Cam bearing question---200 Ford Six 1966

[Littlestown Mike]

I am putting my 200 Six back together.  I had the machine work done by a local shop--very high reputation.  All the work has looked great.  The cylinders required a .040" overbore.  I also had the shop install new cam bearings. I did not carefully inspect them and that is on me.  The rear cam bearing in these engines has 2 holes--one supplied with pressurized oil from the main galley, the other hole carries oil up through a drilled passage to the top of the block.  From there, the oil runs up alongside the rear head bolt and to the rear rocker shaft support where it lubricates the shaft and rockers.  

The oil pump is driven by a hex shaft from the bottom of the distributor--the distributor being turned by the camshaft.  I used a cordless drill to spin the hex shaft and run the oil pump to pre-lube the engine.  I see about 20 psi on a mechanical gauge--the drill doesn't turn very fast, so I think the 20 psi is pretty good.

 

The problem is that I see no oil going up tp the top surface of the block and eventually to the rocker shaft.  My "guess" is that the rear cam bearing is slightly mis-aligned so the hole to oil the rocker shaft is not getting any oil.  Looks as if I will be re-disassembling the engine--at least part way--- I will have to remove the cam to inspect that rear cam bearing.  I can image a couple of ways this could go--

1) I could take the engine back to the machine shop and let him deal with it--but that is a HUGE inconvenience for me--I "can" do that, but would prefer another solution.

2) I could remove the rear cam bearing and re-install.   Are cam bearings destroyed by the removal process?  Can they be reused?  or should I just buy another set of cam bearings for the one I will need?

3) Since there is a drilled passage that carries the oil to the top of the block, could I use a long drill bit and go back down that passage and drill a hole in the cam bearing as it sits?  Of course, I would have to clean out all the cuttings, but it is a SIMPLE solution.  Cam bearings do not see a lot of force--like a rod bearing, or even a main bearing--.  

Drilling the cam bearing "seems" to me like a possible solution, but I have no experience to draw upon, so I ask for your help.  What do you think?

[JFranklin]

Take a look first and then go from there. If it is misaligned at the top it is also off at the bottom hole.

[JACK M]

Maybe you need to turn the crank while running the drill.

 

I have done that drilling thing with success as well. Although it been some years and I do not recall just why I did it.

It was a 392 Hemi and I think my symptoms were similar.

Those oil holes in the cam shaft only pass oil at a certain point, hence rotating the assembly while priming.

 

[Bloo]

I don't believe you can reuse a cam bearing once removed. Are you sure there's a problem? I think @JACK M is on to something here. In many engines, in fact nearly all of them, underdelivering to the top end at low speeds and overdelivering at high speeds is a problem. This often leads to the need for more restriction in engines modified for racing, lest all the oil wind up in the top before it has time to drain back. That could cause the oil pump to suck air and the lower end to fail.

 

A common tactic some stock engines use to partially deal with overdelivery to the top, especially American V8s, is to run the top end oil supply through a hole in a cam bearing, such that as the cam turns, oil is only supplied to the top end when the hole in the cam lines up with both the supply hole and the oil galley to the top end. From your description it sounds like you might have this in your six. You might just need to turn the crank (and thus also the cam) with a wrench until the hole lines up in order to pre-lube the top end.

 

[ABear]

19 minutes ago, JACK M said:

Maybe you need to turn the crank while running the drill.

 

I have done that drilling thing with success as well. Although it been some years and I do not recall just why I did it.

It was a 392 Hemi and I think my symptoms were similar.

Those oil holes in the cam shaft only pass oil at a certain point, hence rotating the assembly while priming.

 

I was thinking the same thing, may not be as much of an issue with worn bearings as there would be more space for the oil to bypass the drilled holes in the cam shaft.. With new bearings the clearances are much smaller which would making it harder for the oil to flow around the cam shaft to the next oil passage when it isn't moving..

[dalef62]

How long ago did you have the machine shop do the work?  Maybe you could go ask them politely if they remember putting the cam bearings in and if they aligned the hole.

[Bloo]

Worn bearings just leak more. I don't see why that would help. Is there a groove to facilitate oil flowing around to the next port?

 

I think there is a strong possibility that that a hole, completely though the cam journal at a right angle to the axis of the camshaft, must line up to an inlet and an outlet in the cam bearing for oil to flow through. With the engine running, this would happen fairly often. With the engine not turning, it might never happen.

