Wrecker 350 runs! (but no oil to rockers!!)
- Thread starter bobs409
- Start date
Same here! Are the main cap arrows all pointing forward? There should be no scuff/wear marks on those bearings. I took apart a 327 with 100K+ on it and ALL the bearing shells had a nice 100% satin finish, no shiny areas. Also, did you put the plastigauge strips all the way across the bearing journal? I seem to recall no oil on the bearings either. LeoI'm still pondering those main bearing witness marks.
Button it up and run a heavier weight oil.
Check the crank for being out of round. Its more common than most realize. Also I will probably anger some but the germans and the japs consider .003 pretty worn out or unacceptable on thier stuff. Front and rear main specs on a small block are actually less than the rest. Also could be the guy who trued the grinder stone, did not get it quite right, and there is a taper to the journal. I should change my name to .002 max. haha. Barry.
I reread this entire thread, maybe I missed the answer. Did you pull the cam and check the installation of the cam bearings? I have had engines rebuilt by nationwide companies that incorrectly installed the cam bearings. If the holes do not line up, you get little or no oil to different parts of the engine. With problems like this, everything needs to be doublechecked. I have been burned like this before. I am hoping you checked the bearings,
Everyone is so quiet lately. 
So what's the consensus on the hole in the cam bearing location? I'm getting conflicting info on that.
Some say it doesn't matter, others say they need to line up with the holes in the block and yet others say 2-3 o'clock position is best. My "How to rebuild your small block Chevy" book says on page 80, "the position of the hole won't matter unless you have the early block".
It's no wonder I'm confused already!!!
I don't recall where the machine shop put the holes but I found one picture I have with it apart and can see the front bearing has the hole at the bottom:
So what's the consensus on the hole in the cam bearing location? I'm getting conflicting info on that.
Some say it doesn't matter, others say they need to line up with the holes in the block and yet others say 2-3 o'clock position is best. My "How to rebuild your small block Chevy" book says on page 80, "the position of the hole won't matter unless you have the early block".
It's no wonder I'm confused already!!!
I don't recall where the machine shop put the holes but I found one picture I have with it apart and can see the front bearing has the hole at the bottom:
If theres any problem with the cam bearings,it'll most likely be on the rear cam bearing.That having been said,if youre getting oil from the rockers,and seeing 45 or so psi using the drill to power te oil pump,you'll be fine once you fire it up on the stand or in the truck.
Yeah, I think I'm going to toss it back in and hope for the best.
Kicking myself that I didn't pull the cam though.
In my research I found one guy mentioned that oil will only come up the lifter/push rod when the lifter is on the base circle of the cam. Since I'm not rotating the engine, that's probably why I'm not seeing much of anything.
Thanks Don.
Kicking myself that I didn't pull the cam though.
In my research I found one guy mentioned that oil will only come up the lifter/push rod when the lifter is on the base circle of the cam. Since I'm not rotating the engine, that's probably why I'm not seeing much of anything.
Thanks Don.
Sorry Bob About not commenting, I am crazy busy, I am a General contractor and do engines on the side My grandfather has taught me a lot about this, he has been doing this since 1938. He is still active at 89. He currently has 2 8ba fords and a 30 ford model A engine and a cummings 5.9 he is doing. I trust him completely. When he taught me the .002 max rule on cranks I took it seriously. He has sent out thousands of engines. The guy has 3 storm vulcan crank grinders he uses. each for diff stuff. One has 2 easy rests for the straight 8s and the big diesels. BTW this man worked on the planes that knocked the shit out of Japan in ww2. Sorry for the vulgarities. So I talked with him again today and showed him the pics of the two mains, He thinks the crank was set up wrong in the grinder and the mains and rod journals were all ground with a taper. he thinks this is why the oil pressure il a bit low. he says this will allow the oil to go to one side and bleed out. He also said set the crank dry with no rods and tork the mains and see if you can turn it. if not start over. Barry
Barry, the machine shop only polished the crank. When I assembled this engine, after installing the crank, I did rotate it without the pistons/rods in and it turned perfectly, no bind.
At this point, I'm going to just give it another try. If I have to yank engine back out again, it will be gone over with a much finer comb for sure!
Thanks.
At this point, I'm going to just give it another try. If I have to yank engine back out again, it will be gone over with a much finer comb for sure!
Thanks.
I'm not sure what to do now! On one hand, I'm ready to put it back in and say the hell with it because im disgusted with it all. 
On the other hand, that wear on the bearings is playing on my mind. If those journals are tapered, I'd sure like to show them to the machine shop and see what they have to say about it! How could they not know this existed? Is there any tolerance for taper? Maybe they felt it was within spec? Can't seem to find much on that subject on the net.This whole thing has been like a ping pong game. Back and forth in my mind, not sure whether I should run it as is or tear it all down. I feel like no matter what way I go, I'm going to regret it for some reason.
I've just about wore Google out trying to find info on these problems.
- I could put it back in and if the pressures are good and oil is getting to the rockers, run it!
- If pressures not good enough and not enough oil making it to the rockers, then make the decision to tear it down.
- Tear it down now before it goes back in the truck.
- Sell everything and move to Australia
