New to me engine
 

I picked up a 427 TD for my C60. The stories goes it was a good running engine and the truck was scrapped. It's been sitting for 2 years. He even let me do a compression test on it before I bought it, which it passed. I bought it for dirt cheap, got it home tore everything off of it and out of it aside from the rotating assembly. There are still cross hatches in all 8 cylinders, no signs of rust.

The reason I tore it down aside from the obvious was to regasket it. Well that's done and I'm treating it like a fresh engine. I stripped the old points distributor to use as a priming tool. Here's my issue. I am getting 54 psi of oil on my gauge while spinning the drill. I'm only getting oil out of #2 intake push rod while I can see it trying to come through the rest of them and my wife verified with her ears (I'm partially deaf) that they're pushing air. I went through and readjusted the valves thinking I did it wrong. I got the valves to 0 lash following the procedure and went 1/2 turn for preload. I'm no engine builder but this is what I've gathered from the web. Did I do it right and am I thinking my drill just doesn't have enough nuts behind it?

Thanks

Re: New to me engine
 

Have you tried turning the engine in 90 degree increments and run the pump each time for a minute or two?

Re: New to me engine
 

Yes I have. I have been doing a lot of reading since posting. I don't think my 18v cordless has enough nuts. I'm going to get out my dewalt. I've also read a lot of guys who say run it and it'll be alright. I want to see the oil!

Re: New to me engine
 

I vote for a bigger drill. I use my old B & D 1/2 chuck drill and the pumps load it up big time!

Re: New to me engine
 

Takes quite a while to move the oil with a drill unless you can get the rpms up to about 1000 rpm. My 1/2'' drill only spins at about 4-500 rpm, takes me a good 30 minutes or more without turning the engine. Big blocks have pretty large oil galleys to fill up and bleed the air out of

Re: New to me engine
 

My dewalt 1/2" tops out at 600 unloaded rpm while my cordless is rated at 1500 but it definitely isn't hitting it loaded up.

It struck me as odd that I was getting 54 psi in the gauge and seeing oil come from the #2 intake push rod. After reading a lot I feel better about it. Hopefully a few more days and I'll be ready to drop it in.

Re: New to me engine
 

Did you get all the lifters back in the same bores?

Re: New to me engine
 

54 psi with a hand drill is EXCELLENT! You never get oil out all the rockers on a static motor oil prime especially with hydrohalic lifters... That's what the assembly lube is for. Button that baby up and run it! ALWAYS use the EOIC (Exhaust Opening Intake Closing) method for setting valve lash. Since your using hydrohalic lifters, once the pushrod will not move Vertically (Not Spinning!) The spinning the push rod method can get you into trouble! Just move the push rod up and down while tightening the rocker nut. Once zero clearance is established (no more linier movement) give the nut another 1/2 turn and your golden!

Re: New to me engine
 

Yes, all the lifters and push rods are in the same exact place they were before I tore it down.

I will readjust all the lifters again using that method instead of spinning them. Thanks for the reassurance guys!

Re: New to me engine
 

What are you using for a new distributor?

Re: New to me engine
 

This is my second 427td. The first one had a no name HEI that worked well. When I bought the truck the cam was partially rounded off and had low oil pressure (I didn't know it), the more I drove it the worse it got. I did a compression test and it failed. So I pulled it and stripped it down to find it needed a full rebuild and punched out. I had planned to have that one rebuilt until I came across the "new" one. I am using some parts from both engines. For instance the heads from my original engine had physically bigger exhaust ports for some reason though running the numbers they're supposed to be the same size. Not to mention the heads from my original engine had no carbon build up and the new heads had quite a bit. The intake from my original engine and most of the pulley system since I've already sand blasted and painted most of them.

Re: New to me engine
 

You got a handle on it!
While you don’t need a normal break in, it would be good to run your first start rpm around 1000 rpm.
Gets the oil pumping good.

Re: New to me engine
 

I'll admit I'm a bit paranoid about the first fire up so I'm not taking any chances on it. I got break in additive for the the oil too just to make myself feel better about it. I hope to have it ready to go in soon. In a perfect world I'll have it all back together before it gets too cold here.

Re: New to me engine
 

Another question. My original engine had a mechanical fuel pump. The new engine I assume had to have an electric pump because there's a block off plate. Do I take the rod from my original block, stick it in there and go about installing the mechanical fuel pump? Or is there anything else I need to check? I don't know if all blocks have provisions for this or not

Re: New to me engine
 

If there's a block off plate then the block is drilled and tapped for a fuel pump. Your fuel pump rod should fit it, if it's the same block.

Re: New to me engine
 

You might even find the original pushrod behind that plate.

Re: New to me engine
 

I pulled the plate, no rod in it. They're the same block so I should be good to go. Thanks again guys... until the next question

Re: New to me engine
 

Not a bad deal for $300 if you as me! That's how it looked when I picked it up. The guy even let me use his trailer to get it home! The second picture is how it currently looks

Re: New to me engine
 

300 for a tall deck 427 would be a great deal if you were building a 500+cid engine . . . . :smoke::sumo:

572 cid https://www.cleggengine.com/chevy-bi...mpetition.html :sumo: :sumo:

Re: New to me engine
 

I am seriously debating going that route for my wife's mega truck once mine is done. A 4.500" crank seems like an awful lot of throw. E85 is what I was going to shoot for and a cr around 12-13:1ish. The point of my truck is to pull hers and a possible future truck for me. There's a picture of her truck in my build thread in my signature. I think 800 horsepower in her truck should be just about right. She doesn't want anything crazy, that's a future build I'm sure I'll be asking questions about later though.

Re: New to me engine
 

Update. My wife and I got it installed the other day and fired last night. Everything seems great. I set the initial timing at 10* and I'll play with it from there later. I read these tall decks don't like anymore than 8-10 degrees, if it's too much I'll drop it to 8. Oil pressure at a warm idle is 18-22psi.

Re: New to me engine
 

NICE for the PRICE !!!! How about some installed pics.

Re: New to me engine
 

I don't have any currently but when I do take them I'll update the build thread in my signature.

Re: New to me engine
 

You need to make sure that your cam has a lobe on it for the fuel pump rod. I'm no expert...I'd get a piece of dowel in the pushrod hole and spic engine over...

Re: New to me engine
 

If it didn't then I wouldn't have had gas ram rod to the carb correct? It took roughly 3 cranks of the engine before I had gas rush to my filter on the top of the engine.

The fuel level in my tank was lower than the carb but higher than the fuel pump so I have to assume I'm good to go.