Dots with a center punch works better. Marks won't go away when cleaning, etc. Number the cap and the rod on the same side so they go back together right. They number 1-8 front to rear. The little tab on the bearings go on the same side when putting the cap and rod together. If you do the dots in pattern it makes it easier later. 1-one dot ; 2-side by side; 3-triangle; 4-box; 5-box w/dot in middle; 6- two rows of three: 7-two rows of three w/dot in between; 8-nothing/its only got one place to go. Did you number the main caps?
Just saw "gear puller". In case you don't know, you can borrow a lot of tools at Auto Zone and others. See if there is much of a ridge around the top of the cylinders. The thickness of the ridge indicates how much the cylinders are worn. I think a paper-thin or matchbook thick ridge is acceptable to just get it honed. They will also ream off the ridge. If it is pretty thick it might need boring.
Please put the caps back on the rods as soon as possible,,,just to be safe . You would be surprised how easy it is to accidentally trip on them or kick them around,,and then who knows where they go . It is super easy to mark / number them . Tommy
you don't need new rods. I would buy a new cam and lifters but I always put in a performance cam. I guess "right" is a loose term. I usually bore and hone everything. Usually have the rods redone and crank polished or turned. In a budget build I would buy a big tote, a 5 gallon can of solvent and clean everything, buy new rods and main bearings and a set of rings. Dingle berry hone it and see how worn the heads are. Look up the Vice grip garage 350 and 307 builds on YouTube. lots of low buck tips. Sent from my S48c using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Back in the day it was generally accepted practice to just do a ring and rod bearing job and lap the valves the first time it needed work. Usual fix the second go round was new pistons and a bore job all new bearings new timing chain and oil pump. Only turned the crank or replaced the cam if they where badly worn.
Already banged out my oil pan, almost good as new! Now putting the caps back on pistons and calling it a night. Thanks all. Be back Monday
Ive put together two 283's with 305 heads and the stock used 305 cam and lifters. Used a steel shim head gasket with a 4 bbl and recurved dist and better exhaust you would be suprized how much power they make if you use good gas.
I was going to add this last night, but fell asleep and spaced it out, but you can get a spacer ring that fits your transmission's bearing retainer so you can use a '68 and up truck bellhousing, if you are having trouble finding an older one.
I believe the water you found in that engine came in after it was removed. If it had a blown head gasket/cracked head,etc the cylinder that got coolant from the cooling system in it would be clean- like it was steam cleaned. I think that water you found came thru the carb. Or maybe just condensation from high humidity. Florida- oh yeah!! Anyway the engine probably was in great shape when removed but I'm guessing the years of storage weren't the best for it... Still looks like very savable... 283's are great engines!
Cylinders from what I could tell look pretty good. No scarring or anything. I'm thinking maybe honing? Unless boring them might be a better option? Anyway, I'm gonna call it a night and return on Monday. Time to relax and unwind from a long exhausting week! Good night all
You have to mark the rod caps to the rod they came off of before disassembly, and they have to be reassembled on only that rod also. If you did't do that, you are sunk. It's the #416, 305 heads that have 58 cc chambers; the #601, 305 heads have 53 cc chambers; the other 305, 267, 262 heads may have 60 cc chamber heads, but you can find that out for sure on several online sites.. Most 283 heads have 60 cc chambers also, although some truck 283 heads have 70 cc chambers in order to run cheap, fleet type gas. If you take your block in for tanking, and ASK them to "check it out", they are most like going to come back with, "it has to be bored", and that'll require new pistons and probably rebuilding the rods. After all, that is how MACHINE shops make their money. You have to know, based on the ridge, and cylinder wall taper, if it needs to be bored. You absolutely have to keep ALL the parts in some form of order. Use an egg carton for things line the rocker arms/balls, use an egg carton for the lifters, and mark the containers with a felt tip pin which cylinder they are for, and which way they came out of the engine; mark the cartons with an arrow to the front of the engine. A piece of cardboard works with holes for the push rods labled and arrowed. Pistons/rods/caps are easy to mark, but it looks like you may already have gotten those out of proper order, unless you did use some sort of system. There are spring loaded metal punches that don't require being hit with a hammer; too much force can be applied with a hammer deforming rod caps, etc. Now, the amount of money it will take to rebuild this engine, may be more than you can buy a larger/better SBC at a pick-a-part type wrecking yard for when they have their sales/promotions going on. You can learn a lot doing it yourself, and you can learn how other people make their living in a machine shop, or wrecking yard. You can find plenty of engines on places like Craig List also. And bigger IS always better. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
I'm glad you could save the pan. If you have it bored you have to buy new pistons. Then pay to have your pistons taken off the rods and the new pistons installed on them. Goodnight. Good work.