 

Until we have seen some parts of a disassembled 200 Ford six, or maybe an oiling diagram from a relevant shop manual, we are just guessing.

 

 

[ABear]

39 minutes ago, Bloo said:

Until we have seen some parts of a disassembled 200 Ford six, or maybe an oiling diagram from a relevant shop manual, we are just guessing.

I would tend to agree.

 

I have worked on a 73 Ford 250 in line six, it is similar to a 200. Never tried to prime it using drill on the oil pump method. My Dad and I typically used assembly lube for everything, so we would use the starter with all plugs out to make sure oil was making it's way through to the top of the engine before putting the valve cover on. Assembly lube protected rotating parts until oil flow was established. Never lost any bearings doing that.

[Lahti35]

I would not use a cam bearing twice. You have to pull the cam anyway to drill a hole in the bearing so it would seem like a good time to look and see if the holes are lined up.

 

So you're getting no oil out of the rearmost driver's side head hole where the special bolt goes? Do you have a bolt installed there?

 

[joe_padavano]

2 hours ago, Bloo said:

Until we have seen some parts of a disassembled 200 Ford six, or maybe an oiling diagram from a relevant shop manual, we are just guessing.

Unfortunately this cartoon diagram doesn't show the oil passage to the head, but I'm struggling to understand how turning the crank has any effect on the cam bearings.

 

 

 

This seems to be a non-uncommon problem on the web:

 

https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/1966-200-i6-no-oil-to-rocker-arms.1194888/

 

https://fordsix.com/threads/rocker-arm-seizing-to-the-rocker-shaft.81779/

 

Also, when looking at cam bearings for the 200 motor, they do not appear to have an internal groove for oil passage. Only one in the set has two holes. Personally, once you pull the cam, if the problem is alignment of the oil holes, I'd drill it out and not look back.

 

[60FlatTop]

"The level of perfection one is able to achieve is directly proportional to the number of times they are willing to do it over". I pretty much live by that. Even if it costs a few consumable parts.

 

I remember a friend stopping by one time and asking me to figure out what was squeaking in his 200 inch Mustang. From what I saw the upper lubrication needed all the help it could get. No shortcuts.

[gungeey]

Not familiar with your exact engine, how about pumping oil with an oil can down the hole that feeds oil to the rocker shaft from the top. It should drain down. If it dont then the cam bearing is installed incorrectly and blocking it.. just a thought. 

Also, It can take a while to fill oil galleys. But you don't want to keep testing by spinning the oil pump as you will wash away your assembly lube on the crank journals.

I would call the rebuilder to alleviate the concern

Edited April 10 by gungeey (see edit history)

[ABear]

33 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

Also, when looking at cam bearings for the 200 motor, they do not appear to have an internal groove for oil passage. Only one in the set has two holes. Personally, once you pull the cam, if the problem is alignment of the oil holes, I'd drill it out and not look back.

No internal groove means the cam is required to have a cross drilled end. The cross drilling on the end of the cam is 90 degrees hence the reason you have one of the bearings with openings 90 degrees apart.

 

So, when installed properly, oil goes in one side of the bearing, as the cam turns the cross drilled holes line up with the openings in the bearing and allows oil to flow through to the other side until the cam turns past the openings.

 

The oil flows up and into the back of the rocker assembly through the rocker pedastool, oil is distributed through the rocker bar to the other rockers.

 

Now with that said, if one was to install the wrong bearing in the rear, you will not get flow or enough flow when running.. Not sure that is possible, don't remember if the rear bearing is smaller than the other three.

 

Make sure the correct bearing is installed in the rear most position and is positioned correctly so it isn't blocking the oil ports.

 

But, I suspect if you turn the engine over via starter, oil will flow unless the rear bearing was not installed correctly. Shouldn't take much turning to get oil now that the system has been primed.

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, joe_padavano said:

Unfortunately this cartoon diagram doesn't show the oil passage to the head, but I'm struggling to understand how turning the crank has any effect on the cam bearings.

Turning the crank turns the cam. If (and only if) the 200 works like I described, the hole sideways through the cam journal has to line up for the oil to flow. It's not an uncommon setup.

 

1 hour ago, joe_padavano said:

 

 

In the engine in that picture, it wouldn't apply. Is that the 200? The engine in the picture oils the top by pushing oil out the top of hydraulic lifters and up hollow pushrods to stud mounted rockers, another common setup. The lifters seem to be fed directly in that engine, and since the lifters and pushrods are supplying the top, what I said in my earlier post wouldn't apply.

