This is about as far as I got before the heavy rains washed out the weekend. Cut out of work a little early to pick up the new cylinder head, and the truck is fighting me every step of the way at this point. While the head bolted on all right, it is the older style head with the small valve cover. Found this out after torquing the head down and reinstalling the valvetrain. Since the head is otherwise correct (or close enough at this point, since I've basically disabled the charcoal canister anyway, and won't need the thermoswitch that is part of the system, but I don't have a hole for), add a valve cover to the expanding list of things being replaced because of the manifold leaks and driveability problems. Oh yeah, the new head didn't come with manifold studs, and after trying to remove some of the old ones, I threw in the towel yet again and ordered a box of studs from my local NAPA. And while I was at it I broke off yet another bolt; this one in the alternator. Another part to add to the list.
Weather permitting I should have the manifolds on tomorrow night, and be pretty much buttoned up with the exception of the valve cover, which should be here by the end of the week. If I'm lucky I'll be able to change the oil to get rid of the coolant and bits that fell into the sump during the head swap, and confirm that the truck will start before I get the valve cover.
Jim
farmguy
04-23-2006, 08:27 PM
Jim, your going to lots of trouble to make that Dodge right......If it was me, I`d yank that distributor and change that gear on the bottom.....I know the cars w/ the 225 slant had a plastic gear on the dist, I assume the trks had the same.......It will fail, maybe just when you dont want it to........Just a thought.........I replaced several over the years.........Larry
Jimal Temus
04-23-2006, 08:51 PM
What do you mean? The truck was "running" (not well, due to the manifold leaks) before I took it apart. All this work is because I broke a manifold stud while taking the manifolds off to replace the gasket, then broke the bolt extractor off. I mean, this whole thing has been trouble, but there is nothing wrong with my distributor gear. Not sure where you are coming from.
Jim
Dodgevanman
04-24-2006, 07:00 AM
Hmmmmm. that fact that you have a different head concerns me. Prior to '81, all slant sixes had adjustable rockers/solid lifters and '81-'87 slant sixes had hydraulic lifters and non-adjustable rockers. The head changed at this point, so it seems you have an earlier head.
I'm kinda wondering now if that head will work on your engine.
Jimal Temus
04-24-2006, 07:26 AM
This thing is fighting me every step of the way. Its almost comical. I didn't see any obvious binding between the rockers and the pushrods. I'll have to double-check clearances tonight while I'm tinkering.
Jim
farmguy
04-24-2006, 05:24 PM
....Jim, ``where I`m comin from``, is that yes, I`m sure your truck was running . I`m just saying, that dist. gear, on the bottom of the shaft, has a life span, its just a plastic gear.....I`ve seen them strip after 100,000 + miles or so.......IF it was me, while its apart, it would be a preventative step, to replace it. Course, seems your up to your eyeballs in problems, just thought I`d mention it..........good luck on your project........larry
bherder
04-24-2006, 06:54 PM
Damn Jim.... I feel for ya. I know how this stuff goes. If it ain't one thing, it's another. Well, don't get discouraged.... It's good that it started to rain, as I've found that after an afternoon of cussing, screaming and throwing wrenches, best to just put everything down and leave it alone till tomorrow. Just look at the rain as giving you a 'time out' :D :D :D
Jimal Temus
04-24-2006, 10:28 PM
farmguy,
Don't mind me. You caught me knee-deep in "what else can go wrong?" Perhaps sometime in the future, when the truck has been running for a while, I'll look into that.
The rain ended up be a bit of a blessing, as I took the weekend off to rest up. Got back to it tonight, and made some good progress before calling it a night about 20 minutes or so ago. Replaced the ground strap at the back of the motor, which allowed me to reinstall the AIR tube. After chasing all the threads on the driver's side of the motor, I installed the studs, then the manifolds. Despite my concerns, everything snugged up nicely, though I will double check the three bolts holding the manifolds together tomorrow. The other thing that is proving to be a pain is the nut and washer directly below the choke housing on the exhaust manifold. I just can't get in there to slip the washer on. Once the washer is on, the nut will be easy, but I worked around that tonight.
Tomorrow, I'll finish up the front of the motor, and work on the vacuum lines. The new valve cover should be here Wednesday, so I'll tackle that and finishing buttoning things up then. If all goes well, it'll be running Wednesday night.
I check with the guys over at slantsix.com, and the collective opinion over there is that the head will work, as long as I keep the bolts that that hold the rocker shaft onto the head in the right order. I did.
Again, thanks for the pointers and allowing me to vent.
Jim
bherder
04-24-2006, 11:21 PM
farmguy,
You caught me knee-deep in "what else can go wrong?" Perhaps sometime in the future, when the truck has been running for a while, I'll look into that.
Heh heh heh.... Things have a way of smoothing out (And busted/bleeding knuckles not hurting quite so bad) after you fire things up and it's purring like a kitten .. ;)
There's nothing better than busting your a** to fix something and then when you hear/feel it's running right and you say to yourself "Yeah.... That sounds GOOD...." :D
