Hurricane fund, a V8 Morris Minor redeux

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

So how far did you get?

Not far. 
Got it on the stand, which was the hardest part. Wished for something made out of aluminum during that. I unbolted the one remaining exhaust manifold and the fan clutch and fan, a few other things, then had an appointment. 
 

That was Monday, yesterday I got home from work about 8:40, so progress was limited to a bit of surface cleaning. I will try to get the water pump and intake off before the weekend if I can get home in time. Three day weekend coming up.

 I'm considering putting the starter on and doing a compression test soon. If it passes, I might just drop the distributor, carb and intake on it, provide some spark and fuel, and see if it cranks. 

And oh yeah, I've got your chain. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Did you put my name and number on it?  I want video if you get to run it.

Any progress is great progress... keep it up... its later than you think. lol

a_florida_man said:

Any progress is great progress... keep it up... its later than you think. lol

You're right about that. 
 

It's almost down to a long block. 

I got stuck trying to get the power steering pump off. This one little snap ring. 

I hope the rust in that intake runner isn't significant. 
 

Take a look under the water neck. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Gross.  I hope that doesn't become a problem.

In reply to Indy - Guy :

It's been an adventure, even something of a Challenge.  
 

Long block status achieved. 

Then it cooled off outside. I was in the process of cleaning up, getting ready to move the whole process inside. Even with the timing, I still say thank goodness for the rain, that's what makes the summers bearable here. 

 

Snap ring wasn't the problem, the bolt that was totally hidden in grease was keeping it from coming off. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Vinegar flush on the cooling system?

EDIT - Top end looks nice and clean.  No sludge at least.

Rust in the #5 intake port is concerning

In reply to Patrick :

Didn't notice that.  It turned free in the yard.  Could that be from the spider injection not working on that cylinder?  If water got in you'd thing it would be more than one track right?

In reply to Patrick :

Saw that as well.

If there is budget, pulling the heads to see would be good. Give the valves a good cleaning too..

Thanks for the comments.

Planning on the vinegar flush for sure. 

There's room in the budget for a pair of head gaskets, so that's now part of the plan. Here's the inside of that intake runner. 
 

does not look as bad from this angle...

but there are also a whole host of reasons to take a peek under the heads.... 

heads are off, I vacuumed out the bores, not sure what to do next. 
 

I guess I might put some oil on top of the pistons and leave it to soak down around the rings overnight before I rotate it to examine all of the cylinders. 

Five is the one that had the rust in the intake tract. 
 

Surprisingly little carbon on the pistons. No ridge at the top of the cylinders. 

Two 

four

six

eight

one

three

five

seven

I couldn't wait. 
Three of the cylinders on the left bank don't look good. 
one

five, ironically the best of the three 

seven 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Hmmm ... dingle ball it?

Stampie said:

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Hmmm ... dingle ball it?

Well, that would be in the spirit of the event. The testing kit for checking the heads for cracks came in this weekend. I'll disassemble them and do that tomorrow. That's going to be a factor in whether or not I try and save this short block.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I mean it is a SBC and only has to last 6 autocross runs and a 1/4 mile at full throttle.  I'd put money on it lasting.

Dingle ball, ckean, send it. 

Its a small block chevy. Itll run badly longer than most others will run.

x3 for dingleball and maybe new rings? i bet you could get a set for $30....

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Its a small block chevy. Itll run badly longer than most others will run.

Good example of this is in front of my garage. 
 

My plan would be:

Dingle ball it. 

Small pits do not hurt compression like top to bottom lines do.

A light deglazing with a ball hone (dingle ball) will do absolute wonders.

I don't see anything here (pictures can be decieving) that is terminal.

Pull the rings, check the end gap, keep them if its ok.

Clean the pistons and especially the ring grooves.

Also, be sure to do the valve stem seals. The force tells me they are needed..... lol.

Clean everything. and Clean again.

Pulled a couple of valves last night, but I learned to hate and fear the valve spring compressor. I have another one ordered. I'll definitely replace the valve seals. 
 

Once the heads are stripped, I can check them for cracks. I've got some of the chemical spray on crack detector material. Then, I'm going to tear down both short blocks and assess the situation. I'll get one running engine out of this yet.