Basic block inspection, the do's and don'ts of cylinder honing, good general practices and all the reasons you'll be spending an entire week locked down in your garage.
@@jamesplotkin4674 Much of the problems arose in the early to mid 80's. Remember when the big talk of gangs in NY was taking cars apart on the side of the road? After such reports. GM mainly but the auto industry all did their part, in manufacturing cars that were impossible to take apart on the fly. Which meant there was almost a specialized tool for every bolt on the car...
I agree about not trusting new parts. I've seen too many "Brand New" foreign made parts fail immediately, whereas the old ones were just fine and could be reused.
when it comes to parts and machine shops, it does help to ask around. Car clubs and car shows may expose you to those who've been around the block. Also, a mechanic who does fleet work may know the cheap stuff, but a mechanic who works on airplanes knows, an engine failure up there isn't solved by pulling over to the nearest cloud to wait for AAA :) the other issue with new parts, is when the OEM changed spec mid season to save some cents per car built. I wanted to replace the EGR on a Ford a year ago, ordered up the system from Ford, and was fustrated with the fact it wasn't the same--my car had the valve mounted horizontally, the OEM factory-stamped part had it vertically. Welcome to WTF Were They Thinking town, population you.
My man you understand that through time I've had so many brand-new Parts come in his failed parts when you run a business as long as I have and probably like you have you learn that
Nice job man... No better feeling than turning that key and hearing it roar to life. Makes all the countless hours of riding the front seat of the struggle bus worth it.
I got a 1970 350/300 sitting in a 70 Impala since 78, I wanna get started on. Drop into a 1992 S10. I guess I am trying to get over the LS naysayers. Seems like this 350 would be in the line with this build. Was rated at 380 ft. lb. of torque from factory. Downside it needs to be prepped for roller lifters since everyone is having such problems out of standard lifters recently... That and not knowing what was actually the problem with it running. Dad said it popped back through the carb one day at lunch on a cold start, and never ran right again. He put a new stock cam and a couple rebuild kits into the carb, to no prevail. Not sure if it was a thing of him being a Ford man, and or not being a good quadrajet man...
kram Null If it had the problem before. And you rebuild without diagnosing the problem chances are most likely you will have the same problem after the rebuild. Sitting since ‘78 Could be good. Could be nightmare.
Hey come on! I'm from Bongosqueegie and all our piston rings are made and inspected by at least 13 year olds! Love these types of vids keep em coming lol
American V8's are the best. Years ago when I was 18, I rebuilt my 55 chevy 265 on my own with no prior experience. Had a machine shop do the valves, but I did the rest. Went together easy and worked great. Wish I still owned the car.
That was an excellent episode of Uncle Tony's Garage. Not too long, not too short, informative, excellent attention to detail- this is a definite Goldilocks Episode- "Just Right" Thank you
Hey Tony, i bought a LA360 over the winter and I tore it down this afternoon just to follow along with your "Perfect Daily Driver" series. This is my first build and I just wanted to say thanks for all your videos and sharing the knowledge, your the best man.
When I was on Crazy Deans pit crew 1968 - 1971, we used the dingle berry for cross hatching quick piston changes in the pits. I worked primarily on the trans team (he used two top loaders and a main shaft eplacement in three passes) but spent a fair amount of time on engines as well. This was before the advent of engine machinists in the pits.
Yes, I'm glad I stumbled on to these videos. I've repaired my vehicles for close to 50 years and never heard things explained so well. Tony explains things better than the auto shop instructor I had in high school.
