. having to heat up the rods and pressure fit them on. I have found that to be a real pain in the arse!

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Regardless: Good progress and good luck with the rest of your build!

Oh, and make sure you CHECK ALL YOUR TOLERENCES AND DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING, especially with your mains and rods.

Yeah, the spiros do seem like the easy way to do it. Everything has been checked and it's time bolt stuff together!

 

[t.flatt]

Ok, so I'm back on the GTX. That Jeep is becoming a major distraction... But, I got the timing gears on! Here's a bit on the cam gear bolts. I bought the ARP 12 point ones. I think they really need a washer. They hit the cover. I bought the button head ones for an allen key. No way they stood up to recommend 45 ft lbs of torque. I got no more than 30 lbs tightening before they stripped the keyway. Imagine trying to get those out once locktited! The winner was a shouldered bolt from the hardware store! Massive shoulder! I would have used the grade 8 bolts in the picture but I only had 2 of them...trip to the hardware store

 

[t.flatt]

 

[t.flatt]

OK, so it seems I'm continuing my one step forward two steps back approach to this project. But the oil pan, timing cover, balancer and heads are all installed! I know I'm going at a snails pace but that's the way it is. The windage tray hung over all over the place so I cut off everything outside the sharpie line in the one pic. Way, way better!! I had to manipulate the oil pick-up a bit and ended up shortening it by about an inch. See how I used a socket extension to dimple the windage tray? Perfect fit!!

 

[t.flatt]

I thought everything was going great with the oil pan install until I saw this! ****, that's a do over. The only spec I had said 15 ft lbs. from two different sources. The second time I went with 10 lbs. and I'll call that good! I ended up doing the timing chain cover twice, as well! It kept nagging at me that I forgot a oil galley plug. I could see one plug behind the timing cover, for sure I put the other one in at the same time, right? Wrong! If you shine a light in towards the timing gears and look through the galley plug hole in the back of the engine, you can see that you most definitely forgot to put the plug in! The cost of a new gasket now is almost priceless compared to the frustration of trying to figure out why there is no oil pressure later on.

 

[t.flatt]

Split gasket!

 

[theman440]

Get the Milodon pan gaskets - almost indestructible!

 

[t.flatt]

Get the Milodon pan gaskets - almost indestructible!

I ended up using 1 Superformance and 1 Fel-pro gasket. The Superformance had some interference issues with the bottom of the windage tray and the Fel-pro did not.

 

[t.flatt]

And, now I'm here. I referred to Hughes Engines website for direction. I was measuring for pushrod length. The longer I made the pushrod, the more valve lift I got. So much so that I made the pushrod as long as possible before it hit the rocker arm. I think I'm going to cut off the threads on the adjuster stud to help with valve cover clearance. Cut down 4 studs on each side, make a slot for a flathead, and I might be able to bolt on factory valve covers with no spacers!

 

[t.flatt]

All right, I suppose I could get an update out there. I cut down the adjusters under the baffles pretty much flush with the lock nut. I put some clay inside the valve covers and turned the engine over a couple of times. And...everything clears! One gasket and no spacer, cool!! I gained about 5/16" of clearance by cutting them down. The lifters are adjusted to 1 1/2 turns of pre-load on them.

 

[t.flatt]

For the valve covers I glued the gasket to the cover with 3M's yellow snot and left the head side dry.
The balancer I'm using only has painted on markings, no groove. So, I made sure the mark was at exact top dead center and taped a couple wood blocks on both sides of it. A little work with a hacksaw blade and I have a groove that will be easy to find when everything is painted!

 

[t.flatt]

Here's the water pump housing anxiously awaiting some Evaporust.
Now, on to the intake manifold. I wanted to get it hot tanked but when I brought it to the shop they said their radiator guy quit and took all his **** with him and no one else in town has a hot tank! So, after a media blast it was off to the bathtub with a scrub brush.
Installing these things seems to be a never ending debate. Really, there are only 4 ways to do this: just the valley pan, paper gaskets on both sides of the pan, paper gasket on only the head side or paper gasket on only the manifold side. Apparently, this job is impossible to **** up. For every way you'll find someone who has installed countless manifolds that way and never had problems. Then there is what sealer, if any, to use. I decided to use paper gaskets on both sides. It's what the instructions say. RTV is not fuel resistant so I don't know why anyone would use that. I went with Permatex high tack gasket sealant, fuel resistant and recommended for manifolds. Seems like a no brainer but people will do whatever their heart desires.

 

[HawkRod]

Here's the water pump housing anxiously awaiting some Evaporust.
Now, on to the intake manifold. I wanted to get it hot tanked but when I brought it to the shop they said their radiator guy quit and took all his **** with him and no one else in town has a hot tank! So, after a media blast it was off to the bathtub with a scrub brush.
Installing these things seems to be a never ending debate. Really, there are only 4 ways to do this: just the valley pan, paper gaskets on both sides of the pan, paper gasket on only the head side or paper gasket on only the manifold side. Apparently, this job is impossible to **** up. For every way you'll find someone who has installed countless manifolds that way and never had problems. Then there is what sealer, if any, to use. I decided to use paper gaskets on both sides. It's what the instructions say. RTV is not fuel resistant so I don't know why anyone would use that. I went with Permatex high tack gasket sealant, fuel resistant and recommended for manifolds. Seems like a no brainer but people will do whatever their heart desires.

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A key thing to check here is the fit of the intake manifold to the engine. You've probably already installed the intake manifold but it is good to lay the intake in place bare and then use a feeler gauge to see if both the intake and head surfaces are parallel on both sides. An error of .004" or less is ideal.

You are making progress!

 

[t.flatt]

A key thing to check here is the fit of the intake manifold to the engine. You've probably already installed the intake manifold but it is good to lay the intake in place bare and then use a feeler gauge to see if both the intake and head surfaces are parallel on both sides. An error of .004" or less is ideal.

You are making progress!

Thank you! Yes, I tried measuring the fitment following an article on Hughes Engines website. The wax wire they sell ripped when I took the manifold off. Using solder wire instead I got different measurements both times I tried. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and install it as is. The numbers I did get looked to be pretty good, though.