I thought I would post a few pictures of my project: Its been bored .020 over and hot tanked. Im going to clean up the all the flashing in the valley today. It looks like the factory must have used air chisels to break it out. Then Ill spend a lot of time with the final cleaning, including running a bore bush through the oil galleries. Then install the cam bearings. Ill try to get some more pics up after deburring the block The Heads were in good shape, new exhaust valves and stock springs, light surface and the guides and seats were still fine. I really appreciate all the people that make up this forum and all the tips on the Nailhead Ive learned from just reading the old posts and asking a few questions! You all are a great resource. :TU:
Cool! I always enjoy a build thread. Please keep the pics coming!:TU: Curious if you will be installing the cam bearings yourself. (I never did it) You may have read that cam bearings might need to be resized to fit the cam..... wondering if it's any benefit to check bearing fit on the cam before they are installed? I'm sure they'll change after installation, but again, I'm just wondering.
Got the valley in good shape this morning and knocked the edges off each cam bore journal so the bearings will install nice. Still need to do the final cleaning. Im not going to install the Cam Bearings, the machinist said he'll come up and install them, so that will be good, then I can monitor him. And be sure the cam fits correctly. ray:
Make absolutwely sure they are installed correctly, especially the front one. That is one of the BIGGEST mistakes when installing cam bearings into a "Nail". Tom T.
Nice Rob J, Cant wait to see your Engine! I always like the engine work the best. And Im for sure learning a lot about nailheads by hanging around this forum. This is fun! :3gears:
Now is the time to take basic measurements of the block, heads, crank ect.... then run taps into all the bolt holes, then blow them out with compressed air.... and swab all the oil galleys and passages with brushes and solvent... then hit them with compressed air.... tap any holes you intend to tap and, you guessed it, hit them with compressed air....:Brow::laugh::laugh: you will be surprised at the additional crud you will get out..... :Brow: CRUD THAT IS ASSEMBLED INTO THE ENGINE IS THE THING THAT CAUSES 90% OF THE WEAR A ENGINE GETS..... AND OCCURS WITHIN 1 MINUTE AFTER START UP..... not yelling,, just making a point..... :Brow: also,,, if you are installing a new cam,,, save the old one to make a cam bearing reaming tool with.... just cut a right hand cut into each journal about 1/4th of a inch deep .... then stand the engine on the bell housing and after the cam bearings are installed ,,, slowly work the old cam down into the new bearings while turning it to the right with the cam bolt and when it is fully down , just a very light wipe with a clean rag and some oil and you are ready to go with coating the bearings/ new cam with moly grease and installing it.....
Great Advice Doc, on the clean up routine. I really like the cam bearing reamer. So I just make a 1/4 inch deep cut across each journal Front to back and Im good to go? is an 1/8th inch wide cut ok.
If you make a cut shaped like a L ,,,, that is 3/16 or so deep that will work.... gotta have enough room for the shavings to go in to......
Before you install the crank, clean all oil passages, it may be shiny on the outside, but is probably full of crud on the inside. I've seen 2 engines destroyed by home builders thinking the crank shop cleaned the crank (because it looks clean) only to discover it wasn't. When I did mine, I was shocked at all that came out. Roger
gd luck with your build, i am finishing up on mine and assembling the engine is def the best part of the restoration. what type of pistons? cam? did you go with. Paul 1966 skylark gs c5/c6 Corvette brakes Ridetech Airride and the best part a Buick 401 Nailhead with a Garrett t67 Turbo!!
Paul, I got the pistons through Kanter, (I got them right before I got active on this forum or I surely would have checked here for a source, the .020 were harder to come by) I asked them who their vender was but they wont say, must be top secret info or something . They are .020 cast, and had uniform weight and looked good. I went with the TA Performance TA-20 cam, it seemed as close as I could get to the stock one for my engine.
i also bought the same set. they were .030 over that i first put in the motor before i decided to turbo it. most likely 1-2 hours on them before i took them out for a forged set .They were a nice looking set and held up fine under the 7 psi boost i threw at it. mine now are .040 over and are from Ross.I bought the complete engine kit the first time from Northern Auto and it was the master kit . This rebuild i decided to piece it together and with pistons that will handle the boost. They are a few hundred more than the first set i bought. (downfall,Price) but they will make any size you need. how do you like the ta-20 cam? i went with the stock gs cam. i really didnt want a crazy cam because i want to keep it as drivable as possiable and when i want to make the power i will add a little boost(maybe some meth injection also). keep us updated and cant wait to see some more pictures!! Great job Paul
The machinist came up and installed the cam bearings, all went smooth and nice. I slipped the old original cam in and it went right in and I could spin it by hand about 90 degrees either way, so I was getting ready to make my cam brg reamer and then decided to try the new TA 20 Cam I will be using in this engine. Its perfect fit, spins nice 360* by hand turning from the snout. :Smarty: so no reaming will be needed. I got some nice bore brushes for the cylinders and oil gallery's so the clean up will be next along with chasing all the threads.
Don't forget to use bottoming taps. Most just use a regular tap & don't get all the way to the bottom of the threads. 1st. regular, then bottoming. Even better would be a thread cleaner taps as they will NOT remove any metal. Don't forget to use compressed air to blow out the holes, then Brakleen, then blow them all out again. A few hours spent now could prevent assembly problems later. Tom T. P.S. Paul, the TA20 is a very docile cam & feel it would be a very small upgrade over a "stock" cam.
Paul, Here is the cam card on the TA-20 I have. http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/4368257/cam-card-ta-20-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y Tom, Thanks for the suggestion on the bottom taps.
Can I ask what all the machining cost? It looks so much better now that all the excess has been chipped away! Did you chip some off, then grind the rest or was it all ground off?
Todd, I used my air die grinder with some metal deburring bits. It takes time but well worth it. The machine shop bored the cyl's, installed the cam bearings, and hot tanked it. It was just standard rates on the machine work.
