Be sure your putting the rod and main cap on correct. Remember tang to tang. If one is backward it will bind up. Also some one mention the rod having cracked caps, not true on the L31 vortecs. All rods are the PM and are of standarad chevy.
'80 442 Vortec swap won't run...
- Thread starter HotRods442
- Start date
Well 1-4 have arrows on them, point to front, 2, 3, & 4 stamped on top... hard to get wrong, and same with rods, given they are different on each side...mirror each other on every throw... notch on crown toward front, hypereutectic flattops, thinner low tension rings... roller cam, etc... pretty neat setup for the final hurrah of Gen 1...
1-4 with arrows are the main caps. The rod caps are not marked from the factory. I have always marked the mains 1-4 in the order that they came off the motor. Some mains for the factory are numbered and some are not. The same goes for the rods Tang to Tang 1-8 these are not marked with a number from the factory. All rods and mains must go back the same way they came off.
These mains are stamped, rods aren't, but I keep them in order, also numbered with a sharpie on piston tops and caps, aside from boards I keep them on, in order...
New mains done, .0015 on 2 & 4, .0017 on 1, 3 & 5... spins very freely... .002 on #1 rod... So far, so good... in a way, having that extra clearance leans toward my plan to cool the engine down from the well beyond boiling point it runs at natively... That should stop me from buying new heads, when it overheats... I'm already having to replace one head... #4 exhaust has a half inch crack across quench area, across seat, and into port... Hopefully, I'll find a good one at a junkyard, don't want to buy a rebuilt head, most are nearly as much as chevy charges for new heads... may have to get a new bare head from Rockauto, if I don't find one that's crack free... seems to be cheapest new option...
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Agreed. I haven't heard anything good about those Chinese Quadrajets. A known good carb would be nice for troubleshooting.
Huh. Low compression and timing way off. For some reason that new Cloyes timing set sets off a faint bell to me. Is that the kit where the crank gear has the multiple key way cuts in it for retarded, straight up, and advanced? From the product description pictures, it appears those keyway cuts are at roughly 120 degrees to each other along the inner surface of the crank gear. If so, any possible chance that where the gear landed on the crank snout is not straight up but either too advanced or too retarded for the engine to sneeze at you?
Another interesting blip would be the balancer. Given a used motor with what seems to be an unknown or very vague pedigree, did you happen to check the balancer for damage/accuracy? That rubber doughnut between the inner and outer rings is supposed to be bonded in there but it can deteriorate due to vibration and heat and chronic assault from mud and crud and overall general abuse. Over time, the outer ring can actually move which, if what has happened, can play havoc with getting an accurate base time setting. Do you have another balancer available to you that matches the existing unit for application and which you can use for a comparison?
As for the compression, injecting a little oil into the spark plug holes to see if the compresssion comes up is a very good idea to try; might suggest using Marvel Mystery Oil instead of just normal 5W30. I've found that Fleet-Farm carries the stuff by the quart.
And you did mention editing out much of the original Gen 1 EC infrastructure but maybe/possibly something still there in an obscure nook or cranny that was part of the ECU control system and is still trying to influence the agenda?
Nick
Another interesting blip would be the balancer. Given a used motor with what seems to be an unknown or very vague pedigree, did you happen to check the balancer for damage/accuracy? That rubber doughnut between the inner and outer rings is supposed to be bonded in there but it can deteriorate due to vibration and heat and chronic assault from mud and crud and overall general abuse. Over time, the outer ring can actually move which, if what has happened, can play havoc with getting an accurate base time setting. Do you have another balancer available to you that matches the existing unit for application and which you can use for a comparison?
As for the compression, injecting a little oil into the spark plug holes to see if the compresssion comes up is a very good idea to try; might suggest using Marvel Mystery Oil instead of just normal 5W30. I've found that Fleet-Farm carries the stuff by the quart.
And you did mention editing out much of the original Gen 1 EC infrastructure but maybe/possibly something still there in an obscure nook or cranny that was part of the ECU control system and is still trying to influence the agenda?
Nick
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