Jaybird's official 2.7 rebuild thread

[jaybird840]

No, I reused the one sealing ring that I torqued when measuring the deck height ( or, was it one for each side) Have I doomed my engine to failure? I'm a green novice engine rebuilder, and am likely to make a mistake if not instructed to do otherwise. This is about the third little mistake I've made on the assembly, and am wondering if I should tear down to the shortblock and correct them. Advice? Thanks!

Originally Posted by Fast Corners

Jaybird,

I was just looking over your engine rebuild specifically the deck height measurement portion. I noticed in Post #84 you said you installed the CE ring in the top of the cylinder and then torqued it. Later in Post #86 you talked about eliminating the shims to go with a lower deck height. I was just wondering if you were using different CE Rings after you removed the heads?

BTW, I like your project.

[jaybird840]

OK,
Here's what's eating at me today.... I've had waaaay too much time to think, and no parts to put in my engine I have made a list of all the little "errors" that I've made in the rebuild, and am wondering if I should tear it back down to the short block and correct them. This is most certainly not a "race" motor where it will get pounded every weekend, but I don't want a grenade in my weekend fun car either (especially at the $$$$ investment I'm at). I know that a "prudent" mechanic would most likely do so. Here's the list of things I've discovered in my nightmares at 4am... (did I REALLY do that?)

1) When I installed the piston pin keepers, I indexed the protruding "point" in the wider 3 o'clock slot on the piston, instead of in the little divot at the 12 o'clock point. I can't imagine that this would make much difference as the keepers don't handle much load, and they are still 100% seated in their grooves. Am I wrong?

2) After Jamie Novak so graciously CC'ed my piston/cylinder/head combination, I wiped and cleaned the Mobil 1 synthetic grease from the cylinder wall of the number one cylinder, but forgot to clean the top ring (piston #1) before sealing up the heads/camshaft housings. I convinced myself that any left would burn off and the rings would still seat just fine.

3) As FAST CORNERS caught in my writeup, when I did my deck height check, I torqued one of the sealing rings in the top of the cylinder down. I am NOT concerned with it's effect on deck height, but am now concerned that it may be a "once-and-done" part. Will I suffer a compression leak here later? Melted head?

4) This one is more minor in my mind... I forgot to clean out the camshaft spray bars in the camshaft housings prior to installation. I figured that I could rotate the engine upside down on the stand and spray carb cleaner and compressed air through the spray holes and let it drain out the oil inlet fitting (cam oil line restrictor removed) down and away from the motor.

As always, I REALLY appreciate the input of the group, and the serious motor builders specifically. I'm really not fond of the idea of tearing down everything I've accomplished (and applied sealant to ). Part of me knows that I will most likely make some small blunders as this is my first motor, and it will still run OK. The other part of me says to tear it all down and make it perfect (possibly creating additional mistakes/headaches on the way). I've almost decided to insert a poll...

ALL input is welcome, especially that from people who have grenaded an engine due to one of the above blunders....

Onward through the fog!!!!

[Dick Shift]

#1 no worries
#2 " "
#3 The cly. head compression sealing ring is spring loaded and can be reused in this situation with no worries.
#4 99.9% of the time there will be no reason to worrie. Unless the engine was full of slug or had some metal in the oil? BTW never glass bead or use a cam tower that has been.

[jaybird840]

Mahalo nui loa, Dick.

[Dick Shift]

Da-kine!

Got all the parts you need?

With Aloha,
Dick Shift

[jaybird840]

Wow! The saga continues.... I put my rebuild on hold while waiting for a set of late model idler arms. I ordered a set from a fellow pelican, and waited patiently for fedex ground to bring them. Shame on me, I did not get pictures first. When I unboxed them, I found another set of early idler arms with the spacers. I'm not really in the mood to mess with trying to send them back to the guy (However, I did specify '81+ late model idler arms). Do I need to send 'em back and find the "proper" pair, or am I short-changing the engine to install the early idler arms with the spacers for use with the carrera tensioners. Please weigh in here... Thanks gang!!

BTW Dick, I'll be emailing you a goody list of what I need to complete my build (not much, thankfully!).....

[tom1394racing]

Jaybird

Send them back. You did not get what you ordered.

If you need a set of the late model arms, PM me. I can provide a set.

[jaybird840]

I am reminded again why I love to do business here. The seller graciously acknowledged that the error was his, and is shipping me the correct part. I've been in kind of a funk as I haven't had much work to do. I've been scrubbing the Webers, and getting them ready for the new parts/kit that I ordered from PMO yesterday. I was disappointed to learn that the early manifolds (2.2, I believe) are not the correct ones for my 2.7 heads. They don't have the correct "divot" on the head side. Richard said that they would run on the car, but could be an area for a potential leak. He carries the correct manifold, but at $400 I'll be waiting awhile. I needed some inspiration, so I rolled the car out of the garage, and washed her up. Gave me new inspiration, and reminded me why I'm doing this rebuild....

