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Hey, AI, what's the difference between the 400cid SBC and the 350 blocks? Do they use the same engine mounts? Heads? Bellhousings? What (else) is the same and different (other than bore and stroke, obviously)?
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Oct 5, 2007 03:29
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A few questions regarding a car I'm considering buying: I live in CA, as does the current owner, but it's registered out of state (Idaho I think). I think he said it's been sitting for nine months. I think CA has penalties after having an out of state car in the state for more than 20 days? It's currently registered, just not in CA. It's not running, he pulled out the cam and then lost motivation and funding, so it's been sitting apart in his driveway. Anyone have a good idea on how easy it'd be to register once I (eventually) get it back together? Or is it going to be a paperwork and fees nightmare? Anyone know what cam specs would be good for a built 351C (BOSS heads, built lower end, high compression, I think he said 11:1?) with headers, holley 700 carb, and MSD? Anyone in the Santa Rosa area who has a knack for 70s Fords?  If I do pull the trigger on this, it'd be as a learning project (I took autoshop in HS but want more hands on experience) for my friend and me. We can probably figure out how everything goes together with a book and some time, but someone who knows the process can't hurt 
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Apr 5, 2008 06:53
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It's a '70, thank god. I wouldn't even consider an older car that I have to smog. Such a nightmare. I'll call the DMV next week to see what the procedure is for non-op from out of state.
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Apr 5, 2008 07:21
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PUSSY BARON posted:My dad is letting me borrow his car when I move to a different state. Since the title will still be his name, as it's his car, do we need to worry about getting registered in the other state? Yeah, usually. Here in CA, if the car's in the state for more than 20 days you have to register it.
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Apr 7, 2008 02:47
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The car I mentioned before was torn apart supposedly to replace the cam because he was starting to hear lifter tick. Is it normal for performance engines to eat cams? The current owner's reasoning was that only the outer layer (microns thick) is hardened, and eventually it just wears down. Is it normal for cams to wear out like that? I've just never heard of one "going bad" from normal use like that before, though I've never owned a high compression, high output engine. Does it indicate other problems?
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Apr 7, 2008 03:12
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Stupid question indeed: How do you use salvage yards? Does whoever answers the phone know what they have, so you can just call around asking if they have a certain car within a range of years (or at least a century), or will they just laugh and expect you to hunt through their lot? I've never done this before and I feel kind of silly 
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Jun 7, 2008 05:59
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hippynerd posted:Thats how it works, you call or walk in and ask. They may know of other vehicles with the same parts also. Thanks. I'd like to, but my plan is to call around to all the salvage places in the area, see who has what, then go from there.
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Jun 7, 2008 06:40
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So what's to look for in a '65 Impala? There's one down the road from me (4-door I think, with one of the V8s from the sound of it driving by occasionally) that I'd had my eye on, now it's for sale. Next week (I'm out of town this weekend) I want to go look at it, but I don't know what the common trouble spots are on these cars.
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Jun 28, 2008 06:10
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My dad's 1960 F100 (292 Y-block) has an oil leak that's really loving annoying. I first thought it was leaking from the valve cover gaskets, so I replaced those (and adjusted the valves while I was under there). Well, there's still a leak. The whole block is coated with grime. The engine was rebuilt in the 80s but I don't think it's been cleaned since. It's really hard to see where it's coming from since the front of the block looks wet, back by the distributor looks wet, up by the intake manifold, down by the oil pan.... it's just hard to say. Is there a good way to find out where the leak is coming from, or any typical leaky spots on these engines? We're tired of the slow drip, and of the disgusting block.
