Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[realvc]

Hey JB, that really ***** to have that happen. Have you torn apart the oil pump to see what it looks like inside? If you had the grindings from the heads get in the pan there be some in pump too. If you have your heads and block vatted at a machine shop/engine rebuilders it should take care of any thing left behind. I would replace the oil pump at the same time.
Good luck, I pulling for you bro.

Having motorized toys brings such joy and grief at the same time.

Vince

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I honestly can't remember if I cleaned out the oil galleys or not.
JB

The basic rule is to clean it thoroughly, then clean it three more times even better. Then you probably still miss something.

 

[BUGTHUG]

Damn JB I hate to hear that. The only way it would be worse is, if it was mine

 

[jbmatth]

Hey JB, that really ***** to have that happen. Have you torn apart the oil pump to see what it looks like inside? If you had the grindings from the heads get in the pan there be some in pump too. If you have your heads and block vatted at a machine shop/engine rebuilders it should take care of any thing left behind. I would replace the oil pump at the same time.
Good luck, I pulling for you bro.

Having motorized toys brings such joy and grief at the same time.

Vince

I did pull the cover off of the oil pump this morning and it didn't look bad, and I didn't find anything in it. More to come on that later. So far it looks rebuildable so to the machine shop it'll go Monday. I hear you, I really enjoy playing but dislike the setbacks that do happen.

The basic rule is to clean it thoroughly, then clean it three more times even better. Then you probably still miss something.

In chemistry class they rule was to clean your equipment 3 times with distilled water before introducing any other substance. Sadly I only cleaned 2 times with water, I'm a terrible person but I like me so that is all that matters really.

Damn JB I hate to hear that. The only way it would be worse is, if it was mine

I know the feeling, if you are not busy I have some humble pie I've been enjoying the past few days. haha


All,
Well as I alluded to above the engine is out and on the stand. I pulled the oil pan and inspected the pump, looked good but will still likely be replaced. The big telling thing was the dip stick of all things, when the oil pump is installed the pickup is above the dipstick. That means when I pulled the dipstick out and had no oil on it while running the oil pump pickup was also not in the oil. I'll have to check that I didn't get the head gaskets on wrong but did look at that when I installed them...I thought. I'll pull more out this weekend but as of now it looks savable with minimal new part cost.

JB

 

[rmack898]

Sorry about your motor JB, PM sent.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I'm a terrible person but I like me so that is all that matters really.

Have you been reading my diary?

 

[bj383ss]

The pickup is above the dipstick? That is kinda weird. On a small block Chevy the pickup is like 1/4" off the bottom of the pan.

Bret

 

[jbmatth]

Sorry about your motor JB, PM sent.

Mac,
Thank you for the PM, I will be doing a much better and accurate assembly on the engine this time around, I really don't want to do it a 3rd time.

Have you been reading my diary?

Nope, I couldn't find the key...

The pickup is above the dipstick? That is kinda weird. On a small block Chevy the pickup is like 1/4" off the bottom of the pan.

Bret

Bret,
I didn't measure it but the tip of the dipstick was below the oil pump pickup, not sure how far off the bottom of the pan it was though.


All,
First of all thanks for all of the comments and interest in the issues I've been facing on this engine rebuild. I've learned a ton and am continuing to learn more as the process continues. I have one question I'd like a hand with if anyone has any ideas. Oil return, I mentioned earlier it didn't seem like the oil was returning to the pan how it should have been. I pulled the engine down to this:

So far I haven't found anything that would restrict oil return to the pan, I haven't pulled the heads yet to see if there was an issue with the gasket causing oil return problems.

I did pull the lifters and cam to have a look and luckily the cam looks good from first inspection. The bearings will need replaced but good news so far, I think I caught it just in time. I'm calling a local shop today to see if they can get it in and give it a once over, hot tank it and make sure the cam and crank are still good, then I'll start ordering parts again for round 2.

In another note I got distracted and picked up a new toy:

Fun negotiations, he wanted $500, I offered $400, he countered $450, I came back with $440, and he said lets meet in the middle, I was thinking $445 is an odd number but okay when he said $425... I paid the man and was happy, he then threw in a pallet jack that needs a new wheel for free. It was a good day.

JB

 

[Nlped]

That Coats machine is a good one. It needs a bath though.

I did something like that last year and have gotten a lot of use out of mine.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OutlawDrifter]

JB, you officially are the ultimate negotiator!

 

[jbmatth]

That Coats machine is a good one. It needs a bath though.

I did something like that last year and have gotten a lot of use out of mine.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it, I wanted to wash it but it was 30°F (-1°C) when I loaded it and slilghtly cooler when I unloaded it. Brrr.

