Project No-buck!

[Meatman]

Lifters keep cam from walking out. Only roller motors have cam retainer plate. Id say stick with same cam unless your after more hp. Breaking in new cam is a pita.

Fidlers is the best in town imo. Hes always done great work for me. Hes cheap and he knows his stuff, especially small block chevy. He knows alot about the LSX stuff too.

If it was me.....Id leave the shortblock the way it was if it all looks good. Throw in an oil pump and timing chain. If lifters all look good, keep same cam. Send heads to fidlers, have them cleaned, checked and reassembled. He will check all the springs to make sure there are no weak or bad ones. Pickup a good gasket kit and call it a day.

Then you can have a good solid motor but no major concerns like seating in rings or breaking in the cam etc.

If you want simple and reliable you've got it. All cast iron TBI small block chevy. I love the LS motors, but cant beat the simplicity of a TBI and the tried and true gen 1 SBC

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Meatman

Lifters keep cam from walking out. Only roller motors have cam retainer plate. Id say stick with same cam unless your after more hp. Breaking in new cam is a pita.

Fidlers is the best in town imo. Hes always done great work for me. Hes cheap and he knows his stuff, especially small block chevy. He knows alot about the LSX stuff too.

If it was me.....Id leave the shortblock the way it was if it all looks good. Throw in an oil pump and timing chain. If lifters all look good, keep same cam. Send heads to fidlers, have them cleaned, checked and reassembled. He will check all the springs to make sure there are no weak or bad ones. Pickup a good gasket kit and call it a day.

Then you can have a good solid motor but no major concerns like seating in rings or breaking in the cam etc.

If you want simple and reliable you've got it. All cast iron TBI small block chevy. I love the LS motors, but cant beat the simplicity of a TBI and the tried and true gen 1 SBC

That's what I was thinking about the cam, but just wanted to make sure. I'll give Fidlers a call.

The reliability and relatively good fuel economy is why I went with the TBI engine. So far it hasn't worked out so well, but I think once I get it put back together, I'll be there. [I've also actually thought about trying to fine a 305 TBI 5 speed third gen camaro as a daily driver too, but No-buck is cooler]

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

That's what I was thinking about the cam, but just wanted to make sure. I'll give Fidlers a call.

The reliability and relatively good fuel economy is why I went with the TBI engine. So far it hasn't worked out so well, but I think once I get it put back together, I'll be there. [I've also actually thought about trying to fine a 305 TBI 5 speed third gen camaro as a daily driver too, but No-buck is cooler]

Hang in there, you will get the bugs worked out. If you have to dump a lot of cash into the tbi you may consider a "cheap" LS. I bet you could pick up a 4.8 pretty cheap. Bone stock like mine it's right at 275 HP. Around here they are getting plentiful. Low buck is way cooler too.
Good luck!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

That's what I was thinking about the cam, but just wanted to make sure. I'll give Fidlers a call.

The reliability and relatively good fuel economy is why I went with the TBI engine. So far it hasn't worked out so well, but I think once I get it put back together, I'll be there. [I've also actually thought about trying to fine a 305 TBI 5 speed third gen camaro as a daily driver too, but No-buck is cooler]

For what a decent condition third gen will run you I would bet you could drop a 5.3 into no-buck especially since you just did the swap to your other truck.

You would get about the same gas mileage but have a much cooler vehicle as a commuter vehicle. The truck is probably much less expensive to insure too.

[Ackattack]

Got the engine put together and set the engine down the truck. Normally when I put an engine in (since this is the 3rd time I've installed an engine in No-buck) it takes a little bit of work to get the clutch splines lined up with the input shaft of the tranny, the dowls of the block, etc. Today I did it by myself in about 10 min. Pretty good in my book.

I still have the motor mount bolts to put in, and a lot of more hooking stuff up before its ready to drive, but its a big step getting the engine in.

[Palf70Step]

[mcbassin]

That was a fast install. What did you find out about the motor? Heads okay?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

That was a fast install. What did you find out about the motor? Heads okay?

Blown headgasket, missing about 1" of material right between the #3 and 5 cylinders. Everything else looked perfectly fine.

