So it’s June again. The short block has come together and I’m now going through the Vortec heads. I pulled a used Comp 12-422-8 roller cam and what might be a brand new double roller timing chain off the parts library wall. A neighbor’s friend got sick and closed his shop. The neighbor helped clean it out and I wound up with a few 5 gallon buckets of random parts, timing set included. I got a trans jack too! The rotating assy and cam are in. The cam is 2 degrees advanced at 104 rather than Comps recommended 106. After reading the entire internet, I’ve convinced myself this is a good idea. I found a Muncie M20 up in Marion Mt. There was a whole horde, but I only got one and a stuck Super T10 It was a 6 hour round trip after work on a Thursday. It came with a Hurst shifter and assorted linkage. I tore the Vortecs down. Someone put 2.02s and 1.60s in them and did some work but they still have press in studs and the guides haven’t been cut for increased lift. I’ve got cutters in the mail. I’m not sure what springs they had on them, but things didn’t look happy. I bought some new stuff too. It feels too fancy for this motor. Next up, cutting down the valve guides for my 495" / .502" lift and deciding on screw in studs. I’ve also got to decide on self aligning rockers or guide plates. I *think* guide plates would require either another cutter and arbor or some after hours work on one of the mills at work cutting down some bosses. I need to research.
Looking good (except for the Chev orange but its not my ride or my thread ) It should be a fun, dependable car with that setup.
Cool build! I never played with these new fangled vortec heads, but they seem to have everything a camel hump guy needs
I went back and forth on the orange. The 350 was originally 80’s corporate blue. I almost went black, but the car will be mostly black and I wanted the motor to stick out. That POR 15 Chevy orange is unnaturally orange. You can see it with your eyes closed. You can see how bright it is compared to the 348 behind it. July 4th at the latest! I know they’re a little too new fangled for some folks around here, but I’m learning a lot and am excited about them. I’ve got a pair of 461s and 186s, but both pair need everything. The 350 only exists to get me on the road until the 348 is done, so I don’t want to spend a fortune on rebuilding heads for it. I’ve got some 882s and 993 smogger heads too, but I don’t want to build a dog.
Time for head. I got my cutter, and trimmed the guides. I smoked my old cordless drill on the second one. Oh well. I decided on guide plates rather than self aligning rockers. Out come the studs, away go the tops of the bosses. My vice setup wasn’t the most stable. Next time I do this, I’ll spend more time on setup so my cuts can be more aggressive. I got it done, but it’s always better to put a little more time in on the front side so you don’t have to fight it. I lapped the valves and assembled everything. Of coarse there was one exhaust valve with bad pitting so I replaced it. That cost a week…. I was gearing up to put the heads and oil pan on but decided to check the volume of the piston / deck clearance just to know. These are mystery dished pistons from who knows where. I got a piece of polycarbonate, a big syringe, some grease, and some blue water. I checked a couple times and came up with 28cc. I’d been thinking this motor would be in the low 9.25:1 to maybe 9.5:1, but I got some bad news. This motor came out of my buddy’s cousin’s truck years ago and they thought it was a dog of a 305. They were surprised when I ran the numbers and found out it was a 350. With the 72cc heads it had on it, it must have had a compression ratio in the 7’s. Gross. Unless my math is wrong, I don’t think I can leave these pistons in it. It’s a hotrod, not a box truck. I’m going to get some cheap flattops in the mail. Unfortunately, I may have to get a shop involved to press the pistons on. That’s a bummer. I’ve been pretty happy being able to do it all myself so far. While the motor set for 30 years, there must have been 3 water droplets under the oil, because my otherwise clean oil pan had 3 pinholes. I didn’t have any other passenger dipstick pans, so I fixed it. Pistons are going to cost me 2 or 3 weeks, so I’ll bag the engine up and get back to metalwork. I really really wanted an assembled long block before I got grinder dust flying again.
My flattops turned up. The only remaining local machine shop wanted 3 weeks and $112 to put my pistons on. I consulted YouTube and pressed the old pins out with my…. press. I used a map gas torch to heat the little end on the rod and everything slipped together without much fuss. I’m back in business, plus the chrome timing cover is going to make it FAST. Unfortunately, the valve reliefs are pretty huge on these cheap ass pistons. Maybe a thin head gasket will get me a little more compression.
I remember when you could go to any swap meet and pick up "bargain" gasket set for SBC, and they used the steel shim head gasket.
Labor day burnouts, here we come. I'm probably going to need a tire. As long as it leaks FAST! It's an Edelbrock part, so I'm hoping for good results, but we will see. I'd have kept the stock one but needed a reinforced cover for the cam button.
Mahle has a .022 or .025 compressed gasket, pretty sure it has a steel shim between composite. I’ll see what the packaging on mine say tomorrow.
