Gramma's Car: the new project!

[njsteve]

You have to set the two piece lip seal into position with a specific amount of silicone sealer in the anti-rotation notches that are built into the block. You do not fill the area with sealer, otherwise it will cause too much pressure and cause the lip seal to fail. That is why you drop in the crank, bolt the mains down and don't rotate the crank for a day, in order to give the sealer time to cure.

We just finished up measuring the ring gaps in the cylinders and then installing the rings on the pistons. Getting ready for piston/rod installation tomorrow.

[MarcDant]

That makes sense good to know thanks.On the chevys i use the brown aviation sealer with the seal staggerd a quarter inch from the parting lines its always worked good for me.Those serrated knureled areas in the crank of a pontiac have puzzeled me.Almost every one i talk too around here has had leaks.

[njsteve]

The boy and I installed the pistons and rods today. We each did four. I got the odd side and he did the even side. (Ignore the harmonic damper puller on the crank...it was the only thing I could find with the proper threads to go in the crankshaft. I didn't have a spare balancer bolt anywhere). [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Got the old dial indicator set to TDC. Checked the deck height with using both a flat edge and feeler gauge and then verified with a depth caliper. Got -.016 for both readings on all eight bores. Checked the ring gaps yesterday prior to installing rings on pistons.







Showed him how to measure rotating torque...and told him several more times to keep his left hand off of the measuring indicator....I figured after he got incorrect readings after ten or fiftten revolutions he would eventually listen to me and do it properly without the interfering hand. He finally got a reading of 300 inch pounds. I made him do the math to convert it to foot pounds. (25 lb.ft.)

[69biscayne]

What do you use to lubricate the rings during assembly?

Steve

[njsteve]

I used some 5W-30 oil on the bores, rings, and wrist pins. Lubriplate 105 on the bearings. I actually used up the tube that I had for the past decade or so, on this engine. Had to break down and buy another tube at NAPA for $7.99.

[cook_dw]

Wow.. That photo of your son gave me flashbacks to when I was his age and my father passing down his knowledge.. Very cool and glad to see he is staying interested.. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

I am trying!

I was just perusing some old emails and ran across this one from his sister about 9 years ago. She would critique his behavior as a toddler and then email me. Here is her description of his actions during a visit to his Gramma's house:

<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">&quot;in about 2 hours he did the following: poked me with a pen, scribbled on my paper, destroied my tower, mimmicked me, scribbled on mom's drawings, stole grandma's french fries without asking, wiped syrup on me, spoke rudly to people, stole my french fry and then licked it, called mom a sponge head, clanded silverware even when mom said to stop 5 times, said mom draws horrible, kept poking me, stuck his tunge out at me, hit me 13 times, really hurt my arm by squezing it, made a mess with butter and got butter every where, threw a fit about not getting to sit in the back, and said &quot;shut up everyone i'm trying to sleep!!!&quot; and now he has that evil look in his eye so I better watch him closly&quot;</span></span>

Gotta love those memories. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Yesterday we visited my parents and on the way home he was trying to do his high school Algebra II homework in the car. His sister was helping him since she is a math wiz and a junior in college. It was an updated version of the email above. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Checked the main bearing oil clearance today. They all seemed to be between .0015 and .00175 (just shy of .002 on the plastigage.

Here's an .0015:

[SuperNovaSS]

Steve,

I don't comment on your threads enough but I am always following them. Well done. I love plasti gauge. Such an easy way to check the machine shop. Your offspring are going to be some of the few who still know how to build a vintage engine in years to come. I plan to pass the touch as well.

Currently in training:

n

[njsteve]

Nice pirate hoard of parts!

My son was at the kitchen table a few minutes ago and was doing his history homework. The assignment involved interviewing someone about an event in the past. He picked the prior engine rebuild of Gramma's car from 2011. It seems that I remember a lot more than he does, about events four years in the past when he was ten years old. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]