 

When I replaced the cam in my Ford 390, I used the "drill prime" method. I am pretty sure I had to hand turn the crank to get the passage through the cam open so the rocker shafts would fill with oil. I was expecting that to happen, so I didn't pay that much attention to how the oil was routed. I just wrench turned the crank until I got oil. Some Chryslers are also like that, and a lot of other things too but I can't offhand think of other examples.

 

18 minutes ago, ABear said:

So, when installed properly, oil goes in one side of the bearing, as the cam turns the cross drilled holes line up with the openings in the bearing and allows oil to flow through to the other side until the cam turns past the openings.

That^^ Exactly like that.

 

Edited April 10 by Bloo (see edit history)

[TTR]

As noted by others, some engines, early MoPar V8s for example, require crank to rotate for oil to get to rocker arm assemblies, so before anything else, I would try that first by having one person (you or assistant) rotating crank while another is operating the drill to drive the oil pump. 

Also, make sure the drill is turning the oil pump drive to correct direction, which in case of some engines is clockwise and others counter-clockwise.

If all bearing tolerances are correct, I would expect at least 30-40 psi, even with a bit slower drill.

[ABear]

21 minutes ago, Bloo said:

The engine in the picture oils the top by pushing oil out the top of hydraulic lifters and up hollow pushrods to stud mounted rockers, another common setup. The lifters seem to be fed directly in that engine, and since the lifters and pushrods are supplying the top, what I said in my earlier post wouldn't apply.

The Ford inline sixs uses solid push rods, not hollow and the rocker arms are mounted on a hollow tube, a bit different from the V8s which used hollow push rods and separate rocker studs.

 

The tube the rockers mount to has oil holes drilled for each rocker, the tube gets fed by a hollow peda stool which is at the rear of the engine. The peda stool mounts over a hole in the head, that hole matches a hole in the block, the hole in the block gets it's oil from the rear cam bearing.. Been a long, long time since I had been inside of a inline six..

[Littlestown Mike]

Well, thank you all!!!

I am much relieved.  I had forgotten that the cam needs to be turning.  I will give this a shot later today or tomorrow and post back to this thread. 

I can't use the starter as the engine is still on the stand so I can't bolt on the flex plate and torque converter.  I can turn the engine over via a wrench on the crank pulley.  

I think that illustration is for the large 240/ 300 six because it shows oiling the rockers thru the hollow push rods.  The Falcon Six has solid pushrods.

 

[Lee H]

6 hours ago, Littlestown Mike said:

think that illustration is for the large 240/ 300 six because it shows oiling the rockers thru the hollow push rods.  The Falcon Six has solid pushrods.

Here’s the correct diagram:

Isn’t the rear camshaft journal grooved for oil pressure transfer on this engine? Cross-drilling certainly wouldn’t provide full-time pressure.

 

Edited April 11 by Lee H
Reinsert graphic (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

15 hours ago, ABear said:

No internal groove means the cam is required to have a cross drilled end.

Incorrect. The rocker shaft requires oil constantly, not just every turn of the cam. Watch this video, at 4:58 you can see that the rear journal of the cam has a circumferential oil groove that provides continuous connection between the two oil holes in the bearing.

 

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1811-six-appeal-building-a-200ci-inline-six-engine-for-todays-driving/

[ABear]

1 hour ago, joe_padavano said:

Incorrect. The rocker shaft requires oil constantly, not just every turn of the cam. Watch this video, at 4:58 you can see that the rear journal of the cam has a circumferential oil groove that provides continuous connection between the two oil holes in the bearing.

Its been better part of 40 yrs ago since I worked on a Ford inline six, there could be a small relief on the cam side and no relief on the bearing side. But, from what I remember there was a set of holes drilled at 90 degrees in the cam. which lines up with the two holes on the rear bearing.

 

The rocker shaft is hollow, it fills with oil and acts as a reservoir for the rockers so rockers will always have oil present even when the cam holes are not in alignment with the bearing holes. The cam in some respects regulates the pressure and quantity of oil getting to the rockers depending on engine RPMs.

[Oldtech]

I suspect . ABear that you are right. There is also, I think, A special necked down headbolt that goes in that location to allow oil up to the rocker shaft. 