JB, you officially are the ultimate negotiator!

I don't know about that, but saving $15 on accident doesn't hurt.

JB

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Sounds like he failed math class. Great deal.



I would try pouring some oil on top of the head and see if it flows through. Although if you are pulling the heads anyway it is only academic.

 

[jbmatth]

Sounds like he failed math class. Great deal.



I would try pouring some oil on top of the head and see if it flows through. Although if you are pulling the heads anyway it is only academic.

That is how I filled the engine with oil, it does drain but may not (I really don't think it has been able to) drain back fast enough.

All,
I talked it over with the machine shop today, they are going to give it a once over and make sure I didn't ruin the crank and cam, hot tank everything, and I'm going to have them go through the heads and install bearings as well. It is a case of "well they are already doing A so why not B, C, & D". I'll just work some overtime to pay for it...Oh yeah I don't get paid for overtime.

JB

 

[Bob Heine]

Oh yeah I don't get paid for overtime.

JB

JB, don't they give you that huge meal allowance? As I recall it works out to about $1 an hour.

 

[jbmatth]

I must have missed that in orientation Bob, I do get a "free" meal from time to time but most of them I have to give presentations to get.

I will say though it is 27°F (-3°C)and windy today spitting snow and I'm in my office checking drawings. I'll have to go to the gym to run off that free meal for being so lazy today. haha

JB

 

[isonic]

I will say though it is 27°F (-3°C)and windy today spitting snow and I'm in my office checking drawings.JB

I didn't realize it got that cold in OK. It is 27°F and sunny in Minnesota today, Of course it will be -3°F over night, which you probably wont get I am guessing?

 

[jbmatth]

I didn't realize it got that cold in OK. It is 27°F and sunny in Minnesota today, Of course it will be -3°F over night, which you probably wont get I am guessing?

We don't very often get below 0°f, in the 10 years I've lived here it seems like it'll hit single digits a handful of times a year. The second winter I was here(2010-2011) it hit -25°F (-32°C) one night, that night it was a balmy -23°F on the south pole.
My car wouldn't start so I had to change the battery in that outdoors. Brrr Then that summer we were over 100°F (38°C) 50 days total and hit 114°F (45.5°C), I started to second guess my decision to move here.

JB

 

[isonic]

We don't very often get below 0°f, in the 10 years I've lived here it seems like it'll hit single digits a handful of times a year. The second winter I was here(2010-2011) it hit -25°F (-32°C) one night, that night it was a balmy -23°F on the south pole.
My car wouldn't start so I had to change the battery in that outdoors. Brrr Then that summer we were over 100°F (38°C) 50 days total and hit 114°F (45.5°C), I started to second guess my decision to move here.

JB

Crazy. I think I would rather have the cold winter than the Hot summer....or maybe neither

Where did you move from?

 

[bj383ss]

One thing you can do for drain back is radius all the drain back holes in the block and the heads. They usually have sharp corners from the factory. Sometimes you can also radius the return hole in the pump.

Bret

 

[jbmatth]

Crazy. I think I would rather have the cold winter than the Hot summer....or maybe neither

Where did you move from?

I'm more of a fan of the summer personally, but it can get tough. What I dislike about cold is it is painful and is really hard for me to get warm once I do get cold. I moved from SE Missouri, pretty much exactly 8 hours east on Hwy 60. It didn't see the extremes we have hear but I've now lived here longer than their. I was in north central Mo before that and don't really remember much about it other than some HUGE snow drifts taller than a trailer house near us.

One thing you can do for drain back is radius all the drain back holes in the block and the heads. They usually have sharp corners from the factory. Sometimes you can also radius the return hole in the pump.

Bret

I'll mention that when I drop it off, I meant to do that to the heads when I was working on them but completely forgot, I didn't initially plan to mess with them on the block, but will bring it up and see what they say.

I have the engine loaded up and ready to drop off at the machine shop today. I'm compiling notes to hand off to hopefully not forget anything. We had a scuff of snow at the house, but really nothing at work, pretty interesting how much the weather is different 30 miles away.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice score on the tire balancer. I would like to have a balancer and mounting setup as that would be one more thing I could do and control myself but can't justify giving up the real estate for it.

I'll bet that will clean up nicely.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

You threatening to cut that block up if it doesn't behave, or to turn it into knife blades?

 

[jbmatth]

Nice score on the tire balancer. I would like to have a balancer and mounting setup as that would be one more thing I could do and control myself but can't justify giving up the real estate for it.

I'll bet that will clean up nicely.