Good point about the grinder. some weld together an old truck driveshaft and drum brake to make a stand that can be rolled in and out of place. Another tip for when you're removing metal from a part...a rare earth magnet, placed in the path of the chips, will collect a few of them so you aren't chasing them down during cleaning. If you're grinding near a water passage (let's say), put some shaving cream in--it can catch the particles and then get flushed out easily. Bearings: there's a lot of debate over sanding them versus not. For most things in life, a safe rule is..."when it doubt, throw it out". The dollars you spend now could be dollars you don't spend at the side of the road. But if you've done a ton of engines, you can make a good judgement call. Ridge at the top of the cylinder: its true until you clamp a head on it--that's why a torque plate is used in boring, to replicate the distortion. And if you're running an aluminum block, the distortion gets so bad a good machinist wants the main caps, timing chain cover, bell housing, even the starter on for some designs. Some blocks, like Pontiacs, screw the heads not into the deck surface, but the walls of the block itself, and so some will skip a torque plate in those builds. Of course, there are those who also want to run coolant thru the block, get it up to heat so its at full expansion--but cutting away metal is also causing a heating issue in the block. When you use gasoline, be in a well-ventilated area--there's a reason why Pintos and side saddle GM trucks had an issue :) For those who are finicky, a torque plate should also be applied to the head when doing major surgery like new hardened valve seats. Dealing with an obscure engine with no torque plate? fake it with a stack of washers or a wrist pin to replace the height of the torque plate, and then torque it to spec around the cylinder you're operating on. Great when you're messing with the rings, and excellent point about the light gap around the ring. when some install a piston, they'll hook up a fish scale to the large end of the rod to test how many pounds of pull it takes to move that piston to BDC.
I suggest a few minutes on using a tap, cleaning threads in through holes and blind holes, when to replace a bolt, and the importance of oiling the bolt threads and under the bolt head before torquing. I learned those last ones the hard way.
I wouldn't recommend using a tap on the engine, but would suggest using a thread chaser/restorer. While they are similar in design, a thread chaser won't remove as much medal from the threads and still clean out the junk. We want to keep as much of the original thread as possible.
Only apply oil to threads if it's called for. Lubricant changes the effective tension on a fastener for a given torque, if they want you to put in your head bolts dry and torque to say 100lbs adding lubrication and torque to that spec will result in an over torqued fastener.
@@wyattwunderlin4445 in some cases, if you worry about where those shavings are going to drop, a little petroleum jelly in the gap between the "teeth" of that thread chaser, may be the ticket to catching the debris and pulling it out of the bolt hole easily.
Even if I don't have a tap , I'll make one by cutting a groove in a bolt. I'm sure someones gonna yell and say dont use taps use thread chasers. Make your own from old bolts.
A good friend of mine would start with a three blade type hone and finish with a dingleball for hash marks it worked good. And someone please send uncle tony a new drill cable that ones been through some shit!
chewed drill cables and gasoline sprayed around, what could go wrong? :) seriously, "safety is no accident", its a habit. Practice safety routines, and you never have to stop and think when cutting a corner, "is there something different from the last times i got away with doing this, something that's gonna bite me in the ass this time?"
Just love the way he uses his gasoline squirter bottle for every thing , starting cars , checking for manifold and carb leaks now he’s using it as a honing lubricant WAY TO GO Keep it up Tony
Thanks Tony, and Kathy...even after a hard day it makes me smile to see something from you all. However, with the ridge-reamer...yep, I grew up with flat heads. The original block from Lucille had a major ridge. (The 1967 block needed to be bored over 0.030" over to "almost" be true.) It is always great to hear what I learned from my Father about building engines on a budget. Kind of a lost art with all of the hype on "you gotta have it" promoted in the media. Thanks again. All the Best from Germany.
I don't know whether to share this with my peers or not. They might begin to hate you Uncle Tony, like they hate on me. Many of them are of the "Once you pull it down, you MUST replace every conceivable component, rebore, grind the crank, deck the block, all after sonic testing it" ilk, even in a daily shopper. I've been doing it this way nearly, but not quite as long as you Unc, and nowhere near as frequently, but with no failures. I'm probably just a bit more cautious, in that I will replace rings and rod bearings every build, regardless. Keep up the great videos my friend, you have the respect of many.
All good tips no doubt about that. Literally everything you do and use in the shop is similar to the methods and techniques i was shown and use today. Great work Tony keep it up🖒
Just because it is a NEW part doesn't mean it is proven. Good video, i'm wanting to build my son a duster on a budget, OD 4 speed and roller 318 or 360. Thanks for the video!
