Technical Breathing life into a 283 - FED Destined

So far How many hours in this build???

 

Haven't kept track. Just enjoying myself at my leisure.

 

Bump

 

Been pretty busy in my shop so haven't got to spend much time on anything lately. I did purchase a line hone setup that will be here in a few weeks.

 

Sometimes opportunities arise and well I had to jump on it. A fairly large investment but I've been wanting one for awhile, my own line hone. Will certainly be a nice addition for my shop.


A bit dirty so I spent most of yesterday getting it cleaned up.

This cleaner is pretty awesome (literally). A scotchbrite pad and this stuff got it looking nice and new again.



I have a few things to fix and update while it's in this state. Should have it in service in the coming weeks. Hopefully get back to machining this 283 block soon.

 

COOL progress is progress!

 

I thought it looked pretty good before you cleaned it up, it does look like new now.
You may not have the energy to work on your own stuff once the word gets out.

 

Nice

 

Thanks for the tip on the cleaner. Gonna have to try that out.

 

Be sure to wear a mask and gloves. It's some strong stuff. Don't let it sit for long periods of time. It started to bubble some paint.

 

That cleaner really does the job. Where does one find it? I've never seen or heard of it around my area.

 

I have some of that stuff and you are right it does do a great job. I bought man at the Dollar store the first time, and my wife ordered me some thru Amazon as well.

 

Yep! I use it for house hold chores.... Kills bugs to!!!

 

As Hombre said you get it at Dollar General. That big jug is only $3!

 

Thanks Hombre and 402BOSSMAN!! $3.00 for that jug sounds like a real deal. Gonna get me some.

 

Cool buy on the line hone. My wife loves that stuff. (The awesome, not the hone) LOL.

 

A little off topic but, Deuces statement about it killing bugs made me think back a might. I just hate the smell of bug sprays, that and here in Alabama we have one hell of a Black Widow problem. I was out detailing my Model A ( there I made it a little on topic) and was using some 409 on the interior. I see a big ole Black Widow hanging there like they are prone to do so I sprayed her with that 409, man she died fast. So I hunt me some of those critters and sure enough 409 is a great bug killer. who would have thought that? Works great on garden snails too.

 

Hombre you know that 409 has to be good stuff.

 

You can water it down to a 348.

 

Yep!!!! I've used 409 to kill bugs also... (I can't stand spiders)...
Works fantastic!!!
Ok... Let's get back on topic!!!

 

Wasn't there a cleaner called fantastic? LOL.

 

Well, finally making some headway again. Got my machine ready to go and loaded the block in. Learning a new machining operation has it's challenges but luckily many machinist friends are around to guide me. I enjoy each operation as they all require different things and a "feel" for the machine. Setup beforehand is the tricky part, the line honing itself isn't very difficult to do. Making the stones wear even is the hardest part.

 

Here is a short video of what line honing looks like for those that have not seen it. Note: I didn't have my stops set good enough to allow overstoke on the mandrel into the bores. Have since corrected, this is done to help aid in even stone wear.

 

Been watching this for a while. You my friend are a MASTER at your trade. I have always liked the smaller cube engines even though it is said there is no substitute for cubic inches. Your attention to detail reminds me of the one and only Marion Fairchild. YES that's a VERY BIG COMPLIMENT. PLEASE CONTINUE .One of the top 5 threads I've ever seen on the HAMB.
I wish you were closer . Marion is semi retired now/ He at 80 plus - (depends on what day you ask him as to what age he claims to be) and I know a lot of nostalgia/gasser/FED people in this part of the country that would love to meet you.AGAIN PLEASE CONTINUE!!!!!!!!!

 

Much appreciated Mitchell! I was actually just admiring his Chevy II the other day not knowing who owned it. I just turned 36 and have been fortunate to be taught by some great people.

 

Uncle Marion has done all of my specialty machine work for years and years. He is one of the few in this part that knew that a 417 Donovan was not just an aluminum race version of a 392. He’s been very kind and patient with me for 30 years. Did the machine work on my blower motors in my second FED ( blown six Chevy ) most ran away from the idea - Marion ran to it. Lol. Again you are impressive for such a young age.

 

He actually owned several early funny cars. The Liberty Motors car from JC South and the cyclops funny car. A true believer that a good machinist is a great equalizer. And his abilities especially with the smaller stuff is of legend. Again continue please.

 

Just read through this thread for the first time. I love seeing the care and detail that is going into this motor! Definitely watching as someday I want to start gathering tooling to start machining blocks, eventually want to get into alcohol motors.

 

Well got the block line honing finished today. Everything went pretty well and I'm happy with the results. Below is a short video of what the process is like. Take 4-6 strokes, remove the mandrel, measure, and repeat until you get the desired size. Every so often you need to flip the block end to end to keep the sizing in check and equal. Also helps with stone wear. It is pure finesse and paying attention.

I chose to go to the higher end of the spec for some added clearance and will have the crank grinder dial it in even more once I get my bearings. You will have varying opinions on housing bore sizing, more than one way to skin a cat. I may change my approach down the road to what I feel is best. Overall I'm within a few tenths of size and a few tenths of being round. Damn good for my first go at it and nobody standing over my shoulder.

 

Killer work homie