Waynos work truck.

[wayno]

Well the machine shop says the head is junk, they say it ran hot and something like this would not happen in an hour, I do not remember it running hot but they said timing could have something to do with it, I had it at 0 degrees a long time after I figured out the cam was off a tooth, it knocked like hell after that, so I eventually re-curved the distributor but I suspect it was slightly knocking timed at 6 degrees, anyway they say the one groove is at least 30 thousands deep.





Lucky I have a fresh LZ23 engine to put in the truck that I will install the re-curved distributor in right away.



I will start the removal of the block tomorrow after the small job I have in the morning, I will see if I can get the new engine installed before it rains.

[wayno]

I pulled the block this afternoon, need to transfer everything over to the new block, I expect I will need to remove the hood to get that in there, I was able to remove the old block without removing the hood but it had no head either.



I am not sure what is causing this build up on the radiator, the power steering pump is near here, but this is the outside/front, the inside where the pump is is clean, I will need to clean this before installing it.

[wayno]

I finally got the block in the truck today, I had to redo a few things and still have to redo more, I am replacing the power steering pump assembly with a better setup I made a couple years back, I am hoping this one don't make noise and it should be easier to adjust, when I removed the old setup the adjustment bracket was broken again, but I am going to have to re-pipe the return hose/fitting as the parts appear not to interchange like I was hoping they would, re-inventing the wheel is not a new thing to me.




I am hoping to start it tomorrow some time, I have the filter and oil, I already filled the oil pump with oil, I need to deal with the power steering, install the fan pulley/fan and belt, then the radiator, then all the small stuff like fuel lines, throttle cable, wiring everything up which I already started, and put the idler arm back in place as I drop the passenger side to get the centerlink out of the way of the oil pan, adjust the valves cold, add oil...................................

[wayno]

Well I got it going today, the engine sat in my parts room for likely 7 or 8 years, I was trying to figure out a way to get the oil flowing before starting it so I decided to turn it over with the starter without any plugs in it, I put the filter on, filled it with oil, squirted some oil in every cylinder and let it sit for a while, then I hit the starter and it turned over easily, but when oil pressure built the engine started turning faster, I turned it over till everything inside the valve cover was soaked.

The power steering piping turned out to be easy, all I had to do was loosen the return hose, twist it 90 degrees and everything lined up hose wise and it did not leak after the engine was started.

It started quite easy, it idled in the driveway at least an hour while I checked the timing although I am not sure as I have the sawtooth plate and a pulley with degree marks on it, adjusted the SU carbs and everything else that needed to be done, no leaks that I could see, I drove it a couple blocks and it seemed alright, so I went back home and put everything in the garage and then took it for a 6 to 8 mile drive, it seemed alright but when I let off the pedal when exiting the freeway and gave it some pedal a big cloud of smoke came out the tailpipe, I had just been under compression, I hope there is not an issue, when I got home and opened the hood to take the photos I noticed I had not connected the vacuum advance line,




I made a power steering pump mount assembly a couple years ago, I am hoping this one works better and doesn't break all the time like the other one did, also the RPM related noise is gone so it was the power steering pump, but it did not leak or quit working ever, only the adjustment(belt tightener) bracket kept breaking right where it mounted to the water pump bolt









You can see the bracket has been broke for a while, maybe it leaked some but I never recall adding fluid to the reservoir.

[wayno]

Well it took a little while to get it all sorted out, turned out the cam was timed wrong but that allowed it to start and run at 30 degrees advanced which baffled me to no end, it should have kicked back when trying to start it.
It appears to run good now, I have it timed at about 6 degrees BTDC and will advance it a little every once in a while until I hear it start knocking, then I will back it off a couple degrees and call it good, it is kinda confusing as I have the saw tooth timing plate, but I also have the crank pulley with all the timing marks also


This above was very confusing, especially when at an idle the yellow mark was right here.


I fixed all the timing issues the best I could, cam is the best I can get it which is not perfect, I would likely have to shim the cam towers to get it right, I had to adjust the bottom nut on the distributor to be able to time it properly as i ran out of adjustment, that plate was advanced all the way, I retarded it all the way and now all appears good.

I took it for the second test drive and it feels and sounds right now, I re-did all the exhaust gaskets and now it is quiet, I can hear things I could never hear before like the rockers, I might adjust them between the rocker and lash pads to see if it quiets it down and then maybe I will figure out where the squeak is coming from, the minor squeak is sorta like something is dry but when I turned it over with the starter to get the oil everywhere it is supposed to be the cam and everything else up there was soaked with oil, but that is where it sounds like it is coming from, under the valve cover, I can only hear it when it is running and I am standing in front of the engine, it is amazing what one can hear without exhaust leaks.

I adjusted the SUs a little rich, in 200 miles when it is time to change the oil/filter I will pull the plugs, I hope to find them black, if they are not black I will be worried.

[wayno]

I mentioned that incline on the freeway that I could hear it knock in the past on a warm day, well today was not really that hot(75 degrees) but I heard it knocking/pinging on that incline, I am going to retard it a couple degrees in a few minutes, it was only at 6 degrees BTDC now as I recall.

