Flywheel and ring gear need to be in place so I can rotate the engine with a pry bar. Bolts tightened to 60 ft lbs with blue Loctite.
Harmonic balancer bolt in place tightened to 60 ft lbs – i needed to use a pry bar to hold the crank in place so I could get the proper torque on the bolt.
I’ve marked the dampener at 90 deg. from the timing mark all around. I’ll use the marks to locate each piston at TDC to give the valves an initial setting.
Using the timing marks I adjusted each set of lifters following the firing order of 18436572. At TDC for #1 cylinder I tightened the lifters one complete turn from zero lash. I then rotated the engine 90 degrees and did #8 cylinder lifters, etc. Once the engine is running and hot I’ll redo then lifters with the engine running.
Some of the more boring work – cleaning threads and using a wire wheel to clean the 12 intake manifold bolts.
New gasket kit and an Edelbrock high rise for a Quadrajet.
The gasket set comes with a restrictor plate for the exhaust crossover that goes under the carb. I added a small piece of tin so that it virtually closes of the port on one side. The exhaust cross over helps to get the fuel vaporizing on cold temperature starts. That really isn’t going to happen with a collector car and the extra heat will only over-vaporize the newer fuels. Keeping the fuel a bit cooler I believe is best. I have done this on a Studebaker V8 and it seems OK.
For the opposite side I cut out a small filler plate out of thin tin that fitted nicely in the intake depression. There is a slight chance that it will cause air leaks in the intake runner on this side. Once the engine is running I’ll use a propane torch gas to check for leaks.
Recommended by the gasket manufacture that RTV sealant be used on the underside of the two end gaskets.
I have read also that it is a good idea to use some RTV sealant around the water passages. Sounds like a good idea so I put some on the block and on the upside of the gaskets.
All bolts torqued down to 10 ft lbs. I’ll do a final torque the next day to the full 25 ft. lbs.
Next: Fitting the TV cable and cruise components.