SBC 350 + Test Stand

Update your progress on your various car projects.

Moderators: MostMint, wxo, Fred32v, Basement Paul, ttamrettus

User avatar
wxo
Posts: 1754
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:09 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by wxo »

Great day today so Maverick worked on the engine alone.
He checked ring fit on the cylinders. Although the top, second, and oil rings all have different allowable ranges for the gaps, they all are OK at .018". So, all that's required is to check that every ring has at least .018". All OK so far.

Installed rings on all the pistons.

New heads arrived today. They are beeeuuuttiiifulll!
IMG_0315.JPG
IMG_0320.JPG
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Oil Pump Screen Debris

Post by Maverick »

While inspecting the oil pump this junk, mostly sealer, was found in the screen. :shock: A newbie must have been working on this "Professional" rebuild.
0505181152.jpg
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

WXO has a better explanation for the big gobs of sealer on the oil pickup. Someone had attempted to seal the oil pan with excess amounts of sealer. I like that better than thinking the pro rebuilder did it.
Maverick
User avatar
wxo
Posts: 1754
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:09 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by wxo »

I cleaned and painted the intake yesterday. I also rinsed off the carb with carb cleaner. Here's what it looks like now...
IMG_0321.JPG
Looking a little closer, I found a broken off bolt in a boss on the front of the intake. Someone had drilled and tapped it to a smaller size. If I remember correctly, this is the boss that is used to attach on side of the alternator mount.
IMG_0323.JPG
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

A good day ...

Post by Maverick »

We had a good day yesterday. Nice weather and some good progress. We finished installing the rods/pistons in the block, torqued the rod bearings, installed the oil pump, adjusted the pickup for depth in the pan, and bolted on the pan. Engine is right-side-up and ready for the top end.
IMG_0329.JPG
IMG_0331.JPG
IMG_0332.JPG
We did run into an issue with the Promaxx heads. The block has a pair of 1/4" water holes at the center bottom edges. The block holes match the gaskets perfectly but do NOT match the triangular holes in the heads.
IMG_0335.JPG
IMG_0336.JPG
IMG_0337.JPG
IMG_0339.JPG
We believe there's plenty of material so we could gasket-match the heads, opening up the triangular openings to uncover the water holes but don't wan't to void the heads warrantee. Alternatively, we could modify the gaskets and block holes to fit with the heads. However, the sizes of those water passages are no doubt engineered to get appropriate flow everywhere. If we expand those holes will we be disrupting flows in other areas?

I called Summit tech support and sent them pictures showing the issue. Summit referred me to Promaxx and gave me their number. Called them, emailed the pictures, and I'm waiting for a call back.

WXO put up a Craigslist ad seeking parts for the engine and test stand. https://raleigh.craigslist.org/wan/d/wa ... 78746.html A salvager/recycler with a HUGE building full of junk had a SBC that "ran well but squirted water" :mrgreen: but knew not much about cars. We went there expecting to get exhaust manifolds but there were none there. We did get a needed balancer bolt & washer, a leaking aluminum radiator for the engine stand, and a flex plate and bolts. The flex plate is weighted and I THINK we need one that's not weighted. Gotta look into that. WXO suggested, and i agree, if an unweighted flex plate is required, we can just remove the weight and it'll work for the test stand.
Attachments
IMG_0338.JPG
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

Promaxx called back but the rep, Chad, was better able to handle sales than head design questions. However, he was helpful and did go off to investigate and emailed and called back. Turns out, there are specific head gaskets that Promaxx recommends for those heads: FelPro 1003 (4.166" bore) and FelPro 1004 (4.100" bore). Chad said a holes mismatch question came up before on some Ford heads and the answer was the holes were purposely designed for proper coolant flow for the aluminum heads. :?: The only thing that MIGHT make that seem reasonable is the SINGLE holes in that area between cyl 1 & 3 and 5 and 7. MAYBE two full holes aren't required required between 3 & 5???

The head gaskets that came with the Summit gasket set weren't labelled for manufacturer. We chose the Felpro 1004 but it looks like they are being discontinued. WXO found them on RockAuto, listed as "Discontinued" for about half what they were listed at on other sites. :D Below is a picture of that gasket from Summit.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel- ... -_-fel-pro

They have 3 bigger holes in the area in question. We'll see how they match the block and heads and decide they're OK or maybe do a little filing.


Chad, at Promaxx, also recommended NGK R5671A-7 spark plugs which we ordered from Amazon.
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

As a last resort, read the instructions ...

Post by Maverick »

The instructions for the FelPro head gaskets cleared up the mystery of the coolant holes. :oops: We need to drill holes in the block.
Head Gasket Instructions.jpeg
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

This engine DOES have internal balance. I cleaned the flexplate, counted the teeth (168 is correct for what we need), removed the counter balance, and tried to mount it on the crank flange. Nope. The nose on the crank flange is much larger than the center hole in the flexplate. We're still looking for a Gen 1 flexplate.
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

WXO, my grand-nephew Carter, and I worked on the engine two half days, yesterday and today. Checked the timing pointer and found TDC on the balancer at 2* BTDC on the timing marks. WXO will order an adjustable timing pointer for the 8" balancer.

The heads and intake manifold are installed. These heads require longer push rods than the 7 3/4" that came in the 350. The instructions for the heads say "7.900 are required but be sure to measure". I pulled out my 8" adjustable push rod from the Lincoln 521 build but, obviously, it was just a bit too long. Carter suggested removing the lock nut and, :) , it was then just a bit longer than 7.9. We marked the wear area on the rocker arm with a Sharpie, installed the rocker arm, rotated the engine thru 2 valve lifts, removed the rocker and found marks from the valve stem going from one edge of the wear area to the other. WXO will find some pushrods of the length we need.