A few other helpful tips, if you do replace the cam bearings, use an installation tool, don't try to use anything else. Cam bearings are typically numbered for the position they go in with the front one being no. 1. Make sure you align the oil holes on the bearings with the passages, a puff from an air hose through the oil passage will help verify it didn't slip as you installed it. Always, always, always trial fit your camshaft to make sure it goes all the way in before you assemble anything else. I've seen the crush on the I.D. enough to keep the cam from going in. If you've already assembled the bottom end, you have to take it all back apart to fix that bearing.
I don't know why I never considered the ID crush might be enough to block the cam! I told the machinist I'm gonna be taking my block to that I'm using a stock cam and just need stock bearings put in, and was wondering why he stressed that I need to make sure to bring the cam with the block when I drop it off. I just figured "prob just wants to verify fitment" and left it at that, without considering specifics. Thanks for sharing that.
I sure didn't have enough time to learn from this professor. LQ4 block, bent rods from (I'm guessing hydrolock), work truck and a $900 budget. Now a misfire from the 2 damaged cylinders. I wouldn't been able to bore anyway. The machine shops were backed up.😔 I needed to get back to work.
Here's a tip from the port city kid ( me)eastcoast to ya.my favorite tool is a electric leaf blower I use mine to blow everything out from gas lines filters aircleaners to the whole garage ECT.leaving the door open all kinds of dirt dust will blow in a at the end of the day I blow it all back out. I took all kinds of odds a ends attachments a made them fit on the blower.( simple clean easy cheap a threw my vac in the corner.even blow the vehicles off inside a out before entering garage.( try it you'll like it.!
Uncle Tony I just subscribed to your channel I like your old school ways . I'm building a daily driver motor for my jeep.but it's a 4.3 v6 no balance shaft . Thanks for all you do. ED in west virginia. 👍
Exceptionally good show Uncle Tony.seen too many so called mechanics that DON’T know how to hone properly. I could tell your cylinders will have proper crosshatch and great ring seating.
Great work BROTHER man this is one of the best mechanical channels on the internet brilliant job . Speaking of new parts I own a 73 model F100 I brought an aftermarket ignition switch that completely fell apart after 3 days of use the old one was fine for all those years until somebody tried stealing the vehicle. From Australia AMERICAN part's are better quality.
That glaze breaker hone you use is ok but I prefer a more rigid unit like a Lisle. The glaze breaker style has a habit of following the contour of the bore, the irregularities that is. Freeze plugs, I always remove them. 1) they may be rusted nearly through & show no sigh of leakage. 2) Removal will allow you to thoroughly clean the coolant passage inside the block. There is usually a bunch of crud hiding at the bottom of the water jacket. MoPar truck blocks are made of high nickel iron and are very rigid & durable, you ain't gonna distort the freeze plug bores. Never had a leak problem after replacing them.
I mount my grinders on wheeled carts just for that reason, you can blow threw that bearing to make sure its clear rather then pull it out. Haven't heard that thumb nail gauge thing in 40 years, THUMBS UP!
I'm late getting to these videos sometimes but I make sure not to miss one, I can't think of one time I've disagreed with something uncle Tony has said. Great information, glad he's a Mopar guy because that's at the least of my engine and transmission knowledge.
@@mortensen1961 Been there done that. You need to have a few different combinations of ratchets and extensions and u-joints. You cannot do the job with your one "typical" combo.
I been watching RU-vid videos of engine builders for 10 years and your the only one that I actually have learned so much from in the last 2 days of finding your channel thanks so much very educational.
I commented recently on the Sunday Night Live about this motor but I'm rebuilding a 327 with my father, it's truthfully my first real motor The motor had been professionally machined and honed however it'd also sat for quite a few years. We ran a dingleball/berry hone through the bores each VERY briefly just to assure that everything was nice and fresh and that's it. I think in total it was maybe one, two passes each cylinder. Anything more we'd have gotten a true fixed stone hone out to fix
Another known trick when I was a kid we used to take freeze out plugs and put gasket sealer on the back of them to make them last longer cuz we didn't have brass freeze out plugs
Uncle Tony great info in this video..espeacially the part about cleaning the cylinders and using a ring to check for trueness in the cylinders..you are the definition of Old School...thanks for the info
The core plug you want to replace no matter how it looks...the one that will end up hiding behind the starter. Once everything is installed and in the car, finding it leaks is a real PITA. Also plugs in the back of the block--if you have a clutch, you don't want a leak.
