Replacing head gasket fun...

Post by **airbur** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:30 pm

Thanks! Plan is fire it up by tomorrow sometime.

Post by **Rox Crusher** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:34 pm

airbur wrote:Thanks! Plan is fire it up by tomorrow sometime.

good to hear.............I am going through 427 build thread withdrawls

Post by **airbur** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:45 am

Intake is on. Also got the exhaust manifolds bolted up, alternator and power steering pump re-installed.

Post by **airbur** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:53 am

Few more...

Post by **Shawns Fords** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:46 pm

Looks good, I saw you said you weren't going to replace springs. I just hope you don't end up going through what I did and end up replacing them all later at random times through the seasons.

Post by **airbur** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:48 pm

I didn't replace the cam or lifters either.....if I had,then I probably would have gone with new springs. These are in fine condition and matched to the cam.

Post by **Shawns Fords** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:52 pm

Should be fine then. Not fun redoing it all later that's fo sho!

Post by **airbur** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:21 pm

Damn parts counter genius. Looked up the plugs for a 1970 302 Bronco.....went back and apparently grabbed the wrong box....way to small. So now I've got the whole engine back together and no spark plugs! Really don't want to drive to the auto parts store in this.

And for you guys up north...we've got 18"+ on the ground and it's still falling.

Viperwolf1 · Post by **Viperwolf1** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:54 pm

If your Bronco was all together it would be fun to drive in this. stirpot

nvrstuk · Post by **nvrstuk** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:46 pm

Lurking...

looking good!

Almost bought you a polished TypeR intake the other day...it w a s
a screaming deal... shrug

Post by **airbur** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:03 am

Ok....got it all back together again...trying to start it up. The starter turns it over fine, but it's not starting. I hear a pop here and there like it's trying to catch but nothing. It's got air, fuel, and spark. I floored it a few times to see if it was flooded..nothing. Dizzy is in the same position it was when I removed it and I didn't change the position of the crank. Any ideas? Thanks.

Viperwolf1 · Post by **Viperwolf1** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:34 am

Distributor may be in the same position but is the rotor? Put a timing light on it.

Post by **airbur** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:08 am

Viperwolf1 wrote:Distributor may be in the same position but is the rotor? Put a timing light on it.

I had tried the dizzy in the same position, then to extreme right and left (at least what I thought was extreme). Timing light wasn't hitting the mark so I wrenched it further after repositioning some wires and boom! Fired right up!:)

Post by **airbur** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:14 pm

Drove it around a bit and it's running good. I do noticed a substantial knocking noise now though. Not sure if it's a valve or lifter or maybe a rocker. Big improvement in how it fires right up now...no more cranking:)

Post by **Shawns Fords** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:47 pm

Usually when I get sounds that may be top end I check exhaust first for leaks, a small leak can sound like a lifter tap. If thats not it then I do a quick compression check to verify if I lost compression somewhere which would say you may have a pushrod that popped off. I hope its just something like that.

Post by **Justin** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:56 pm

This may be a really dumb one, but double check that your spark plugs are tight as well. I've had that happen and it can sound like a bad lifter.

Post by **airbur** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:10 pm

I think I'm going to need some help tuning. I've been playing with it for the last few days and can't seem to get it to run smooth. It starts right up and idles fine, but once I bring up the RPMs it runs very rough. I've timed it at 11 and also tried a few other settings....still running rough.

I've also adjusted the mixture screws on the carb....tightened them until I got about peak RPM, then backed out about a turn.

Any ideas are welcomed.

Thanks.

Post by **ZOSO** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:44 pm

mixture screws are in all the way till they seat then back them out 1.5 turns. Thats a good starting point. You positive you have the dizzy in at tdc compression stroke on cyl 1?

Also check for vacuum leaks. When I install carb gaskets I put a thin coat of grease on each side. creates a seal and allows you to remove them later.

Post by **airbur** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:11 pm

I did make sure that cyl 1 was at tdc before I installed the heads. But who knows....maybe I moved it. Can't find any vacuum leaks.

Post by **airbur** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:25 pm

I'll remove the dizzy and then rotate the engine until I get TDC on the balancer.....then reinstall the dizzy and adjust with the timimg light.

Post by **ZOSO** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:36 am

You need to pull plug 1 and make sure its on the compression stroke. When you rotate the crank stick your finger in the plug hole and when the air rushes out line it up with the tdc mark.

Post by **airbur** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:42 am

Cool...I'll give it a shot later today. Cross your fingers!

Post by **airbur** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:23 am

Ok, so spent lunch today doing this. I think I didn't have the dizzy in at TDC compression on 1. There was no pressure coming out the plug hole so I rotated the engine one full revolution and then lined it up with TDC on the balancer. I re-installed the dizzy and turned it over...nothing...it wouldn't even fire up. I put the timing light on it and now it's not even flashing:) I may swap it back to where I had it before since at least it was firing up then.

Post by **ZOSO** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:19 pm

There is 2 cycles that have air movement. One will be a vacuum pulling air into the cylinder. Next revolution will be compression. Air moving out of the plug hole. Both valves will be closed.

Post by **airbur** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:23 pm

Yea....getting there. I think I may pull the valve cover off that side so I can see when both are closed. Thanks!

Post by **airbur** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:46 pm

So it's still not working right. I rotated it again and am pretty sure I am at TDC compression on 1 and put the dizzy back in. This time it fired right up. After some timing, I have it at around 11 and it's idling fine now. But again, once I bring up the rpms, it's running very rough. I checked the streams of fuel on both sides of the carb and they are good. I also checked each plug and it appears they are firing.

Post by **ZOSO** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:15 pm

if I had to guess its a vacuum leak. Hook up a vacumm gauge to it and see what that does.

Post by **airbur** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:32 pm

ok...I need to pick up a compression tester and will check it out.

Where are common vacuum leaks found? I did plug the port at the rear of the intake manifold since it wasn't being used anymore. Everything else is as it was. The only hose I have is the one from the carb to the dizzy and it's good.

Post by **ZOSO** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:46 pm

The intake manifold gaskets can leak. the carb to manifold gaskets can leak. its a vacuum gauge you'll need. not a compression tester, unless that is what you wanna test also.

Post by **airbur** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:47 pm

Without buying any new tools (yet), I'm back to square one...now it's not starting again:(

I checked for TDC again and pulled the dizzy cap. I made sure that the armature (I think that's what it's called) was pointed directly at the #1 post/wire. Since you can move the cap around a bit, it's hard to determine but it looks like it's right. Also checked that all the wires were in order of firing going counter clockwise.

It's still getting fuel and spark and air.....but I must be in timing-hell since I can't get the thing to run now...let alone start.

What is the standard spark plug gap for these? I believe they are set at .040.

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