I would like to get a better tire machine that is better suited for larger wheels and/or tires. Otherwise it is very nice to be able to now move them around as needed. I am surprised at how much wheel weights cost and how many different types there are. Maybe I need to open my own tire shop to pay for all of this.

You threatening to cut that block up if it doesn't behave, or to turn it into knife blades?

That Buck is actually a little lever action BB gun I picked up on a whim. It is a good way to kill 30 minutes.

JB

 

[Redwolf947]

JB, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.. Hopefully every thing with the engine works out..

 

[jbmatth]

Thank you Redwolf, I plan to call today and see how it is going, it'd be nice to be able to install it over Christmas break. We won't have a white one this year, but the lows will be upper 40's (9ish°C) and highs approaching 70 (near 20°C).

JB

 

[jbmatth]

It is that time of year again and I'd like to do a little wrap up on the happenings this year at the Warthog Hidey Hole, this will be a few posts so hang in there. The year started off working on the S10 some more. The Lil' Blue Truck was in the middle of open heart surgery. I was putting the finishing touches on the cam swap and engine re-install:

It went back in with little fuss and then it was onto the new stainless exhaust. When I was building it I believe it was one of the few times I'd tig welded so I was still pretty new at it but all went well:

Or so I thought, I was fighting exhaust leaks for a while then "solved" them only to have them return over and over again. I'm now using lock nuts and double nutting them and it seems to be working for now.

Eventually it was all together and working and boy was the new found power fun! That was about the time I worked a month on nights for an outage at work. We had snow one day on my way in and of course this happened:

Sadly that wouldn't be the only time that car was down and out this year, mid summer I hit a nasty washout and really tore it up, bent rim, blown airbag, and bent the sub-frame in a few locations:

I kept driving it until the seat belt stopped working, eventually I took it to be remade into a Kia. It had a lifetime average of 44.612 MPG which I can't complain about at all, it had very few real problems and I would have trusted it to take me hundreds of miles away if needed.

That did open the door to fix up the Lemon and start driving it, new tires, and struts had it on the road (Old photo but meh it is the car):

I picked up the tools needed to work on the air conditioning and we were good to go:

I even installed a small stereo system and leather seats:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

It looks like I jumped ahead a little, I redid the suspension and steering on the S10 as well, replaced all of the steering components and lowered the front of the truck:

Part of the reason I had to lower the front of the truck was because the rear leaf springs started to bend on me for some reason I replaced the rear springs with traction bars and a split mono-leaf setup that really transformed that truck. It would wheel hop before but now would just hook and get moving. I also picked up a nice clean hood and fender that didn't have peeling paint but not good pictures so this will be the fill in:

Also not pictured I replaced the tailgate with one that isn't dented, but sadly the new one didn't clean up as much as I'd hoped. I made a deal with my grandmother to buy her old car and my grandfather's truck:

I drive it on occasion and it has been pretty flawless other than I had to replace the starter solenoid, but back in business now. My little brother dropped off his truck he was trading my parents so I could do some gasket changes, being short it was easier to just pull the body to do the work:

Ah much better:

Another little adventure, was when I broke the shift cable in the cobra in the middle of town and still drove it to a friends shop, sadly I later found out that killed the 2nd gear synchros:

I took advantage of the downtime to fix a few other nagging issues and it was all good to go and Cat approves:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I somehow ended up getting a free car this year for no other reason than I said I would take it, it cost me a couple of buck to get it delivered, but worked out in the end:
IMG]https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=959064&stc=1&d=1577112710[/IMG]

I was able to get a few good parts from it but in the end there was too much rust to save it. It along with 3 others made their way to the scrap yard this year after selling off a few parts to get a little extra change in my pocket.

The next big project that we kinda had to crunch on was installing the AOD transmission into Alex's Mustang:

I was able to get it done but it wasn't without some struggles, it needed a new driveshaft built, wiring work redone, custom shift linkage built, not quite the bolt in kit it was advertised as. In the end it worked fine and helped him get just over 17 mpg average on our trip. I also installed a new aluminum radiator to help out as well. I dropped it off in town and met my girls for lunch, they weren't as excited:

While working on it we got some terrible rains and that just happened to be when a friend dropped off his wife's RX-7:

Sadly I haven't made anymore progress on it but was told there is no rush...yet.

