Topic: a bit of work on my 77 TA

[JoshRiess]

Keep up the Pics and the work ! I''l be following this one !
          JOSH

[Schroeder]

Thanks a lot Josh.  I hope I start getting you guys interested as I start producing results.  Like I said, I will have pictures of some of the metallic blue engine parts I did last night by tomorrow.  Hopefully some are up tonight, but on a Friday night drinking often takes precedence for me   

I also found that there is a leak in the midplate of my muncie after the assembly.  It is on the front midplate gasket that I did NOT put permatex on.  I put permatex on one gasket and not the other.  Guess I should have.  Can i pull the tranny in half, put permatex on, and still use the same gasket or will I be needing a new gasket now too!?

[Schroeder]

well guys as promised I have some pictures (for those who care haha).  I received my crankshaft back.  It's all polished up, and the mains are ground down to .020 under.  SUPER SHINY.  I also pictures the bearings there.  Sealed power is yet another Federal Mogul product that I can not get an employee discount on!      How frustrating. 

Secondly are my test trials of the metallic blue engine paint (correct for when my car was built in December of 76).  I shot the engine pan and the timing cover.

[joe d]

looks much better, you still need to clean it before assembly withlint free cloth

[JoshRiess]

SWEEEEEEEEET !! Keep 'em Coming!
                                                             JOSH

[Schroeder]

looks much better, you still need to clean it before assembly withlint free cloth

thanks for the tip joe d!  I did plan on doing this of course.  I was looking the crank over once I got it home and saw little "chips" in the journal surfaces.  I got scared for a second, but upon further inspection I saw that these "chips" were just little pieces of dust in the post-grind oily surface.  I will have to get them off before assembly (which may come later today to some extent!) 

Yesterday I made no progress because the mid-plate gasket in my M21 was leaking.  It took me hrs to get it back together after I split it apart just enough to get some permatex on the gasket.

If you guys ever rebuild a muncie and people tell you it's easy they are f**king liars.  I have a cold heart to my M21 after having to put the tail housing on it a couple times.  There are hard feelings between us.

Josh, I will indeed keep the pics and info coming.  Thanks for paying attention guys!

[Schroeder]

Alright guys, here is what the day brought for me:  I installed all the rod bearings and got the main crank bearing installation started.  I have a questions about the bearings as shown in the first pic below.  My old bearings had a central groove and an oil hole in the top and bottom bearings.  These new ones have only a groove and channel in one half of each bearing.  So obviously I'm assuming the halves of each bearing with the hole goes on the top side of the engine where oil is pumped into it.  I looked on oreily's and they pictured replacement bearings with only one half of each main bearing having a groove as well, so I'm guessing the bearings I have are correct.  I wanted to check with you guys to make sure though. 



I installed half of the graphite rear main today as well.  The instructions have you drill a hole into the rear main cap and put a roll pin in it.  This sticks in the rope seal and holds it in place.  I thought this was pretty cool so I took a picture of it.  I also sealed it down with permatex ultra grey.  The instructions said this was an alternative to the roll pin.  I did both.



I also shot some paint on the water pump.  The bearings and mechanical stuff is pretty boring stuff.  I had to shoot something with paint so I felt like I made progress 

[joe d]

yes installing bearings is boring and takes time as i assume you are checking the clearances first, the bearings only go in one way and must be lock to lock, that is the small tab you see, called a lock. pretty self expanatory but does take time

[smith79]

What does GROB mean?

[joe d]

What does GROB mean?

??

[Schroeder]

What does GROB mean?

Grob is a high-precision automated machining shop my buddy works at in bluffton ohio.  They make highly precise machines that machine out incredible stuff.  There are videos of a machine they made that machines a globe with the continents sticking out of it and stuff. You may be able to find it on youtube or on their site.  It's pretty cool.  They're based in Germany. They do business with a lot of companies and are great.

I wondered if anyone would notice that big sticker haha.

[Schroeder]

last night I dropped a piece of rubber that was covering a connecting rod bolt down by the camshaft.  I had to take the valley pan off to get it out.  I planned on taking the pan off anyway, so I guess it was coming.  Here is is before the parts high pressure watch, parts cleaner soak, grind, and post-pressure wash.



Here is after



If you notice there are some rust holes that ate through the valley pan.  I knocked very hard on it around the little holes and they did not open up anymore, so I think the rest is solid enough.  Can I braze these shut, put rest preventative, and then paint as normal?  Is this a bad idea?

[iceman]

You will spend a ton of time trying to work that valley pan into shape, and they're usually full of crud between the panels. You are going this far, might as well do it right and not look back.  Also, a graphite rear main or a neoprene seal will be best for the rear main. check out Ace's place for the valley cover and graphite rear main:
 
 http://www.pacificperformanceracing.com

Or allpontiac.com for a neoprene rear main. Might be a good time to get thier one piece oil pan gasket too, just not sure who makes/carries it.

From what I understand, the new material rope seals are made from, they don't seal worth a hoot. HTH, Mike

[Justin]

Just went through all 5 pages. Very nice work. I did want to point out that since you sand blasted the oil pan you will now need to drill out the spot welds on the baffle and clean the sand out. If you do not do this all you hard work on that engine will be for nothing. I had to do it to mine. It is not hard to do and you do not need to drill all the way through the spot welds. Clean it out then spot weld it back in. Also clean the plus and the threads.

  That Strato blue engine paint from Ames is amazing isn't it? Used it on my build. I have a 75 400 in my 78 and thought I would do it justice. Love the color. Ames did a good job.

[joe d]

Justin is correct if you have blasted this valley pan then it needs to be taken apart iceman has a good point if you can find a new one