[wayno]

Well I checked the timing and it was at 15 degrees BTDC, I do not understand this, there is no way I would have set it at that , I turned it back to 5 degrees BTDC but I will not be on the freeway till next week.

[DRIVEN]

That discrepancy would concern me. Looks like mismatched parts. Have you verified actual TDC?

[wayno]

Yes I know where TDC is, I used a stiff wire thru #1 spark plug hole, after I had it where I thought it should be I looked down and found the big notch on the pulley lined up with the 0 degree mark on the saw tooth plate, so I can use either set if timing marks I want to use.
The timing thing might be my unstable idle speed, sometimes it is at 700rpm, other times it is over 1000rpms, the actual second I touch the throttle it advances(with the vacuum advance line removed), so what it is at 700rpms is not the same as what it is at 1000rpms, the idle jumps around without any rhyme or reason, I have not figured out why it will not drop down to 700rpms sometimes, I can push on everything and it will not drop, but out on the road it gets into the 700rpm mode and idles kinda rough, it does not try to die(well it has not died yet idling), but it is not missing either, but the way I put on the motor mounts it kinda makes the whole truck shake, the motor mount plate is kinda steep on the frame.

[DRIVEN]

Are your advance weights hanging up?

[wayno]

It appears to advance normally when I give it a little throttle when I am looking at it with the timing light, but I am unsure about the vacuum part of the distributor working, as when I connect the vacuum line up and rev it it acts the same, but I am too lazy to get another hose/line and suck on it while it is running to see if it advances, the hose going to the front SU carb is a real pain to connect with everything in the way so I do not remove it from there once connected.

When I re-curved the distributor I did weld down there, I welded a 1/16" in the short slot to make it a 1/16" shorter like I was told to do by the distributorguy on Ratsun, he does that for people to make money, you see I sold him a H190 Detroit Locker for his Bonneville Salt Flats 620 race truck, so he told me what to do to re-curve my distributor, it still advances when the vacuum advance is disconnected so I don't think it is jammed or anything like that, I tried to do a really good job on that mod, I think it looked really good for something I did when I put it back together.

All I care about is that it does not knock/ping on the freeway on slight inclines, it was knocking last Wednesday I think, I have not had it on the freeway since so I don't know if I fixed it yet.

I do recall before re-curving the distributor I had it timed at 0 degrees to keep it from knocking/pinging, my machine shop guy said the damage to the head could have been caused by that(timed retarded), but he really stressed that it likely happened when it was running hot and lean, I do not look at my plugs much anymore like I used to, I don't do a lot of things I should do, so if it went lean I did not know it, I looked at the plugs the other day when I checked the timing and they certainly were not running rich so I gave it some more fuel by opening up the fuel mixture on both carbs, one more than the other, I have another 100 miles before changing the oil/filter, I will look at them again then.

[wayno]

I took the damaged head to Rick's cylinder head service, the guy there seemed to think it was better to weld most of the damage and shave/mill it clean than to try and shave most the damage off as it would not mess with the compression ratio, he said he would call me in about a week when he knew more and how much it would cost, it would likely cost more than double to make another head than what it cost to make this one 10 years ago, the guy was guessing $250.00 to fix this one, too me that is a deal but I am not holding my breath either, he did not say anything about not being able to fix it, just that it would get hot when welded and he was worried about the seats.

It is also time to remove the oil and filter as it has over 200 miles on the break in oil/filter, I have both, I just need to change the oil.

I did something I have never done before, I did the valve clearance between the rocker arm and the lash pad instead of the rocker arm and cam lobe, it quieted that noise but the squeak I have is louder now, the squeak is RPM related, it sounds like it is coming from the valve cover from in the cab, what can squeak in there except the cam riding on the rocker, I am a little worried as I don't want to ruin the new cam, before I change the oil I will remove the valve cover and look at the cam lobes, it's not the fuel pump arm because I have an electric fuel pump and a block off plate, so it has to be cam related in my mind.

[wayno]

So I adjusted the valves today first, they were all over the place, some tight and some loose, all the spark plugs looked slightly lean so I opened the adjustment a half turn, I changed the oil/filter, I now have 5 quarts of oil with 200 miles on it, thinking about using it as bar oil for my chain saws.
I found a hose and tested the vacuum advance, it would not always move and then when it did move it only returned half way so i took it out and looked at it, the thing is wasted, it had this plastic thing in there that held 3 or 4 bearings, the plastic was in around 4 pieces and the shaft looked really bad, like a spun bearing and that part is the part I welded a 1/16" of the short hole closed, I am not sure it is usable, I had a 1980 Matchbox that I made a plate to use that for now, when the engine is revved it advances differently, I set it at 5 degrees BTDC, I will see how that works out while I figure out what to do as I need the truck for work during the week days.
I did not take any photos of the distributor mod, it likely is an easy mod to do except I have very little room in my engine compartment, I had to move the power steering hose to be able to make room for the vacuum advance module as it is 180 degrees from where it was for the L block, the distributor took a few hours to figure out.