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Sep 13, 2008 05:17
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I've got a hosed up alternator. A screw, washer, and grommet found their ways loose and (I assume) caused all kinds of commotion with the charging system. My plan of action is to restore these parts to their original position in the alternator, and then take it to Napa to have them test the part to see if it functions properly with that fix. If it does not, I'll probably get another rebuilt alt and try that. One obstacle I am coming across is that the little dudes in the voltage regulator that contact the rotor are spring-loaded, and it seems like it will be next to impossible to hold them in when I install the rotor and front half (I don't want to take the two apart, I don't trust myself with potentially messing up that bearing). Another issue is that there seems to be some small amount of vibration in that front bearing. I don't know how much is normal, but I know it's a bearing that fails with some regularity due to belt tension. I can feel some slop, but again I don't know what normal feels like. Any input? e: Nevermind, got it back together. Jamming zip ties through some vent holes into the brushes kept them in so I could put it back together. Taking it to Napa tomorrow to get it tested. Raluek fucked around with this message at 11:10 on Jan 23, 2009 |
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Jan 22, 2009 05:24
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Molten Llama posted:Insurance (essentially) follows the car rather than the driver. It may be different for people you live with, though. I (in CA) had to declare who could potentially drive my car in my household when I got it insured. This was with AAA.
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Apr 1, 2009 20:46
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I've got four wheel drums, and they've been lovely and squeaky recently. So I've been meaning to crack that poo poo open and take a look. Only thing that's stopping me, besides laziness, is that I'm not sure what to do about the outer wheel bearing in the front. It comes out with the drum, right? Wouldn't it be a good idea to pack it again before re-assembling, instead of just trying to keep the who-knows-how-old goop clean? If so, since I don't have access to a solvent tank, how would I clean out the old grease? Brake cleaner? I've hand-packed bearings before, but it's a mess. Do shops just clean and pack bearings for a couple bucks, or is it worth trying to clean somehow and then hand-packing with a fistful of snot?
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May 31, 2009 08:49
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There's oil leaking from the valve cover vent on my small block chevy. Does this mean the PCV valve isn't doing its thing? How can I test the PCV valve?
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Jun 27, 2009 01:11
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meatpimp posted:You can test the PCV valve by blowing in each side. A fully functioning valve will allow you to blow through one side with little restriction, but if you blow through the other way, it'll stop the flow. Seems to be good, then. One direction was easy flowing, and the other direction did not entirely stop the flow, but it was significantly harder. Should it be stopped entirely? It's restrictive, but not entirely shut, feels like.
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Jun 27, 2009 01:21
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my1999gsr posted:It should be one way only. If you're able to force air past the valve it should be replaced. They're usually not too expensive and easy to install. I just replaced my PCV valve, and the new one lets by seemingly the same amount of air as the old one did.
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Jun 28, 2009 00:06
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my1999gsr posted:Strange. I suppose if you blow hard enough into it you could overcome the valve but it's meant to be a one-way only type thing. I'm not turning purple or anything, just blowing not-gently into the thing. A trickle is let through. I don't really know how much is acceptable, but since the new one is the same I just don't know what to think.
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Jun 28, 2009 01:10
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my1999gsr posted:Ok, try this - instead of blowing, try sucking from the other side of the new clean valve. If it doesn't seal then I'd have to assume that's the way it's supposed to be although no PCV valve I've ever tested has behaved that way. Well, I drove home with the new part installed. Hopefully it's not full of lovely 10w30...
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Jun 28, 2009 01:29
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EssOEss posted:You definitely want to place them under the body of the car, on the jacking points. Do not use any axles/shafts for support. I disagree with this point. Solid axles are very good points to jack up with, they hold the whole weight of the vehicle all the time so it's not like having a jack under it is going to hurt anything. Suspension bits (arms, etc) can work ok for changing a tire or something, but I wouldn't leave it there on a stand.
