Let The Rebuilding Begin...AGAIN!

1BADAIR said:
which style seal? the old ones the lip goes in. the new the lip goes out
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The seal wasn't seated properly. I had the engine on the engine stand when I put the rear cover on. Getting the install tool between the block and the stand would have been impossible. So I just pushed the plastic piece over the crank and the seal into the rear cover. That didn't work out so well. This time the block is sitting on the bench and I was able to get it seated properly with the install tool.
 
putting the seal in the cover first is easier. then the cover will self center.(just make sure the pan rail is flush) The tools were more helpful when using the reverse lip cause they were easy to fold over. Some High boost people used to put the new style seals in backwards so the internal pressure would push the lip onto the crank preventing a leak
 
I'm pretty sure I was having a brain fart when I installed the rear main seal. I should have just tapped it lightly with a rubber mallet until it seated, but I didn't. It's one of the new style seals.
 
Today the engine went back on the dyno, and all I can say is that I'm one happy camper. We found one small leak along the oil pan gasket. Looks like a bolt needs some sealant there. Then the moment of truth came.
First pull to 5500 RPM netted 556/551.
Second pull to 6000 RPM and the results were the same.
Next week I'll get it ready to go in the car. I've gotta install the rest of the accessories, the EFI intake and my pretty new injectors. I may get the engine in the car a week from Sunday. Oh my word!
 
I went by the shop today to get the engine ready to go into the car. While I was cleaning up the starter I noticed that the teeth on the starter were jacked up. So I ordered a new one. Then I inspected the ring gear on the flywheel and saw that some of the teeth were jacked up and that means that the ring gear needs to be replaced. Holy buckets. The guys at the parts store were like, "Yeah, we don't haven anything for it." So I called a well known T56 rebuilder and got their reply was, "You're going to have to buy a new flywheel." So I measured both the ring gear and the flywheel and figured out that the flywheel has the same dimensions as a SBC flywheel. :banghead:
Tomorrow I'll swing by a couple of places and see if I can find the ring gear I need and then I'll get it installed.
The date the engine will be installed in the GTO is March 1, 2014. Let the countdown begin!
 
I took a couple of pictures of the starter. New bits for it will be here Monday.




I spent the better part of today getting accessory brackets cleaned and painted. I figured what the heck they are easy to get to now and I really didn't like how they were looking. So I grabbed a can of Hammertone (I think that's what it's called) Grey and got to work.


Monday I will do some more porting on the intake. I need to open the ports up just a bit more so that they are closer to the size of the heads. :) Once I'm done with that I'll get the engine off of the dyno cart and back onto an engine stand so I can get all of the accessories installed.
 
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Today I got some more prep work done on the engine. First things first was to port the intake a little more, then clean it, and install the fuel rails and injectors. I'm still on this painting kick, so I painted some more brackets so they match the other paint work I've done so far.



At this point, I'm feeling like the engine is begging me to get it installed already.

No, those are not my valve covers. Mine need to be picked up from the powder coater, which should happen any day now. After a little bit of discussion tonight, it looks like the engine may go in the car Friday instead of Saturday. I'm all for that. :woot:
I just thought these two shots were cool.

 
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Today, I got the engine off of the dyno cart and onto an engine stand so that I could finish getting brackets and accessories installed. I also repaired the starter.
New pinion:

Old busted sitting next to the new stuffs:

I also checked to make sure I had my new cables just right. Turns out I wrapped one wire wrong, so I fixed that (sorry you can't see that in the photos).

My freshly powder coated valve covers should be in tomorrow. I will also get the ends finished up on the battery cables. The final step for tomorrow is to load the engine in to my Jimmy. Yes, my friends I'm almost done!
 
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Awesome!!! what's the ETA to get it back in the car? the itch to drive the new monster has got to be getting intense!
 
chunkybs said:
Awesome!!! what's the ETA to get it back in the car? the itch to drive the new monster has got to be getting intense!
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It's getting loaded into the back of my Jimmy tomorrow. Friday it should go in the car. I'm real pissed with Old Man Winter and Mother Nature. Those effers are bring snow here Friday and Sunday, so I won't be able to bring the car home until probably Tuesday or Wednesday.
 
Well the valve covers were delivered today, and boy do they look good.


I forgot to get photos of the completed battery cables. I'm too excited. Tomorrow the engine will be loaded into my truck and I'll make the trip to where the car is and then the real fun will begin.
Winter looks like it's going to deal another round of nasty weather this weekend, so I have no idea when I'll get the car on the chassis dyno. Hopefully that will happen sometime next week.
 
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Well ladies and gents, it's almost time to mate the engine with the rest of the car. I took a few more shots of the engine before I pulled it off of the engine stand and loaded it into my truck.


I really like how well the valve covers turned out.



I had to stop and lament a bit about this next photo. Looking back, there are only a few subtle visual differences between the way the engine looked in October and the way it looks now. Well externally that is.

I know a lot of work went into getting ready to go back into my truck so it could be transported, but you can't see much of it.
In less than twelve hours from this post, I will start the fun and arduous task of mating the engine with the rest of the car. I hope I haven't forgotten anything other than a clutch alignment tool, star washers, and about 4 gallons of diesel fuel (for the heater). LOL
 
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The clutch and input shaft fought me tooth and nail today. Yes, I used a clutch alignment tool, but for some reason the engine and trans hated each other. I also had a bitch of a time getting the clutch to bleed, but eventually it did.
I also had to make one run to the parts store, which is to be expected. I had to pack up shortly after I took these photos:


Forecasters are calling for ice, sleet, and snow over night tonight. :( Hopefully this storm won't be as bad as they are saying. Ughhh. I am sick of winter.
 
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Looks great Shauna. When you get it going you will have to decide on mechanical music vs the awesome stereo. Nice problem to have!
 
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