Assembling the New Engine!

With all the checking and measuring out of the way, I was time to start assembling the motor.  I took a few days off work so I could dedicate myself to building the motor and installing it quickly. 

I started off by installing the new crank seal lin the timing cover.  Before I installed the timing cover, I checked the clearance between the fuel eccentric and the cover.  As a father, I had Play Doh available so I used it.  I then measured the compressed thickness and I have 1.50 clearance which is adequate.

I then coated the fuel eccentric (which the machine shop seemed to clean up) with the Comp Cams 103 assembly lube and put on the crank seal shield.  I then put a small bead of Permatex Blue RTV (#80022) on the block, installed the Fel-Pro gasket (TCS 45168), put another small bead of the blue RTV, installed the stock harmonic balancer to center the timing cover, and then bolted it down (13 ft/lbs) with ARP bolts(#154-1504).  I used the Permatex Medium (blue) Threadlock on the bolts to seal them.

I then installed my new standard volume oil pump (Melling M68) and hardened oil pump shaft (Melling IS68).  The instructions in Tom Monroe's book states you should not use anything on the gaskets.  I installed the hardened shaft, temporarily installed the pump, and then rotated the motor on the stand to see if the retainer was positioned such that the shaft would not fall out and it didn't.

I filled the shaft hole on the pump with moly lube, installed the shaft, installed the pump, and then installed the pick-up tube.  I did not use anything on the gaskets and no threadlock (per Tom Monroe).  The oil pump was torqued to 25 ft/lbs and the pick up was torqued to 14 ft/lbs.  The gaskets for these parts came with the new Melling pump.

I then installed my oil pan using a new bolt set and one piece Fel Pro gasket (OS 13260 T).  I used a little of the blue RTV in the corners of the gasket.  The gasket looks much nicer than the cork one but is a little pricy.

I then installed the water pump which is the same one which was previously on the vehicle.  I installed it the same as the timing cover using the blue RTV, remaining pieces in the Fel-Pro gasket kit, and the ARP bolts.  Strangely, one of the bolts was not long enough.  I tried switching around the bolts but regardless, one was always too short.  I called ARP and for $2 a bolt, they sell them individually so I ordered one.  For the time being, I rigged something to hold it together.

Next came the fuel pump which used the last of the Fel-Pro gasket set.  I again used the blue RTV on each side of the gasket.  The fuel pump is the one which was previously on the vehicle.  I imagine it is not going to be sufficient for the engine but it will certainly work for general use.

I'm working on the lower head bolts as they are rather rusty. That is why I stopped short of installing the heads tonight. I did weigh the Edelbrock aluminum heads and they weight 29.4 lbs compared to the 48.8 lbs each stock head weighed. I plan to install them tomorrow and keep moving towards getting the engine in the car.

My son took the following picture of me today with the motor as I was cleaning up and calling it a day.