I drove both his Mustang and my cobra in our local car cruise before we headed out for the Hot Rod Power Tour. It was a blast as usual, but this year was much wetter than normal, and pretty cool leaning to cold at times. I did get to meet one celebrity though, Tim Strange:

Sadly with the weather I didn't really get to use the cool shirt I'd built to circulate ice water, oh well maybe next year. We enjoyed getting a few photos when we could and can't complain about that:

Also one other cool highlight is getting to catch up with my friend in his '64 Corvette he and his dad built. We hadn't crossed paths since 2007, but cars will bring people back together:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

A flat tire on the drive home made that day the longest and roughest one yet:

It was 17 hours and we covered 867 miles, the next morning I finished the last 30 miles just like most of the rest of the trip, in the rain:

Herb even brought back the Hearse for a little R&R, that consisted of new exhaust, fixing the brakes for the final time, and a couple of other small details:

That is when the Jeep infestation began, it started off with this one:

It would have been perfect except for the fact that a month later I found this one for the girls:

We have taken it out a few times to play and even did again this weekend, here is from this summer with the top off:

Sadly there have been a lot of losses this year and none hit me harder than the loss of my grandmother, she will be missed:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

One thing I've fought all year was rats, they chewed the spark plug wires on the Lemon twice, and the turbo wiring on BP 2.0. I put dryer sheets in all of my cars along with Irish Spring soap and am happy to report, knock on wood, I haven't had any returning guests.

Speaking of guests, I had a few visit this year, Rain and Craig stopped by on their american tour, many friends and family as normal and Andy made an appearance. It is always nice to have visitors and I look forward to many more in the future.

Around that time/this time/now... I don't really know anymore I started this:

Tearing into a perfectly good running engine, well not perfect, but better than it would after I touched it. I got started pulling it all apart and porting the heads:

Put it all back together and I was very ready to have this pretty little thing roar to life:

Sadly that was short lived:

I need to talk to the machine shop today to see how things are looking, I'll probably swing by at lunch. In the middle of that I also installed a sizable chimney with the help of family and a friend:

Brought home a new to me tractor:

And even picked up a tire machine and balancer (Which I cleaned this weekend )

As usual I am surprised at how much I actually was able to accomplish so far this year and it really isn't even over yet. Ya'll take care, hug your loved ones, have a Merry Christmas (happy holiday), happy New Year, and remember to keep moving forward.

JB

 

[realvc]

Thanks for the review. I enjoy your posts very much and share them with my wife. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Vince

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Great recap.

On the rat issue. I had a problem with them when the weather got colder this year. found out they hate peppermint oil. So we got a bottle of peppermint oil a spray bottle. Filled a spray bottle half up with super hot water then portie in the entire thing of peppermint oil and hosed down the areas the rats and mice like to accumulate in . The only real downside is everything smells like Christmas but I guess that's not the worst thing on Earth

 

[jbmatth]

War,
I've heard the same thing about pepermint oil, but haven't tried it, I'll cross my fingers what I'm doing will solve the issue. If not there is always the flame thrower approach.

All,
I stopped by the shop today and my engine is still on the floor. He said I'm 3rd in line at this point and he should start on it next week.

JB

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice recap JB. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and you have been one busy guy again.

 

[rmack898]

JB,
I always enjoy your year in review although you're a little bit earlier than usual.

When you take the time to list the past years events you get to see how much you actually accomplished, even though you (speaking about myself here) feel like you did nothing.

 

[Duker]

JB, Merry Christmas!


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[TMcCay]

Merry Christmas, JB!

 

[jbmatth]

Nice recap JB. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and you have been one busy guy again.

I'm always torn, I feel like I did nothing then see the recap and it actually looks like I got a few things knocked out.

JB,
I always enjoy your year in review although you're a little bit earlier than usual.

When you take the time to list the past years events you get to see how much you actually accomplished, even though you (speaking about myself here) feel like you did nothing.

I had a small opening when I should have been pretty free to get it all put together and decided to go for it. I'm covering 3 other positions from now until New Years so it will be very interesting.

Yes, each day I may have one small accomplishment but not usually but those small ones add up after 365 days.

JB, Merry Christmas!


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Merry Christmas, JB!

Thank you guys, the girls and I had a great Christmas, and really enjoyed the nice weather, I only checked once but saw 69°F (20.5°C) which is very rare this time of year.

All,
I didn't get much shop related but have made some headway on installing some of the gifts my wife requested, I'll post photos once complete.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Well I did get to spend a little quality time in the shed this weekend but failed to take any photos. I'll wait to post about them until I take them. The biggest thing I did for my own sanity though was to clean the shop, a pretty good deep clean at that. I even cleaned off my bench and have close to 12' of bench with nothing on it, it is all put up or tossed now. Feels really nice having it so much more organized, still a ways to go but much better.

JB

 

[Finallygotit]

Just in time to start all over again.