The later sixes had the grooved bearing that provided full time flow to the rockers.

At any rate, put the distributor in and spin the engine with the starter and see what happens before you start pulling things apart.

[JACK M]

The 200 is a 7 main bearing engine.

I had one back on the 60s-70s that I ran hard for a couple of hundred thousand miles.

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, ABear said:

Its been better part of 40 yrs ago since I worked on a Ford inline six, there could be a small relief on the cam side and no relief on the bearing side. But, from what I remember there was a set of holes drilled at 90 degrees in the cam. which lines up with the two holes on the rear bearing.

 

The rocker shaft is hollow, it fills with oil and acts as a reservoir for the rockers so rockers will always have oil present even when the cam holes are not in alignment with the bearing holes. The cam in some respects regulates the pressure and quantity of oil getting to the rockers depending on engine RPMs.

The rockers require pressurized oil to act as the bearing, same as the mains and rods. A reservoir in the shaft won't be pressurized if the oil from the cam bearing is only pressurized once per rev. Any cross-drilling would be to improve oil flow, but the groove in the journal is the full-time pressurized passage.

[ABear]

14 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

The rockers require pressurized oil to act as the bearing, same as the mains and rods. A reservoir in the shaft won't be pressurized if the oil from the cam bearing is only pressurized once per rev. Any cross-drilling would be to improve oil flow, but the groove in the journal is the full-time pressurized passage.

As you mentioned, cross drilling "improves flow".

 

So, what that means is using only a drill to drive the pump without internal parts moving there may not be enough "flow" getting through the bearing and cam groove which IS what the OP is experiencing.

 

Therefore, the OP NEEDS to spin the engine to get oil to not only go around the the groove (which by the way if properly assembled with have thicker prelube on the bearing surfaces) but ALSO THROUGH the cross drilled holes.

 

Some engines (and the inline six we are talking about) fits this category will need to have internal parts moving to get full pressure everywhere.

 

Myself, never used a drill, just used assembly lube (even just coat with heavy oil can work in a pinch on bearing surfaces) and then ran the starter with plugs out to prime the oil system until the top end had oil. Never had a engine failure doing that.

 

Now if you just dry assembled (IE no oil or assembly lube), yeah, that wouldn't be a smart choice, was always taught to assemble bearing surfaces with a lubricant.

[Bloo]

There are plenty of engines around that do not adhere to this idea. Chevrolet Stovebolts, at least some of them, had an open piece of tubing in the end of the rocker shaft to let the excess oil run out.

 

 

[ABear]

12 minutes ago, Bloo said:

There are plenty of engines around that do not adhere to this idea. Chevrolet Stovebolts, at least some of them, had an open piece of tubing in the end of the rocker shaft to let the excess oil run out.

 

 

Yeah, this isn't one of those engines, no "open" holes per say for oil to run out of.

 

Pretty much a controlled oil system.

[ABear]

OK, so Joe, have found another wrinkle to your idea. Was combing back through a manual I have which covers Ford inline six sizes 170-250

 

To get oil to the rockers, it goes from the pump, to the filter, from filter to CRANKSHAFT bearing, crankshaft bearing also has cross drilled opening, from crankshaft bearing to CAMSHAFT bearing (cross drilled camshaft), from camshaft bearing through head to rocker support via a special drilled bolt (yeah, you cannot interchange this bolt) then through the rocker support tube (note, the HOLES on the rocker support tube MUST be located down towards head PER MANUAL).

 

So, the oil must travel through crankshaft bearing plus the camshaft bearing.. with things not turning the oil will have a hard time reaching the rockers.. The design IS for the engine to be running in order to get oil through out the entire system.

 

I am including a cut away view of the oiling system of this engine.

 

Just be aware, the cut away doesn't show the exact oil passages locations.

[Bloo]

33 minutes ago, ABear said:

Yeah, this isn't one of those engines, no "open" holes per say for oil to run out of.

 

Pretty much a controlled oil system.

I was really responding to Joe's post about needing full pressure in the rocker shaft all the time. Maybe he's right, but if so some engine designers have ignored it. You posted at about the same time. No matter. We are on a tangent here anyway talking about other engines. What I have seen in the past pretty much mirrors what you are saying. All that really matters for @Littlestown Mike's questions is the Ford 200, and in your last post it looks like you are getting to the bottom of the mystery. Carry on.

