My 71 Duster work in progress

[b-body-bob]

Going dot-to-dot won't crash the engine or anything; you just may not get all the performance for which you paid. When I removed the God-forsaken timing gears from the Valiant engine, I was very careful when installing the new timing set to see if I'd have to re-degree the cam. It went on dot-to-dot perfectly without moving either the cam or crank. That was a pricy Cloyes arrangement, though, not the stretch-prone $30 double-roller garbage they also sell.

I watched this video yesterday for a quick check method. Not sure if it's as confidence-building as the poster makes it seem.

 

[b-body-bob]

Well last night I ran a tap down the main bolts and at least one has a damaged thread. I was able to get the tap through that, but it's still got a catch and with that in the block it's constantly in contact so it's going to catch all the way down. I think I might need a new set.

That got me thinking about a windage tray since that requires a change in the main cap bolts, but apparently you can't mix the Milodon or ARP studs specific for attaching a tray with bolts on the other 3 caps. Or at least I was told I'd need to have it line bored because of the difference in torquing studs and bolts. Who knows if that's true (definitely not me). Studs in all positions become a hassle to figure out because of clearance limitations. So right now, I'm just going to say no to installing a tray.

 

[Dr.Jass]

If you use factory bolts, including the MP windage-tray parts, you shouldn't need to concern yourself with cap alignment. It's recommended on studs because they don't have a pilot like OE bolts use to locate the caps. I studded the bottom of my 340, along with a stud girdle (hotly contested as to its worth) because I planned to go apeshit with the engine and wanted as much bottom end strength as possible. Plans have since changed, of course, but the work's been done so no point in wasting it. I'll just have the World's Stoutest Mild 340.

 

[b-body-bob]

The factory bolts seem to be made of unobtainium.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The factory bolts seem to be made of unobtainium.

That's certainly true of the windage tray bolts. Mopar Performance is getting out of the performance game for Mopars, so until someone steps up to reproduce 'em don't expect to find new. If you're OK running standard bolts, though, Mancini sells a set of new ones for $20. Obviously the tray is out at that point, but it seems like you're already at that point.

 

[b-body-bob]

Yeah from what I've found out that Milodon tray is a real hassle to get right. I just order a new set of bolts.

I kind of need to get moving with plastigaging the mains. If I do, I guess I'll figure out a way to use a different bolt if that damaged one gives me trouble when I torque it. Final assembly will get the new bolts.

Plenty of other things I can work on, I guess.

I've also got to unwrap the cam, lube it up, and make sure it will go in the new bearings and spin. I hate taking that in and out. Klunk, klunk.

Ah crap, I just realized, I don't work again until Wednesday, and chances are that Mancini order won't go out before then. WTG me.

.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I watched this video yesterday for a quick check method. Not sure if it's as confidence-building as the poster makes it seem.

What concerns me here? He never addresses whether the piston itself is actually at TDC. He did not verify the marks on the balancer. All he's done is verified that the camshaft is timed to the keyway cut in the crank snout or the balancer itself. If you've already checked that your balancer's 0° mark is accurate to the timing cover's 0° mark with a proper piston stop, then I see no real fault with his method.

In a pinch.

On a driver.

As I've said before, going dot-to-dot won't crash your engine but it's worth making sure you're getting every pony for which you've paid. In some cases, the cam manufacturer may want you do advance or retard the cam to taste, in which case you want to be sure you're landing where you should.

 

[b-body-bob]

I stuck the crank and bearings in and plastigaged it. The funny part is I checked them using the metric side of the paper because I was using a tiny bit of the package that just had the checking info on it. Then I looked at the clearance in the book and it had me for a second until I figured out what I did. It's got between .0015 and .002 on all mains so it's OK.


The machinist mentioned those two balance holes on the right. They are kind of weird I guess.

I haven't compared photos to figure out if he drilled on it any but I think he did.


Next stop is to take that back out, clean everything *AGAIN* and try fitting the cam and lifters to make sure it fits in the new bearings and that the lifters are rotating. So much for that free pack of lube that came with the cam. That will all be used up in this check.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I finally thought I had something for you guys, then you ditched the idea.
I have the windage tray out of my 360 for the other car, I never put it back. Car is in the UK now so if anyone needs a tray let me know, it's free for the asking!

 

[Dr.Jass]

The balancing holes are not unusual a'tall. Those are most likely factory; I have several OE cranks drilled in a similar fashion in various spots.

Next stop is to take that back out, clean everything *AGAIN* and try fitting the cam and lifters to make sure it fits in the new bearings and that the lifters are rotating. So much for that free pack of lube that came with the cam. That will all be used up in this check.

