Did I ruin my new motor?

[Dad's72]

Originally Posted by Mike C

Wolf Auto Machine
Precision Engine
HD Machine

Those are at least a few. David Wolf is who I usually use anymore but have used all of the above. Just call and explain just need rear bearing replaced and see what they require. Complete disassembly seems excessive.

Thanks Mike. I will call each of them. I just got off the phone with South Austin Machine Shop and explained the situation in detail and they said they would do it for $100. That would include all new cam bearings and install without taking out the crank or pistons. Could be done in one day.
I'm going to call all those other shops to shop that price.

[Dad's72]

Okay. I had me some free time and broke down the motor. I'm going to take it to a local machine shop and they ate going to install new cam bearings. My question to y'all is are these brass brushes too harsh to remove the gasket material on the motor?

[davepl]

I personally wouldn't use a wire wheel inside your engine because you're not blowing it apart and cleaning it afterwards. Wire wheels tend to throw wires, and wires aren't good for bearings and oil passages, etc.

I prefer the fabric style "roloc" wheels, but even then I'm always careful, especially on the deck surface.

[cypressbog]

No, don't use those. A good gasket scrapper will do just fine.

[Dad's72]

I had planned on taping and stuffing wrags in the space. But I will pass on that then and just go buy me a good gasket scraper tomorrow to finish it up. Thanks for the advice guys. $125 mistake. Could have been worse I guess.

[Mike C]

Glad that was all. My mistakes seem to cost WAY more than that these days.

[Ironangel]

Get you a scraper that takes single edge razor blades and a box of blades. https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-52000-R...razor+scrapers

[Dad's72]

I have one of those but somebody told me not to use a razor blade on the block surface.

Also, when I took the intake of there was a pretty good build up if carbon on the exhaust ports holes in the gasket. Is this normal? I'll take a picture when I get home.

[GASoline71]

I use a regular ol' $1.99 paint scraper that I cut down so it's only about 2" long from the handle. Then I used a bastard file to put an "edge" on it. Nice and stiff and scrapes gaskets off great. When it gets a tad dull... a few swipes with the file and she's as good as new.

Gary

[Dad's72]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

I use a regular ol' $1.99 paint scraper that I cut down so it's only about 2" long from the handle. Then I used a bastard file to put an "edge" on it. Nice and stiff and scrapes gaskets off great. When it gets a tad dull... a few swipes with the file and she's as good as new.

Gary

Good idea. I have a couple of those laying around. How about a putty knife (like the ones when applying drywall mud) cut down and filed like this? Do you think those would work? I have several of those laying around.

[GASoline71]

I wouldn't see why not. I always found that paint scrapers and putty knives were always too flexy. So by shortening it you make it stiffer and you can get a little leverage behind it. They are also soft enough to not gouge scratches into machined surfaces... unless you use the corner of the edge. So still be careful.

Gary

[Dad's72]

Well I brought my engine home today from the machine shop. It only stayed over night. I talked to one of the techs and it turned out we have a mutual friend. This worked out because I got it done for $62.50. Way better than the $125 they were going to charge me.
Started the cleaning process again to paint before install. Sanded the oil pan to metal, sprayed prep spary, then two coats of primer. Tomorrow it will get two coats of chevy orange.

[Mike_The_Grad]

Just a FYI tip in case freeze plug replacement comes round again, a good method for getting them out is to take a cordless drill with a 1/4" or 5/16" drill bit and drill two holes about 3/8" or 1/2" apart, then you can slip a length of bailing wire or string and twist/tie it off in case you knock the plug into the block, take a drift punch and start in one of the holes at an angle to open up the plug and grab it with a pair of either needle nose or channel-locks. Clean up the bore real good with some red scotch-brite pad wipe it out with acetone rag. Personal preference here, but you can smear some rtv around the edge of the plug before you drive it in, then take a deep impact wrench socket slightly smaller than the inside diameter hit it square with a big ball peen or mini sledge. If you look at the bore the plug goes into, there is a small bevel on the outer edge.drive in the plug until the plug is at the inner edge of this bevel. This last part is something that I hadn't really paid attention to on one of them so I kept hitting it and I drove it about 1/32 deeper, I figured oh well can't hurt much....well let me tell you that there is nothing more disheartening than to fill up your freshly rebuilt, fully installed, hooked up engine with coolant and find a 4" puddle of coolant on the ground right where the block and transmission bolt up, before you've even finished filling the damn thing up! Of course it was the one plug I knocked in just a lil to far, of course it was one of the ones in the rear of the block that requires you to have the block out of the truck in order to replace it. But did I do all that to replace it? Hell no! Lol. I picked up a tube of "Alumaseal" and crossed my fingers. That was 15k miles ago and I haven't seen a single drop of coolant under my truck. Oil,transmission fluid,rearend gear oil are a different story though.