TireSmoke.org

Hey, I like this driveway signin' thing. Too bad my pen is so far away. I think 'Ol Blue and I could lay down quite a signature. Heck, New Blue might be able to put down an initial or two. Hmmm...maybe four??? I'd be sure to break somethin' if I try in 4wd (unless you have a dirt driveway).

Mark,

I appreciate the trailer offer (and don't think I didn't consider it first!), however, I just think a tow dolly would be a lot less effort, since it won't be moving under it's own power, unless you have a winch to pull it up on the trailer.

As for signing the driveway -- let's keep it in the street for now.. My driveway is nice concrete -- and lots of it.

I'm heading out to the house now -- I'll shoot some pictures and post them.

-Dave

My trailer is equipped with a winch.

Well, I made some progress today -- the engine is back out of the car to investigate the oil pressure problem. I bought a new engine hoist, the kind that folds up. It was at this twice-yearly sale by homerion or something. It's all chinese junk, but for $129 I got a hoist plus engine tilter thing. I also bought the dual-halogen light in the background for $20, and also hung a new 4-tube light fixture in the garage, giving me a lot more light.

Oh yeah, the water has been completely drained.

-Dave

Glad you got a hoist, and the project in gear. The home improvement can wait.

Love the STP sticker. NASCAR quote: "The STP hoist was working well today..."

$129 is a deal.
I remember paying $180 something for mine, back in the 80s. Mine is 'Harbor Freight' quality, i.e., it's imported too. The only thing that can go bad, is the cylinder. Mine came with an extra set of seals.... like I'm ever gona replace just the seals....

The tilter thigine is neat. Especially helpful when installing the engine and trans together.

Looks like we'll both be high 12s for '08.

Well, I tore into the engine today. I removed the oil pan and rear main cap and verified that the oil plug was in place. Next, I removed the timing cover and found that I had not installed the 3 plugs on the main oil galley. doh. Took off the cam gear, found the plugs from the machine shop and installed them. This easily explains my oil pressure problem.

I'll hopefully get the engine buttoned up before the weekend is over. Could I have it running by Christmas? on EFI? Starting to feel a little optimistic for the first time in a long time.

-Dave

It was another productive day in the garage. I got some shelving hung up, I hung my pegboard behind the workbench, I wired up my garage stereo, hung up my trouble light and some misc re-arranging. The bottom shelf is perfect height to stand and use the laptop (which is where I'm posting this from)




I made progress on the engine today. The missing plugs have been installed and I have just about everything re-assembled except for the oil pan and balancer. I thought I had the correct oil pan gaskets, but I don't. And I need to get a harmonic-balancer-installer tool from Autozone. After that, it's ready to go back in the car.






-Dave

I got it back together today. I picked up an oil pressure gauge and hooked it up on the engine stand. 30-35 psi. That's much better. I also have oil to all 16 rockers. woo hoo!

Dave,

The garage looks great. I really like how the engine looks (with the EFI) next to the work bench. I think that picture belongs in HOT ROD.

Thanks Matt -- I think I am really going to like this garage. I like how the engine looks next to the bench too. That's the 350 block from the truck I parted out, the Vortec heads, and the Stealthram. Maybe once the 406 is running in the Chevelle, I can get the 350 assembled.

-Dave

Woo-hoo on the oil psi find.

The garage looks great! Gota have tunes.

BTW, I still hold the record for 406 re-assemblies, at 3x.
Something I'm not proud of , but none the less, I have the record!

If at first you don't suceed, try, try again. Maybe not specifically on a 406 Small block,
but as for doing the same thing multiple times, been there, done that.
I appreciate what you guys are going through. However, it seems the more you
have to do it over the better it feels when you get it right.

Unfortunately, I'm not out of the woods just yet. I seem to have some stripped threads in my crankshaft for the bolt that holds the balancer on. I can't get it tight enough to even come close to spinning the engine over. I grabbed my tap & die set and ran a thread cleaner in the crank and over the crank bolt. I even grabbed the other crank bolt from my spare 400 crank. thinking that the bolt I had just had worn threads.

I'm not worried about the balancer coming off, as the press-fit is pretty tight, I'm just worried about being able to spin the motor over by hand.

-Dave

Hmmm...that bolt is on there for a reason and it ain't for turning over the engine by hand. I wonder what happens to a revving motor when the damper falls off. I'm assuming you are just kidding about not worrying about/fixing the bolt problem.