With all work completed by the machine shop, it was time to get down to
business. The first step was getting the cylinder block ready. It had been
cleaned and inspected at the machine shop, but I thought it wise to make sure
everything was to my liking.
Steps for preparing the block for rebuild included:
Seal Plugs - Applying sealant around the oil gallery end plugs and the rear
camshaft bearing plug. Wouldn't want these to leak oil.
Oil Passageways - Using a piece of wire and a pinlight, explore the oil
passageways of the block to make sure they are free from obstruction. These
included:
A passageway from the front main bearing surface to the front cam bearing
surface
A passageway from the mid main bearing surface to the second cam bearing
surface
A passageway from the rear main bearing surface to the rear cam bearing surface
A passageway from the rear cam bearing surface to the top of the block
A passageway from the front main bearing surface to the oil gallery
A passageway from the mid main bearing surface to the oil gallery
A passageway from the rear main bearing surface to the oil gallery
A passageway from the #3 cam bearing surface to the oil gallery
Test Camshaft - Place some oil on the camshaft's bearing surfaces and insert
the camshaft into the block. Then, secure the shouldered screws (for the
camshaft bearings) into the block and torque them to spec. Turn the camshaft by
hand. (It should rotate reasonably freely.) The screws are designed to keep the
camshaft bearings from rotating, not the camshaft itself! Once you are
convinced that the camshaft turns, and the bearings are fixed, remove the
screws and the camshaft.
Water Jacket - Clean out whatever rust and scale remains in the water jacket,
being extraordinarily careful not to foul up the wet-liner gasket surfaces. I
managed to accomplish this nicely with a chisel and hammer, followed with a
wire wheel.
Clean & Dry - Next, I cleaned the block with a solution of water and Simple
Green. I'd spray the liquid and then brush like hell. I also got a special
"tube brush" to clean the insides of the oil passageways. After all surfaces
had be well cleaned I dried with pressurized air then covered all surfaces with
generous amounts of WD-40. With it dripping in WD-40, I left it in the sun for
the rest of the day for good measure.
Paint - Last step was to mask the surfaces and paint the block black using a
high-temp engine paint.
The content of this page in intended only to communicate my own thoughts, actions and opinions while restoring my own automobile.
It is not meant to serve as instruction for others to do maintenance on their vehicles.