You might not get much, if any, rotation without pressure on the lifters. However, if you want to try it without heads I'd suggest just using motor oil on the lobes and lifter faces. To be honest, I think you're over-thinking it but I can't say I blame you either.

Not going to lie, those solid roller cams are nice when you're just starting the engine for the first time. Fire it up and get it to idle. Done. That being said, I still wouldn't waste money on hydraulic ones.

 

[b-body-bob]

I stuck the cam in and spun it and took it back out.


Those are my greasy hand prints on the cam in the photo. I only greased up the bearing surfaces.

Did you know ARP head bolts for E-heads are the same as for W-2 heads? I didn't either, and my box is labeled only W-2, so I had to look it up, but sure enough I've got the right parts.

I'm about down to all I can do is clean until I get the main cap bolts late next week.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Did you know ARP head bolts for E-heads are the same as for W-2 heads? I didn't either, and my box is labeled only W-2, so I had to look it up, but sure enough I've got the right parts.

Yes, I did. Did you know ARP head bolts for W2 heads don't fit early W2 heads? I found that out the hard way--during assembly. I was using studs so it stopped me dead.

Only two bolts (or studs) are different. Standard LA and very-early W2 heads use five short bolts near the header flange, four medium-length bolts inside the valve cover, and one long bolt in the position near the rocker-shaft oiling passage. Later W2, Edelbrock, and Speedmeister replace the medium bolt in the "#4" position with another long bolt. Why that's the case is lost to the annals of time, but I have at least two sets of W2s (and my prototype "W1" castings) that use the standard LA head-bolt arrangement.

It's all very silly.

 

[b-body-bob]

Man I sincerely hope I just placed my last parts order from a place other than Brewer's.

Over $300 total, but $200 is for a comp cams crank turning socket and a Summit heads-off degree wheel kit.

Also, the oil filter length varies based on the manufacturer. For 1 96 Dakota V6, NAPA filters are 3.836" Proformer from Napa are 3.15 and Fram is 3.68.

I bought a Fram (yeah I know I know) because it filters down to 20 micron, every other one I looked at were a little larger. We're talking metal particles, so smaller is better, but do you have any idea what the difference is between 20 and 21 microns? I don't but I also figured it's laughably small and the difference of 1 or 2 microns makes no material difference. But I bought the finest filtering one anyway.

I've seen people say to break to break a motor in for 20 minutes all at once, and then others say to go for 10 minutes, turn it off and let it cool, then repeat once. I dunno if one is better than the other. I guess in reality you run it until the temperature starts to get scary or 20 minutes, which ever comes first.

BTW I'm dreading what this is going to do to my new headers. No they aren't ceramic coated. Maybe next year (there's a local place to do it)

 

[Dr.Jass]

Man I sincerely hope I just placed my last parts order from a place other than Brewer's.

I like ordering from Brewer's. Nice people. Hate spending the money, but if I have to I'd just as soon spend it there.

Also, the oil filter length varies based on the manufacturer. For 1 96 Dakota V6, NAPA filters are 3.836" Proformer from Napa are 3.15 and Fram is 3.68.

Never heard of a Proformer, but I bet it's the same as the Parts Master, i.e. a smaller filter that fits. The NAPA filter is a rebranded Wix (and about the only NAPA-branded part I'd install).

I bought a Fram (yeah I know I know) because it filters down to 20 micron, every other one I looked at were a little larger. We're talking metal particles, so smaller is better, but do you have any idea what the difference is between 20 and 21 microns? I don't but I also figured it's laughably small and the difference of 1 or 2 microns makes no material difference. But I bought the finest filtering one anyway.

Filter research was literally my main job for the first several months at Kurtz Diesel. Steve didn't care which filters we carried, as long as they were the best.
Not all filter companies use the same testing standard, so there's much more to it than just the micron rating (a micron is one one-millionth of a meter). Fram uses a pretty generous testing method. I can't recall the exact standard, but it's either a 5-pass or 10-pass rating. As a Fleetguard engineer once told me, "If you pass dirty oil through a screen door enough times, it'll eventually be a 10-micron filter." Baldwin, Caterpillar, Donaldson, Fleetguard and Wix all use the single-pass standard, which is the most stringent. No single company makes the best filter for every application, nor necessarily the worst.
Since I was getting paid to do it anyhow, I went through and checked the common Mopar filters: 51068, 51085, and 51515 (I know the Wix numbers by heart since I sell those). In those three cases, the best-performing filter was Baldwin (not Hastings, which is their price leader). Fleetguard was next, followed by Wix. Purolator, Donaldson and Mann-Filter also ranked well. When I worked there, cutting both in half proved Advance Auto's store brand was better built than Fram, though I didn't (and don't) know the micron rating or testing standard.