Good chat Tony...I like building my own engines because I can spend as much time as I like fiddling with them as opposed to a customer who wants his ASAP.
On the cam bearings, how do you check to see if they’re all in alignment and level? Another way to check the bore is to take a compression ring, square it in the bore just beneath the ridge and measure it. Then run the piston all the way to the bottom of the bore, where there is no wear and measure the gap again. This will tell you how much the bore is tapered. Anymore than 0.008” needs to be bored. Anything less may not need to be bored depending the surface of the bore and if there are any gouges or deep scratches it will need to be bored. 5he dingle ball hone is for breaking the glaze in the cylinder only! It will give you the cross hatch pattern you want to help the rings seat. If there is still a cross hatch pattern in the bore and there isn’t enough taper to require boring you won’t need the glaze breaker. If you take you block to a machine shop that has a Sunnen CK10 powerhone or a newer model, that machine will give you the crosshatch you need. There is no need to use a dingle ball hone or glaze breaker in that block. If your block needs to be bored, pay the extra to have it power hones with a torque plate. The will draw the block together just like you had a head on it so it will be square when you volt on the head.
torque plates should not be avoided, unless its an engine that bolts the head not to the deck, but runs the bolt holes into the block itself (like a pontiac). then you can probably gamble. otherwise a torque plate should also be considered when checking the piston rings and even when installing hardened exhaust seats on a head. since most of us don't have torque plates at home, we can cheat with a stack of washers or a wrist pin torqued down into place
Can bearings should be installed with an install tool. It registers on the foremost bearing bore to keep the driver end square and reaches through the block to drive them in.
RE: Ridge reamers... At least as of 1999 Ford was still putting a step in the engine disassembly portion of the factory service manual to run a ridge reamer on each cylinder before trying to remove the piston. I recently disassembled a 4.0l v6 from a 1999 Ford Ranger, heavily used, no ridge at the top of any cylinder at all, so I wondered what they were going on about. I had no problems removing the pistons from that engine. But, suffice to say that people are still using them at least in part because the manufacturers are still making a recommendation to do so. Not that I believe a whole lot of things that the manufacturers say.
One thing important to me with the LA engine is removing all the rear block plugs to clean out the bores. Remember to put new plugs back in. Also my mopar engine bible says to properly build an engine it takes about 8 hours a day for 30 days. Just making sure the rings are correct takes a lot of boring time. Plasta gauge is another crucial that takes time. Do it right with the best you can afford. I never ever hone lifter bores either.
We were talkin word-for-word in the freezer plug they also made engine block heaters with the freeze out plug so when you put it in a head engine block heater in it and they did that on a gasoline engine as well as a diesel
That's THE BEST rundown ever given on RU-vid! You're in your element Tony, you just covered most every detail I can think of from the perspective of a home rebuild. I know you have more to cover on this particular block but this was pure gold. AAA+++!
How you doing my man Tony a boon to shop for over 45 years now not working anymore due to bad Health however hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Motors in cars I pulled tricks off that nobody could believe but everything he said it's pretty damn accurate and I just want to see success for you I subscribed and I want to see everybody listen to you because pretty spot-on have a great day I think you're a good good Channel that's all I got to say have-a-nice-day Tony
I love the snack tray. I have a half dozen and use them for everything. They make great portable work tables. They hold your tools while working, paint cans while painting or whatever. A couple make usable saw horses. And they’re only about $8.00 at Walmart.
Rebuilt brake calipers, banjo bolts, and Dorman copper washers have caused me a lot of grief of late. I have started just buying dealer parts as they generally fit and seal. Otherwise rebuild the caliper, drill out broken bleeder, etc. typically less head ache.
