Docmacs'77
Active member
Just curious. How many of you have had the privilege of having one of those "Know-It-All" friends who has worked on your engine who ended up costing you more money after he finished working on it? I started out restoring my '77 over 2 years ago. I started with new interior stuff like the dash pad, seat covers, console, etc.
Because the 350 was all tired out, I started thinking about other options. A friend that I worked with introduced me to his brother-in-law and I heard all this stuff about how great a (backyard) mechanic he was. When I mentioned something to him (the brother-in-law) about rebuilding the engine, he suggested a 383 stroker. Sounded good. Whenever we sat around having a cold one and shootin' the bull about cars and engines, he would go off into techno-babble about horsepower, torque and the best combinations for making them. I'm thinking "This guy really sounds like he knows his stuff - sounds like a pretty decent mechanic". So we start discussing building a stroker. I got online and ordered a kit ($1500) and as money allowed, other things. Polished Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake, Dynomax Ceramic Coated Headers, B&M torque converter, Holley 750 vacuum secondary, Performer RPM heads, Polished Aluminum Stewart high flow waterpump, Polished Aluminum 140 amp Powermaster alternator, MSD Pro Billet Distributor, MSD 6AL box, Be Cool aluminum radiator with dual electric fans. As a matter of fact, he's got a 350 already bored out 30 over, so he's willing to just sell it to me for $200. So now I'm ready. He's like, "bring it over to the house man, and we can start putting the new engine together and then pull the old one, drop the new one in and probably have it done in a couple of weekends. Sounds great. I mean, I've done my share of working on engines, but never a build-up from the ground up. So, are far as the technical stuff, I'll be watching and learn as we go.
I was aware however, of the importance of things like degreeing a cam. When it came to installing it, I asked him about a degree wheel, and he was like, "nah, I'll just line up the dot on the cam with the dot on the crank and we'll be there". Okay, well he obviously knows what he's doing. Well we finally get it built and installed. He says, "well, lets drive it down here to the carwash and wash it off. Now, I'm also thinking about something in the back recesses of my mind that I'd heard at one time or another about breaking in the cam for so many minutes at so many RPMs. But hey, he obviously knows what he's doing.
Well, bottom line, the car seems to run like a dog. Just not the kind of power it should have - somewhere in the range of 400 to 450 HP. And I also have this pinging that I just can't get rid of. No matter how much I retard the timing. Then I notice a miss - spark from the plug wires is very intermittent. A friend tells me about an engine builder in town who's worked on his car. I drive it over to his shop and realize that something's just not right. I mean, aside from the fact that there's just not the power there should be, I keep smelling oil. When I get to the guys shop, I told him I was also concerned about the smell of oil on the drive over and the fact that it just didn't seem to have the power that it should, as well as the pinging. He pulled the intake off the next day and found some metal shavings in the lifter valley. He told me some other interesting news. Mr. "Mechanic" friend doesn't really know crap. I found out from the engine builder that this guy who helped me put the motor together installed the pistons upside down, i.e. they were turned 180 degrees off when he installed them on the rods. Therefore, the valve reliefs were positioned on the wrong side so that the valves were hitting the flat side of the pistons (mine are flat tops) instead of matching up and going into the reliefs. This caused the intake valves to all be bent and of course some nice nicking and gouging on the pistons. He also told me the block had been sleeved in #7 cylinder and the sleeve had actually been shoved up about 1/16". All in all, this know-it-all friend just cost me new intake valves, new pistons - oh yeah, I almost forgot. 2 of the rod bolts were finger loose and a 3rd one had already fallen off into the oil pan. This guy does some nice work, eh? 3 of the rods had some flat spots on them. Also, because he never broke in the cam, alot of the lobes were flattened down.
Sooooooo, now I'm springing for a new cam, rods and pistons. I told the builder the heck with it. I'm going with a roller cam, roller lifters, forged pistons and forged rods. At least this way, I know it'll be done right and I won't have to worry about it. This builder has a good reputation in town and guarantees his work. My only regret is that I didn't know about him before I let this "friend" screw with my engine. I know I probably shouldn't be so down on him, because it's my fault for trusting him. He talked big time and I thought he knew what he was doing. And he wasn't charging me anything to "play" with my expensive engine parts.