 

[ABear]

10 minutes ago, Bloo said:

I was really responding to Joe's post about needing full pressure in the rocker shaft all the time.

No worries!

 

Joe is not entirely off base, there IS "some" pressure needed at all times and from the book I have it does look like the cam does have a relief, can't find a picture of the crankshaft bearing that feeds the cam shaft, it to may have a relief but it looks like that there may also be cross drilled holes on that also..

 

Being the book does specifically state that the holes on rocker support tube need to be located down would indicate that is where oil must be.. The force on the rockers is from below the rockers, meaning you only need a "layer" of oil on the underside of the rockers. Very little if any forces present on the top of the rockers.

 

There will be enough oil at the bottom of the rockers at all times even when the cam and crank cross drilled holes do not align since any oil inside the tube will wick into the rocker bearing surface between push rod movements and oil pulses.. Properly oiling the oil will drip out from the rockers, shouldn't be squirting every where so there is some restrictions are built in to the system that controls the flow.. In other words if the rockers got full operating pressure and flow from 20 PSI-40PSI there will be a lot of oil spraying out from the rockers..

 

The only other issue is that during assembly, hopefully they did indeed prelube all bearings surfaces AND they did put that special drilled bolt in the correct place. That drilled bolt is critical, wrong bolt and zero, zip, nada oil will flow to the rockers.

[Littlestown Mike]

17 hours ago, Oldtech said:

I suspect . ABear that you are right. There is also, I think, A special necked down headbolt that goes in that location to allow oil up to the rocker shaft. 

The later sixes had the grooved bearing that provided full time flow to the rockers.

At any rate, put the distributor in and spin the engine with the starter and see what happens before you start pulling things apart.

I think this is the answer.   The distributor needs to be installed because it sockets into the main oil galley.  With no distributor in place, the oil is free to flow out of that opening and return to the sump.  I saw lots of oil flowing around the oil pump drive shaft as I spun that hex shaft with the drill, but the thought never really connected.  Ford would not have "wasted" machining time on that lower part of the distributor support if is was not required--no one would.  

I didn't report that observation in my original post because I did not think it was significant---obviously it is.

I will remove the gear from an extra distributor and use a socket on the distributor cam to spin the distributors AND the hex drive shaft, and THAT should produce oil flow to the top of the block--and then, through the special necked-down bolt , all the way to the rocker shaft.

 

Thanks to all--I will post back after I prove ( or disprove) this as the answer.

 

[Oldtech]

Actually...My reason for installing the distributor was that you need it to drive the oil pump if you are cranking the engine. Didn't even think of the galley. 

[Littlestown Mike]

I removed the distributor gear and installed the hex shaft and the distributor and spun it with the cordless drill.  Still no oil flow .  The drill only spins a max of 1400 rpm--maybe that is too slow.

So I filled the drilled oil passage with oil and spun the distributor again....and i saw a little oil flow --enough to raise the oil up out of that drilled passage and spill it down the side of the block.

I still think I should pull the cam and visually check the cam mearing hole alignment, but I am relieved to see SOME flow.

[gungeey]

It's not going to come out like "old faithful", more like a "babbling brook"

 

Are your lifters installed? 

[ABear]

8 hours ago, Littlestown Mike said:

I removed the distributor gear and installed the hex shaft and the distributor and spun it with the cordless drill.  Still no oil flow .  The drill only spins a max of 1400 rpm--maybe that is too slow.

So I filled the drilled oil passage with oil and spun the distributor again....and i saw a little oil flow --enough to raise the oil up out of that drilled passage and spill it down the side of the block.

I still think I should pull the cam and visually check the cam mearing hole alignment, but I am relieved to see SOME flow.

What direction of spin?

 

That family of sixes the distributor turns clockwise when looking from above the distributor..

 

I suspect the bearings may be "keyed" to prevent them from being installed wrong or turned, not sure on that but often in important places things are keyed.

 

For what it is worth, I would have assembled the engine, spun it over with starter a couple of times and called it good. My Dad never went to this extreme, we always assembled everything with assembly lube on cam lobes and engine oil slathered around all bearings. We stuck it all together, gave the carb some fuel and cranked it over and allowed engine to start and run and wait a few seconds for oil to show up on the rockers.