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Jun 28, 2009 21:23
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So my friend got a replacement engine, and I guess it's a different year. The replacement is from '68, I think. It's a 250CID I6. What I was wondering is what that bar along the side of the head is for? It kind of looks emissions-related, but this should be way before emissions. Old one (we're still not sure what year the van is) didn't have it, if I remember correctly. Pic: 
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Jul 18, 2009 11:38
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I just bought an engine to play around with (and learn this new-fangled EFI computer-y business) and I found this thing hanging from the wiring harness: http://i26.tinypic.com/2zntxle.jpg http://i30.tinypic.com/asep1.jpg (linked for large) It says "Lucas" on it and that concerns me. Engine is a Vortec 5300, if you have LS1 experience it's probably directly applicable. So what the hell is it? Looks vaguely sensor-ish, like a rotary encoder or something. I didn't remove it, I guess the PO took it off and just left it dangling. Didn't have the same courtesy for the power steering pump or alternator, though, those are just not there. Didn't notice until afterwards, of course. 
Raluek fucked around with this message at 10:22 on Jul 22, 2009 |
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Jul 22, 2009 10:19
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Mario posted:Google Lucas 12450016 and the first result is http://www.thexmod.com/item_detail.asp?id=2305. Seems to be the neutral safety switch. Durr, I kept looking for engine sensors. Thanks!
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Jul 22, 2009 19:17
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I've got a weird one. My car ('65 Impala, 327, MSD ignition, Edelbrock 4-bbl) has been running weird and idling like poo poo, so I did the pull-each-plug routine to see which one was causing the problem. Turns out, it's only running on four cylinders. The ones that don't affect anything at all: 3, 5, 2, and 8. That's every other hole in the firing order, strangely enough. Tried cleaning the contacts inside the cap, didn't seem to affect much. I tested 3 for spark and compression, both positive. Anyone got a good idea? I'm hoping for "well, that's textbook ________" but if it's not obvious then I guess I'll start a thread. Is this worth that?
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Aug 25, 2009 05:38
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Kynetx posted:Sounds like you might have the firing order hosed up. 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 man. Evens on the left, odds on the right counting from front to back: Checked that, and yeah it's right. Bob Morales posted:Define running weird and idling like poo poo. And quit pulling spark plug wires. It was just missing at lowish RPM (not even just when throttle plate closed), would idle really rough and buck. What's wrong with pulling plug wires? I only used it as a gauge of whether a cylinder was working or not. Turns out, it may have been idle mixture after all. Weird thing is, after adjusting the mixture richer a little bit (half turn to a turn, don't remember exactly) it didn't improve much, then the next time I started it it ran just fine. Kind of odd to me. If it was that, what causes mixture screws to turn in by themselves?
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Aug 27, 2009 01:37
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Well, this makes me feel inadequate as a person with a brain. My mother asked me to change the valve cover gasket on her Shadow (1988, 2.2L N/A) and I was all "sure! that's easy! ", thinking of my small block chevy and how easy the valve cover gaskets are. So here I am, and I can't get the goddamn upper timing belt cover off. I got the three bolts, it feels loose-ish, but when I try to pull it off it feels like it gets stuck on something underneath the A/C bracket. It's a large bracket and I can't see how this belt is tensioned (I guess it's the one dead pulley on this belt) so I don't want to take off the bracket if I can avoid it. I'm sure there's someone here who knows the K-series well enough to have some insight on what I'm missing?
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Oct 12, 2009 01:32
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Raluek posted:Well, this makes me feel inadequate as a person with a brain. My mother asked me to change the valve cover gasket on her Shadow (1988, 2.2L N/A) and I was all "sure! that's easy! Bump from a couple pages ago... Anyone? I'm gonna try it again in a day or two, and if I can't pry it free I guess I'll have to take off the A/C bracket.
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Oct 15, 2009 06:33
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Bocklebee posted:Hey, while I don't know off the top of my head how exactly it comes off, I can tell you the job only calls for 1.0h labour, which to me sounds like the serp belt or compressor does NOT have to be touched. Turns out I might not have to replace the gasket after all, for some reason ALL the bolts holding the valve cover on were less than finger tight (one of them wiggled around half a turn as I was trying to get the socket on it). I'll take pics of how it's mounted to show you what I mean, but yes the valve cover bolts are also the timing cover bolts. It occured to me later that I might be able to loosen the timing cover nuts and then take out those bolts, and get the cover out from under it, but it seems like it'd be way easier than when I was wrestling with it.
