Patcon

So I received the vintage TRW bearings yesterday. We may end up using these. We'll see

Lookong forward to this! I have 2 L28ET's here in the shop

Bradenton, thats Cleetus territory 😎

I probably wouldn't go 20 weight unless my oil pressure seemed really low or I had knocking

Many times popping is excess fuel lighting off inside the hot exhaust system. Poor ignition or too much full. Plug gap in the new plugs could be an issue depending on your particular ignition system

Should have a drain plug...?

I never liked English classes but that would have helped 😉

I wonder if the pushrod adjustment at the master would change the slave travel?

Looks good !

So let’s see about a little update: Cody and I started working on his motor maybe a week ago or so We had to decide if we were going to drill the mains out or just slot the block side of the main cap and add a feed hole in the bearing. I looked in Honsowetz’s book and he recommends opening those feed galleys up to 5/16 or 0.313”. Which if I calculated it right is a 62% increase. So Cody and I discussed it and felt more comfortable with drilling the mains. Partly because we’re not making a lot of grit in the engine block. We started by getting the end plugs out of the main galleys. That way we could properly clean and wash the block later. They were stouter then I expected… A little homemade puller big enough for the plug to pass through it We didn’t want to drill the supply mains and realize we couldn't get the main galley open to clean it out. Then we worked on tapping the ends of the main galley for brass plugs We may have to make these deeper but I didn’t want to make them too large since the 3/8 NPT tap is tapered. On to drilling… So this is really sketchy because the metal drills pretty easily but only the very edges of the bit are cutting. We used 3 different sized bits to work up to 5/16”. They didn’t need to be special because you’re not drilling overly deep. We were concerned we might break a bit but with a little cutting oil it went pretty good. We were going to clean the block up and get ready for setting the rotating assembly but I can’t find the main bearings I bought! I went by the machine shop last Tuesday and he didn’t have them. Even though I’m pretty sure I took them, but I can’t be sure I didn’t pick them up. The problem is, right now they seem to be unavailable everywhere. Neither Clevite or King. I found some vintage TRW’s on ebay I have coming my way and I have an order in for some Kings from another place. Hopefully one of them will get here soon. Cody would like to have a running car by Zcon. He will have to hustle! It’s doable but he will have to focus to get it done.

The 23t idler can be difficult to locate. I was fortunate a forum member helped me out with a used one

If the clutch plate is slightly off center then the transmission input shaft is not centered and has an interference fit with the pilot bushing. When using a centering tool, sometimes you need to lift it slightly to counteract gravity.

Looks great!

Pretty car!

Are you sure it's bled properly?

How hard it is to replace the turbo cartridge and get it clocked right? I once tried to disassemble a turbo and found the bolts to be quite persistent!

One detail I didn't see in any of the ads was what wheels were on either end and what the spec was for the factory wheels

If I were going to try to flush a block out. Take the head off and use a prressure washer through the top of the deck and the water pump holes. Messy but you'll be amazed at what comes out.

I had a Z once that read low like that. I rigged up a mechanical gauge under the hood. It was actually much higher than indicated. It's a common issue

Sorry to here that! Maybe we have a member in the area who can recommend someone

The old coolant looked a little bit rusty?

If you are having coolant blockage issues. You might be able to flush it out with the head off. Many times the cylinder head gaskets have some small holes in them. Maybe some of these are getting blocked. Maybe even temporarily.

Blue loktite or stake them. You have to support the throttle shaft to stake them or they wil bend. It a tricky process

The assembly comes out pretty easily. As I recall it just pulls out and has two spade plugs to disconnect

Are the throttle shaft screws staked? It is possible to ingest those if they were to back out, but staking must be done with care...