|
Jnewark, it never hurts to double check everything. I bored a 350 chevy once to 0.030 over size and ordered the piston kit. Machine shop man put the pistons on the rods, I ringed them and slid them in the engine. Started it up and it had a knock in it. After much frustration and listening, I tore the right head off and found a STD piston sitting in the #4 hole. All the others were 0.030 like they should have been. Nobody caught it, and as the final assembler I took full responsibility for it. We are all human, mistakes happen. Yup, numbers on the rods go toward the camshaft side of the engine. I would throw the sleeves in the freezer overnight rather than fight with the dry ice to shrink them for an easier fit in the block. As MagMan noted, sleeves pistons come matched, the rings might also. I like to take my older engine blocks out and to the machine shop for a thorough cleaning. Over the years, in-frame overhauls were done because it saved a lot of time and work. Problem with the dry sleeve engines like the M, H and others is that any gunk left behind in the cooling system is not always cleaned out and hampers coolant flow causing hot areas in the head and block. It seems to me that a lot of heads crack on those older engines, I have suspected that poor water circulation may have contributed to if not caused the cracking. Maybe your block is clean as new in the cooling passages, if so great. If not… When assembling, oil is good can’t get too much in during assembly, dirt and foreign material is bad. If the engine binds up or starts to turn hard stop and figure out why. Some resistance is normal, but if you have to start using excessive force to get it to turn, you have a problem. Probably the easiest oversight is ignition timing, not hard to be off 180 degrees and be very frustrated. That is my 2 cents.
|
