276 stroker from 35 years of parts

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

'Adventures in used parts' The saga continues. I found I had a few guides that while they fit the valve nicely, the guide was somewhat loose in the block. 12 were a push through with hard thumb pressure or a few light taps, 4 would pass through with gravity. Following a youtube video by 'Bored and Stroked' I knurled the 4 loose ones in my lathe. There was a learning curve. It does not take much to get them too tight. On those I chucked them back up and with file applied gently, they were perfect. With all valves and guides tight I lapped the exhaust valves keeping the guides paired. The seats are nice and narrow, so maybe my experimental first try got lapped in an intake and an exhaust seat both. Next I found the old style Johnsons will compress down quite readily endwise in the vice to get them back to 40-60 in/lb torque. I have now done about 30 of them, but the 2nd one I did, I gave two oomph tugs on the vice handle instead of one. It was very hard to turn the wrench in fact I grabbed a longer 7/16 to crank. It just got tighter as I cranked it but figured I'd run it in and out a few times to break it in. But then a quite audible CLICK. Maybe I need to affix a 1/2" drive socket to the screw on my vice so I can crank it with my click torque wrench. I told you I overthink things. And finally, Once I got a valve assembly installed I realized I'd need a crank to rotate the cam as had been suggested. I had a galvy pipe cuttoff that was a loose fit in the gear. I slotted it two sides and shouldered it til an old muffler clamp fit. A sleeve of bicycle inner tube serves to protect that nice new cam gear and fill the gap. In retrospect the handle sould have been a few inches longer but it works well. Hoping some of these musings will help a future V8er someday.

[GB SISSON]

Thanks Pete. The threads just plain look better with the big pictures.

[GB SISSON]

I now have all the valves installed and adjusted. Everything went well. After I cracked the lifter all the bolt squishing was lighter and at 40 in/lb they adjust firmly and none felt at all loose. I then installed that oil pump gear and am ready to install the crank. I have many questions about oil pans and bellhousings and starter plates. I have multiple cast and stamped BHs and 2 oil pans that look alike with the cleanouts. I also have the 4 bolt die cast seal holders at rear. I overhauled 2 8bas 20 some years ago, just replacing what came off, so there was no need for choosing of parts. I don't have a 'green bible' for the later engines so need help choosing what goes with what. Can I install the crank and then figure out the seals or do I need to set the rear one before the crank? Here's a few pics of what I have. My Best gasket 8ba set doesn't seem to include the rubber for the die cast rear seal holder. Any help appreciated. Thanks, GB

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by GB SISSON

I now have all the valves installed and adjusted. Everything went well. After I cracked the lifter all the bolt squishing was lighter and at 40 in/lb they adjust firmly and none felt at all loose. I then installed that oil pump gear and am ready to install the crank. I have many questions about oil pans and bellhousings and starter plates. I have multiple cast and stamped BHs and 2 oil pans that look alike with the cleanouts. I also have the 4 bolt die cast seal holders at rear. I overhauled 2 8bas 20 some years ago, just replacing what came off, so there was no need for choosing of parts. I don't have a 'green bible' for the later engines so need help choosing what goes with what. Can I install the crank and then figure out the seals or do I need to set the rear one before the crank? Here's a few pics of what I have. My Best gasket 8ba set doesn't seem to include the rubber for the die cast rear seal holder. Any help appreciated. Thanks, GB

[Bored&Stroked]

You always need to install the rear-main seal (in the block) before you put the crankshaft in. I prefer to use the graphite impregnated ones from BestGasket.

Question, did you wash the block with a lot of hot soapy water after it came back from the machine shop? The includes running rifle bore-brushes through all the oil-galley holes?

Or, did the machine shop wash it thoroughly before they gave it to you? There can be a lot of grime/grit impregnated into the bores as well as metal shavings in various places. Some machine shops have big "block washers" - some don't.

[GB SISSON]

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I guess I have always known the rear main runs under the crank, but it was that 8" long triangular die cast part that I thought had something to do with the seal, like somehow it was external. Been a long time since I put an 8ba together. I did a pretty involved search on the barn and found one very pertinent thread that showed me the seal holder and some pan info. I will worry about the pan later, but I did clean up a nice truck pan this afternoon. Wash down: Yes, Less told me wash down the cyliner walls with hot soapy water, so I did everything else while I was at it last week. He had already cleaned the passages and resealed the steel tube in the valley. Crankshaft: I blew lots of solvents through the crank passages with 100 psi air. Then the threaded plugs with loctire. I plan on setting the rear main seal holder in rtv or the black 'good stuff' gasketmaker. Yes I have the graphite dog turds from Best. Do they need to soak in oil like the old white ones?

[cadillac512]

No, the graphtite ropes don't need to soak like the old ones. Roll them in place, trim correctly then a bit of oil on them before the crank goes in.