Engine Woes

This has been a headache! I pulled out the engine a long time ago (as you can see from the date of the post below). The block has been sitting in Frank's Engine Rebuild shop for 7 weeks. A friend of mine said "It's starting to sound like a bad joke." Every time I call, the mechanic there has some excuse as to why it's not ready. I'm a reasonable person, and I've experienced circumstances beyond my control that cause me to miss deadlines, but 7 weeks? Not acceptable. I'm finally going to get the block back tomorrow and install it Saturday (hopefully). I'm working on steering Friday and moving into our house next week (yay), so I may not get to installing it for a while.


Anyway, I had them pressure test the heads and block. The heads were no good. The heads had cracks right behind the seats, and were basically trash. The block was mostly OK. It was warped from overheating. The cylinders were wavy, so I had to have it bored to 4.040". I didn't want to go to 4.060", despite that being more common, because I don't want to worry about heating issues. This means my little 327ci is now a 333ci. (2.02r x 3.25h) x 8 = 333.4 I installed Keith Black forged dome pistons and polished up the crank and cam. I also bought some 461 camel hump 2.02 heads through an ad on Craigslist. The heads are in great shape and are ready to bold onto the block. Pete Jackson Timing Gear Drive to replace the timing chain. This thing is going to be fast and LOUD!


I've also been performing some minor wiring work (horn, wipers, cockpit lights, etc) that I'll rant about after I finish the work later this week.


I also ordered some new steering parts. New inner tie rod ends, outer tie rod ends, dust boots, grease seals, and link kit for the steering arms. Also got a new worm gear, gaskets, bushings, bearings, races and seals for the steering box. I should install those before the engine (easier), so I'm shooting for Friday to work on the steering.