The 396 rod marks look like little dents vs. tiny cracks to me, so not really worrisome. As for the MG rod... who cares?
In 1968 I also had a job at a salvage yard. Found a discarded 327 chevy motor laying on the side of an abandoned mechanic shop. Brought the motor to the newly established Car Shop Incorporated facility here in Metairie La. They had hired no other than Gene Mooneyham from California to run the engine rebuilding shop. Mr. Mooneyham performed all the machine work on the 327 to include boring, cam bearings etc. When he asked about pistons to be fitted to the bore I told him I did have a new set I had purchased from a local drag racer. They were 11to1 ratio. He told me to bring them so he could adjust the fit in the cylinders. A short time later when I picked up the motor the short block was assembled including the cam Mr. Mooneyham had selected for the motor. I panicked thinking how the heck was I going to pay for all this extra work that included crank prep and bearings as such! When I expressed my concern Mr. Mooneyham asked me to repeat the quote he had given me for the original work which included block prep only. The price was some 90 odd dollars. He said, so whats the problem? I thanked him profusely and took my motor home. Later I did install a set of cast iron Crane prepared fuely heads. They used to sell for $325.00. The motor with a 2x4 corvette intake and a couple of A.F. B. carbs ran really well in my 55 sedan with a 4 speed and 4.11 gears. Not many guys believed I had an actual Gene Mooneyham prepared motor but I really did. Mr. Mooneyham was a real Gentleman and treated the local hot rodders well. Car Shop campaigned a first gen Camaro funny car for a few seasons out of the facility. There is a famous photo around showing the car standing literally straight up in the air in an ill fortuned starting line launch.
Con rod on the left... On the right side beam.. About an inch and a half down from the red circle... I'd be worried about that little crack.... Take them in and have them magnafluxed.....
Haven't had the thrill of a big block ride-along yet, but maybe some day. In the meantime, I'll have to live vicariously through the HAMB - thanks for taking us along, Jim!
Those dents can be stress risers, which can result in a concentration of stress forces at that location leading to a failure. Those pictured are not bad, and in a low stress motor would probably not be a problem; but it wouldn't take a lot of work to remove them. https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/18183/what-is-a-stress-riser
I had a ‘66 396 and a Muncie 4 spd in my ‘33 5w coupe back in ’68-69. It was a stock 325 hp but I installed an L88 cam and springs, a 360hp cast iron intake, and 780 Holley. It ran low 12s - high 11s with 3.55 gears and Indy tires. It seemed to eat valve springs until I switched to Isky springs. After many runs at Lions, it finally spun a rod bearing and got replaced with an LS6 from Gledhill Chevrolet. I’ve still got a runnable 375 horse 396 under my workbench. Love those big block Chevys. Looking forward to seeing this one revived.
Me too. Like most of the kids I grew up with, Chevys were cheap and plentiful, so that's what we had. 283s, then 327s, and later 350s and even a 400, but when I got my first 396, slipped in a cam, headers and big Holley, that was the big leagues baby, my SBC buddies were beaten. Had 427s, 454s (currently in my Vette) but I'll always have a soft spot for those 396s.
I have the same engine on a stand in my garage. 325 HP, also went with an L88 solid cam when I had it in a stock car Nova. Even the built small blocks couldn't match the pull it had on the straights. I believe the stock CR was around 10 or 10.25:1. This one also spun a main bearing in the pits at Islip, noisy but the oil pressure was still at 60.
After a few distractions, I'm back at work on it. I pulled the LS-7 454 out of the truck yesterday. Then I pulled the heads off, and the cam and lifters out. It's a hydraulic roller, and new stuff is hard to find these days, or real expensive, so I'm reusing it in the 396. The heads are the close chamber oval port heads I got in 1980 from Denny Wykoff, they had large valves installed and had been the subject of a magazine article that David Vizard wrote, but he never could find it to show me. The heads work well, and have a bit of nostalgic value to me. I cleaned up the block this morning, and started putting parts in it. I checked the bearing clearance on one main, just to make sure. The crank mic'd ok, and I trust the Clevite bearings, but it's good to make sure. When I put a rear seal in a Chevy, I offset it a bit, and also put Aviation gasket sealer between the cap and block. Double checking the timing marks. This chain set and button were in the 454. Now I need to put a stop in the back of the timing cover, for the button to contact.
He used to hang out at Denny's shop, and at Tucson Dragway, when I was young. HP books was in Tucson.
Good job Jim , That ole 396 is gonna be very nice,,,,,,and I see the chain is a good D.I.D. model,,,,,good timing set . Very good pics,,,,,keep them coming,,,it should turn out great . Tommy
Hey Jim, you mentioned pulling the LS7, what did they come in? I know of the LS5 and LS6, but not the LS7. Thanks.
The LS-7 never came in anything. It was the baddest crate big block you could buy from Chevy, for about 20 years. 3965774 was the part number. Pretty good deal, mine cost $2700 in 1989. 4 bolt block, forged crank, forged 12:1 pistons, big rods, rect port open chamber iron heads, etc. Most of them got taken apart and different pistons and cam installed, like I did to mine.
thanks I welded a washer to the back of the timing cover, for the cam button to contact. Then put on the cover and damper. Checked the first rod bearing clearance, it's ok... so put the rest in, and the oil pump. I then installed the pan and painted the bottom of the engine some reddish orange color. Flipped it over, put in the lifters, and set the first head on.
This motor was originally slated as a production option in the '70 performance cars. GM released a pre-production prototype LS7-powered Chevelle to Hot Rod magazine for a feature article in advance of offering it to the general public. Hot Rod blew it up in testing (pitched a rod out IIRC) and GM quickly canceled it for production due to the bad press (although that was never specifically stated). As they had already built a fair number of the motors, it became a over-the-counter item.
Back in the old days,,,,,,Cloyes always used a D.I.D. chain,,,,,,they were the best in my book . I’ve torn down a few engines with them,,,…and the chain was still tight with no slack . Then,,,.,the bean counters got involved,,,,,and Cloyes chains became crap,,,,like everyone else’s . I never knew what the DID letters meant,,,,,I always assumed it was a company logo,,,,either way,,,,they were tops in my book . I also remember using DID drive chains in off road bikes and Atvs,,,,,,top quality product . That’s my story,,,,, and I’m sticking to it ,,,,,,LoL . Oh yeah, I knew a guy back in the day that had a crate LS7,,,,brand new,,,,,,this was about 1985-86,,,,,,a truly bad piece of news . He put it in a real 70 Chevelle LS6 car,,,,,,he wanted to save the original engine for the future . Tommy
The 396 is lookin' good, but I'm curious, are you going to put the LS7 back to factory spec and build another Bad Ass AWB car to put it in?
So the heads have the 1.88 exhausts? I use to run Boss 302 rockers on my 454 when you could run down to ford and buy them. Straightened the geometry right up. Lippy
I doubt it. But I still don't know what I'll do with the engine. For now it'll sit on a dolly and wait for some attention. It was dropping oil pressure when hot, so it needs some attention inside.
The last few cloyed sets I installed were so loose after a few thousand miles it pissed me off. In a few thousand miles cam retarded 4*-6*. That set looked great and still tight that’s why I wondered. Thanks.
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