Engine replacement wrap up

[SFFSJ]

Hey, y'all...

As posted in the "$1700 thank you," I just finished swapping out my old, tired, funny-noise-makin' 360 for a used unit from a fellow lister.

Fortunately, the replacement makes fewer noises and has better oil pressure, so I'm good to go for at least a while.

Thought I'd post just a few notes about what I did, and what I'd do differently, in case anyone could learn from it.

Before I put the new motor in, I:
(a) Gave it a thorough cleaning
(b) Painted some of the brackets and accessories, "since it was out"
(c) Replaced the oil pan gasket and rear main seal
(d) Checked the torque on all the rod caps, since they were there...
(e) Checked and cleaned the valve train and lifter valley -- pulled each pushrod, checked for any problems, cleaned and re-torqued the rocker arms, etc.
(f) Replaced the intake manifold gasket
(g) Replaced the water pump
(h) Replaced hoses, cleaned up some of the DSPO and This Stupid Owner wiring "issues"
(i) After she started and ran, I flushed the cooling system and engine oil with appropriate snake-oil cleaning stuff to make me feel better, and immediately changed the oil and filter. I'll change 'em again at 500 miles, then add Lucas, I think.

Basically, all the little, easier to do while it's out, kinda stuff.

Then I pulled the old motor, and cleaned and painted the lower half of the engine bay. Too lazy to pull all the ignition module / heater core / etc stuff off the top of the fenders and firewall. Still made a world of difference. Also painted the exhaust manifolds with some silver high-temp furnace paint... we'll see how it lasts, but for the moment, they look a lot better!

Quick lessons I learned...
(1) Look for and remove The Bushing!! Thanks to this board, I knew it might be there, and pulled it out before I mounted the engine. It wasn't mentioned in any of the books, etc... coulda been very expensive!

(2) Check the exhaust manifold bolt holes... I didn't And didn't discover until the engine was in that one of them contained a broken off bolt. Didn't notice it, cuz it was broken even with the edge of the head. Another one is starting to strip... So far so good, and I'm gonna live with it, but I'm kicking myself for not checking and chasing them all first.

(3) Throw away the rubber end-gap pieces from the intake manifold set. I tried to use them, and they immediately squirmed out, and still aren't seated properly. Next Time, I'll use just goop. This has been debated before -- I shoulda known to check this board for info!

I've got complete notes from the removal and reinstallation I'd be happy to type up and post... if anyone might find them useful -- lemme know if there's interest, and I'll post them.

I'm also debating what to do about replacing the engine I put in, but I think I'll save those questions for another post!

Any questions about the R&R, requests for more detail, or whatever, I'd be happy to try to answer!

[Chrome]

Sounds like you pretty well covered all the bases. Good luck with it.

[medicineman]

I'll take you up on the "details" of the engine swap. I'll be doing this to Nameless in the next week or so (as soon as space isn't an issue anymore)

Any help will be appreciated... TRUST ME!

thanks!

[Drivir8]

I'm interested for sure! I have a used engine sitting on the engine stand ready to do basically all the things you did to yours... clean, paint, water pump, plugs, timing chain, gaskets etc. as soon as that is about ready, I will be pulling the seized engine out, putting all the best "outboard" parts like alt, AC etc. on the "new" engine. So any help or advice would be most welcome! I have an 86 and would like more details on the bushing you mention. This is my first time doing anything this major so it's a bit intimidating but exciting as well... :D

[seadog]

Sounds good,I am almost ready to get my 360 rebuilt.What "BUSHING" are you speaking of?

[SFFSJ]

ok, I'll type up my notes and post... pro'ly later this morning... happy to help!

Drivir8 & Seadog -- One other thing I picked up surfing the site, but didn't apply to me -- some of the timing sets are apparently not machined right. They have casting flash or the oil holes aren't lined up right... do a search on the site... I think someone described how important checking and correcting this is.

Seadog -- there's a metal "bushing" in the end of the crankshaft, if the motor was bolted to a TH400. If you're mounting to a TH400, then you're all set. If you're mounting to a TF727, it HAS to come out, or else you'll destroy the transmission. Quickly.

The topic pops up every once in a while here... a search will turn up other people's descriptions, I'm sure.

As for me, it was pretty easy to see. I had both the old motor and the replacement sitting on the garage floor... and *looked* for the bushing, as I wasn't sure what it'd look like. If you look at the end of the crankshaft, in the middle of the flexplate, there's a ~ 2" radius inset hole.... if the bushing's there, there's a distinct ridge / groove / band of differnet metal around the hole, if not, not.

I tried to take a picture, but the batteries were dead in the only camera I had. : (

I call it a "bushing," 'cuz that's what everyone else calls it... it looks like a napkin ring, if you ask me. Silver, metal, round, thin walled.

It took a few minutes' work to get it out. I pried at the back side of it with a screwdriver, soaked it in P'Blaster, whacked on the screwdriver with a hammer, basically beat on it... eventually it started working free, and I was able to grab an edge with a pair of pliers.

Like I said (wrote?), there are probably better descriptions in the archives somewhere.

Hope this helps... I'll get the procedure description up shortly!

[seadog]

I got TH400 so I am good.THANKS!!!!

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

Please type up your notes!

That would be really great. I will surely use them and I definitely appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Daniel