Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 09:48PM
Location: Calgary Alberta Canada
Posts: 305
It's all the little changes adding up. The last motor the same thing happened.
Changes in cam base circle, deck height, head gasket thickness, head height, valve steam height due to the seat death and overall valve length. All added up to a length of 9.20 needed instead of the factory 9.375 That was just enough to keep the valve open and bottom out the lifter. That would have been bad news.
One thing i've learned over the years is....unless you buy an engine from a one owner car,you never know what's mismatched or what tolerance you have. My magnetic dial gauge and pushrod checker are two valuable tools to own. I've seen people making their own pushrod gauges but they are relatively cheap to buy. Good on you for checking this and not just throwing things together. It's amazing how bad the factory tolerances were let alone starting decking the blocks,planed cyl. heads,crushed thickness of head gaskets,etc. I love paying attention to close detail and it pains my friends to watch me. Here's me checking the valve clearance on my 71'340 small block. Putty and Dial indicator.
Looks great and looks like it's totally original in the paint dept. Are you planning on using the correct Corbin style spring clamps on the hoses. These things work better than the cheap Chinese made clamps of today!
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
That's pretty gutsy, not a lot of room to move without paint scratches. Your engine hoist must have a very smooth release valve, my old hoist seemed to have to positions, fast and way too fast!