Second Engine Build, Raising CR

[RRoller123]

Standard 8.1 to 1 CR, narfire?

[narfire]

Yes, went with IAP 84.4 pistons. If I ever were to do it again, bigger, 85mm perhaps, and perhaps a bit more compression.
Car runs well right now. ( touch wood)Being 10-14C the past few days, tempted to put insurance on it. But looked at the weather forecast and cold with chance of snow on Friday

[RRoller123]

Been a long time since an update on this project! The block is nearly ready to go back in, have been taking advantage of the space to paint the engine bay, clean up all the wiring, add starter relay, Hi-Temp coat the manifold and down pipes, refurbish and paint a lot of parts, driveshaft, etc, work on the oil pressure gauge add, etc etc .

Passenger side wiring loom basically done, and the original distributor system re-installed in place of the failed Computronix. Can see the second ground strap that I added, one end just to the left of the coil, the other end attaches to the block where the air pumps used to be. The studs are conveniently still there. Can buy these pre-assembled in the right length at any auto parts store. A really prudent addition.



The Driver's side is a lot more busy, will take more effort to tidy it up.



Manifold treated with Eastwood Hi Temp Coating





Downpipes treated with 1400F rattle can paint.

[RRoller123]

The block is going back in tomorrow, finally! A long process. Driver's side cleaned up pretty well. but couldn't get at everything, like the corner, without risk of creating a fault which would cause me to pull my hair out.

[RRoller123]

Short Block back in, down pipes back in, with Hi Temp RTV at the "Test Pipe" Interface, and Ni anti-seize on the bolts.

9.8 CR pistons in the short block. Transmission, prop shaft, etc goes in tomorrow. Interested in measuring the drive line angles when the major components are back in. Only pitch appears adjustable, by the transmission support yoke, and only by a small amount. Roll can be adjusted too, but only by a small amount.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Awesome work, Roller! And man, I am sure coveting your engine hoist. Sure beats my manual "dope with a rope" approach, and much easier on the back...

Can't wait to hear more of your progress.

-Bryan

[RRoller123]

Thanks, Bryan! The Transmission went in today. Not too bad of a job, actually. I was a bit surprised. Here are a few tips if anyone is doing it alone. None of this is technical, just my logistical solution to a pita job. Would apply if putting in a new clutch, for example, or a larger project as this one turned out to be. Pictures at bottom.

1. Put the car WAY up as high as safely possible. I have 6 Ton stands (Big stands are more stable, safer) and can get it pretty far off the floor. It is amazing how much difference an extra foot or so makes in roll over comfort, light, elbow room, etc.

1A. Get the speedo cable completely out of the way, it interferes in the tunnel with moving the transmission around. I un-clipped it from the guide clip on the tunnel sidewall. This cable, and the backup light connector can be reattached AFTER all this is done, plenty of room. Just tilt the transmission lower a little with the floor jack, before putting in the support yoke, and attach the speedo cable. At least that is what I plan to do, I will report whether this actually works, later today,

1.B. Leave the engine mounts somewhat loose and tighten them at the end, after measuring driveline angle, roll, etc. Plan on measuring today with a digital protractor/level, to satisfy my curiosity on this topic, expressed in numerous prior posts.

1.C. Removed the shifter ENTIRELY. It is not hard to put back on, and makes removal and installation tremendously easier. Cleaned everything in the ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green and hot water. Will lube it all back up and it should shift smoothly for another 41 years.

1.D. I pre-cleaned all the fastener hardware in my Ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green and hot water.

1.E. A small amount of lithium grease on the splines and tip of the transmission input shaft helps it engage and press into the pilot bearing on the block. Wipe away excess, just a minor coating. Mine engaged surprisingly easily, and I think I know why (no, I did not forget to put the Pilot Bearing in ) The clutch alignment tools fit pretty well, quite snug, but when you let go of it to tighten the spring plate down, there seems to be a little sag that drops the clutch plate ever so slightly. When the trans shaft is then engaged, it passes through the spline slots ok, but, because of the slight tool sag, it needs to slide the clutch plate, against the spring resistance (which is considerable), ever so slightly to one side for the end to insert into the Pilot Bearing, causing resistance. I.e. they are not perfectly colinear. This is my theory on the matter, anyway. So I loosened the clutch spring plate slightly and re-aligned the clutch friction plate with the tool, but held the tool tightly in place, as perpendicular as I could, while tightening the spring plate back up to torque.

1.F. (I also pre-relieved the belt tensioner BEFORE putting the block in. Much easier when the block is outside the engine bay). And remove the timing indicator/pointer bolt and rotate the pointer back out of the way now, while outside the car. Makes putting a new timing belt on quite easy.

