Well, not exactly a "job" since I am not being paid, but regardless, I have my first assignment in my new mustang restoration shop. A local police officer owns a 66 coupe with a bad engine. He picked up what was told to him was a rebuilt at lightly used 67 289 engine for $400, plus a bunch of spare parts (early 289 heads, brand new chromed Try-Y's, a Holley 650 double pumper, and a few more.) The engine is equipped with an Edelbrock performer 289 intake, motorsport finned valve covers, and new MSD dizzy.
I told the guy he could put it in my shop and I would help him go through it, clean it up and paint it, etc. After degreasing and using a wire wheel and die grinder to remove rust from different parts of the block, water pump and pulleys, pulled the oil pan and valve covers. Inspecting all of the casting marks, it is actually a 1972 302, assembled on Jan. 6, 1972, with a block designated for a Fairlane. It has the front dress for a 289, including timing cover, pulleys, water pump and a C8 balancer.
Checked the valve adjustment and tightened two rocker nuts, checked the torque on the head bolts, main caps and connecting rods and found one or two of each needing torquing. I will pull the oil pump and tear it down and clean it, reassemble. The intake is being bead blasted and clear coated. I replaced a broken dist. cap with a spare I had laying around and also replaced the broken fuel pump with a spare I had laying around. It looks real clean inside and there is no carbon build-up on the piston crowns. The plugs read well also. I hope to paint and reassemble over the next couple of days and install it in his car on Sunday.
The cop is young (33), ex-marine and on the force's gang suppression detail. Nice guy. I have his buddies stopping by the shop in their squad cars to talk with the two of us while we are working. One has a classic mustang and another a 68 camero. They are enthused about having a place where they can work on their cars in their off time. If I have the floor space available and no jobs to do, I'll let them pull in their cars and work on them.
Meanwhile, I received a complaint from the owner of the massage parlor across the parking lot from me that her business was down 50% because clients won't stop in when the police cars are around. haha.
Any other suggestions on what to look for in checking out the engine? I checked the valve springs and all the retainers/keepers are there, the springs are intact, the lifters operate normally. The rockers are rail rockers so the rocker/valve stem alignment is pretty much idiot proof. Rotating the crank by hand is smooth and there is no noise from the cylinders or feeling of drag from a broken ring. You can feel resistance to rotation as compression builds, so I suspect when I run a compression test it will come out fine (can I check this by rotating by hand or do I need to have the speed of rotation provided by a starter motor?) I'll check the hoses, belts, and replace the rotor in the dizzy, set the timing, adjust the carb and replace plugs and plug wires. should be ok. If it is not too expensive, we'll take the car, with the engine installed, to a dyno shop and check the A/F ratio and see whether the carb needs re-jetting.
First oil is now spilled on the shop floor.
I told the guy he could put it in my shop and I would help him go through it, clean it up and paint it, etc. After degreasing and using a wire wheel and die grinder to remove rust from different parts of the block, water pump and pulleys, pulled the oil pan and valve covers. Inspecting all of the casting marks, it is actually a 1972 302, assembled on Jan. 6, 1972, with a block designated for a Fairlane. It has the front dress for a 289, including timing cover, pulleys, water pump and a C8 balancer.
Checked the valve adjustment and tightened two rocker nuts, checked the torque on the head bolts, main caps and connecting rods and found one or two of each needing torquing. I will pull the oil pump and tear it down and clean it, reassemble. The intake is being bead blasted and clear coated. I replaced a broken dist. cap with a spare I had laying around and also replaced the broken fuel pump with a spare I had laying around. It looks real clean inside and there is no carbon build-up on the piston crowns. The plugs read well also. I hope to paint and reassemble over the next couple of days and install it in his car on Sunday.
The cop is young (33), ex-marine and on the force's gang suppression detail. Nice guy. I have his buddies stopping by the shop in their squad cars to talk with the two of us while we are working. One has a classic mustang and another a 68 camero. They are enthused about having a place where they can work on their cars in their off time. If I have the floor space available and no jobs to do, I'll let them pull in their cars and work on them.
Meanwhile, I received a complaint from the owner of the massage parlor across the parking lot from me that her business was down 50% because clients won't stop in when the police cars are around. haha.
Any other suggestions on what to look for in checking out the engine? I checked the valve springs and all the retainers/keepers are there, the springs are intact, the lifters operate normally. The rockers are rail rockers so the rocker/valve stem alignment is pretty much idiot proof. Rotating the crank by hand is smooth and there is no noise from the cylinders or feeling of drag from a broken ring. You can feel resistance to rotation as compression builds, so I suspect when I run a compression test it will come out fine (can I check this by rotating by hand or do I need to have the speed of rotation provided by a starter motor?) I'll check the hoses, belts, and replace the rotor in the dizzy, set the timing, adjust the carb and replace plugs and plug wires. should be ok. If it is not too expensive, we'll take the car, with the engine installed, to a dyno shop and check the A/F ratio and see whether the carb needs re-jetting.
First oil is now spilled on the shop floor.
