Engine removal

[toddgilroy]

Good job! Now comes the fun part... bagging all your parts and cleaning them.

The rocker shafts look mighty dry.
Pay very close attention to all that is done (and not done) to your engine. - Dave

Thanks Dave...and let the cleaning begin! And the decision of how far to go with this portion of the project. But first I am going to mount the body on a cart and have it stripped by a dustless blaster.

The rocker shafts looked nice and wet when I first took the valve covers off quite awhile back...you can see them repainted bright yellow up in the upper right corner of the first pic. That was back when I thought I would just "clean and dress up" the engine a bit.

[simplyconnected]

Todd, you have come this far, the engine is on a stand and very easy to work on. Much of the work ahead takes no money except in cleaning supplies and solvents.

I suggest you pull the rocker shafts off and disassemble all the rocker arms. Take lots of pictures as you go. The rocker arms have tiny holes, one for oiling the pushrod and the other for the valve tip. Inspect the shaft for galling and signs of wear. Do the same for your rocker arms. All these parts are still available in case you need one.
Here is my rocker shaft cleaning: CLICK HERE

The real reveal comes when you pull a head off to inspect the cylinders. Shiny-smooth (glazed) cylinders cause your engine to burn oil. Worn rings have very little 'spring', so they hydroplane right over the oil as the piston creates a vacuum on the intake stroke. A deep groove, or ridge at the top indicates the cylinder needs to be bored.

If this is the case, I would look for an old and tired 390 on the internet, and refurbish that, because parts are less expensive and more available. Look for an early 70s 390. Just about all the parts interchange between your 352 and the 390. From the outside, you can't tell the difference. - Dave

[sidewalkman]

Hey guys been away for awhile, update on my engine, I got some money back from the shop that HELPED ME on the rebuild....I pulled the engine took it down to bare block, changed the piston rings, honed cylinders,main bearings, cam bearings along with new cam, lifters, springs, valves, alu intake, demon carb and more......cranked car up today ran it 30mins at 2/2500 rpm to do the cam break in all seems well no unusual sounds or leaks.

So what ended up being the issue?

[jhuebner]

Sorry for the late reply......there was a spacer (washer) installed between the cam and cam gear as it shows it should be by the shop manual and that's the way it was originally........with the after market cam gear ( Comp Cam ) the spacer is not needed there are two types of cam gears, with the spacer installed the alignment of the lifters and cam lobes was off end result another complete break down of motor, it's now back together runs fine, just working on the brakes now

[simplyconnected]

It is true that most new cam sprockets INCLUDE the spacer as part of the casting. That is usually described in the assembly instructions. If you try installing the new sprocket AND the spacer, common sense tells you not to bolt the cam sprocket so tight that the cam will not move. Or, the fuel pump arm doesn't make contact with the eccentric properly.

With every build, I always hand crank the engine just to see how easy it moves. I do this with every main bearing I tighten, every piston and rod assembly I tighten, after the cam is installed, and right on down the line until the engine is finished.

At any point the engine is too tight, I stop and backtrack. Nothing should bind and pushrods should not bend. - Dave

[jhuebner]

Common sense isn't so common anymore.......anyway the crank turned fine the cam turned fine even with the timing chain installed, the break in procedure went fine, it wasn't till I drove the car down the street that it went to ****, the motor is now back together installed lesson learned