Thanks, I’m interested to see what they are. I was looking at Fel-Pro 1094 steel shims. They crush down to .015, but I’m worried my heads and block might not be flat enough.
I would use the Mahle gaskets, Ive had good luck with them and i won't use a steel shim unless the block and heads are resurfaced.
I got my heads on. I used the steel shims because…. I dunno, I used the steel shims. Feel free to laugh at me when I have a head gasket leak. I put copper spray on them, so we’ll see if that helps. Final answer on compression. I’m thinking I’ll be happy with it. My quench will be a little wide at .050 More brush painting bits and pieces. I’ll spray when I do the 348. This stuff is thick and runny. So I’ve got some Comp 1.52 :1 self locating roller rockers that came with the heads. They don’t look like they locate anymore. Since I’ve got them, I’m going to try to grind the washer flat and try to save/convert them. If it doesn’t work, I only wasted time. I’ve also got some solid roller conversion lifters I got from a buddy. They’re dirty and paint covered. I think they’re Lunati. Hopefully I can clean them up and use most of them. The conversion rollers all seem to be either Chinese crap for $100 or good parts for $$$$$, without a middle ground. I’ll have to figure out some pushrods and a distributor. I’ve got a couple old points ones and a HEI with no gear. I could also see what the auction site has to offer. I’ve also got a Edelbrock 750, 600, and a Holley 600. I’ll have to choose a carb. I’m hoping to use a pair of vette 2.5” rams horns. I’ve got a few OG pairs. The internet seems to think the reproduction ones interfere with the plugs on Vortec heads and maybe the ports don’t line up well. We shall see. I’m really looking forward to getting back to sheet metal.
I had a good look at the Lunati pop up lifters and even soaked some in Evaporust. There’s pitting on the rollers. I ground down the locating feature on the Comp rockers and they seem usable. I needed roller lifters and hydraulic lifters are a fortune. I found some good used Crower solids and a rev kit on the auction site. The idea is that the rev kit keeps the solids planted on the hydraulic roller cam. I might be going overboard, but here it all is. I lucked out and one set of pushrods I had around seems to be the right length as my contact pattern is centered on the valves. Next up, I’m going to get the Saginaw out and the Muncie in so I can button up my trans tunnel and do the last couple cabin floor and firewall patches. I want the firewall and dash in paint before it gets cold so I can get the motor in and assemble the dash over the winter.
I went out tonight to vacuum under the car so I could swap transmissions later in the week got carried away. Saginaw is out, Muncie is in. My transmission jack is down the block in my storage garage. Dragging it down the alley would have woken up half the neighborhood. I dropped the Saginaw on my thumb and hossed the Muncie in with a crappy little floor jack, scraps of wood and hate. The shifter is in about the same spot front to back but sits way lower. Saginaw: Muncie: Tunnel from the Bel Air: Next up, fill my bottle and finish the tunnel and a couple other cabin floor patches.
I trimmed the Bel Air trans tunnel. And burned it in. I need to make the hump fit. I need to deal with the dimmer switch pocket and drivers toe board. The firewall pad kept catching fire and was in generally lousy condition so I took it out. I got a bad surprise. It rained rust. The firewall is rotten from the cabin side behind the wiper motor. Luckily I still have most of the Bel Air cowl around. I actually had it loaded for recycling and kept just in case. Car tent life. Next up toe panel and a couple other little floor details. Then the engine and trans come out and I get the firewall patched and ready for paint.
Now we’re talking! Starting to make some progress now. I’m now starting to believe it may be driving by the end of June. Maybe Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are real after all.
I got some time in over the weekend. Shifter hump hole trimmed and hump fit: Engine out, firewall patched, and top of the firewall lip straightened. There were also a couple random firewall pinholes to fill. I also finished patching the toe board and one other random floor patch I’d been putting off. The floors are now patched all the way back to the B pillars. There are a couple little spots in the back that’ll get fixed when I do the smuggles box bulkhead and cabin back wall. I started sanding the dash down. It looks like the last guy took it down to bare metal and put a little filler in it then primed it. There’s one little ding on top and a little more on the underside to deal with. Next up, knock down the high spots on my floor welds, seam seal, a little bit of firewall filler, and some surface prep where my blasted metal rusted from car tent life. I’ve got epoxy primer and “Interstate Black” coming from Eastwood for the firewall. I’m thinking I may paint the dash the factory blue interior color and then flake over the top of it in case I wind up putting factory style Impala interior kit in it. I need to decide soon. I’ve also got to see how clean I can make a car tent that’s been sand blasted in.
Nice work. Floors look good, and better to find and resolve the firewall rot now than to find it while putting everything back together.
Two steps forward and one back is still net forward progress. Nice work getting all the firewall and floorboard repairs.
The Jalopy Journal