I've seen people say to break to break a motor in for 20 minutes all at once, and then others say to go for 10 minutes, turn it off and let it cool, then repeat once. I dunno if one is better than the other. I guess in reality you run it until the temperature starts to get scary or 20 minutes, which ever comes first.

BTW I'm dreading what this is going to do to my new headers. No they aren't ceramic coated. Maybe next year (there's a local place to do it)

When you're assembling the engine, make sure it's at TDC firing. Install the distributor so the rotor points directly at the #1 tower on the cap. Remove the distributor, noting where the body relates to the block (use a Sharpie to mark both). Rotate the engine backward so the damper mark points at 10° BTDC on the timing-cover scale. Reinstall the distributor, aligning your marks. As long as you don't install it 180° out, you'll have 10° of timing at startup. Do not connect the vacuum advance. It takes longer to type this than it does to do it, but if your headers are coated or permanently painted they should survive the process. Factory paint on most headers is only to keep them from rusting in the box, so expect it to leap off in flakes no matter what you do.
Start the engine and get it above 2,000RPM. 2,500 is a nice number. Set the idle screw so it can't go below 2K. Run it for 20 minutes, occasionally throttling up 1,000 or so RPM. Do not shut the engine down for any reason during this time. After 20 minutes (longer is OK if the neighbors aren't outside with pitchforks) drop it back to idle for maybe a minue, shut it off and let it cool down. Change the oil.
Use a priming shaft--just a piece of 3/8" hex stock of suitable length--and a drill to make sure you have oil pressure before you start it. You should be able to get >20PSI with a cordless drill (the oil pump runs at half engine speed). You'll feel the drill drag heavily once you've got pressure.

 

[74DartSport]

I wonder if Parker is killing off Hastings and Casite?

 

[b-body-bob]

I wonder if Parker is killing off Hastings and Casite?

I bought a bottle of Motor Honey the other day and have Hastings rings for this build so I got in before they're dead.

 

[b-body-bob]

I like ordering from Brewer's.

I really need to catch them at a meet and trade in that early b-body bellhousing of mine toward a pile of parts. I could ship it to them and just take their fair offer but that thing weighs a bunch.

When you're assembling the engine,

Good looking out with the process description. I will warn my neighbors, well, all but one, who is a psycho and TBH I wish the garage door faced her house but it doesn't.

I'll try to time it to where the people directly across from it (maybe 100-150 feet?) aren't home when I do it. Not hard to do because they've got kids in sports so they are forever running somewhere.

Those are the only two it should bother, the whole neighborhood will know about it though.

Summit is in Akron, about 4 hours from here. My order is coming from TX and NV. So I guess the truth is, Summit isn't in Akron any more. I might change to Jeg's, they're in Columbus, about the same distance from here. They were recently bought out by robber barons so they may be operating with multiple warehouses now.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I wonder if Parker is killing off Hastings and Casite?

I bought a bottle of Motor Honey the other day and have Hastings rings for this build so I got in before they're dead.

Hastings and Casite aren't companies any more as much as brand names, unless you're talking piston rings.

Casite was a Hastings division prior to WWII. Casite's filter production moved to Hastings, MI at that time. Henceforth the brands were simply "badge engineered" like the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, to benefit from brand loyalty. Hastings sold their entire filter division Clarcor in the mid-1990s, the latter already having Baldwin. Parker-Hannefin bought Clarcor six or seven years ago, which is how they ended up with both. I believe that makes Parker the second-largest automotive filter manufacturer worldwide behind Mann, who bought the 800lb gorilla known as Wix a few years ago.

Hastings sold their Casite-Intraco chemical division to B'laster Holdings (a.k.a. PB B'laster) a couple of years ago, so Hastings is back to being basically a piston-ring company while Casite is essentially a marketing term. I don't think either brand name is going anywhere regarding filters. Filter customers are fiercely loyal, and automotive filters are extremely profitable. B'laster would be idiotic to change anything about the Casite chemical line for the same reason.

 

[b-body-bob]

The crank and rear main seal are bolted in to stay. I used the Permatex lube on the bearings. I like that stuff.

I measured .004 thrust.

Next are piston rings. I don't have a newfangled installer tool, don't think I need one. I've done it before.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Next are piston rings. I don't have a newfangled installer tool, don't think I need one. I've done it before.

I've got the pliers for putting them on the pistons, but I got it for free. You can't use it on the oil rings anyhow, so after the first one of those I'm already in the swing of doing it manually and rarely use them.

I have an old-fangled band-style ring compressor I've had since I was 20. I've never once found a reason to buy one of those bore-specific installation sleeves. It's faster, I suppose, but I'm not working in the Top Fuel pits. Besides, how many ring compression tools am I supposed to buy? They're literally different for each overbore size. I'd need four just for the 340 blocks I have, none of which would work on my 360s.