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Oct 20, 2009 07:55
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I talked to a guy at NAPA the other day, and he seemed to think that the alternator belt issue I'm having is a design issue shared among all early small block chevys, since the alternator sits out as far as it does it just has to run a longer belt and thus is near impossible to tension properly. The lower alt mount is right into the exhaust manifold and the water pump, and I'm considering getting some cheap Summit headers soon. I also am getting the header-mount brackets for the alternator, but it looks like it just puts it in the same place it already was. I'm hoping that the new mounts will move the alternator up to where it's supposed to be, since right now the alt pulley is about 0.5-1 pulley width set back (towards the firewall) from where the line of the other pulleys are, maybe the new bracket will solve this. The dude also mentioned that there are passenger-side mounts that mount it lower, but the heater lines are over there. Wouldn't lower on the driver side be ideal? In short, anyone have any experience with old pre-accessory-hole SBC accessory mounting? There's no point in running headers if I can't rev higher than a couple grand without the belt breaking free in a fit of squeaky fury. Right now, the way it is, I can't go past ~65MPH in third (final) without it squealing, and it annoys me to no end.
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Nov 22, 2009 03:31
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Raluek posted:I talked to a guy at NAPA the other day, and he seemed to think that the alternator belt issue I'm having is a design issue shared among all early small block chevys, since the alternator sits out as far as it does it just has to run a longer belt and thus is near impossible to tension properly. The lower alt mount is right into the exhaust manifold and the water pump, and I'm considering getting some cheap Summit headers soon. I also am getting the header-mount brackets for the alternator, but it looks like it just puts it in the same place it already was. To update, I found this cheap low-mount alternator bracket, and it looks like it'd let me run a shorter belt. It's still close to the same size, but maybe a little bit shorter. I'll probably snag it anyways though, since I hate the entire concept of attaching the alternator to the exhaust.
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Nov 22, 2009 11:37
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Lots of stupidity today. I went through a flooded street that I thought was passable (didn't look as deep as it was, and everyone before me seemed to get through fine) and, besides some water in the brakes, it seemed to run OK immediately after getting through. After parking, though, I couldn't get it to start. Starter would cut out occasionally, my leading suspicion is that it wouldn't crank long enough to actually start. It would start to sputter a bit, but I would only get a couple pops. There was a little bit of water condensed in the distributor cap, so I cleaned that out with a rag. It was getting dark, so I left it at the (acquaintance's) house I parked it at. I'll be going back tomorrow armed with a different distributor (one with points) and maybe go for a starter if I can't find fault with the connections. Still, I have my doubts that it's just the starter since it wasn't popping much at all even after a few seconds of cranking. Still, it's possible that it's just on the verge of catching when the starter cuts out. Automatic, on flat ground, so I can't push start it at all. I'm getting some spark, shocked the hell out of myself when I took the distributor cap off and forgot to turn off the ignition. I know, though, that enough power to make me jump and enough power to make the thing run reliably are two different things. I'll bring another coil just in case. Anything else I should be looking at when I go back tomorrow? Pertinent information is that it's a '65 impala, 327, MSD 6AL with matching dizzy, Edelbrock carb of some description. I don't think any water got up to the carb, it wasn't wet up there, and the engine spun alright.
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Jan 21, 2010 05:20
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NancyPants posted:You got a nice car like that and you're driving through floods? Shame on you. Not so nice these days. I have excuses for the second half, but they aren't good ones. Was going to a job. einTier posted:Well, we're pretty sure it's related to your water crossing adventure, but the engine ran fine immediately after. More than likely, you got something wet that shouldn't have been and now that the car has had a day to dry out, it'll start just fine. No idea what it was or what it could be, but I saw this a lot in the coastal city where I grew up. Yep. I show up with a truck full of tools, and it ended up just starting up. Must have been water in the starter, since it's low down (and is what was showing symptoms). Chalked up to experience, I guess.
