Captain Obvious

So the project seems to be going pretty much according to plan. That's good news! (So far.) Yeah, you might get some coolant spillage down into the sump, but I think if you pull the block drain first (big plug on the left side near the rear of the motor) and let the coolant out there, it'll be minimal. I believe that drain hole in the block is lower than the water pump holes. Certainly less than if you pull the front cover without pulling that drain plug first. And if you do get some coolant in the oil, most of it (being more dense than the oil) should sink to the bottom of the sump and come out with an oil change. And regardless, I would recommend that you change the oil after this process just because it's likely you'll dislodge some junk anyway. And nobody likes dislodged junk.

Roger that. Well good luck with it, whichever path forward you choose, and let me know if there's anything I can do from a distance to help.

Exactly. Small reduction in effort, but every little bit helps, right? Other trouble spots? Getting the BF bolt out of the front pulley will likely require impact gun. You got one of those? I recently pulled the front cover off my F54 block, and it was stuck on there pretty good. I had to really work at it to get it off, and that was with the head already off!! It can only be worse if you have it pinched between the head and the pan. But the bottom line... If both bolts came out of that guide, you're gonna have to pull the front cover. No way you can get to that lower bolt with the cover in place.

Here's another pic so you can see how far the guides go up into the head:

Here's a pic of what you're dealing with:

So you're thinking that the guide bolts came completely out? Both of them, or just the top one? If it's just the top one, you might maybe possibly be able to put that back together from the topside by working down in the hole. If the old bolt fell down into the oil pan, it's unlikely to cause damage down there. It should sink like an anvil, and it's too big to get past the screen on the oil pump pickup. Just don't slip and drop a 10mm socket down there as well. On edit - I'm no engine expert, but my read on that left side guide is that it's there just to keep the chain from slapping around. Under normal circumstances, it doesn't even really contact the chain and doesn't add any tension. If you could get it back into place, it's not critical to get adjusted perfect. However, if the lower bolt came out too, or is loose, you're fubar

Well if you've got that as an option that you've been itching to try out, then go for it! If you decide to look into the one that's on the car, then the procedure you outlined above looks pretty good. Only things I would change/remove are: a) You don't have to pull the water pump off the timing cover. You can leave the pump attached and it will come off with the cover. b) You will have to pull the oil pan bolts around the front of the engine that thread into the bottom of the timing cover.

Wait.... Slow down. Which guide are you talking about? The tight side (left) or the loose side (right)? If it was the tight side that came loose, you probably (maybe?) did not pop your tensioner. Have you got any pics?

The two project motors in the same location! Mine's the one on the left, GGR on the right. We'll make sure we don't get parts mixed up between the two.

I just rebuilt the upper end (just the upper end) of my broken cam motor and I'm getting the same blue smoke on deceleration that you are. My first thought was that some of the valve seals had popped off or weren't seated properly. I did the ol' rope stuffed into the cylinder trick and pulled a couple of the springs back out to have a look and didn't find anything amiss. And since then, I've tried my best to visually verify that the rest of the seals are down where they're supposed to be. With limited success, I've confirmed that all the seals look like they're seated. So, assuming that all the seals ARE seated properly, my second thought goes like this... Before the upper end rebuild, most of my valves were not sealing properly, and I'm theorizing now that I've done the upper end rebuild they are sealing much better. Better valves, higher vacuum, and I'm thinking that maybe I'm pulling more oil up past the rings than I was before. I get a good puff of blue at the bottom after coasting down a big hill. Especially if the RPMs were above the fuel cut-off level. Then once the fuel starts spraying in again, all the oil which had built up in the cylinders (while the cylinders weren't firing at all) is all burned at once. That, or maybe there's something wrong with the sealed power valve seals that I used. There was some discussion, by me, about that possibility in the past. What valve stem seal brand did you use?

For the big casting flash seams on the outside of the head, I just used a carbide bit on a dremel. I didn't take any after shots, but this is what I started with. I buzzed off the worst of it with the dremel and then finished with a hand file:

Woof. Well here's to hoping it's not serious.

I hate burrs. I deburr everything. Even the stuff that doesn't matter. Couple days ago I spent an hour grinding the casting flash seams off the outside of my P79. No functional reason. Maybe I could convince someone it's easier to clean. The real reason I cut the back of a knuckle on one of them when I was working on my broken cam motor. I liked the results so I did the same thing to the P79.

LOL!! We'll make sure that doesn't happen!! Let's phone tomorrow and see if this could work. I think we're cutting it too close time-wise. I don't think we're going to have all the parts by the time you're up here.

Well part of the reason I brought it up was to illustrate that the stock damper is NOT really a tight fit on the crank. I'm confident that the damper has never ever been off my F54 since it left the factory and with clean mounting surfaces it's sized to be a slip fit onto the crank shout.

Rut roh. What do you think is going on? Spin a bearing?

Well I'd be happy to do the motor work for you, but I feel like it's something you want to do yourself. Isn't that the case?

Thanks!! I'll let you know when that stuff gets here. My motor and my stand are going to GGR's tomorrow. If I remember, I'll try to get pics of the two motors side-by-side.

I don't know... With a name like that, the crab in the window is a little disconcerting. * I know it's a lobster, but close enough for a joke.

Hahahahaha!!!!! That movie should be required viewing for anyone who has ever worked in or near a cubicle.

Don't worry about the cam gear stuff going over your head. I'll draw you some pics next time we get together. We got you covered. About the oil galley plugs... It's just one more thing that if I didn't have to mess with, I was hoping to leave it be. I am a little worried about the hot tank not being able to thoroughly get to that area if I don't pull them though. Maybe I should just pull them. I think I'll wait until my motor is on a stand over at GGR's shop. We're gonna have two of them sitting next to eachother as they're being built. Would be extra cool to have three of them in a row you know......

madkaw, Yes, All the discussion about the drilling and offset bushing stuff is premature. Don't know yet if it'll be necessary, but I was just confirming that I can do it if I have to. Stock stretch holes may be good enough, but I have the means to achieve finer degrees of accuracy if necessary.

Oh yeah, and I saw your for sale post about the E88 head from that motor... Is that the large chamber or small chamber version of the E88? From what I've read "on the internet" the E88's from the 240's are the small chamber and the ones from the 260's are the larger chamber.

Woof. I've seen at least four of those busted pulleys now. On my F54/P79 I just pulled the oil pump drive gear and lower timing gear off. I cleaned up the crank snout real good first and then slid the gears off. As I did that, I noticed a tight spot passing over the keys and determined that there was a small metal bump on the side of the outermost key. Not much, but just enough to cause some friction when the gears were right at the position where they were passing over two keys at once. The "upset" metal looked like it was caused by a mallet blow to set the key, probably done at the factory. I dressed that bump off the side of that one key and now the gears slide on and off with ease. Also, while I was messing around in that area of the motor, I refit the harmonic balancer into place just to make sure everything fit easy, and it did. With a clean crank snout and a clean bore inside the stock balancer, it slid right on all the way home easily. No mallet required. On and off smooth and easy with one hand. Clunks all the way home when it bottoms out against the oil slinger. Of course, you'll have a little more friction with a front main oil seal in play, but not much. You should still be able to feel that clunk. Point is...... I've heard reports about aftermarket balancers being very tight on the crank snout, but my stock one was not tight at all. If you find yourself having to fight with the balancer to get it on, you might want to stop and look things over real good for issues before you crack something.

Still early in the investigative process, but a hiss sound just off throttle sounds like the ported vacuum that drives the distributor and CARB can. Did you remember to hook that little vacuum line back up after you were done messing with the AFM duct to the throttle body?