SBC Rebuild Help...
 

so just finished rebuilding engine in jeep (its a 75 chevy 350 4bolt main) that im dumping the carb and putting tbi on..blah blah blah..

anywya just did a massive overhaul on it ( new pistons/rings/rods /journals crank polished..crane energizercam/ lifter set

anyway just got the heads on got the pushrods in place and trying to get the rockers right.. for some reason im not trusting myself on this.even though ive dont this a billion times on a jeep motor..

gettingrocker arms torqued done properly. its saying to torque adjusting nuts down untill no play in pushrod... so im torquing them down till tey dont spin. then taking them 3/4 turn past that.. in proper sequence..

i just dont trust myself for some reason..anybody know what the clerances are supposed to be for this motor? so ican double check clerances with feeler gauges.

i dont want to be wrong wit hthis and fire this thing up next week and have made a mistake and boom there goes my motor....

anybody familiar with the sbc?

with hydraulic lifters there's no 'clearance' to measure in the valvetrain; it's just like you said, in sequence, tighten them until there's no vertical play; DO NOT tighten them until you can't move them side to side. they should still feel a little loose and you can wiggle them side to side, you just want zero clearance. then go 3/4 turn.

best way I've found is to keep the intake off and hold the pushrods near the lifter. if the intake's on, that's fine, you can get ahold of them by the rocker arm. with your index/thumb, keep rotating the pushrod and wiggling it up and down while you tighten. try to be mindful of not pushing down really hard on the socket, which will push down on the rocker arm and give you a false tight feeling.

thanks.. got that done.. now im fihting with the stupid pan to get it back on. wanted to get it primed tonight but thats not happening.

the actual motor was easy to rebuild.its the stupid crap..lol

I hate sbc pans, especially the two-piece rear mains...only way to stop all that from leaking is to not run oil. I really like the 1-piece rear main seals on the 87-up blocks; and after messing with some LS1 blocks, I'm pretty spoiled on sealing surfaces!

with that two-piece crank and awesome pan-timing cover design, Gagacinch (the red/white can with the 'slipping girl' pinup) is your only friend, silicone will punch you in the face and make oil spring out of everywhere but the ground.

are you going with the GM TBI setup or an aftermarket?

im stealing the tbi setup off of gm cars.. i have the intake distributor and injectors off a 89 g20 with a 350..then i have the computer entire wiring harness (headlights to tailights no cut wires AT all) teh serpetine drive setup off a 89 camaro with a 305.. actually have the 305 too.. what is this gagacinch you speak off.. un heard of..

anyway i had a search and rescue meeting tonight so no work was done..pans still not on.. icant get it down ..1/4" gap between the pan and block on both sides.. and oil pump/screen is clearing.. dunno. bout to take a sledgehamer to it....

if anyone wants to see whats going on with the jeep/rebuild link to my photos
jeepsearchrescueguy - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

click on sbc rebuild..

sneak shots.. when i pulled her out..
Attachment 58066

what she looks like so far
Attachment 58067

kind of a retarded question but do you have the right oil pan for that block? Some blocks the dipstick is on the right side, some on the left, same with oil pans.

The only other thing that would keep the oil pan 1/4" off the sealing surface is the pickup tube.

Some times you have to rock the back from the back to the front slightly.

I've always used the 1 piece oil pan gasket from a newer chevy v-8, blue in color made by felpro.

Good luck and looks good!

its the same oil pan i took off... and yup im clearing the pickup...its in the front i cant get down..pos.

thanks for mentioning that, I forgot about that one! that's the biggest favor you'll do yourself with that oilpan.

the gasgacinch is available at any autoparts store, Napa, Pepboys, Autozone....it's a brush-in-can container.