Well, I'm finally continuing to work on this now that it's a bit cooler. I washed the block with those Moroso brushes, and dried it and lubricated. I got the crankshaft installed and torqued. Crank endplay is about 4 thou. I didn't hit the crank front and back until after final angle pass on the crank main bolts. I'm assuming that's okay? Crank spun nice and freely.

Pistons installed on rods and rods cap bolts torqued to the 15 ft. lbs initial torque. Need to do the final 2 angle passes. I was checking the piston measurement out of the hole and I got like 11 thou on one side and like 2 thou on the other end. So do I average these to use on the compression calculator?

 

The reason for hitting the crank is to seat the thrust cap and make sure you get an accurate reading.

Ideally you would have the block surfaced to even up the decks so they are the same height. Being .011 out of the hole already is pretty far. But looking at your picture you need to take the measurement from the center of the piston to be accurate. You only measure the top and bottom above and below the centerline of the Wrist Pin for rock.

 

This is the closest example I have to show you.

 

Ok, thanks. I don't know why I had in my mind that I had to take 2 measurements. I now measure 0.007 in the middle of the piston.


This is what I'm getting from the compression calculator from Summit:

 

What are you using for head gaskets?
.070 seems really thick.

The 2 measurements is to measure the rock of the piston to check for clearance.

you have quench, the distance between the head flat surface and the top of the piston. But you also check rock to make sure the piston will not come in contact with the head. Usually on a motor with looser clearances...

 

Um, you are correct on that HG thickness. I'll most likely use some ordinary MLS HG, like from Felpro. Seems like 0.041" is more realistic.

 

Depends on the gasket.

I believe factory GM is around .052

Looks like a FelPro 26192PT is .048 according to Summit.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/f...%3A,0.048%20in.

 

My book says rod side clearances should be .020" on the low range.

I checked mine and they are 0.010", but the furthest back pair of rods are closer to 0.008". Is that too tight? I double checked and all the rods have that little nipple facing the rear of the engine. If this is too tight, what needs to be done to increase it?

What does this control anyways? Friction between the rods I assume?

 

I guess I forgot to update: after I washed the block and put everything together I discovered some of the cam bearings had some wear (?). 🧐🤔 I can't really tell.

So last week I bought cam bearing installer and new bearings. I just pounded the old ones out and new ones in. Kinda of a workout. I used some Permatex sleeve retainer liquid. I wasn't sure if that was required. Anyways, this is probably the worst one. Not sure how that groove got there. I slid the cam in and it turns nicely. Of course, I had to remove everything, so I'm back to just a block. One step forward and two back! LOL

 

what tool did you use? sometimes those can scratch it