Engine Part 4 - Stick with me!

Now I was ready to start building up, with the block off of the stand and stood up on its rear face I readied the cam for installation. After wiping the cam bearings down with brake cleaner and paper towel, use paper as other materials will leave fibres that won’t break down in the oil, I also wiped over the cam bearings and the cam lobes. I installed the timing gear to help with the install and applied a liberal coating of Edelbrocks supplied cam lube.

The cam was then easily lowered into the block and the thrust plate bolted down using the correct short headed bolts and Locktite thread locker.

After the cam the engine went back on the stand and it was time to get the main bearing in. Again much cleaning of the block and new bearings and in they went.

After the bearings the crank was cleaned down and trial fitted to check main bearing clearances. Using Plastigauge I obtained clearance within the range I was looking for.

With clearances confirmed I could lube up the crank and rest it in for the final time, main caps on and the new ARP main bolts torqued down to the required value. This was a bit of a job as each bolt was taken to torque and released 4 times before finally torquing up.

More to follow.....