Actually, when I pulled the mains as well as the piston caps, I kept them together in the order they came of front to back and they already have marks on them... I still marked each one as I went. also, I kept the order including the end cap closest to the fly-wheel as the last in sequential order. when I pulled the rocker arms I kept them in order they came off, but the rods I put all together in same box. I thought it might be best to order new rockers and rods as well as the "umbrella seals/gaskets" I just want to make sure all the components are best they can be and replace new where possible, but at same time reuse when ever possible to save time and $$. If I don't like the look or feel of things, I tend to buy new rather than chance the re-use. I feel better being safe than sorry. On another note, concerning the crank, I've heard that it can be re-used without being messed with, but thought I would ask here first to find out how accurate that is. Does it need to be sent out and machined, or is it one of those things where if it's not broke don't fix it? Same question for the cam, does the cam need replaced if I intend to replace rockers and rocker/push rods? It has the apparent OEM style dizzy, I intend to keep that as I HATE the HEI style crap!! I pulled the oil pump, and the little nylon whatchamacallit was still intact and not cracked damaged or missing. However I am replacing pump with performance pump... Is there anything on the shaft that is supposed to come off or does the new oil pump have everything attached? I'm wondering if new valve spring kit may be necessary , or do I even need to mess with those at all? What I am keeping, Valve covers, 2bbl carb intake assembly oil pan exhaust RAM HORNS manifolds flywheel torque converter is questionable.. I don't like the rust that's on it.. I'll take pics and post, maybe someone can tell me if it's ok or if it's scrap.. Unless I am forgetting anything, I think that's it..
isn't your truck a manual transmission? if it is then you don't need the torque converter as they are used only in automatics
You should be able to use the rockers and pushrods. Roll the rods across a table and see if they are straight. Look for any cracks at the edges or around the holes in the rockers. Show us some pictures of the surface of the main and rod bearings. If they don't show much wear, the crank may be OK. It should be shiney smooth with no scratches. The engine looks like it was taken care of (frequent oil changes) so I expect the crank will be fine. I'm not familiar with the Chevy oil pump. (One reason I'm kinda jealous. Never built a Chevy V8) Yeah, twist the tube back and forth. Might need WD40. The springs can be checked for stiffness, but putting that money on fresh springs is a good idea. PS: Even if the bearings are pretty worn, the crank could still not need any machining. The bearings wear faster than the crank. It all depends on the oil that went through them.
A cast crank is tuffrite hardened from the factory. Its not very deep. When a crank is turned you risk removing that hardness. If other words if you crank is not broken don't let some machine shop fix it. If it needs turned . Go find a used crank that don't need turned even if its slightly rusty. just polish it and use it. .
Crank is shiny where i removed all the pistons and main caps, smooth with no scarring/scratches. I thought since the rockers weren't kept in order that i had to replace them? (per post above) Thanks, I will call around for pricing on new springs, if I can re-use them without any faults, would be big help in the wallet... I will be out there tomorrow and will pull out the rocker arms and push rods, in a separate bucket i will use some kind of degreaser and scotch bright to try to clean them up. if they can be re-used thats another plus in the wallet. I appreciate everyones' patience with me, as this being my first build. I know that I have a lot of questions and sometimes i forget and have to read back to see what information is here. Thanks all
I don't know about about the order of the rockers. A Buick V6 uses a shaft for the rockers and they are marked for intake and exhaust. I'm headed to the lake. Gonna get a service station lunch, find a shade, and do some minor bodywork. (Happiness is 320 grit) I'll leave it to the more sbc knowledgeable.
Hey all, I just remembered that when I got the engine, there is NO FUEL PUMP PUSHROD!! Can I get a replacement somewhere or, is this going to be a pain in the a$$??