Should get the car back in a few weeks. Anybody else have any war stories they'd like to share? because I'd love to hear 'em. You know, misery loves company. Marc.
Because the 350 was all tired out, I started thinking about other options. A friend that I worked with introduced me to his brother-in-law and I heard all this stuff about how great a (backyard) mechanic he was. When I mentioned something to him (the brother-in-law) about rebuilding the engine, he suggested a 383 stroker. Sounded good. Whenever we sat around having a cold one and shootin' the bull about cars and engines, he would go off into techno-babble about horsepower, torque and the best combinations for making them. I'm thinking "This guy really sounds like he knows his stuff - sounds like a pretty decent mechanic". So we start discussing building a stroker. I got online and ordered a kit ($1500) and as money allowed, other things. Polished Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake, Dynomax Ceramic Coated Headers, B&M torque converter, Holley 750 vacuum secondary, Performer RPM heads, Polished Aluminum Stewart high flow waterpump, Polished Aluminum 140 amp Powermaster alternator, MSD Pro Billet Distributor, MSD 6AL box, Be Cool aluminum radiator with dual electric fans. As a matter of fact, he's got a 350 already bored out 30 over, so he's willing to just sell it to me for $200. So now I'm ready. He's like, "bring it over to the house man, and we can start putting the new engine together and then pull the old one, drop the new one in and probably have it done in a couple of weekends. Sounds great. I mean, I've done my share of working on engines, but never a build-up from the ground up. So, are far as the technical stuff, I'll be watching and learn as we go.
I was aware however, of the importance of things like degreeing a cam. When it came to installing it, I asked him about a degree wheel, and he was like, "nah, I'll just line up the dot on the cam with the dot on the crank and we'll be there". Okay, well he obviously knows what he's doing. Well we finally get it built and installed. He says, "well, lets drive it down here to the carwash and wash it off. Now, I'm also thinking about something in the back recesses of my mind that I'd heard at one time or another about breaking in the cam for so many minutes at so many RPMs. But hey, he obviously knows what he's doing.
Well, bottom line, the car seems to run like a dog. Just not the kind of power it should have - somewhere in the range of 400 to 450 HP. And I also have this pinging that I just can't get rid of. No matter how much I retard the timing. Then I notice a miss - spark from the plug wires is very intermittent. A friend tells me about an engine builder in town who's worked on his car. I drive it over to his shop and realize that something's just not right. I mean, aside from the fact that there's just not the power there should be, I keep smelling oil. When I get to the guys shop, I told him I was also concerned about the smell of oil on the drive over and the fact that it just didn't seem to have the power that it should, as well as the pinging. He pulled the intake off the next day and found some metal shavings in the lifter valley. He told me some other interesting news. Mr. "Mechanic" friend doesn't really know crap. I found out from the engine builder that this guy who helped me put the motor together installed the pistons upside down, i.e. they were turned 180 degrees off when he installed them on the rods. Therefore, the valve reliefs were positioned on the wrong side so that the valves were hitting the flat side of the pistons (mine are flat tops) instead of matching up and going into the reliefs. This caused the intake valves to all be bent and of course some nice nicking and gouging on the pistons. He also told me the block had been sleeved in #7 cylinder and the sleeve had actually been shoved up about 1/16". All in all, this know-it-all friend just cost me new intake valves, new pistons - oh yeah, I almost forgot. 2 of the rod bolts were finger loose and a 3rd one had already fallen off into the oil pan. This guy does some nice work, eh? 3 of the rods had some flat spots on them. Also, because he never broke in the cam, alot of the lobes were flattened down.
Sooooooo, now I'm springing for a new cam, rods and pistons. I told the builder the heck with it. I'm going with a roller cam, roller lifters, forged pistons and forged rods. At least this way, I know it'll be done right and I won't have to worry about it. This builder has a good reputation in town and guarantees his work. My only regret is that I didn't know about him before I let this "friend" screw with my engine. I know I probably shouldn't be so down on him, because it's my fault for trusting him. He talked big time and I thought he knew what he was doing. And he wasn't charging me anything to "play" with my expensive engine parts.
Should get the car back in a few weeks. Anybody else have any war stories they'd like to share? because I'd love to hear 'em. You know, misery loves company. Marc.
