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It took three sessions over the last week to get the engine installed. Session number one my father-in-law and I spent three hours and never got it in. Session number two I tried solo for three hours and did not do any better. Session number three I was solo again but went slowly and used an adjustable tie down strap ran over the lift and around to nose of the engine to finely adjust the attitude of the engine to match that of the transmission. Within two hours I had the engine installed. Having never done this before I was quite pleased with myself.
I then proceeded to strip out the threads in the aluminum bell housing with a transmission bolt.
With my cousin Phil's assistance we pulled the engine back out and tapped the hole for a half inch bolt. It only took 15 minutes with Phil's help to install the engine the second time. I spent the next day installing all the peripheral equipment like the headers, alternator, starter, carburetor, hoses, harness, belts, etc.
On Sunday I tried to start it but very little happened. I turn the key to "on" and the volt gauge reads 12 volts. I turn it to "start" and the volt meter dips just enough to be perceivable (maybe a half volt) but the starter doesn't move or even make a sound. Assuming I have the wiring correct my hypothesis is that I have a bad starter solenoid. The starter and battery are new, the solenoid is not. Another hypothesis is a bad ignition switch within the steering column.
A few miscellaneous items. I must be missing two brackets or else I do not know how and where these items go. The ignition coil doesn't seem to have anything to bolt to so I used tie straps to hold it next to the oil tube (see PIC00030). I can't find anything to mount the throttle cable and return spring to (see PIC00027). I apparently do not have the original alternator which would've been a Prestolite. Instead I have a Motorcraft and I am not sure if I have it hooked up right (see PIC00038). It has posts labeled STA, GRD, FLD, BAT and one unmarked. I hooked the FLD to the ignition coil, BAT to a harness cable that I believe runs to the battery. I have done nothing with the others. I do seem to have an used purple wire coming from the distributor that would reach but I don't know where it should go.
I have not installed the fan or radiator yet because they will get in the way if I need to manual turn the engine over with a socket wrench to re-adjust the timing. I am not convinced it is right yet. I figure I could test start it without these components as long as I did not run it long enough to get hot.
Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa
Yesterday I replaced the starter solenoid and the ignition key cylinder. After doing so I was able to turn the ignition key and cause the starter to engage and turn the engine. My first big fear did not materialize. I was concerned that the first turning of the engine would sound more like "clank - thud - thud - whir" as internal parts break off and jam the engine causing me to start over. Instead it was a very healthy sounding wa-wa-wa-wa and so on.
I checked for ignition fire on the #1 spark plug and there was none. As I was expecting the electronic ignition control module and or the ignition coil are probably bad. I brought the module in this morning and will have it checked at an auto parts store and most likely replaced. The coil is fairly cheap so I will buy a replacement just to rule it out.
It's getting close to the time to start thinking about insuring and tagging this beast.
I'll be out tomorrow so I can play with the big toy so here's my parting update.
During lunch time today I went to Harmon's and bought the two brackets that I was missing. One is to mount the throttle cable to and the other is to bolt the ignition coil to. I then went to O'reilly's and bought a new coil and ignition module. With these new parts and by the powers of Grey Skull this thing should run. With any luck I can break an axle in Lloyds creek before he gets home from work tomorrow.
At 10:42 AM yesterday the engine started and as long as some one wants to stand there and poor gas down the carburetor it will keep running. Gas was not being pulled from the tank so I replaced the fuel pump. Still no go. I poured gas down the fuel line from the engine side and pumped it out. When it came out it was half mud. Dirt and gunk had made a home in the fuel line. I unplugged the fuel line at the tank side and was eventually able to blow clean gas thru the line using an air compressor. Then I found the bigger problem. I removed the gas tank and fuel pick up and found the tank was so bad that holes rusted thru the top of it and the fuel pick up had rusted shut. Both will need to be replaced.
I do have a greater concern than the tank. I cranked the engine enough to run down the battery. I pulled the oil filter off to verify that oil was circulating. The oil filter was still dry. I am very concerned about this. I think I need some way of priming this to get it going. Suggestions?
Glug-glug-a-glug-wug-WUG!
I installed the new tank and new sending unit last night. Before trying to start it I removed the distributor shaft (Dale's suggestion) and spun the oil pump with a long bit on a power drill to get the oil flowing. After about 5 seconds the oil picked up and I saw it shoot out where the oil filter goes. I put the filter back on and re-timed the engine.
The new ignition module has gone bad already. It started with it the day before but it would not even spark last night. I put the old one back on and it worked. Hmm.
I primed the carb just a bit since the fuel line was empty. It started and just about the time the prime depleted the fuel from the tank made its way to the carb then the engine really kicked in! I ran it for 4-5 seconds then killed it so I could check the engine compartment for mistakes and breaks. Good thing I did. The intake manifold was covered in standing gas! WTF? I dried it up with a towel then started the engine again while standing at the side so I could see where it was coming from. Gas was shooting like a water fountain up and out of the carb vent tubes! Cool yes but not fuel efficient and a lot dangerous. Theory is the floats were stuck up and that allowed the bowls to completely fill with gas then run up the vents. I have not done anything to this carb other than let it sit in the garage since 1997. I have not rebuilt it so I am sure it is in bad shape.
