Beemon

So I'm thinking worst case scenario here, and will most likely be hunting for new heads, but what can I do to combat the low compression pistons? Maybe shave the heads and block deck to the proper compression ratio? I also heard using 55 heads on a 56 increases compression? Would I run into any valve clearance issues? The heads will be coming off today if I have time before work, tomorrow at the latest.

That's funny, my dad did a 396 swap in his 78 Chev K10 back in the early 90s, before he sold it for an 80 and dropped a 502 in it. I always knew dad was coming to pick me up from daycare because I could hear him from 5 miles away. Funny you mention the "Farmtruck" because my dad's been living with my uncle for the last couple of years now down on the coast and we just got running my uncle's 1970 C20. It's got the stock 350 in it, but the exact same color as the Farmtruck, with matching bed cover. They're thinking about doing a 396 swap in that one, too, but cheap throw away engines waiting to be built aren't as plentiful as they were 20 years ago. Wew, we're wayyy off topic now... lol

My dad had a built 426 before I was born. Used to always call him a liar until he drudged out some old photos. He said when everyone was putting the nose up, he put the nose as low to the ground as possible and just rolled with it.

Hills where I live are plentiful, I don't think a vacuum tank will hold more than 30 seconds before it's depleted... plus where I'll be going to school is on the other side of a busy mountain pass followed by a steep gradual slope (downhill going, uphill coming back) and then rolling plains. Coming back from orientation was the first time I'd seen the old girl puke green after we made it to the top of the steep incline before the start of the mountain pass. Vacuum tank works fine for brakes because they're not constantly on and they can replenish before you use them again, especially when vacuum builds on deceleration. But wipers are on all the time, I don't think I'd see a noticeable performance gain when driving 45 minutes up a mountain.

Around here, gas is blue. How long had the gas been sitting for?

Found the bill and balance sheet but no warranty, must be over at my grandpa's. I guess they didn't understand the crank was externally balanced, but I guess it doesn't matter. I always figured there was a new cam in there, but I guess it was the originals with some cheap lifters (one has a really bad tick). I wouldn't be surprised if I needed a new cam now. Looks like I have a "new" timing chain in there, too, which explains so much. I guess I was being too optimistic with my $4200 figure, but I guess I paid $4700 for a bad job.

It must be my luck, though. I've been screwed on everything I've had rebuilt by someone else in the hobby. It almost makes a newcomer like me not even want to bother with old cars anymore. At this point it's not even fun or enjoyable anymore, fixing others mistakes and being out hundreds of dollars.

Willis, for clarification the only rebuilder id bad mouth is the original rebuilder, and not this new guy. I was looking for the warranty information this morning after work when I recalled he filed bankruptcy to get out of another warranty before closing his shop on my motor. A man is only as good as his word, and you can't trust someone who can't face the music... I'm still looking for the paper work. At the very least, some pay back would be nice. The new guy I found out about came from me poking around the junkyard yesterday and a close friend of his, who happened to see me under the hood of a 57, told me about him. He runs his own shop across the street from the only ethanol free station (a good 45 minutes out of my way). Turns out he's also really good friends with the owner of the shop my would be rebuilder works at. Reputation is everything, and with social media it can really destroy a person. Word of mouth is spreading about my engine, but I think it'll be worth it plopping my destroyed heads down on the counter if the seats are cracked. I can't get the $4200 I spent saving for 2 years in anticipation of driving the car I fell in love with looking at 20 years ago, but I can get some satisfaction in ruining a shoddy machinists reputation...

I'm a bit worried now. Not that I wasn't worried before. I'm starting to think the guy that rebuilt my engine charged me hefty but put cheap parts in the engine and just did a really poor valve grind. The one spark plug could also be an indication of a hardened valve seat cracking? The low compression is what worries me the most. Even if the low compression gaskets were used, my uncle shaved the heads in the 80s to give it higher compression before letting it sit and I'm sure when the shop resurfaced my heads, it would have added a little bit more. Knowing that, and differences with gaskets, I still expected it to ballpark right at 140-150. As it so happens, a gentleman just uncovered a 1955 264 crate motor near me. I'm not sure what he wants for it, but it might be a good substitute until I get all this figured out. I'm going to take the car up to another shop out on the edge of the mountains an hour away from me. It came from great praise now from two different people in two different regions around here, and I'll be taking the car for it's last drive to confirm suspicions. He's an old boy I've been told who does old engines for hobbyists. I know what my numbers are, but it doesn't hurt to get more opinions even though it all points to one conclusion... I will just need a reliable shop to fall back on when the time comes.

