The 283 Rebuild Begins

[MacAttack]

Thanks for all of the encouragement guys.

I have a tendency to over focus when doing stuff like this and I ended up doing the 180 degrees off routine, pulling all the wires off the cap, getting the cap off the motor (the 4th screw in back - at the firewall was a read SOB, both coming off and going back on), taking #1’s wire and plug off the engine,
cranking the motor around until it blew my thumb out of the hole (this is when I still had a right thumb), the pulley read TDC so I didn’t press my luck and the rotor was pointing at the firewall - toward where the passenger sets.

Then, just to be dramatic - and because all the ignition wires were loomed in, with custom ties and loops bolted in at the back of the block, I set up my little Coleman jumper battery - with a hot lead - and one by one - went through all the wires in sequence, according to the numbers on the intake manifold.

#1 wire was just left of center (looking from the front of the truck to the back) and around I went until we were ready to light her off. Cranked for a couple of seconds and then noticed the hot lead for the distributor was clipped to the "-" pole of the battery. Again - over focused on the wire issue.

Put it on the plus side and while leaning way out over the driver’s side fender - worked the two barrel to choke and give the engine some fuel.

Hit it again and it exploded to life - scaring the living crap out of both me and the boy. While trying to hit the choke mechanism my hand somehow flew forward and the ol’ thumb went right into that spinning fan. I think - it was all a blur. Once the engine speed was down from shutting off the choke - it stalled.

We got the first aid kit out and wrapped some gauze and blue masking tape around the thumb and tried it again. She lit instantly and I watched the hand held gauge until I got her up to 2,200 RPM. That lasted for about four and a half minutes before the radiator cap seemed to snap open and the coolant rushed down the exit pipe. I can remember thinking, "This isn’t going to be good" and a few seconds later the catch bottle was full and over flowing.

I have not a clue why it did that - other than (hopefully) it had to "burp" itself.

Did you know you actually have to put the key in the truck before the stock gauge will register? I’d concentrated on the ignition wire so much that I forgot to put the key in the dash and actually turn it on. (Dope) I was using a remote switch on the starter - so I didn’t even stop to think about the electrically driven temperature gage.

Oh the drama.

And on the question of whether or not it harms the cam and lifters to run only five minutes: Academic. I couldn’t see continuing to blow coolant all over the place and the block possibly over heating.

May be a mistake - but it’s too late to worry about it now.

Besides - my thumb is killing me.