1949 Chevy 3600 into a daily driver

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by dsraven

do you have a pic of the truck at ride height? looks cool in the farm setting, in it's own element.

[6DoF]

oh man!

that's awesome the kids are in on it, they should keep ya motivated

[Coach529]

SBC stripped down to the base block. Found no suprises. Using my Vevor ultrasonic cleaner to clean everything up.

[Coach529]

[dsraven]

Are you planning on taking the heads apart for cleaning, checking guide and seat condition and new valve stem seals?

[Coach529]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Are you planning on taking the heads apart for cleaning, checking guide and seat condition and new valve stem seals?

Yes, but I have never done it before.

[dsraven]

Grab a length of wood longer than the head
Drill holes so when you take the heads apart you can keep the valves in order of where they came from. They need to match back up to the valve seat they are worn into
Mark the head somehow, like a small center punch mark on one and 2 on the other, and mark your wood the same. Use a small drill on the wood cuz marker can get covered in grease etc so you can't tell
Take heads apart using a valve spring compressor but first rap each valve spring top ( not the valve) lightly to unseat the bond between the spring top and the keepers that fit into the valve stem groove

[dsraven]

I like to use a gallon sized paint can with some small holes drilled into the bottom to put the springs and keepers in. That way the parts can be washed in the can( I spray with degreaser or oven cleaner) and rinsed with a hose without losing parts
Obviously, the valves get slipped into the board as they are taken out of the head, starting at the stamped end so you don't lose track of what came from where
Look for broken springs, springs that are shorten than others (some exhaust valves have thicker spring tops on them that rotate the valves and these valve stems are usually also larger. Truck engine stuff usually)

[dsraven]

Use a wire wheel on a bench grinder to clean the valves of carbon etc. Use a smaller wire wheel on a drill to clean the combustion chamber areas and bowls below valve seats
After cleaning inspect for casting warpage and cracks. When I wash heads I use really hot water and flush cooling chambers etc, then as the head quickly dries sometimes a crack will show as a wet line against the surrounding drying areas. Between the valve seats and in the corners of the comb chamber area are commonly the spots

[dsraven]

I use some 80 grit sandpaper strips stapled to a flat board to sand gasket areas
There are aerosol crack detectors available that spray on like paint. Google is your friend for checking those or an engine shop may do a hot tank and check for flat and cracks for a reasonable fee

[dsraven]

Valve springs can be checked for their proper pressure as well. Some will place a shim under the spring to bring back to spec. Some will simply replace the springs

[dsraven]

Check valves for bent stems and for badly worn sealing surfaces as well as stem wear. You'll need a micrometer for that
Check valve guides for wear that allows valve excessive movement and also oil blowby onto the back side of the valve
Umbrella style sten seals are a common upgrade

[dsraven]

check your rockers for wear marks under the pivot ball and on the ends where they contact the pushrods and the valve stem ends.
check your rocker studs to ensure they are all at the same height
check the pushrods for straight by rolling across a piece of glass or other known perfectly flat surface
use the same theory as with the "valves on a stick" to ensure the rockers go back in the same holes, they have a wear pattern, like a finger print, with the camshaft lobes
check the wear end of the lifters to ensure they have not worn a weird pattern in the ends or have become concave
mark all your main bearing caps to ensure they stay in order, then dump them in the "parts cleaning paint can" along with their bolts
not sure if you plan to disassemble the rest of the engine but it would be recommended to properly clean and check it all.
anyway, its a good idea to take out the oil gallery plugs at the rear of the engine, then using a long 1/4" rod, push the front plugs out as well. alternately, a slide hammer with a screw attachment can be used in the front plugs or else just a screw and a pair of pliers with a little elbow grease to pull them out. this allows a long bottle brush or rifle cleaning brush to be used, with degreaser, to clean the main galleries and the smaller ones that feed the other bearings.
remove the oil filler adapter as well so it can be cleaned.
when done the cylinder wall deglazing, assuming it's not getting bored out, its a great idea to run a tap through all the threaded holes in all the castings and parts.
lots of guys will use a burr and take rough edges and casting crap off the block and heads and, when done sanding smooth the gasket surfaces and cleaning, paint the inside oil surfaces with glyptol, electrical motor parts paint, so oil runs back to the pan quicker.
there are lots of degreasers put there but I have found oven cleaner works well on stuff thats not aluminum, like the cam bearings, or some stuff called super clean by castrol. I haven't really changed it up in awhile so there are likely better degreasers out there now a days.

[dsraven]

another tip that works for me is to put all the rockers, pivot balls and nuts onto a length of mechanic's wire, in order so each rocker and matched pivot ball parts stay together, then twist the wire ends together to make a continuous loop. that makes it easy to keep them together and also wash them etc.
will you be replacing the expansion plugs in the block as well? I recommend it or to at least do the ones behind the flywheel since, if they leak the trans needs to come off to replace them. I installed a "rebuilt" engine for a friend who had it done at a reputable guys shop. it seemed fine and was all painted up like you would expect. after install and adding coolant there was a leak. it was an expansion plug behind the flywheel. the engine was pulled again to replace those and all the others. none had been done and the block had rusty sludge in the bottom of the coolant jacket. it was never even hot tanked! a spray paint rebuild. lol.

[Coach529]

Thanks!!