2. Tape the top metal shield in place until the bell housing bolts get threaded and will hold it in place. It is a springy sheet, never flat, and a pita to position, needs 3+ hands. Pull the tape just as the bell housing gets close to the block. The sheet seems to always be bent at a couple of corners during removal, I hammered it back flat before putting it back in. These bands cause great resistance when installing the Bell Housing, as the clamping force has to re-flatten the sheet metal. This may get confused with Pilot Bearing insertion force mentioned above, and upon further conjecture, this is probably the case. Take the time to ensure that the upper shield is flat where it should be. It was originally painted, but most of the paint had chipped off. It is steel, apparently clear chromated. No corrosion at all. I did NOT repaint it. Who needs paint chips inside the bell housing? I did paint the Inspection cover, but I am not sure why, I just did. It goes on at the very end, no need to fool around with it now.

3. I cut (2) pieces of plywood that fit the SMALL HF dollys and put a bottle jack on each, and used the floor jack in the center. The challenge in getting the transmission back in is always how to jockey the transmission forward and backwards so that it engages at the right height, proper angle, etc? Leave the engine lift attached, and adjust the load leveler so you can tilt the block backwards if needed. It doesn't need much tilt, but it will need some. Position the dolly wheels so they will roll easily for and aft.

4. I made a simple pad for the floor jack that fits over the drain plug on the transmission bottom, with the pad extending all the way across to properly take and distribute the weight. With the dolly wheels pointed for and aft, the floor jack can be swayed side to side and will work the transmission forward and backwards pretty easily. The transmission won't slide off the jack, and the bottle jacks control the pitch.

5. The best tooling I have found for tightening all (4) of the bell housing bolts is a 3/8" drive, folding head, reversible ratchet, from HF or elsewhere. Fits all locations just fine. On this short block, we get at the top bolts and the starter bolts from the top, not underneath. Almost makes it worth pulling the head.....lol.

Here are a few pictures:

Center pad for floor jack:



Dolly set up: (X2)



Bets wrench Evuh:





All done (for today....) hahah!

[Nanonevol]

I know they say the stock 4 into 2 exhaust is pretty good but with all your engine work wouldn't you want an upgrade?

[18Fiatsandcounting]

5. The best tooling I have found for tightening all (4) of the bell housing bolts is a 3/8" drive, folding head, reversible ratchet, from HF or elsewhere. Fits all locations just fine. On this short block, we get at the top bolts and the starter bolts from the top, not underneath. Almost makes it worth pulling the head.....lol.

I agree this would work well if the cylinder head has been removed. When that is not the case, my preferred method of loosening those top two bellhousing-to-engine block bolts is socket extensions, lots and lots of them. Maybe 3 feet worth. If you tilt the rear of the transmission down by removing the support bracket, you can loosen the nuts with the ratchet situated near the rear of the transmission. There's also enough slop in the multiple male/female connections in these extensions to act as a poor man's socket u-joint.

Good info summary you provided, by the way.

-Bryan

[RRoller123]

The 4-2-1 is fine, no need for headers in a street engine. Plus I would want to do the entire length, increase the whole diameter, a lot of dough, and my current exhaust is fine all the way along. The Swamp Yankee in me says nfw. So the "test pipe" is good enough for now. Maybe sometime in the distant future when we get locked down again and I get bored.

[RRoller123]

Thanks, Bryan.

Do any of you either loctite or anti-seize the Bell Housing or other bolts in the area? I put a little loctite on the inspection plate bolts, but that is it. Some loctite on the propshaft support bearing nuts would make sense, and the safety drop bar nuts as well. Starter is hard enough to get out, don't want to make that nightmare any worse.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Do any of you either loctite or anti-seize the Bell Housing or other bolts in the area?

No, I haven't. I use loctite only rarely and only when recommended for that particular instance. As for anti-sieze, it can't hurt, but cleaning the threads with a wire brush followed by a light coat of oil works for me. There are a few places that I would use anti-sieze, such as the thermostat housing bolts and the water pump bolts.

-Bryan

[RRoller123]

And Ni on all the hot exhaust connections. I use Ni exclusively, no need for any other chemistry, afaict.

[tima01864]

I would double nut if the studs can take it, The pillow block ecspecially

[RRoller123]

Makes sense. This transmission support yoke is the only spot where the pitch of the engine/transmission can be adjusted. Interestingly, my car has a spacer on the cross brace...... But on one side only! Hahahah! What were they thinking...... probably just lost one at some point in the past and thought wtf.

I used a digital level on the block, and compared it to measurements taken off the rails, the cross member, bumpers, firewall, everything I could take a reading off of. Got the Block within 0.2 degrees of horizontal, so engine Roll has been essentially eliminated. Pitch to be measured next, compared to Diff drive angle.