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Wow, 6 years since an update. No, it isn't running again yet but I have made good progress over the past few months. The project seriously stalled since the last update -
Now, onto the good stuff...
I got pistons. I don't want to discuss the price. But 18:1 compression, ceramic coated tops and dry film lube on the skirts.
Heads. My old ones were junk. Like total junk scrap. They had some oversize stem valves in it, plus both cracked, and both milled beyond spec. went through 10 sets of used heads and every single one was cracked. So I had to pony up and go for a brand new set of GEP (not Chinese knock-offs...but genuine GEP heads) heads. Again, I don't want to discuss price.
As of this point, it would have been cheaper to find a junk 4bt and build it and swap it in.
I had 4 rods that were junk - either bent or cracked. I had to buy 8 used rods to find 4 good replacements. But now they are shot peened, new pin bushings, new bolts, resized and ready to go. I did get them hung on the pistons last week. They are ready to go into the block.
The blocks. Ugh. So the one that was beautiful ended up having a crack in one of the main webs. So yes, the Navistar blocks crack. The more "used" block had one trashed cylinder that required a sleeve. But deck was good and just needed a quick shave. Crank is currently installed and awaiting rods/pistons. The cracked block is currently in the chassis while I fab up new engine mounts. I *HATED* the AA mounts.
My machinist was amazing. He came over when I was ready to assemble and we measured (with micrometer) all of my oil clearances and we massaged every bearing in the engine to get the same oil clearances on every bearing. That was a tedious day.
Trans - I always had a leak between the tcase adapter and the trans. So when I pulled the junk 229 (more on that later) I found that 3 of the 4 bolts holding the adapter to the trans were stripped out. The trans builder had used some very short inserts on 2 holes and those pulled out. I talked it over with the folks at TimeSert and took some measurements and they sent out an oversize kit to compensate for the trashed "repair" and now I have full length inserts in all 4 holes. I also found a shorter urethane mount that matched the stock rubber mount to eliminate a couple alignment issues I had on things. I used a stock rubber mount during the mock-up on the first build and when I installed the first urethane mount it changed some angles.
T-case - the 208 is rebuilt and installed. New chain, bearings, seals. I pulled the 229 apart and found that I had split the viscous right where the snap ring groove was. I couldn't spin the front output because the snap ring was twisted into the chain. Amazing that I put as many miles as I did and it kept running. Every bearing was junk from the metal shavings that were circulating around.
Now, onto the good stuff...
I got pistons. I don't want to discuss the price. But 18:1 compression, ceramic coated tops and dry film lube on the skirts.
Heads. My old ones were junk. Like total junk scrap. They had some oversize stem valves in it, plus both cracked, and both milled beyond spec. went through 10 sets of used heads and every single one was cracked. So I had to pony up and go for a brand new set of GEP (not Chinese knock-offs...but genuine GEP heads) heads. Again, I don't want to discuss price.
As of this point, it would have been cheaper to find a junk 4bt and build it and swap it in.
I had 4 rods that were junk - either bent or cracked. I had to buy 8 used rods to find 4 good replacements. But now they are shot peened, new pin bushings, new bolts, resized and ready to go. I did get them hung on the pistons last week. They are ready to go into the block.
The blocks. Ugh. So the one that was beautiful ended up having a crack in one of the main webs. So yes, the Navistar blocks crack. The more "used" block had one trashed cylinder that required a sleeve. But deck was good and just needed a quick shave. Crank is currently installed and awaiting rods/pistons. The cracked block is currently in the chassis while I fab up new engine mounts. I *HATED* the AA mounts.
My machinist was amazing. He came over when I was ready to assemble and we measured (with micrometer) all of my oil clearances and we massaged every bearing in the engine to get the same oil clearances on every bearing. That was a tedious day.
Trans - I always had a leak between the tcase adapter and the trans. So when I pulled the junk 229 (more on that later) I found that 3 of the 4 bolts holding the adapter to the trans were stripped out. The trans builder had used some very short inserts on 2 holes and those pulled out. I talked it over with the folks at TimeSert and took some measurements and they sent out an oversize kit to compensate for the trashed "repair" and now I have full length inserts in all 4 holes. I also found a shorter urethane mount that matched the stock rubber mount to eliminate a couple alignment issues I had on things. I used a stock rubber mount during the mock-up on the first build and when I installed the first urethane mount it changed some angles.
T-case - the 208 is rebuilt and installed. New chain, bearings, seals. I pulled the 229 apart and found that I had split the viscous right where the snap ring groove was. I couldn't spin the front output because the snap ring was twisted into the chain. Amazing that I put as many miles as I did and it kept running. Every bearing was junk from the metal shavings that were circulating around.
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