Advice on initial starting of a rebuilt 354 hemi

glad you found what you did before you went too far . you will feel a lot better after you research the engine a little further . i also used the hot head boots , but i got a set of accel wires from summitt (8 mm) and used the angled wire ends at the boot end , and used a battery powered drill and reamed out the boots , then sprayed silicone in the holes and on the wires and they pulled right through . good luck with your hemi !

 

I pulled the p***enger side rockers today and started cleaning them up after reading up on some of the how-to's linked in hemi tech. It hasn't been hard, just attention to detail. Though none of the p***ages were completely blocked they certainly needed cleaned.

I pulled the head as well. They sure ain't light:


The pistons are stamped .040 (match the driver side!) and the bores all measure 3.97 (my calipers aren't good for the next digit) which should be consistent. They are also marked 'L 1089' which is a part number for Egge pistons.

The heads look like this:



The valves are pitted but it looks like the seats were machined. The bottom of the head has cross-hatching but I don't know if that means it was machined. The base to top measured at the front edge is 4.00". I haven't been able to find the stock head height to determine if anything has been taken off.

Happy New Year!

 

So the rockers have been taken apart, inspected, and cleaned, then cleaned a little more to be sure. The bottom of the rocker shafts show a little wear but nothing that I can feel with a fingernail. I can't measure any difference with my calipers but they are only good to 0.01".

I pulled out one of the lifters and I'm pretty sure it is a hydraulic lifter. When I push down on the top of the lifter with a push rod it collapses. I'm pretty sure that solid lifters would not do this. I haven't pulled the cam yet. I'm pretty sure it is the original and may have been reground. The lobes that I inspected through the lifter p***age appear smooth, no marring or scoring, but just don't quite look new.

So if I have this straight in my head, if these are hydraulic lifters then I need to make sure there is the right amount of pre-load on the lifters. The problem is when the heads were on I know there was play play between the rocker arms and the push rods.

Do I need to at least get adjustable push rods to work with the hydraulic lifters since the ones I have are fixed length?

Are my lifters really hydraulic or do I need to get schooled on the difference?

I'm probably just going to pull the cam to be sure but what can I learn from a cam from inspection? Are there obvious signs if a cam has been ground?

 

Great thread...keep posting all the details. I'm hoping to give my 354 its first start by the end of February.

 

I would get a set of adjustable pushrods. This is a good book if you are getting into it this far:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chry...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295703581&sr=1-1

 

I have a set of adjustable lifters coming from Hot Heads. And thanks for the reminder, I just ordered the Tex Smith Hemi manual from Amazon. Now to find some garage time!

 

I have a Mystery 331 I am now going to pull those rocker plugs tomorrow to check it out. This was rebuilt and was ran in a truck for a short time according to the guy I got it from with no answer on why they pulled it. It does look like was gone through heads look clean and fresh BUT what I did find so far since it had the pan and pump off. I found the oil pick up tube screen was just packed full of black ****. I soaked it several times in lacquer thinner swooshed around alot. I used a coffee filter to keep the thinner strained clean each time after soaking over night. blew air through it I let repeat yada yada! untill it was clear as much as I could see up in there and the thinner kept coming out clear and clean. Also hot heads will rebuild the pic up tubes if you think you have an issue. So I am still in the mystery stages on mine also! But I am glad I found this post the newish looking plugs are still coming out tomorrow!

 

I finally got it all back together. The rockers are cleaned. Got adjustable lifters installed and set. That wasn't easy but it wasn't as hard as I thought either. Just took patience. Got the top end re***embled which was nice because I really didn't like how I did the intake gasket last time and now I'm sure there is thread sealant on the exhaust manifold bolts. Got the ignition wiring sorted out, got the fuel and coolant plumbed, and got the distributor on and pointed in the right direction.

So I couldn't help but turn the key. I turned it over a few times with the coil disconnected. Sounds good. I can smell gas in the carbs. I hooked the coil up and tried again. Turn over a couple more times and then the damnedest thing happened. The son of a ***** started! Startled the **** out of me mainly because I was convinced I'd messed something up in my inexperience and I've been waiting nearly three years to hear that note. And with just the headers on it was thunderous!

