1970 455 low mileage suggestions

People love spending other people's money. For mild use there is no reason to get fancy with anything. This engine is out of the car, right?

X2 dropping the oil pan but DO NOT FLIP THE ENGINE OVER! Place the engine on a stand or off a lift and drop the oil pan. Then you can flip it over. If you flip it over to drop the pan then all potential junk/goo will disappear into the engine. When the pan is off you can investigate what is in the sump looking for pieces of possible trouble. If you want, pop #7/8 rod caps off and check the bearings for wear. If they look good just replace and re-torque the caps(Do not mix up the caps!).

When you take the timing cover off to replace the timing chain set(just a stock replacement, no fancy stuff needed) leave the oil pump intact unless that area is all leaky looking. If you have to open the pump up get a rebuild kit, thrust plate, and TA shim kit for the pump and set up the clearances correctly. Install a white Stage 1 pressure spring in oil pump. No need for adjustable oil pressure setups. If ordering from TA maybe get a 5/8" oil pickup. The '70 non-Stage only came with 1/2".

Water pump wouldn't hurt to replace. Should take it off anyway to check the water passages. Stock fuel pump may be leaking oil out of the breather hole. Watch for oil sludge buildup in that area. If not running an oil pressure gauge check the oil pressure sender for sludge buildup indicating it leaks.

No need to degree the cam if keeping the stocker. If the damper rubber has only a few cracks in no problem to reuse it for mild use. If the key slot aligns with the timing mark then the damper has not slipped and you are good to go. You can eyeball that when it is off for the chain swap. If you decide a new cam is going in keep it very mild for a big car. Forget the "HP" stuff. A stock replacement cam and lifters or maybe a TA RV12 would do fine.

No need to take the intake off unless leaking front or rear or for cam swap. When you take the valve covers off that will give you an idea on what is going on below the intake. If that area is filled up with junk then maybe the intake should come off.

X2 on checking the flexplate for cracks plus the teeth.

 

It’s hard to give advice when you take into account someone’s skill level and budget. Here’s another view. So you’ve heard the engine run. How did it sound? No fluids leaking out?

I’d pull the valve covers to look for sludge. If it’s full of sludge, then you have a real choice to make. Neglect and/or lot of short trips would likely mean the engine hasn’t aged well in 45k miles.

I had a 76(?) Eldorado in the shop several years ago. It had 35k on it. Owner wanted it mechanically-sound for a RT 66 trip from Syracuse, NY and back. I resealed the valve covers (not a hint of sludge, it was spotless), and among other things replaced the original timing chain and gears. The nylon cam gear looked like new.

If it’s reasonably clean, pull pan and clean it and the pick-up screen out. Look for chunkers of nylon from the cam gear. No chunkers, and you can save the chain job for another time. You may be able to inspect the cam gear through the distributor hole too. If the pan is rusty, now is the time to replace it. Replace the block core plugs and check the exhaust manifold bolts.

Reinstall the engine, full tune-up (plugs, points, cap, rotor and wires), your “new” carb, new fuel pump, belts, hoses (including the heater hoses and bypass hose) , thermostat and clean the PCV valve, and obviously new (regular green coolant), oil and filter. If the water pump isn’t leaking and the bearing is tight, you may want to re-use it.

Reinstall the engine and enjoy, and take the issues (if any) as they come.

How about some pictures of the car and the engine?

 

I would just plop that puppy in there. Do the flat minimum. Clean the plugs or new.. rebuild carb.. new oil&filer ... The heck with all this extra.

It literally only takes 2 hrs to pluck the motor out if anything is wrong..

 

Jarrod,

I don't see why after this thread has gone as long as it has & nobody, including yourself, will buy something for $20.00 & MAYBE save yourself a whole bunch of time & $$$$ buying stuff that MAY NOT even be nec. Of course taking into consideration ALL the suggestions made, which are all good suggestions.
Just my thoughts.

Tom T.

 

I’m reading all these post and I’m happy to read all suggestions.

I’ve got customer cars on my schedule until the end of April so once I get started I will post pics of everything I’m doing.


