As some of you on my Facebook know I was fired on May 3rd and have since been living off of settlement money and anything I had saved up at the time. Well today I went and talked to an auto shop in the next town over and he has a pretty sweet gig for me.

He has several personal vehicles he's been wanting to restore and just hasn't had time to mess with them due to all the cars he works on at work. In an effort to make some progress he wants me to build a couple engines he has laying around and help with restoring. First engine is a 427 for a pickup he has and eventually he wants to fully restore a 68? mustang that he just got in. He said I can pretty much come and go as I please as long as I keep track of my time. Excellent gig for me as back pains can get bad some times and I've always wanted to be part of a complete restore.

The last engine I built was purchased as a short block so all of the real technical stuff was already done. I was wondering if anyone had some good literature on what to look for on a build and tips to make things go smoother. he already has the rods and pistons purchased for now so I shouldn't have to worry about picking out the right size rods but what kind of clearance do you look for on TDC and ring fitment?

 

congrats, here's a great book from what I have heard, everything you need to know on Chevy by David Vizard.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Rebuild-Yo.../dp/1557880298

 

congrats! sounds like a great gig.

 

Congrats, sounds like a sweet gig. Why did you get fired from your last job?

 

Too many lates/absences. Long drive finally started to wear me down.

 

could be a 427 side oiler for a ford, blueflamed...lol j/k, but i have read david vizard's books alot, really helped me on my 396. Main things on a 396/402/427, is to have the correct clearance with a feeler gauge on the crank, especially for the front main cap, they are notorious for rubbing it, also, be very careful if he chose dome pistons with a close chamber head, 9 out of 10 times you have to file some off, use some modeling clay for clearance, other than that, slap it together...lol

 

Yea. I'm sure he already has the right clearance on everything but I just don't feel comfortable slapping it together without checking. Gonna have to go online and find out what all of the clearance requirements are.

 

yep, those dome pistons will come up and slap the bottom of the head. Guy found out here at work on a 396, the hard way. So out it came, 482 in it's place.