My father-in-law and cousin both say the Holly carbs are ok but are high maintenance and a pain to work on. They would rather see me replace it. I'm trying to decide whether to rebuild this one or replace it ($$$). What do you think?
Friday I replaced the Holley carb with a new Edlebrock 4 barrel. When I had the old Holley installed it was dumping gas at full throttle in to the engine. The first few times I tried to start the engine it went full throttle - not a nice gingerly new-engine-break-in-idle. Not good. Obviously I needed to rebuild or replace the carb. Popular opinion was that Holley's were hard to rebuild and difficult to maintain. With the new carb installed the engine started and ran. Now the real problems began.
When timed properly there was a definite and ominous knock. Pang-pang-pang-pang! When the timing was slowed down (turn distributor clockwise) the knock went away and the engine would idle but had almost no power. Recall that I have one odd piston and one odd connecting rod because one piston was damaged and one rod was lost. We (cousin Phil and I) theorized four reasonable possibilities. First, the odd piston might be a high compression piston so it's timing requirements are different that the other seven. Second, the odd connecting rod might be a little longer than the others and causing that cylinder to compress higher than the rest. Third, I had already thrown a rod. The problem with the rod theory is that the knocking stopped when the timing was adjusted. If was thrown it should knock all the time, shouldn't it? Fourth, I had put the timing chain on incorrectly by a tooth or two.
I removed the timing cover (90 minutes work and $15 in gaskets) to inspect the chain per theory #4. It was perfect. In the process of reinstalling the timing cover I stripped out a bolt hole for the fuel pump and forgot to put on the oil slinger so it's got to come off again…
To check theories one and two I planned to restart the engine so I could remove spark plugs and or wires one by one to try and isolate the cylinder. When I went to start the engine it went clink clink thud. The engine would no longer turn over using the starter. I put a socket on the crank shaft nut and tried to turn it over by hand using just enough force that I know should turn the crank. Stuck.
Well, at that point I was pretty sure what was causing my problems. The only question now was how much damage did the broken rod do?
I removed the oil pan and pulled out a handful of steel fragments that used to be the #6 piston skirt, connecting rod and worse yet - a piece of the cylinder wall. The upper part of the rod wedged between the block and the crank. Fortunately I could not detect any scarring of the crank journal.
I turned #2 so the piston was at its low point to find out if the rings would go low enough to touch where the missing part of the cylinder wall is and they do not meet up. I see three courses of action (assuming I want to continue incurring losses). One, replace the piston, rod and bearings and run with it. Two, see if the cylinder can be bored more and sleeved. Three, replace the block.
Last night I made a closer inspection of the damage caused by the thrown rod and found a new problem. There is a dimple in the #6 crank shaft journal about the diameter of a BB and about as deep as two sheets of paper. We all know what this means. :(
I have begun making preparations to pull the engine and break it all the way down. The hood and front clip have been removed and all the bolt on components removed from the engine block except for the left head. The crank needs to come out and be ground down to 0.020 or 0.030 under standard on the journals I estimate. I'll need to replace all the connecting rod bearings with the new size. I'm going to try to find new connecting rod bolts rather than using the old ones that will now have been torqued at least three times. I'm also going to check in to a replacement block since I am going to this extent.
I'm giving some thought to painting the engine compartment before I reinstall the engine. Dad gave me a new paint gun.
The Jeepsite has been overhauled (http://www.mindspring.com/~rob2d2/jeep/). Hopefully I did better on it than the engine. For the post-mortem pictures see the link titled "Detonation I" which is right before "Rebuild II".
On Saturday I pulled the engine and set it on the engine stand. I removed the heads and started to remove the pistons. I dropped the very first piston and broke it. $40. So I dropped my socket wrench, literally, and quit for the day.
Sunday I removed the rest of the pistons and the crank shaft. I found more damage. A small section at the bottom of the #5 cylinder wall is caved in but not broke off. The broken rod must have whacked it. The #5 piston has a matching impression where it was compressed over this notch. I may need to replace this piston too. That would make three pistons broken as a result of this broken rod. Include the piston the machinist broke and 50% of the new pistons will be retired with zero miles on them! I am not stupid. My next rebuild will be a four cylinder.
This morning I took the crank shaft back to the machinist. He had some much needed good news for me. He said that because the dimple on the journal is in the middle of the bearing that all he needs to do is make sure it is smooth (knock off any high spots) and it will be fine. Had the dimples been on the edge of where the bearings ride then it would need to be fixed. This is because the bearing needs to be able to hold oil pressure. Oil will fill up the dimple and it will be as good as having steel there. If the dimple is on the edge of the bearing the oil will squirt out and the bearing would not be sufficiently lubricated. It makes sense to me.
I told the machinist about the #6 and #5 cylinder walls and he said it was not big deal. He said that it is very common and sometimes mechanics will intentionally knock off the lower parts of their cylinder walls so they can run longer pistons or something's. He said I just need to break off the part of the #5 wall that is caved in then smooth down all the rough edges.
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