Car is currently in storage for the winter.


Again thanks for posting, lots to think about.

 

The decision is always the hard part. LOL

 

Honestly before I spend time or money looking thru spark plug holes for a hour. I would yank the heads have a $125 Valve job done and cut the heads .015 and gain some performance. Then you can inspect the bores clean the carbon off the Pistons,. Etc etc,..no wonder some of u guys never get anything running,..you worry too much haha

If the bastard smokes a little or maybe drips a little from the rear seal well God help us all haha,..if you go spending too much time with a used engine you completely defeat the purpose of buying a running used engine and may as well just build a fresh engine,...that will probably piss a little oil too haha

 

Word^^.

 

Ethan, once you lick the door handle..

Pulling the heads requires dealing with the exhaust manifold bolts. It also requires a lot more than $125! Even without guide work or new valves, proper machine work will escalate the cost quickly (cleaning, broken bolt repair, valve job, resurfacing the head decks and exhaust manifold ports, and exhaust manifolds themselves). I agree about not trying to analyze each cylinder with a borescope. I save the borescope for when there is a known problem, and not as a general engine condition tool, and even then it’s sometimes difficult to come to a conclusion. I would suspect it would even be harder for Jarrod, who has revealed his skill set. Yep, a few drops of oil, a puff of smoke, etc.

 

If you plan on doing road trips I would do what used to be referred to as a rebuild kit simply because of age. Bearings - Rings - Gaskets - Freeze Plugs. New timing cam gear - solid. One other item - '70 rockers were aluminum - check those out carefully.

 

You guys and your OverKill....

Jarrod.
Watch a vid or three of VGG. He gets field cars running. Then drives them home 500 miles.
https://www.youtube.com/c/ViceGripGarage/videos

 

Watched one with a Chevelle. He had a laundry list of things he wanted to do once he limped it home.

 

The problem with watching those YouTube shows like vice grip garage is they actually really dont care about the car. They buy it for cheap throw a few bucks and parts at it to get it running/driving to get it home. If they make it great if not oh well, it's all done for content and views. The parts are probably purchased with money they've made from their YouTube videos on their own channel so it's kinda like free money, not their own actual paychecks that they actually worked for. These youtubers have other daily cars and a few other beaters they've revived that they have kept. As for the OP's engine or car it's highly unlikely he's got a bunch kicking around so if it blows oh well get another one from the shed is probably not that easy for him. I say a good thorough inspection of the engine and replacement of the typical wearable parts for a basic refresh is a good idea period. If this engine is just to beat on and let'er blow well then screw it, drop it in and run'er hard till she pops! Just my .02 cents.

 

Well Ok..

last year I bought a field car.. Was sitting for 5 or 6.. First thought was trailer it home,, Then my brain kicked into gear. I put a battery in in. She fired right up. Turned that into my daily driver. 240k on the clock, tuneup, oil change, one caliper and a heater hose.. Motor needed no real work..

I bought another car just for parts. Well the motor runs great... It sat for 12 years..

All im reading here is overkill. To me all this over kill is a complete waste of both time and money.. Put the motor in the car.. Its a ONE day job to do a motor in and out. Once running then you find if it really needs any real work..
Only then you make your decision instead of throwing parts ( money) at it.. If you throw parts at it you may as well just rebuild it....

 

I agree with you mostly. Like I mentioned a few posts back I'd drop the pan and clean it and the pick up tube before adding any new oil. Pulling the valve covers and oil pan to perform a basic inspection is pretty much free besides maybe some gaskets. Just doing those two things alone you can verify quite a bit about an engines condition and past life. If all looks well button it back up and run it until some issues arise. But if you plan on keeping the engine for a long time it doesn't hurt to do a basic refresh just for piece of mind. If it were me I'd spend a few bucks nothing crazy just to make sure it will be reliable. Like others have stated an engine may seem fine but relying on the old dryed out gaskets and seals that have sat out of commission for god knows how long is like playing Russian roulette, no matter what one day you will be the loser and it'll cost you some money