twisted frame wrote:Have you run it with the new cam yet? If so, did it turn out to be basically a stock replacement?
YES, finished the break in at 19:00 today Monday January 14th... I used the melling MTA-1 which is sligthly better than the stock... Intake 204- Exhaust 214 at .050 cam lift.
I did not expect it to be an easy job, but it was really challenging. Degreeing the cam took me a whole day. When I begin the tear down, I put #1 at TDC on compression stroke to keep the installation without too many surprises... but upon degreeing I was off by 18 degrees of cam lift on both intake and exhaust for opening and closing or about.... after 4 hours I finally obtained 4, 28 and 39, 7 vs the cam card of 3, 27 and 42, 8 -As a note moving the cam a notch or about was all that was needed-
Upon reinstallation I ran into mutiple brain teasers... The oil pan had been dismantled before, but there was no cork gasket, only RTV, so to align the dowels was a real headache... I removed both dowels and wedged the lower rubber gasket of the timing cover against the oil pan but could not slide any of the dowels ... so forget it.... of course being more than 6 weeks since the initial tear down, parts were scattered all over the garage... at least I used a punch cardboard to stack the bolt in the right order.... the water pump revealed that one bolt was broken in the timing cover.... I guess I miss it upon dismantling, I used a metric helicoil which is what I had... unfortunately the hole does not match the water pump bolt hole... no leaks in that area after the break in.
The most agravating challenge was the harmonic balancer installer which failed miserably... at 23:00 last nite I could not tighten it at the last 1/2", I called it a day and popped some adult beverage....
Repeat the harmonic balancer install in the morning after removal and light sanding with 400 grit... it was not better, but I use a bigger breaker bar... until it started to turn better... I stopped thinking that the thread of the crankshaft had decided to give up... but no, it was the thread of the installer... I used the crankshaft bolt for the last 1/4", at least the belts are lined up. -Note I had to put a sleeve on the harmonic balancer, which I had in the parts bin-
Time to install the belts, and I discovered that the PS pump adjuster bolts.... well I only have one... no way to loosen that one, so I wrestled with the fan pulley to install the PS and Alternator belt.... another 40 min of exercise....
The rest of the afternoon went OK.... trying to remember where everything is.... dang where is my carburetor insulator.... did I mention that I ditched the edelbrock performer because the install plates do not match the 2150, I was not ready to debug that old 1406 that had been sitting in the garage for the last 9 years... so the 85lbs intake was coming back.... I removed the hood which is a real easy job, scribbe the bolts for alignement on the hinges, a real must, it makes any engine work a breeze... especially at nite with the overhead lite and the led headlamp... I used the RTV silicone technique for the front and rear gaskets and coolant ports... Hylomar for the intake ports.
16:00 o'clock was lunch break... and at 16:30 I started to prime the oil pump after I filled up the oil filter with the break in comp cam oil... I could feel the increase pressure after 20 sec of priming and tried to boost it with the electric drill, but I have an old priming tool that is a bit too simplistic.... The install of the distributor takes so long that I was wondering of the usefulness of the priming... at least I know that the pump is able to prime.
I primed the carb with the electric fuel pump and the engine started after the third try, so it was all good... kept the rpm at 2000 to 2500 with a few bursts to 3000...
All was good until the coolant started to burp, I used distilled water, in case of a leak it is less messy and because the system is so rusty, I wanted to be able to do a 3rd or 4th rinse, the burping was non-stop, so I put the radiator cap on, and surveyed the coolant temp that stayed on the first mark , 200F I believe for the 86 vintage....
After 20 min it was done, engine oil was still at max, not too sure about coolant.... then I spotted a large oily puddle under the drivetrain... F...k, did the rear seal of the intake manifold gave up.... no... it is ATF.... to be checked in the morning... I dumped some kitty litter to sponge the mess.
Edited for clarity and update below:
The ATF leak is from one of the trans cooling hose, albeit new, I believe that there is a hole in the rubber hose of some sealant residue on the metal line, a bit of cleaning did not help, so I slid the hose a little more and move the hose clamp, but I had to put a second clamp