We Fired The Mill This Weekend – The Good and Bad w/Video

Well, 57HEAP and 57 Trucker came up to help me start my motor this weekend. House of Fab stopped by for a while too. It's a 283 with three Rochesters. The heads, cam and lifters are new and the short block has some miles on it. Here are a few pics of us preparing to start it up. The video will follow.








This is the first time we tried to start it up – sweet backfire.



Here's another start attempt where we discovered the first problem. We think the float on the back carb is stuck so gas shot out of the vent. Watch the top of the grille shell – you'll see it.




Here it is at idle. Notice the smoke coming from the oil filler and the road draft tube. The tight new heads might be forcing a bit more oil past the rings in my used short block. I was getting concerned at this point, but oil pressure was a good 40 - 45 pounds.




The Good:
Well, we got the engine running, and determined that my homemade clutch cable set up is going to work nicely.

The Bad:
The back carb needs some work since the float's sticking, and the center carb is leaking gas between the body and the base. I'm going to take the carbs back to the guy that rebuilt them.

The smoking from the breather and the road draft tube led us to do a compression check and we learned the really bad news – number 5 and 6 have pretty low compression – 50 and 60 pounds – so now I'm looking for a short block to build. I'll put this one on the road and drive it, but I'll swap out the bottom end eventually. This sucks.

 

Wow Dave when I fire mine up I hope I have a whole crew also.No four letter words in video was stuff thrown or kicked off camera?How loud were headers?Sounds good.

 

Glad it is running, but being a body guy I like the bodywork updates much better.

 

If it didn't go BOOM, it's a good day for a motor...

 

Are those straight headers, or baffled?
What cam are you running also?

Mines ALOT louder than that one sounds

 

You're gonna be pissed. I had a blowby problem on a SBC in my 32 Ford. It got progressively worse. It would shoot oil everywhere!! Push breathers out, push gaskets out, etc.

Everytime I drove it I'd have to spend an hour cleaning up oil spray.

 

DR,
I am glad that you got it fired up. I am sorry to hear the bad news, but don't let it get you down. It's one of those stupid set backs that we all encounter during a build in some way. I feel for ya, we've all been there before.

Take a short break if it helps. You'll get back at it, and get by this little obstacle.

Dan



.

 

I feel sad about not being there... helping with the crew...
But I'll come over soon to check it out ;-)
Hope you can solve the engine problems.
Maybe you can use some parts from my 305 if they are interchangeable...

 

Cool

 

Nice job! I hope to have a team around when I pop mine for the first time. This is why I want to have my motor running 2 months before the planed "finish" date. I'm sure I will be workig through bugs as well.

Sorry about your engin, but if this were easy, everyone would do it....

 

Dave, I hope you don't find this question condescending. Did you do the compression test wet (with oil in the cylinders) to rule out a valve related problem?
I would definately add a pcv system to this engine. Not only will you smell better after driving it, but the gaskets will be able to seal better. At least it may help reduce crankcase pressure.
Also with the excess of fuel you may have washed down the cylinder walls, causing the rings to not seal. Without that extra gasoline the rings may seal better.
Good Luck
Alden

 

I agree with Cadzook. It may not be as bad as it appears. Check the two offending cylinders after some more break-in.

 

No problem Dave!!!
Just trying to help

 

Awesome! A little work and that thing will be runnin like a top. Happy for you man!

 

+3 on giving it a few more hours of run time.

Obviosly, since you changed the heads, you looked in the cylinders and thought everything was good. And maybe tried to rock the pistons while you were screwing around with it? Broken rings should have left scars in the bore, stuck rings might be the problem and might cure themselves after a few heat cycles.

Take a break, have a couple of beers while you sit and listen to the sweet sounds of the pipes.


I cut up a stock Harley pipe set (cause the biker guys throw them away) and drilled out all the little holes to actually get them louder. They are about 8 inched long into the megaphone and the chrome cone part fits perfect in the header. 3 ,1/4-20 screws hold them in .

The sound is really good and not annoying on the hiway, I can actually talk to the passenger while running 80 mph on the road;

See ya at the next showdown?

Frank

 

Here is the 283 I just put in my 32. I got it from a guy I know who said it had been rebuilt years ago but you know how many we have all heard that. So we changed the oil and put new spark plugs and fired it up on a test stand. It ran and idled good.... held good oil pressure and stayed cool with no smoke or drips so we decided to use it without tearing it down. We cleaned it up, painted it and put tri-power and a Pertronix unit on it and put it in. Here is how it sounds now. I changed the oil again after a 100 miles ( it was really dirty) and now I've got about 350 miles on it with no problems. I hope you have the same luck with it this summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV5aiav0xmw

 

You know, I've heard that notion of the fresh heads causing the rings to fail, and I assure you there is no scientific basis for it. If the motor was healthy before the parts changing then it should clear up with a few hours of running. If, on the other hand, the motor had problems and the heads and cam were done to cure the ills then it is entirely possible that the bottom end needs some attention. A low cost option would be to tear it down, use a glaze breaker on the cylinder walls and put some black iron rings in it. Those things work well following worn walls below say 5000 rpm's and seem to last 30-50,000 miles.

 

The motor sounds real good, nice and steady , even with the one carb screwing up. Once you get that ironed out it should be a great runner.

Michael

 

Sound Good Dave

 

Cool

I heard a rumor about it running...been waiting for the video

 

Any closeups of your clutch set up or another post on it?

 

That 401ci Nailhead was bought as "runs good" but I haven't had time to put it on a stand and check it out...then I sold the trans so I've got no way to put a flexplate on it for the starter...hand crank anyone

 

The 425 had the six 97's on it...needs a rebuild though. The intake will fit the 401 though. Let's here votes for a six carbed 401 Nailhead in his Vicky

 

One vote for no.Nailhead would look much better on a roadster truck.

 

Nothing like making Heat for the first time. Engine sounds real good. Don't be too depressed, you guys did a great job. Thanks for sharing. Keep us posted on your project.

 

I'd go with the 425

 

Good advice.

 

is there some gas in the oil now and thats why its smoking a bit more, i had a 350 that had a bad fuel pump, i fired it in the garage, smoked to beat hell, i ended up just changing the oil and fuel pump, presto, no smoky.

i too would pull off the road draft tube and put in a pcv valve, theres a motor mite brand gromet that you can just instert into the back of the block and push the pcv valve right into it.

glad to see it running, cant wait to see it on the road. good luck on the motor.

JEFF

 

If there is gas in the oil maybe you have a bad (leaky) fuel pump.

 

"So the modifications were not done to fix any problems with the motor – they were done because I can't leave anything alone."

me either Dave.
If I were you I'd pull the 3x2's, change the oil and re-install the original deuce and see how she runs. I don't believe the problem is the new heads. Take another compression reading using the oil squirted in the cylinders if you want but with new heads your valves and seals are not what I'd be looking at. It sounds like the walls of those two cylinders got washed down with the overflow. If you change back to the carb you heard running originally when you bought it, you'll eliminate one of the new upgrades that changed how she runs now. With the new cam she might be starving a little but you just want to see if the compression comes up and the smoke goes away. She's looking real good Dave.

Terry