WXO also found a flexplate at rock auto for $22 shipped. That arrived today. Found some ARP 12-point flexplate bolts in my stash so that can go on anytime.

We installed the water pump and fuel pump. It's looking like an engine.
20180530_154433.jpg
I put up a post on the local Classic Chevy Club email list requesting parts and got a response from a member who has a "private junk yard" and has some headers, mufflers, an alternator and brackets for us. Hope to pick them up in the next few days. Only thing I can think of that we're missing now is a crank pulley.

It was fun having Carter to keep us straight, make good suggestions and turn wrenches. He also found two metal chips (no idea how they got there) on top of two lifters. :shock: That would have been big problem had we set the valve lash and run the engine with those chips there.
IMG_0365.JPG
IMG_0374.JPG
After we were done, I took Carter for a ride in the Lincoln. The AC needs a charge so the windows were down. We enjoyed the sweet sound of the pipes and the sweet smell of tire smoke. :mrgreen:
Lincoln burnout.jpg
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Les' Parts

Post by Maverick »

Les, a member of the Piedmont Classic Chevy Club (PCCC) responded to my parts wanted email with an offer to donate parts to our project. WXO made a trip to his place today (my wife is sick and I drove her to a doc appt this AM) and brought back perhaps everything we still needed. Alternator, alt brackets, crank pulley, 2 water pump pulleys, headers with stubs attached, and glass pack mufflers.
0601181431.jpg
So, the electrolysis rust bucket came back out. Got one header cooking under there.
0601181517.jpg
Brackets are soaking in the chemical rust bucket.

Hope to have it all derusted by our next work day, Wednesday.
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

One Header Ready for Paint

Post by Maverick »

Got one header de-rusted and treated with OSPHO.
0602182047.jpg
The Cherry Bombs with the header flanges seem perfect to me but we'll need to quiet them down to keep peace in the neighborhood. They're built with a perforated, approx 2", tube straight from the inlet to the the outlet.
0602181402.jpg
Some exhaust goes straight thru the perforated pipe to the outlet and some goes outside the pipe, thru the fiberglass and thru the perforations into the tube and out. We'll use freeze plugs as caps to force more exhaust thru the fiberglass and perforations.
0602181403.jpg
We'll drill increasingly large holes in the caps till we think we have a balance of back pressure vs noise. Should work, we think.

The headers will be painted black. Wish we had some Cherry Bomb red for the mufflers.
Maverick
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

We have the heads, valve train, intake, balancer, crank and alt pulleys, alt, flex plate all installed. Well, actually, we HAD them installed. We put the oil in, temporarily installed oil pressure gauge and used my SBC oil primer tool to prime the oil system. But, NO oil coming up thru the push rods in spite of 20 PSI oil pressure with the electric drill. :shock: We removed the oil galley plug by the oil filter. LOTS of flow. Removed the galley plugs from the rear of the block and all is well there. Removed the damper, alt, brackets, timing cover and found some oil at the top of the lifters but still nothing going up the push rods. CRAP!!! So, WXO started searching his memory and the Internet and dredged up the answer. This priming tool https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor- ... ent=Moroso won't prime the whole system, specifically not the valve train. WXO found the explanation:

"If you look at a stock distributor housing, there is that double band
of metal around the housing just above the gear, with a groove between
them. When set down into the machined area of the oil passages/lifter
galleys in the block, this groove around the distributor housing forms
the oil crossover passage that feeds oil to the driver side lifter passage."


This one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C ... UTF8&psc=1 has a collar to build sufficient pressure to push oil up the push rods.

We were concerned about leaks if we tried to install the timing cover and front pan seal with the pan in place. So, we ordered a one-piece pan gasket, timing cover gasket, and the good priming tool. They are scheduled to arrive Friday. We'll pull the pan and seal it up right.

WXO took the timing pointer, which covers the entire rim of the balance, home to shorten it. I ordered timing tape and two oil caps, also supposed to arrive Friday.

The test stand will use my engine cradle to mount the engine on WXO's cart. However, the starter interferes with one leg of the cradle. We're noodling up clearance solutions. Have three ideas about how to approach it. We'll also install some gussets on the cradle to handle the dynamic loads of a running engine.
Maverick
User avatar
TireSmoker
Site Admin
Posts: 2432
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2005 1:45 pm
Location: roaming the Matrix
Contact:

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by TireSmoker »

Maverick wrote: WXO took the timing pointer, which covers the entire rim of the balance, home to shorten it. I ordered timing tape and two oil caps, also supposed to arrive Friday.
I have the same issue with the aftermarket balancer/timing pointer I put on the Blazer. It's a degreed balancer, and I can't read the numbers because of the pointer. Very annoying. I ended up making a couple marks on the face of the balancer at a couple key positions. I'm curious to see how Walt shortens the timing tab.

-Dave
User avatar
wxo
Posts: 1754
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:09 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by wxo »

Since we installed a timing tape, we didn't need the degree markings on the tab. So I just used a cut-off wheel to remove about a quarter inch of the outer part of the timing tab leaving just a pointer at TDC. As it turns out, I should have removed a bit more to allow us to see more of the timing tape, but this will do for now.
Pointer.JPG
User avatar
Maverick
Posts: 1801
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:29 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: SBC 350 + Test Stand

Post by Maverick »

Before the heads went on, TDC was determined to be at 2* BTDC on the timing tab. WXO put the point at 2* BTDC so it now indicates correctly.
Maverick
Post Reply