So, after chatastrophic failures in the past, I finally got cheap GM crate motor, and threw the parts on hand on it, here's the progress:
But, something always incredibly strange happens in my world of engine building, and that is... Have you ever heard of mice getting... INSIDE an engine? Placed rags over the intake and coolant thermostat housing openings... planned on blocking it with steel plates, the moment i could buy the plates... and over night, THEY WERE IN. Had to pull the intake off and grab some of the a-corn shards stuck up next to the valves. Even though I think I got all the a-corn shards out of the thermostat opening, I still have some anxiety... would if I missed one, and it fell all the way into the block? or would if I even trapped the mouse within the engine? And, yup, guess the mouse problem is so incredibly severe out here that they actually entered not only the intake, but also the thermostat opening...
I later placed a bucket trap inside the cab, and caught 8 mice in one night, and doing it again tonight, will see how many mice I catch this time!
Needless to say, I will have a near heart-attack on the first engine startup after that mouse invasion. Especially after the previous catastrophic engine failures. :sweat:
Yea, I am currently trying to figure out how I am going to pull the engine and take it to a machine shop to let them look over the whole thing.
Problem is... the only truck I have, is the one I'm fixing... And the engine that I am putting in, is the engine to let me transport my previous engine to the machine shop to fix (camshaft blew in that one).
I feel like just calling it quits at this point, feels like the universe is trying to hold me down, and it's winning LOL
My 36 Hudson was left in a barn one winter with the distrib out. Next spring the engine would only turn 270 degrees. BIG nest built in the crankcase.
Had a customer bring in a 29 Chevy roadster. New engine locked up. Pulled the head and removed two tomato cans of grain/corn from the cylinders.:thumbup:
my 15 yr old daughter was learning to drive in my dodge pickup
we took off out of the driveway and the throttle stuck open
a walnut under the throttle cam (red arrow)
hole in back side of cold air tube; air cleaner gone and full of walnuts
cold air tube and fender air intake also full of walnuts
this is after i raked most of the walnuts off the motor
typical yard in the fall, need a hard hat to get to shop
You know what... this just hit me RIGHT NOW... I HAVE AN IDEA...
I was sitting here thinking... only if i could see what is inside the engine block... ONLY IF I CAN SEE...
Then, it hit me IT'S SO SIMPLE!
Something hit me too - meow. For the love of God - get a couple!
Harry, Henry, Zack and Big Kitty (wife named that one) - you can't find a mouse, chipmunk, squirrel or any other kind of catfood like critter with 100 feet of my house.
We left my friends S-10 race truck outside at his house for a week because of another project going on in the shop. Good thing we had a trash bag over the air cleaner. Went to remove the trash bag to start it. Found dog food in the air gap of the intake manifold. The more we looked the more dog food we found. The cowl was full. Dog food in the frame rails. Every little gap, cubby hole and cervice was full of dog food. No wonder the pups acted like they were starving. There must have been 10 pounds of dog food in that truck.
Not sure if 3.3ft on the endoscope will be long enough, only other size up that i can find is 3 meters! I may just get the long one to be sure it's long enough i guess lol 0_0
Good Afternoon everyone, just making an update for anyone who is following along.
I just discovered something called Gano Filters which apparently are popular on Ford's.
I was sitting here, and it hit me... hey... the coolant flow goes from the bottom of the block, to the top! My brain seems to remember things at random moments, but you may be wondering, why the hell does this matter?
Well, If the mice got in from the top of the engine, I would assume that any debris that they left behind, would be at the top of the engine, where they would only travel back through spaces large enough where they could fit. If the mouse body can fit through those passages, then their debris should be able to also.
Then another thought hit me, would if I could attach a screen, that would not restrict coolant flow, and capture the debris before they hit the radiator... turns out, one exists!
is it me or what is the deal with the alternator set up, I do not think it would even turn the water pump pulley with out slipping? Or am I missing something here
Yup, I am a bit worried about that, but with the proper belt tension, I am sure it will be ok without hard "rev'ing" and keeping things around 4k rpm. The problem was, I had major clearance issues on the sides, I did not want to use a low alternator mount since there were a few times I had to go through some pretty deep pools of water to get home. I have a custom made mount that my friend and I welded together that worked OK, but the alternator tended to sit a bit tweaked once the belt tension was placed onto it.
Eventually, I will switch to the long style water pump, so I can just mount the alternator in front of the heads. Any tips on building a proper alternator setup are welcome. :thumbup:
But for now, It's all about getting something that runs fine with the parts that I have on hand. I don't want to spend a bunch just to find out the engine does not survive the initial break-in process.
*************************TO THE ADMINS************************
It appears within my original post that image at the top has been hijacked, and
I cannot edit my post to remove it. If any admin is passing by, could you
remove that image? Thanks.
is it me or what is the deal with the alternator set up, I do not think it would even turn the water pump pulley with out slipping? Or am I missing something here
all I would recommend is to scour the junk yards and look for some factory brackets that would fit, I was looking at some aftermarket brackets for a BBC conversion and I fully understand the Cost involved in a good set up
The new Gano Filter just arrived! :thumbup:
Just as I was writing this, the USB endoscope just showed up!
The filter almost looks hand made, the receipt in the box mentions parts and labor. I'm used to having to buy the cheap chinese crap, so I was wondering why it was so expensive, and looking at the thickness of the acrylic housing, and the quality of the bends on the wire screen, I would say it's very high quality.
Found out a few hours ago that my radiator that I had under a tarp inside the building also fantasmagically became filled with half eaten a-corns... Dang them mice! Spent an hour flushing the radiator out with a hose, seems fine now.
But, another bit of good news is, now that the endoscope has come, I can finally inspect how well my cleanup job did.
I think I'm just going to let it all dry out, maybe it's the moisture holding it on. Tried hosing it out at max pressure twice, but it seems to be wedged in there pretty good. I may try to take a wire or something and dislodge it.
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