Well this is beginning to sound like a grocery list, but-
All of what everyone else mentioned, as well as-
1. Might as well have the block hot-tanked and repainted- you
have it out already…
2. Cam Bearings- you can have a machine shop press them in
correctly or you will need to find the right tool and do it yourself.
3. Distributor shaft bushing- this lives in the front of the
block and the gear that drives the distributor rides on it. Again, a
machine shop or do it yerself..If you have the block hot-tanked this bushing
will be destroyed, so you’ll end up replacing it anyway. And get yourself
a hardened drive gear as well- you’ll need it if you are running the high
volume or high pressure pump. They are cheap, and readily available.
4. One that I have done to ALL my Mopar big blocks- the oil
passage from head to block on the passenger side- tap it and plug it with a
standard plug, then drill it out to 1/8”, and of course, clean out the
passage afterwards. This is BEFORE you assemble anything. This
restricts some flow to the heads, but in return, keeps more oil on the
mains. Big Block Chrysler engines are known to oil the heads in spite of
the mains. This corrects that issue, and the heads still get PLENTY of
oil….This is a super stock tip straight out of the days of yore..and I
believe it appears in one of the Big Block books as well, Like how to rebuild
your big block Mopar….if I remember correctly. I got it from
someone who raced back then, and used to port all my cylinder heads.
Passed away now unfortunately….
5. Slime the living crap out of all the new bearing faces with
assembly lube when you put it back together. Too much is never
enough..remember, when you start it again, you are working on the little bit of
pressure you may have put into the system when you primed it. Better safe
than doing it allllllll over again…
5. Finally- replace the main seal at the front of the
transmission. The engine is out, and all you need to do is pull the
torque converter and pull the old one. They are mucho cheap, but a real pain
in the ASS when they fail. If the engine is out, now is the absolute best
time to get to this little monster. Nothing worse then a fresh engine and
a tranny that decides to piss all over the ground!
Most of the guys on this list would just get a rebuild kit and
have at it, myself included. If you are going through all the bother of
pulling the engine, cleaning, etc, etc, it just makes sense to go ahead and
finish it properly. Anything less is just half-assing it at this
point. Who knows when you’ll get a chance again, and wouldn’t
it suck if you got it back together, and then had to pull it all apart again
because a ring failed, or that bearing that looked good at first has now bit
the big one….
Just my pennies,
Charles.
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