A buffalo’s first bowtie

two and half thousandths, correct
the 5 is a half of thousandth
the ring gaps should be in the.006 .014 range which would be 6 thousandths to 14 thousandsths, this of course is probably not your gap spec, i backed up and deciphered your piston to bore clearance which is one and a half to 2 and a half thousandths which is correct, sorry for sending you in the wrong direction...

Well all righty then! I sent a check to the gov't to cover my 'having fun' tax, checked my Karma, organized my emergency phone #'s, held a seance, and sacrificed a quart of oil(with ZDDP!) for CCF and for the spirits who watch over amateur engine builders. The cam and crank are in and turn like a Yamaha stereo knob...and Greg is smiling!

Thanks Guys!!!   

87BFN owner wrote: BuffaloBFN wrote: Well all righty then! I sent a check to the gov't to cover my 'having fun' tax,    Greg what is that all about or are you kidding about that part?

Of course I'm kidding, even this gov't couldn't pull that off! I did hear though that californians may soon be told how to set their thermostsats?!!? ...as gov't does; by threat of lethal force(do the math). There is a tax due upon death payable by your estate...and basically just because you died.

It's coming along nicely. The guys came over for darts last night, took one look at the stupid grin on my face and said "no problems then?". LOL
I do have a question though. Should I paint the flywheel or is there a good reason not to? It was nasty and rusty when I pulled it apart last summer so I could send the tranny to the gear spa. I cleaned it up then, and it's even cleaner now that it's back from the shop. I am taking the time to paint every little thing that didn't get painted from the factory before...like the backs of some parts and other parts that were behind something else. Here's a couple of quick shots. The first is for Eric...looking through #2, you'll see the transmission in it's warm winter bed(under the gray towel and full of fluid).

Thank you for the vote of confidence sir! It's funny you mentioned my well lit area because that's my storage room and is known as the batcave. It's only known that way 'cause it used to be very dark and piled high with whatever?!!? LOL

On the flywheel, I don't want to paint the mating surface because it wouldn't be a solid union and that would mess up my torque readings;right? I'll get the etching primer, Ben said it was a good idea as well. The whole engine painting thing is new to me, so please continue with the tips! We didn't paint the engines on the V-dubs for cooling reasons...only the sheet metal.

I have another one...my pcm manual says 135 lb. ins. for the oil pan bolts(4-bolt 454)...the chevy book says 7-9 ft. lbs. for 1/4" bolts and 9-11 ft. lbs. for 5/16" bolts. I know the conversion(x12 for in. lb.), but they all feel high to me. Thoughts?

Greg, the torques sound correct, 9 inch lbs. is very little actually, a good tip if you have a stamped oil pan is to put the bolt areas on your vices flat surface and tap the bolt areas back to flat, if you look from the side the holes are probably mounded from the past. I use aviation permatex on assembly.. thats in case you have to take something back apart. no silicone except for the intake and harmonic balance bolt. inspect your harmonic balance carefully, especially at the rubber..make sure its not cracked.
Pete, i would think the engine builders would build them all to marine specs because i think they leave the factory a long block and the OEMS decide closed cooling or the other styles, its a good point though

87BFN owner wrote: Greg I was wondering because I know taxes vary from state to state.

No worries, that's just my cynical sense of humor.

Is it the norm to replace head bolts when rebuilding? I was making good time yesterday until I started cleaning my head bolts...got to the second and poof, the threads were gone?!!? I guess some were sealed better than others.

I called around and tuesday is the quickest I can get a new set. So I went digging in the box from the craigslist motor and found a near complete set...8 short and 22 long...2 long bolts short. My grandfather wouldn't have skipped a beat on this. He'd pick the 2 best from the old set and keep going. I, on the other hand, have an old physics class telling me that different bolts will have different characteristics. What do 'yall think? The 2 odd bolts in the pic are from the old set and show the one that went naked on me. The others were in the box.

a chain is only as good as its weakest link...
coat those bolts well with teflon pipe sealer cause im pretty sure some of them go into water passages

"if you see a problem with 1 replace them all and arp is an excellent choice as stated, Greg, you have time to wait if need be"

I'll get a new 'chain' Eric...and they all go into a water passage. I have permatex thread sealant(white) for that. Is the tape better?

its a possibility that your bolts are corroded from sticking into the water passage,

On my project goes; it turns out Joe was right, there were some BB head bolts in town. I found a little place called red line automotive, and he basically has everything the bigger stores don't stock. He's top end and has a pile of stuff including a set of ARP BB bolts...$20 cheaper than having to wait. I called GM first...and boy would I be bent if I owned that outfit! A set of bolts he actually had to look up were way past what he cared to do. Anyway, I chased the threads and they torqued down nicely. I'll do the lifters, rods, and rockers next. Will the rocker adjustment be as simple as it reads?

1. load the lifters
2. install rocker until tight (till the rod won't turn)
3. tighten 1 full turn
4. lock and done?

I soak the lifters over night as well, but I prime them before installing them.

those restrictions are in the center of the gasket i would guess? only one per side per gasket? if so you leave them in, alot of times there is (without looking at it) a dry heat passage that goes up to the carb for the choke bi-metal to open up the choke when the engine warms, chances are you are using an electric choke which these passages will have no use. do as Edelbrock says and eliminate the end gaskets and i assume they want a bead of silicone instead. no silicone on the gasket