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Jan 22, 2010 07:17
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darsh5000 posted:I don't know anything about cars and need to know if I should change my engine oil now; I haven't done it since last summer and I'm not sure how to read the disptick. It's hard to tell the color from that. The oil level is about right, but you change it every 3k miles/3months for old cars, and whatever interval your manual suggests (4k? 5k?) for newer cars. Looks like your oil is pretty dirty from that pic, so probably a good idea. If it's black, it's way overdue, if it's a light caramel it would be looking new. Here's a comparison pic I found online for oil color, disgustingly old versus clean: 
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Feb 1, 2010 02:16
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Car's been running kind of crappy lately, sounds like it's down a cylinder when cold. Pulled the plugs to see what was up, and they all are powdery white. The spark plug reading chart things I've looked at tend not to have this on them, or at least they look different enough that I didn't catch it. A few dudes online seem to think it's coolant? Pic:  Click here for the full 1024x768 image.
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Jul 9, 2010 01:29
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my1999gsr posted:To be honest those plugs look more on the lean side than coolant-contaminated. Do you have any vacuum leaks? Need to get some starting fluid and check. Actually, I've got some brake clean. Some of the vacuum lines are old as hell, so I wouldn't be surprised if one has cracked.
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Jul 9, 2010 02:42
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Wasn't a vacuum leak. One of the plugs had a really tight gap, so I re-gapped it. It runs a bit better, but I haven't driven anywhere yet, will see tomorrow. That might have been it. Also, cold start valve, lol. It's got an Edelbrock 1405 with a mechanical choke, which works just fine.
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Jul 9, 2010 03:27
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My Spirit Otter posted:What size engines can fit into a 1928 Ford Model A? All of them.
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Aug 30, 2010 01:39
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What's the best way to apply paper intake manifold gaskets? I've seen some people recommend spray adhesive or similar, but I'd like to be able to remove the manifold without spending $30 on gaskets every time. I've seen white lithium used on thin ones like carb gaskets, but I don't know if that would be helpful for thick gaskets like intake manifold ones. What's the done thing?
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Jul 1, 2011 08:42
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Quick stupid question - car's been sitting for about a year and previous to being parked had a slow brake fluid leak, I'd have to top it up every few weeks. I think it was at the back of the master cylinder, because it would drip on my foot. Now I'm trying to move it, I got it started, but the pedal has no resistance. The master cylinder was dry, so I filled it. Pumped it for about 15 minutes and couldn't get any pressure at all. The level in the reservoir isn't changing drastically, and I expected some pressure, but can't get any. I didn't see any fresh looking drips under the car. It's a manual drum setup, with a single suicide circuit. Thoughts, anyone?
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Sep 26, 2011 05:40
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Geirskogul posted:Did you bleed it out of the brake lines at each tire? Something like this could require a complete refill/flush I haven't, it was getting late. If it's just air in the lines shouldn't it have a little bit of squishy feel? e: I guess if it's all air it might not have any at all. I'll try that later in the week when I have a bit more free time.
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Sep 26, 2011 05:43
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Geoj posted:And the entire brake hydraulic system for that matter. Sounds like he pumped the pedal with a dry reservoir. Sounds like I've got my Wednesday cut out for me.
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Sep 27, 2011 06:17
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 05:18 |
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Is the return line for power steering low pressure enough that it can do without the flare at the end of the barb off the pump? I want to cut the hard part of the line back a bit and just push the hose on over it, but I don't know if it requires that flare in order to seal properly. I don't have anything to properly re-flare it, since it's what looks like a bubble flare, not like what brakes have.
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Jan 6, 2012 04:38
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