That was a GREAT one Uncle Tony everything said made a Lot of Sence ( not so Common ) the newest engines with there Low tension rings 2 save gas & / use more oil 2 me N.G. Thank You so very Much 4 the Info Your The Best !
The last I seen a ridge reamer used was on an old tractor . It was a popping Johnny that was rebuilt 3 or 4 times . It was mint to crawl around the farm pulling stumps and a plow .Pawpaw did valve jobs with a suction cup on a stick . He recharged condensers by hooking the hot side to a car or truck spark plug wire and starting it . Thats what Pawpaw did . Hi was a 15 year old boy in the Great Depression . They still had a his and hers outhouse in the backyard .He made gaskets with thin leather , inner tubes and shoe box cardboard .
i did use sand paper on my xr200r lol it did work and still runs and don't smoke but the bore was 60 over already. all i have into it was a 30$ set of rings.
Don't matter the make .. just take your time and pay attention and make everything as clean as possible. And just watch uncle Tony's garage.. u will be fine.
The last statement was the most important, Don't Trust New Parts... I said this 30 years ago when everything was leaving our country.. now with what is going on what do you think? Bring it back to our country and put people back to work and off of welfare. Quality parts by quality company's.
You think American's take jobs seriously? They are the ones that caused this fiasco to begin with... Couldn't make it to work, and always have excuses why they cannot do the job each and every day.... Kids kept them awake, yada yada yada...
Good video uncle Tony good video as usual you have given me a flashback we used to check number one cylinder at the front of the motor for lip because that always had the worst lip and I was told the reason for that is it runs the coldest because it’s got the water pump bolted right opposite on the other side and runs the coldest when I was doing DIY stuff even if we didn’t re-bore The cylinder we did remove the lip with a special tool and then honed em and they told me the reason for that is that even though we re-using the same pistons we’ve got new bearings on the bottom and everything is been taken apart and when you thrash it a bit the piston travel can be a few thousandth more than it used to be on account of things stretching a touch and there’s a theoretical risk it smashes the ring landing...... Don’t know if it’s true or not that’s what they taught us
Man, this is good info. For what it's worth, to save a lot of scrubbing when you clean the block try using Outers Nitro Gun solvent. It kicks the living crap out of other degreasers I've tried. I discovered it by accident when I used it (couldn't find the Gunk) on a filthy lawn mower. Only problem is that it costs more than Gunk.
my dad was VERY picky about cleaning the bore before putting the engine together. dad would use an old fashion baby diaper to prove the bore is clean. your idea here?
diapers are a classic, but toilet paper is designed to break down so it doesn't clog a septic system like paper towels. On the flip side, Franz and other external oil filtration systems used to use plain toilet paper (dyed/patterned ones didn't work as well) rolled up as a filter, and fleet mechanics would swear the bearings stayed shiny.
The engine block is the foundation upon which everything else is going to be built. The best heads, port work, intake, carby etc are all for nothing if you don't have a good seal to keep the energy inside and good oiling to keep it all turning over.
I've heard that there is a situation where a ridge ream is necessary...a guy scored a nice 455 Pontiac that was never revved past 4,000 rpm...but he swapped in a new cam and started regularly shifting it at 5,500+....aparently that was enough for the ridges to break a bunch of top rings.
Uncle tony you see that yellow duster with the 225 with the blower that hing sounded awesom I’m sure you saw it on you tube you would never know that was a 6 cylinder
Good info as always UT!! Brass plugs=awesomeness!! And they really look good surrounded by Ford Blue! Lol The ring trick is a great way to check bore taper without a dial gage.. Great, low budget ideas THAT WORK!! Thank you UT!!
did i hear you right when you said you found a lot of silicone and stop-leak, i would think you would take out all the freeze plugs to be sure you get it all out. ps love your videos
wait til you see the future videos....the oddball core plug is a clue something was wrong with the block. The lesson is, as you said, don't be cheap and try to save the core plugs by not removing them. The block's going to the machine shop to get cleaned, and i'll bet those cam bearings are getting taken out, too. "Cheap" is always a gamble.