[jpnovak]

Jay, You only need the CIS to early car insulator blocks. These work great and will seal the CIS injector divot. Many people use them and they are inexpensive.

Your car looks great! Good to see it in the light of day. Keep your motivation high you are almost done.

[jaybird840]

Thanks Jamie! Richard is sending an insulator kit... are they generic? Where would I source the CIS/early insulator blocks if they are different than the ones Richard is sending?

[jpnovak]

Richard should be sending the correct ones. I used these on my 3.0 with webers (same CIS head/port shape). They worked great and leaks were not an issue.

If you want, we can port the manifolds and insulator blocks to match the heads. This will give you a bit better flow. Check the dimensions for the head port (36?) and the manifold exit. This will give you something to do while waiting for parts. I have the rotary files that work well for this application.

[jaybird840]

Well,
I'm still bogged down in the idler arm dilemma. I'm waiting for a pair I ordered off eBay, and they are coming sloooooow. So, I've been busy cleaning the Webers and getting ready to rebuild them. I found a gravity fed abrasive blasting gun at HF for $14--I put soda in it and it works like a charm for small parts (carbs, etc.). Here is a pic of the carbs after their $14 soda blast.....


and here's the blaster...



And now for the big news.... Here is why you are advised not to remove the throttle plates from the shafts--getting them back in the bores correctly is a BEEEOOOTCH!!! I assume that this is waaaay too much light coming through the throttle plates. It would seem to me that this kind of a gap would leak way more air than a worn throttle shaft bushing. I may be sending these out to one of the famed rebuilders to have the throttle plates reset.





Onward through the fog!!!!!!!!!!!

[jaybird840]

BOOM! Just like that, I'm back in business. Fedex dropped off my idler arms about an hour ago. I cleaned and installed them in about 10 minutes. I re-checked my valve timing.... 3.02 on the left, and 2.98 on the right. It didn't move at all when I installed the tensioners. I was careful to spin the engine several times before I took the measurement. I should be good to go again. Here's a pic of the Carrera idler arms and tensioners installed..... More later!

[jaybird840]

For some strange reason, my fire alarm went off for a few seconds at 4:30 this morning. I took it as a sign from God that I was supposed to be in the garage working on the engine. I did the valve clearance check by taking the slack out of the valve adjusting screws (on the backside of the cam) and then screwing them in two revolutions (2mm). I rotated the crank through several revolutions with no sign of interference!!! So, I jumped on sealing up the chain boxes and tensioners. Got the dizzy, sump plate, and int. shaft cover installed as well. All that remains is the rest of the rocker arms, and the oil cooler (which I still need to have modified). Here's a pic of what got done today.... It's not technically a longblock, but close enough for me!!

[jpnovak]

Great Job! When do we get to fire it up?

Now you have a few months to finish getting it into the car before its cool enough to go for a drive.

UGGHH I am sick of this triple digit heat. And its only June!

[jaybird840]

Jamie,
Thanks for the encouragement! Unfortunately, I'm still a ways away from firing it up. We will, however, have an engine light-off party when the time arrives. If I were rich, I'd fly CGarr in for it 8*). I just boxed up the carb bodies and shipped them off to Performance Oriented to have the bores checked, and new throttle plates fit. He says August before they're back. That should give me time to get everything else finished. I really don't have that many loose ends to tie up now. I'm getting ready to paint my cooling shroud and alternator strap, as well as the valve covers. Do you know if anyone in Austin has an engine run-in stand, or engine dyno? I think I'd like to light it off and break in the cams that way if possible... Talk to you soon!

[jaybird840]

Thanks to a big bailout by CGarr, I'm back in business (Thanks again, Craig!). I got the last two rockers installed today.


I took Wayne's advice, and decided to lap the valve covers on a piece of glass to make sure they are flat. Mine aren't! I still have some work to do, but they'll be dead-flat when I'm done. I also had an extra hour this week, and painted my cooling shroud. I used F*rd engine enamel. It's not perfectly Mexico blue, but close enough for government work. I figure when it's surrounded by the black engine bay and sheet metal, the difference will not be very noticeable. Ignore the glare on the left side, the right side shows the contrast against the car.



My daughter's softball team qualified for regionals, which are this weekend, so no time to work on the project. I hope she gets to play...she woke up with a 104 fever this morning--thanks strep! It seems like my progress comes in smaller and smaller amounts these days. Hopefully she'll be singing soon!

Later!

[longhornchris04]

Pretty

And Ford isn't too bad a word here... after all aren't there several people running EDIS salvaged from old Ford engines (or purchased new)?

[jaybird840]

....we have a longblock! Rechecked the valves prior to installing the valve covers. Buttoned 'em up. Wow, I never thought this day would get here. Down to correcting a few piddly issues, but it should be complete soon. Carbs are on their way back.


And here it is with the blue shroud and black blockoff plates....



More later!

[jpnovak]

Jay, I know that is a great feeling to have the longblock complete.