[wayno]

Well it knocked on the freeway today, I checked the timing and it was at 15 degrees BTDC again, I have an idea why it was there, I am thinking it depends on idle RPM when I set it, all I know is it was at 5 degrees BTDC when I set the timing, today it was at 15 degrees BTDC, so I set it at 5 degrees again, but I am running out of adjustment on the distributor slot, how many places can 5 degrees BTDC be.

The plugs were darker today, not completely black but it was running richer, I will see if it knocks again the next time I get it on the freeway.

It has this squeak that is driving me crazy, it is not anything on the outside of the engine, I think it is in the valve cover, I looked in there again today but could not find anything that says this is the squeak, I checked the timing chain also but it looks fine to me, I am starting to think it may be the cam, it is a pain to remove all the rockers and cam gear to see if it turns freely, I am going to take it to the machine shop and ask them to listen to it to see what they think it is, I do not want to remove the head because it will require me making another LZ head gasket, the 2 LZ head gaskets I bought have the coolant holes in the wrong places on one side, that was kinda a waste of money.

I also put $50.00 of non-ethanol premium gas in the truck today and it only filled the tank 3/4 full, on the way home whenever I stop at an intersection the the engine started to idle rough, keep in mind I have an electric fuel pump and a return line, so it gets the fresh fuel fairly quickly, normally the idle is 700 to 800rpms and slightly rough(not too bad), by the time I got home idle was shaking the whole truck especially the exhaust system, well I finally looked at the tach and it was at 500rpms and it was rough, but it was not trying to die, it would have likely idled all day like that, I set it to idle at 900rpms and called it good till I drive it to my job and to the machinist, and then home, none of it on a freeway.

I wonder if the cam could have got bent sitting in my back room for 7 years resting at TDC, I just thought of this.

[wayno]

This is the weirdest freaking engine, I went to the machine shop I use and it looked closed but the gate lock was not locked, I was going to go in and changed my mind and drove home, somewhere between this morning and the machine shop the squeak volume dropped at least half if not more, I can barely hear it now, so something changed, I really hate it when stuff like this happens, I guess I should have pulled the valve cover and looked for a crack in the cam but I got side tracked, my job tomorrow is less than a mile away from my house, I will pull the valve cover sometime after that job.

This engine starts easier than any other engine I have ever owned except that Chevy 350 small block I had in that 65 Nova, stone cold this engine tries to start the moment I touch the key but it stumbles and then it hits again and starts, once warm all I have to do is hit the starter and let off as it is running, it starts so fast I don't want to grind the starter gear into the flywheel, I usually have to feel it go thru a few compression strokes before it hits, it has been that way for a couple decades, I wish my diesel engines started half this good, I am used to "wow wow wow wow wow varoom" and not just "varoom".

EDIT

So I changed my mind and went out there and looked at the cam and cam towers for cracks, I was unable to find any.

[wayno]

I did a lot today, but the squeak is still there, I took all the rockers out, removed the timing chain gear after jamming the tensioner and the cam spun freely, everything looked and felt fine.





I made a little extension for the clutch arm and used a spring to pull the throw out bearing away from the clutch arms, that changed nothing.





I then took these photos of where the rocker arms are riding on the lobes as one of the photos has the nut shaved to give me more valve clearance, as it was mentioned that could cause a squeak.





I started my 520 and it makes this engine sound like a rattle trap, it is very quiet, this engine sounds like all the rockers are loose.


I checked my exhaust system for rubbing and it was rubbing in one spot that did squeak similarly, but that did not fix the squeak.

[DRIVEN]

Frustrating.

[wayno]

Well it turned out to likely be the wipe pattern after I shaved them 2 nuts to get clearance, I found lash pads that appeared to sit slightly lower when in position, and I put different rockers in it because the ones in there had texture, all appears to be good now, I will check the wipe pattern sometime during the week as the rockers I put in had dark ends on the pad, so if it is cleaned off either end I will know I still have an issue.

[wayno]

I set the valve clearance at the lash pad today and the engine is as quiet as it has ever been so far, but I forgot to check the wipe pattern, I was supposed to see if it wiped off any of the black off either end of the pad, I will check it maybe tomorrow.

This is what the rocker pads looked like that I took out, they had texture, they were rough.

[wayno]

I got a call about my damaged head the day before yesterday, they said it was done, they never called me to tell me how much it was going to cost, I asked how much I owed them and thought I heard wrong(I was not awake yet), so today I went over and picked it up, I could not believe my eyes when I seen it, it was so clean and I could not tell they even welded on it.



It cost $190.00 of which $40.00 was for the welding and the rest was for the valve job, I called the machine shop that suggested I go there and asked if they wanted to see it and in the middle of leaving a voice mail AC picked up and said yes they wanted to see it, they appeared impressed themselves, I am not sure if they were happy with how little I paid, but they did say they had customers that took their heads to Ricks and they did the block, they did point out a little hole but thought it was inside the fire ring and not under the fire ring so it would not matter, once I got it home I checked and it was not that close to the fire ring to cause an issue.

Now I need to put it the rest of the way together and make sure the cam rotates freely, then I might put the engine back together, this 8 or 9 year old engine appears to have more power than the new one in the work truck, I re-timed the engine yesterday(more advanced) but have not drove it yet.