The two plugs on the driver side bank had oil in the wells, not actually from the cylinder. My valve covers are warped, but I never noticed with the spark plug covers on that they have been leaking. I thought about my PCV experiment, too, but I find it odd that only one plug is like that out of 8. Regarding compression testing, throttle was held open like it says in he shop manual. It also says in the shop manual that 140 PSI is for Special Syncromesh, 160 PSI for Special Dynaflow and 170 PSI for all other models. Plus, everything I've ready said readings have to be within the 20% range of all cylinders and at 100-105 PSI (I was really being optimistic here) compared to 120-125 PSI seems too low for these cylinders. Cam is stock as far as I know. I've never performed a leak down test before, though. That just puts pressure on the rings, right?

I have been helping my dad move into a new place the past two weeks on my day's off. He's out on the coast and it hasn't been without some fun. My uncle lives 30 mins from him and he had a 1966 IH Scout I6 and a 1970 Chevy C20 350ci parked in the barn/carport area that haven't been running in a few years. We got both of them started and moved so I've kind of adopted two new engines between two old men that used to rod in the 70s and 80s but apparently lost the trade when they had to "grow up" (IE kids). So I got back into town, handed the guy at Autozone a $50 and pulled the spark plugs in the parking lot. I did a compression test tonight, and here are my results: 115 105 125 120 115 115 115 105 So it looks like I have two bad cylinders on the same side of the engine, but I feel like these numbers are less than satisfactory for an engine with only 8000 miles on it (if I'm being generous). Here are the plugs: L2R: 7,5,3,1 8,6,4,2 (looks like I found a partial oil leak, too. Been wondering why the starter has been dripping...) The picture makes them kind of whiter than they were, but they were a pretty decent tan. So I guess that says something about my carb tuning abilities... too lean? I'm not sure what happened to #3... according to the guide at AutoZone, it says ash deposits are an excess of oil in the combustion chamber or something... I hope the guides aren't worn... Anyways, I'll be clearing some space in the garage this weekend hopefully. I won't really get into pulling the engine until my next set of days off, though. It's actually kind of depressing, I was hoping for the best, but this engine is worse than a stock 2 barrel low compression Syncromesh Special (140psi), when it should be 170psi minimum. I figured being .030 over, that it would have been somewhere around 150psi with the "low compression" pistons, but man...

Sounds like Washington. After October this year, I'll have one year before the car is officially in my name. Which is fine, as long as my grandpa is living and lost title doesn't show up in my uncle's hand. You should have nothing to worry about.

I wonder if this will fit around the edge of the 50s snorkels?

No comment on those expensive rally wheels?

Any 364/401/425 exhaust manifold should bolt up to your block, fitment to your system may be a bit difficult as I think the manifolds changed quite a bit year to year. For your manifolds, it looks like 57 and 58 interchanges according to Russ's website.

John, your new red rims really pop!

Willis, I saw plenty of these on the 80s wrecks out there, as well. The differences between them is that this is a vacuum pump and the others are smog air pumps that have some type of filter or something in them. At least that's what I gathered from their almost alternator looking case and construction. I'm not sure about those smog pumps, but I'm pretty sure that the vacuum pump I found is also being made new still. I really don't have any information on cars of that era to really make a formulated opinion, but I think this application will exceed my expectations.

I've got a junkyard pic, too I've always liked the 68 Riviera, maybe I'll have one some day... but not before I have a 68 Charger

