mattb73lt

Yeah, there might be some anger management issues with you jokesters lurking about in the shop! I'll be wracked enough trying to get the oil pressure up and then firing this off. Those first few minutes and then road tests will be hard enough without someone screwing around. I will admit to having fun with people in a shop setting, though. All in good fun.

It’s painted. All I kept thinking about while painting was “I hope I did everything right, because I’m not doing this again, dammit!!”.

I have an Empire blast cabinet. It’s indispensable for this kind of work. I use it all the time to clean things up. There’s a pic of it way back in one of my posts.

I had it upside down for the last time the other day to get the oil pan on. Having the rotary stand was indispensable!

He’s pissed because I’m the barn and he thinks I’m ignoring him all day!

Off the stand, FINALLY!! I need to add a few things to it, then prep and paint. A little more assembly, then back in. I feel like I’ve done this part before?

That's fantastic and looks amazing!!

It took quite a few attempts to get through the valve lash sequence before they stabilized at the proper setting. I barred the engine over and set, then go through again to recheck and they’d change a little. I gave up last night and went at it this morning and finally got them set. Now for the bell housing/clutch and the oil pan. Then it should be off the stand for paint, a little more assembly and back in!!

That was from you? Thank you so much for those items!!! They'll definitely get put to use!

This mornings efforts, just need to set the vale lash and add the Jake and the top is done.

All timed up, front gear case assembled, minus the oil pump. Push rods inserted. Cross heads on. Looking to get the rocker boxes and jake brake on tomorrow. You can start to see the extent of parts that are coming over from the original engine.

Yeah, we got a lot done yesterday, but it was time consuming. Setting things up and checking tolerances. A lot to do for each step. Setting up and organizing everything beforehand certainly sped things up. Rocky has been a huge help and a wealth of knowledge. I'm certainly learning my way around a 220 for certain. He's tied up today, but should be able to be here tomorrow. That's been one of the issues getting this done, is having him find the time to help me between calls from his regular customers.

Progress!! Today's handiwork, sleeves, crank, piston/rods, cam and heads!! Tomorrow, injector timing and further exterior assembly. It was a good day!

Thanks!! This was a huge set back. Wasn’t trying to get away from doing the engine, just thought I had a good one to go with. Now, there’s not a single item on this truck that I haven’t been through thoroughly, which gives me a great piece of mind going forward.

Just about ready to start the assembly and seeing a big pile of empty parts boxes!! Ran into some technical difficulties with the liner protrusions, necessitating locating shims that are .002" thinner than what we had to attain the proper deck height. I pre-assembled and organized everything I possibly could to cut down on time. If everything shows tomorrow, Wednesday should be the day we start. I used our warming oven in the basement to heat the pistons to allow the wrist pin assembly. Everything else is set to go. Using the next couple of days to clean and paint some parts that are being replaced on the exterior that came off the donor engine. The engine has become quite the Frankenstein assembly. From the donor we used the block, two heads, rods, camshaft and various small parts. From the original engine we used the crankshaft, cam timing gear, one head, front timing cover and most of the exterior parts and accessories. One head had to be swapped due to it having oversized valve guides that we couldn't locate.

Yup, still here. Just haven’t had much to add lately, but should soon!

Try Don's Starters and Alternators( www.gener-nator.com) in Lane County, OR. They do generator to Alternator conversions using the original case. Although, I would do the compressor/pump arrangement and then convert to an alternator. I think you'll be happier with that set up.

Those are going to look great when they’re all on the truck!!

I'm the same way. I knew better then to go to that first shop. But it's done right now and should be for a very long time!!

Long day driving. Headed to Boston early this morning to get my heads from Hillside Machine, then continued up to Brentwood, NH to Mahoney & Sons before heading back home. They're letting me borrow their PT timing fixture and I received a short class from Dan Mahoney on setting it up and things to look for when timing the cam. Also met Tom Mahoney while I was there. It was great to finally meet them both after so many phone conversations. Hillside did a remarkable job on bringing the heads back to life. Their work is spotless and they have great attention to detail. They replaced all the injector cups and the thermal fuses (Something the other wasn't going to do). We did have to swap out the #3 head from the donor, as it had some oversize valve guides that are no longer available. It was absolutely the right thing to do in leaving the other shop and going to Hillside. While it was costly and time consuming, I have no worries about this shop. Rocky should be at the shop this week and I’m thinking two days of his help should get all the big items done. The smaller stuff I'll do on my own. So, we'll start the assembly this coming week. It certainly took a lot of parts from both engines to make one complete one, as both had worn or deteriorated parts.

Looks like about $10 for shipping USPS. Do you want one or both and which one if it's one? The new one was $15 when I got it, what do you want for the used one? It's almost new, it was on the series/parallel switch cover so it was never in the elements.

Let me figure that out. I found the new one and the catch for the other.

Are you still looking for one? I have an original that’s really nice and almost new. Paint still shines on the back. No catch for it, though. I have a new model A one somewhere, too.

Back to the original crank. Ran up to Boston yesterday to pick up the crank and rebuilt rods. The original crank was fully inspected, especially in the area of the #6 throw where it ground up the sleeve when it failed. The donor crank needed another cut on the mains to clean up the remaining corrosion. That would've been .030 on the mains and we didn't want to go that far. It's still serviceable and the shop said to hang on to it. The original was standard size and only took a .010 cut on all journals to clean up. I'll re-clean it and all the oil galleries before I put the plugs back in. The shop also asked that I bring them the rods to inspect and re-bush them. The other shop said they were fine as is and only cleaned and measured them. Another reason I'll never go there again or recommend them to anyone. The heads are still 2-3 weeks out as the shop is busy and backed up. But there's a lot of steps they'll do as a normal course of rebuilding that the other shop bypasses. This'll keep me busy getting the lower end cleaned and ready for assembly with Rocky as soon as he can give me a few days. Slowly creeping forward, still.

Oh and as for inspection, all you need now is a VIN verification. That can be done at many garages. You do not have to present the vehicle to DMV for inspection.