 

The reason, well, assembly lube sticks and lubricates the cam and lifters for a short time and prelubricated bearings will have enough oil between the surfaces to run for a short time without oil from the pump. Only takes a few seconds to get oil to all surfaces.

 

You don't prime the oil system with a drill each time you change oil either. Right?

 

When changing oil, the same thing happens, even if you fill the filter as much as you can, there is air introduced into the oil system and that takes a couple of seconds for the pump to push oil back into the system.

 

When you shut down an engine, there is always a film of oil left between bearing surfaces, it is that film that prevents damage to the bearings and shafts at each startup until oil pressure is established.

 

The time wasted fretting around with priming with a drill is time wasted.

[JACK M]

I don't really agree with that time wasted thing.

I like to check my work as I go along.

I would hate to fire up an engine that for some reason or other doesn't pump oil.

By the way, the best assembly lube is a good quality out board oil.

[Oldtech]

Have you rotated the crank slowly as you spun the pump to see if there is holes that have to aligh in the bearing?  Back in the 60's oil flow to rockers semed to be an afterthought. As long as they were wet, that was good. They used to say that you could adjust the valves on a 55 Olds with the engine running and your white shirt on!

1400 is more than adequate RPM. That's 2800 crank. 70 mph

 

Edited April 14 by Oldtech (see edit history)

[Littlestown Mike]

10 hours ago, JACK M said:

I don't really agree with that time wasted thing.

I like to check my work as I go along.

I would hate to fire up an engine that for some reason or other doesn't pump oil.

By the way, the best assembly lube is a good quality out board oil.

Thank you--exactly my thoughts.

I cannot spin the engine using the starter until i remove it from the engine stand--no room for a flywheel or Torque Converter.

Yes, of course the lifters are installed--I would get zero oil pressure with no lifters installed--that galley must get pressurized.

 

Engine is going to sit for a couple of days.  I actually got called in for work--I still work part time,  and I have a day or two of labwork--great for this old guy.  There are several lab tests required on soil before it can be used as Fill, and that is what I do--and I do it better than anyone else.  I have probably trained hundreds of soil technicians over the last half- Century.  I really do love this stuff.

Oh, and I get PAID for doing it!!

[60FlatTop]

On 4/13/2024 at 7:12 AM, Littlestown Mike said:

I still think I should pull the cam and visually check the cam mearing hole alignment, but I am relieved to see SOME flow.

That is the only way you can clear up any doubt when someone else did part of the job. There have been so many times I have had to redo another's work there are instances when one would think I was downright cynical. And I know I wasn't born that way. I was trained by "professionals.

 

The classic instance was in 1994 when I thought a more experienced person should do a fairly complicated job. I left my car an set my shop manual on the counter. "What's that for?" the prideful expert asked. When I picked up up the car the manual was still in the same spot. The job was done incorrectly. I took my book and did it right at home.

 

In the end it is not whether the job was done right. The question is do you trust them. Honestly, I wouldn't even bring my car to someone like myself to fix. Too many variables.

[ABear]

20 hours ago, JACK M said:

I don't really agree with that time wasted thing.

I like to check my work as I go along.

I would hate to fire up an engine that for some reason or other doesn't pump oil.

By the way, the best assembly lube is a good quality out board oil.

You must not have any faith in your own work.

 

If you disassemble it correctly by carefully laying everything out and well labeled and reassemble in the reverse manor with new parts, you have a 99.99999% that everything will be fine..

 

Very rarely did my Dad ever pull an engine out, always did the work in car, pulled heads, pulled oil pan, pulled pistons, bearings, cam, lifters out all while engine block is in the bay.. Reassembled with the new parts, gave it a splash of gas and were off to the races again.

 

More often than not, full tear down and rebuild we could easily do on a long weekend (Friday night, Saturday and a couple of hrs Sunday afternoon) and was running Monday morning to go back to work..

 

That was me and my Dad, now days would take me a lot longer since my Dad passed, perhaps a week..

 

That six is dirt simple, not much to it, very, very easy to work on, hundreds of thousands were made so extremely popular meaning not rare and not made of unobtainuim like you would find with much rarer and often more complicated engines.

 

The time the OP has messed around, they could have rebuilt it twice..

[JACK M]

I have faith in my own work, But I always take the time to double check the machine shops work.

I had one mechanic that was getting a few come backs.

When I confronted him about it he said, "a job worth doing is worth doing twice".

He didn't work for me after that.

There is a difference between back yard and professional.