But I turned it off immediately. Not because I heard anything wrong but because I still want to make damn sure I'm doing everything right. I'm going to do a proper start up next weekend. I'll set the timing and carbs then. And video to share!

 

Good luck on that 331, Dirty30Dodge.

 

Tried to start the 354 hemi today. When it finally fired the motor revved up like the throttle was wide open but I barely had the carbs open so I shut it down right away. Need to check my set up again.

<iframe ***le="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ycZJq_ElPFA" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe>

 

You've got the carbs open...either one or both. Got throttle return springs on it? Sounds GREAT anyway...

 

Sounds like a vacuum leak? Are the plugs installed on the back of the carbs? Intake? Gaskets? Brake booster? P.C.V? Ps- You've done an excellent job!!!!

 

If ignorance is bliss then I should be happier.

I think vacuum leak is a prime explanation of why the throttle got away causing me to pull coil wire to stop it. Funny too because my other hand was on the ignition key which would have stopped the motor too. Anyways the vacuum on the distributor was plugged but the distributor vacuum lines on both the carbs (Edelbrock 1403/1404) were open. The PCV port was open. And I also failed to plug the vacuum port on the backside of the carbs. So I guess what's happening is with all those ports open I'm getting too much air? Whatever is happening, these all need to be either connected or closed. I'm just surprised that the motor can surge that much by not managing the vacuum properly.

 

Well...where's the video?...

 

Post # 40

 

No George, the NEW video...with all the holes plugged...

 

Yeah, haven't got back into the garage yet. Garage time is a difficult subject. My wife thinks I'm going to blow the house up and my 3 year old is scared of the noises made by daddy's hot rod.

 

Nice quick reaction in the video. Sounded good though. Waiting for the next vid......

 

Just did start-up part 2. Sorry, no video this time. Plugging all the holes sure did help. The motor started and ran at ~1500 RPM for a few seconds before it shut down. I think now the problem is mixture/timing/fuel flow. Sounded great though. But the wife, who has no p***ion for cars, was standing in the garage, fire extinguisher in hand. Apparently it was way too loud and she objected to me starting it for another twenty seconds let alone twenty minutes to do the break in until I get the rest of the exhaust on. Those of you with significant others who are into hot rods too, count your blessings!

 

I call mine----BuzzKill----

 

Wow...that sounded awesome. Looked like a brown stain moment.

My wife isn't into hotrods either, so I'm going to try to do my startup & break-in when she's not home.

 

hey Idaho,
Just a question. Did you change those valves???
I noticed in your pics that one was different. That is a truck engine and the exhaust valves have sodium filled tips for heat dissipation. Great for the trucks as they were governed and never ran over 2000 rpm but, you may want to put your foot in it now and then.
If you break one of those valve tips..................KABOOM!!!
Next question, the center port on the heads is taller than the car heads. Did the intake cover it completly or did you modify the heads or intake????

 

interesting thread, 73rr ? is it Gary? you know your **** bro! you have been a wealth of info to me, and Im just scratching the surface on my 354 build! thanks man

 

Happy to help.

Gary

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It's been a while but the motor is running like a champ. Thanks to Willard and his crew at CAM in Spring, Texas for all the work! Now I need to get it back into the Plymouth.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ei9EmhSWQAg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

 

Didn't see a photo showing the crossover. Not all truck heads have the tall narrow p***age, I have a set that are square.

 

Yeah, there is a center crossover in the intake. The head has a taller opening than the intake crossover but the truck intake gasket has plenty of surface to seal against on the manifold.

 

But does the intake? If not you might have the p***age welded up a bit, the HH intake has flange tall enough to cover.

 

The Weiand intake manifold has a flange that matches the outer edge of the truck intake gasket. The water opening in the manifold for the crossover is the same width as the gasket opening but the intake opening is not as tall. I think this is so the intake can be used for car or truck heads with the appropriate gasket matched to the head?

 

Probably.