60s Refugee
Well-known member
As some of you will recall, the event that got me started actually beginning the work was the fact that the engine started having a problem and I had to fix it. I was blind sided! I thought that a professionally remanufactured engine would be something like perfect. I was wrong.
There aren't any pics of the tear down. I was out of film and forgot the digital. but, here's the blow by blow.
I knew the front end had to come off. Just the fan bolts alone required the radiator coming out and I knew the cam removal required it too. I removed the front bumper, bumper guards, and everything else, right down to the core support. I was careful of the AC parts and the radiator. Be sure to tape over and AC lines you seperate to prevent dirt getting in them.
I hated to do it, but I had to cut out the exhaust pipes. that's the down side of welding them together! The manifold came out OK, but the pipes would only come out in pieces. I cut as to save the muffler, but the pipes, though only a year old, are now junk. I was suprised that the clamps on the hangers were so rusted that the u bolts broke off!
I thought I would pull the engine too, but I wanted to save time. WRONG decision! If you ever do this conversion yourself, remove the engine! It would have been so much easier. Instead, I left the block in and pulled the head :nono: The rocker assembly came out first and it looked perfect, but upon pulling the head I found the burnt head gasket and the two bent push rods.
I noticed that the head bolts were a mix of early bolts and later bolts. I used a magnet wand to pull out the lifters, being careful to place them in a twelve hole board to keep them in the correct order in case I ever have to put the cam back in. I made a point of not damaging any of the parts I removed and bagging the bolts and nic naks so I could more easily find them during re-assembly. The fan, alternator, AC compressor, fuel pump, dizzy, and everything else was removed, shelved and covered.
Taking out the cam came last. I figured that if the new cam thing didn't work out I can put the old one back in. I used a three bolt puller to get the crank pulley off. Removing the timing cover was easy as were the bolts on the big gear and the cam retainer plate. I temporarily reattached the cam gear to use as a 'handle' to pull out the cam, being careful not to damage it as I pulled it out. I greased the lobes and bearings and wrapped the cam in an old towel. The cam/crank gear required a three jaw puller. By the way, the timing chain was way looser than it should have been in 28,000 miles.
There wasn't any going back now! My work benches and shelves looked like a scrap yard office! The floor was covered with oil, tranny fluid, dirt, bits of gaskets, dropped tools and some of my blood.
Tomorrow the new cam goes in!
Harry
There aren't any pics of the tear down. I was out of film and forgot the digital. but, here's the blow by blow.
I knew the front end had to come off. Just the fan bolts alone required the radiator coming out and I knew the cam removal required it too. I removed the front bumper, bumper guards, and everything else, right down to the core support. I was careful of the AC parts and the radiator. Be sure to tape over and AC lines you seperate to prevent dirt getting in them.
I hated to do it, but I had to cut out the exhaust pipes. that's the down side of welding them together! The manifold came out OK, but the pipes would only come out in pieces. I cut as to save the muffler, but the pipes, though only a year old, are now junk. I was suprised that the clamps on the hangers were so rusted that the u bolts broke off!
I thought I would pull the engine too, but I wanted to save time. WRONG decision! If you ever do this conversion yourself, remove the engine! It would have been so much easier. Instead, I left the block in and pulled the head :nono: The rocker assembly came out first and it looked perfect, but upon pulling the head I found the burnt head gasket and the two bent push rods.
I noticed that the head bolts were a mix of early bolts and later bolts. I used a magnet wand to pull out the lifters, being careful to place them in a twelve hole board to keep them in the correct order in case I ever have to put the cam back in. I made a point of not damaging any of the parts I removed and bagging the bolts and nic naks so I could more easily find them during re-assembly. The fan, alternator, AC compressor, fuel pump, dizzy, and everything else was removed, shelved and covered.
Taking out the cam came last. I figured that if the new cam thing didn't work out I can put the old one back in. I used a three bolt puller to get the crank pulley off. Removing the timing cover was easy as were the bolts on the big gear and the cam retainer plate. I temporarily reattached the cam gear to use as a 'handle' to pull out the cam, being careful not to damage it as I pulled it out. I greased the lobes and bearings and wrapped the cam in an old towel. The cam/crank gear required a three jaw puller. By the way, the timing chain was way looser than it should have been in 28,000 miles.
There wasn't any going back now! My work benches and shelves looked like a scrap yard office! The floor was covered with oil, tranny fluid, dirt, bits of gaskets, dropped tools and some of my blood.
Tomorrow the new cam goes in!
Harry