I replaced the timing chain, oil pump, valve seals and valve springs while I had it apart. I also cleaned the intake and repainted it so it looks a little prettier. I also got a new throwout bearing.

The heads looked fine, the cam and lifters all looked fine.

Hopefully I'll be driving it by next weekend.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

Blown headgasket, missing about 1" of material right between the #3 and 5 cylinders. Everything else looked perfectly fine.

I replaced the timing chain, oil pump, valve seals and valve springs while I had it apart. I also cleaned the intake and repainted it so it looks a little prettier. I also got a new throwout bearing.

The heads looked fine, the cam and lifters all looked fine.

Hopefully I'll be driving it by next weekend.

Sounds like you will be in business in no time. What's the reason for replacing the valve springs. Are these prone to failure? Just curious?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Sounds like you will be in business in no time. What's the reason for replacing the valve springs. Are these prone to failure? Just curious?

Just figured I was in there, had the heads disassembled so why not.

Maybe I'm just used to high performance LS engines where back shortly after they came out people were breaking valve springs when they put in "big" cams. [Now days I think they've developed the after market springs and now have much larger cams and I don't think its as much of a problem]

[Ackattack]

It LIVES!!!

Got the truck fired up last night about 11pm. Didn't notice any leaks and once I got the timing dialed in it idled pretty good. Got a few loose ends to tie up before I take her for a spin.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

It LIVES!!!

Got the truck fired up last night about 11pm. Didn't notice any leaks and once I got the timing dialed in it idled pretty good. Got a few loose ends to tie up before I take her for a spin.

Congratulations on getting her running again!

[MILLER TIME]

how much do you have to take out of the bed front and back to shorten it right?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by MILLER TIME

how much do you have to take out of the bed front and back to shorten it right?

12" in front, 8" in back.

The 12" from the front comes out from under the cab, so you have to move the rear cab mount back 12" also. Do a search, there is a couple of good write ups....I think Rockcln (sp) did a real good one.

[MILLER TIME]

I appreciate it, Im having a hard time finding a short fleetside bed for mine. I may end up doing that. Was it tough in your opinion?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by MILLER TIME

I appreciate it, Im having a hard time finding a short fleetside bed for mine. I may end up doing that. Was it tough in your opinion?

Not really, but I wasn't going for show quality either. It did take some body work to make it look decent and since mine is wood bed, it didn't take as much welding.

[Meatman]

Cool! You coming to track tomorrow nite? Its supposed to be totally free to get in!

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Meatman

Cool! You coming to track tomorrow nite? Its supposed to be totally free to get in!

I heard that. Don't know if I'll make it, we have family in town and have 36 people coming over on Sat. for my son's B-day party.

[Meatman]

Track was packed! I only got to run 3 times it was so busy. Set a new best though!

[Ackattack]

So I drove the truck to the store this morning and had to get a jump start and barely made it home. So I went and got a new alternator and charged the battery. Put the new alternator and I was getting 14 volts. Then I headed out for the local cruise in. Well the alternator died on the way there. I was parked at a parts store and the tested it to confirm. So I left the truck there and will have to go get a new alternator tomorrow. The store I was at didn't have one on the shelf.

Looks like I need to wire in a resistor into the circuit to prevent killing them.

Other than the charging issues the truck seems to be running great.

[Ackattack]

I got the new alternator installed and wired up and got the truck home! I took the highway home and seems to run just fine out on the highway and might be a little quieter

Oh, I forgot to mention. On the way to the cruise in last night, I drag raced a Ferrari. It wasn't much of a competition I think this truck and a Ferrari are about polar opposites on the car spectrum.

[bigguy69]

I would still be happier in the truck
Posted via Mobile Device

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by bigguy69

I would still be happier in the truck
Posted via Mobile Device

Did you get the resistor piece in so your alternator won't go out again?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Did you get the resistor piece in so your alternator won't go out again?

I put in a light bulb (as someone suggested) but its resistance was only like 5ohms. Someone else suggests a resister that was like 30-60 ohms, so I'll probably swing by radio shack and get a resistor.

The alternator was still putting out 14v when I got home though. (~10 miles)

[Tinkermc]

and the saga continues