The electric wipers were pretty underwhelming, too say the least. Not only did they sweep too much, but they wouldn't even sweep the window when it's dry... I know it's not really a test of function, but the vacuum wipers sweep the window dry if that's anything to go by. So, I was doing some research into different electric vacuum pumps, but it seemed they would all tax the generator a bit much. Then I started looking at diesel vacuum pumps and that's when I found it - a 1983-92 Ford vaccum pump, still V-belt driven. Out of the three trucks at the local junkyard, only one held vacuum. They said I could return it if it was garbage, but it actually held 23" Hg by itself. This should be more than enough to hold the wipers. I was even thinking the power brakes, but I'd rather that be on intake manifold if the pump ever fails. Maybe I'll tee into the power brakes line with a 1-way valve so if the pump fails, it won't loose vacuum, but I'm not sure what kind of havoc that would play also being tee'd into a line that's already tee'd into the manifold... Anyways, I've been thinking about where to mount it. The bracket as it sits would need some modification to fit the engine, but I'm thinking water crossover bolts. It fits in line perfectly with the generator, and that will probably be my test spot, but that's where factory AC goes. Likewise, I wanted to put it under the power steering pump where it's out of sight, but it's pretty tight in there. It's not heavy and was only held on by two bolts, I figured I could modify the bracket so it's fixed, and then tighten the belt with either the P/S pump or generator. I almost gave up on my timing cover swap, but now it's back on again.

Looking good! I wish I had done mine in red at the time of paint, but mine were originally black and not knowing any better at the time... Now get them mounted!

Around here, they're called "tweekers", at least the people from Seattle that look like that

This is what happened to me when my starter kept engaging on me (or staying engaged). The culprit? I don't know if 61 is similar to 56 or not, but make sure to inspect the starter relay if there is one.

This goes back to another thread I had about leaking solder plugs on a 4GC. I just can't win. I may or may not have to spend time playing with the Edelbrock, but at least it's manufactured to run on today's fuels and doesn't have any where for fuel to leak besides the top bowl gasket.

Willis, thanks for the write up. I think I'm going to let the carb sit for now. The WCFB has four low speed idle jets located at the top of the float bowl casting. There are two economizer restrictors in the primary circuit that is not accessible, right before the venturi. I don't trust myself enough to get four idle jets hand drilled the same. When I had the carb apart, just like the two 4GC s before it, I was pretty through with cleaning. That includes soldering and modifying, too. I'm not 100% sure but I think the WCFB jets and rods are different from the AFB. The Jets and rods in the carb are correct for this year carb, as well. Based on my experiences with the 4GCs, I figured this would be a pretty straight forward run, but the WCFB is much more complicated in terms of design and function. Where the 4GC ran decent but not great on ethanol due to its simplicity, the WCFB seems to need much more to go right with all the different restrictors in the passageways (idle jet, primary jet and rod, economizer, acc. pump, pump needle). Which is a shame because the WCFB out performed the 4GC at every step except the spark knock. Maybe when I can afford a lathe and mill, I can really dial this thing in... one can only hope anyways. This thread is a wrap. P.s. I pulled the trigger and got the Edelbrock 1406. A bit more than what I really wanted to spend, but no horseplay involved other than wiring a starter switch. I want to drive the car, and it's not going to be winning any awards anytime soon.

On the phone, Jon went over what may cause a lean transition to cruise throttle that may cause detonation. One was an incorrect accelerator pump that has a hard time clearing the percolation in the pump well. He told me to start off the line strong so I get detonation, then stop and go again and see if the detonation goes away. While the accelerator pump was a bit longer than the original, I had detonation both times, which ruled out the pump by his explanation. The other issue was whether or not floats were set properly and if the float in the front was different from the float in the rear. By observation, both floats were soldered the same but the needle and seats had different heights. I took note of this and made sure everything went back together the way it came out. With the sight plugs out, the fuel level is right at the threads. The last thing he noted was if the jets were mismatched, but I assured him that the jets were installed correctly by the instructions in the shop manual, with the primary and secondary jets properly set. The last thing he told me to check was to adjust the floats so the fuel level is higher in the primary bowls to see if I could richen the primary jets. And of course, open the low speed idle jets by .002". If the change in float level makes the car run without detonation, then he suggested opening up the primary jets or find a set of larger jets or a set of smaller metering rods. Both carbs supply vacuum, I tested the vacuum advance port for both carbs with a vacuum gauge and it seems to be working fine at part throttle. That was one of the first things I considered, too. Without access to a mil and jig, or lathe to properly machine down parts and make the required adjustments to really make a 60 year old carb run properly on today's oxygenated gasoline, I guess I'm going with plan C. It was a fun experience, for sure, but without access to a swath of vintage jets, rods and/or the tools to modify them properly, I don't want to mess anything up. Back on the shelf for now...