If you read my other posts you will know I had issues with a shop that was supposed to put a 425 into my 66 Lark, I ended up pulling the car back after 2 1/2 years :af: and trying to put it back together myself. When I got it back the motor was buttoned up pretty much but not running, after some tinkering me and a neighbor friend got it running except it is getting no oil to the top half of the motor. From seeing other things the guy had done to my car while he had it we have 99.9% sure figured it out to be that he didn't put the cam bearing in right and the oil passages were blocked so it was decided to tear it down and see for sure what it looks like. Got it to the point you see in the attached photos and we are stumped as to why there is screws in every other lifter galley? o No: Any help? I don't think it was something the guy I hired did? As the screws look "very" old, the motor when I got it looked to have never been apart (But I cannot say that with certainty). Oh ya, The holes go all the way thru but the screws stop short of entering the galley. Thanks, Tom
Aint never seen anything like that,,,, aint stock for sure,,,,, i would think to hold some sort of baffle or mabey some cam mod.....I dont think that they will hurt anything.... the things some goofy people will do to an engine......o No: :laugh:
Reminds me of someone drilling a hole in a stress crack to stop its progression and then filling it with a screw.
I would at least reseal those screws. If oil is leaking past the threads, it could account for low oil pressure or not enough oil to the top end. Why they are there is a mystery to meo No: Is there an X cast/stamped into the block near the part #?
I haven't read your previous post about the build up. But I know the why to the question, if the guy is an engine builder then the guy is an ass for putting what looks like a sheet metal screws in a cast iron block to block up a hole or God knows to do what. If the block had cracks in the lifter area, then it should have been replaced. Or maybe and I say a big maybe, epoxy the lifter galley area for some support from under the block and above it. But a screw?!?!uzzled: That's not good:eek2: . You can seal it from the top but what about any crack not found underneath it. All it takes is a hairline unseen crack on the bottom of the lifter bore where it cannot be seen. If he drilled the hole thru what does the other side look like. Is there any metal burs that are digging into the lifters? If he clean them out...how? He may have put the lifter bore out of round unless he re-machined the lifter bores, which I doubt. Another thought, cast iron and steel expand and contract at different rates when heated. So what happens when that engine warms up. Both metals will expand differently and if so that screw may loosen and fall out! Looking closely I can see what looks like a tiny blob of loctite type of sealer, but after time that will break lose. If it was a surface crack, epoxy would have been the logical choice, not screws. Wow, that is not good.
I noticed tha t he didn't grind any of the excess casting material away. Hell EVEN I know to do that!! ou: I like the "having a "X" stamped question. :laugh:
do the holes line up w/ the oil passages that feed the lifters if so i have no idea but if not they look like they would have held a heat shield that keeps hot oil from splashing on the bottom of the intake (cooler intake cooler air) or does this motor have a belly pan gasket like the 350's (not familiar w/ nailheads)if so i guess i'm still lost as for what they are for and i was of no help ou:
Gonna be hard for hot oil to splash on the bottom of a nailhead intake.... with the divorced intake and all... and the valley cover....:laugh: :laugh:
I honestly don't know what he builder did so I cannot say if this was done by him or not? He did know by the way that I had more than one nailhead block so I don't know why he simply didn't ask for a different block? Keep in mind it is not just one? There is 4 sets of galleys this way? (Two on each side, the two galley ends on the right side of block and the two center galleys on the left side?). I looked over very closely and do not see any loctite sealer (Or anything else for that matter) holding the screws in? I also can tell you that these screws look "very old" it really doesn't look like anything that was recently added? So ou: what is my best choice here? Is there a way to see or check for stress cracks? Do I pull the screws out and try to fill? Do I pull and loctite them in? I agree with you on the different types of metals and how they may contract during the heating/cooling process. If I could only go back in time and rebuild my little small block 300 that was in there to begin with! Tom
Tom why don't you post this over on Yahoo groups nailhead buick site too. Some of those old boys may have some input.
Tom you could always donate it to me. I run the Southern Nailhead Rehabilitaion Assoc. for Unloved Blocks or "SNRAUB" . WE do not discriminate between short or long, 425 or 401's, etc.even take in the odd Fireball v8's should the need arise. We don't re-home them. We let them live out their days here on over 200 asphalt topped acres, where they can rumble on and just be free. Please consider me (us).(We are also in desperate need of public donations,as it takes $ to get them checked up, repaired,gassed up and running free! ):3gears: P.S. I Really am curious to find out why theywe put there. The Yahoo group would know, if anyone would-great guys!!!!:beer
