So at this point, you should have all the bearings (main, cam, and rod) blueprinted, your cam thrust set, lifters checked for clearance, rod side play checked, oil pump blueprinted, Oil pump to cam bolt clearance checked, case oil galleys drilled and tapped, #3 bearing and gears assembled on the crank, and the distributor drive gear checked out. At this point you are almost ready to assemble the short block. A couple more things need to be done though. One of which is to dial in your cam timing. Your camshaft should have come with a timing card that specifies where (in terms of crank rotation angle) the cam should open and close, usually these events are given in terms of degrees at .050" of cam lift, which is much more accurate than trying to measure things at .000+ lift. Your cam gear should have come with some washers with offset holes in them than can be used to change the cam timing in probably like 2 degree increments. Most cams should be ground such that their specified timing numbers are achieved by simply installing the cam "straight up", meaning that you use the "Zero" degree washers. As mentioned in Veedubcrazy's tech article in this section on cam timing though, you can tailor a cam slightly to the rest of your setup by retarding or advancing it.
Here's what you need to do to check your cam timing. First, you need to assemble a mockup of your short block including crank, cam, and lifters, and the #1 connecting rod. Make sure to put some lube on all the bearings, again I usually use STP. You don't really have to worry about torqueing down all the case nuts, just snug them up. Now, take a piston with out the rings installed on it and put it on rod #1. Slip a cylinder over the piston so it seats on to the case. Take two head bolts (use two short ones) and screw them into the case through the cylinder. Take some metal tubing, or deep sockets, or what ever, and slide them over the unthreaded portion of the two studs, then put a washer and a nut on each stud and snug them down. Here's my setup:



At this point if you want you can check your deck height, but I like to check it on all 4 cylinders, so I do it a bit later...


Now you can use a dial indicator to find the EXACT top-dead-center of your motor. Again, don't ever assume anything. Chances are that pretty degree wheel of yours may be off by a little, so check it! Mine was off by 2 degrees! So now when you take the crank angle readings for determining valve events you can add or subtract as needed to correct for any difference between your degree wheel and reality.


Next, you want to set your indicator up on the #1 intake lifter. Since you've found the true TDC now, you can remove the #1 piston and cylinder and just go by your degree wheel. I find the cylinder is in the way at this point, so make your life easier and remove it. Now, slowly rotate the engine and determine the crank angle at which the lifter lifts by .050" and again when it's .050" from closed. Write these numbers down. You now compare these numbers to the specs on your cam card. In my case, it was dead-on, and I didn't have any reason to advance or retard my cam, so I choose the Zero degree washers. Piece of cake!


Almost ready to button up the short block! Stay tuned!

Only a couple small details to do before final assembly of the short block. One thing I like to do it blueprint the distributor drive to the case, so that it can easily be lifted out of the case if needed when the engine is assembled with out using one of those tools. I do this by rolling up a piece of sand paper and then inserting it onto the dist drive hole on the case. Gently rotate the roll of sand paper while sliding it up and down. Check the fitment of the drive in the hole and keep sanding till you can lift the dist drive out with just a magnet. Mine took a lot of work. I use this same technique on the oil plungers to insure smooth operation. The last thing you want is one of those sticking.
Now the case should be done, so wash the hell out of it. I like to spray Simple Green in all the oil galleys through every opening I can in the case. This is where having your oil galleys drilled and tapped is nice, you have complete access to everything. After letting the Simple Green soak for a while, I take it outside and use the garden hose on it, and spray as much water as you can through all the oil galleys with as much pressure as you can, you don't want any debris hanging out in there that could make its way into a bearing. Next I use compressed air and again, blow air through every opening in the case you can and get it completely dry. Now keep the case covered till you're ready to use it.

You can hang the rods on the crank now. I like to lay out each rod and it's respective bolts and bearings (keep everything in sets like this once you have measured each rod with its respective bearings, and each rod bolt with its respective rod, and even in the same hole of the same rod).


It is possible to have the rod bearings off center a little bit, so I actually measure each bearing shell to make sure its perfectly centered on the rod and the rod cap. I don't like to leave anything to chance.


I like to use the flywheel as a convenient stand for the crank when I'm hanging the rods. With the bearing shells on a rod, lube up your rod bolts with what ever lube you used when you were measuring rod bolt stretch, then lube up the bearing shells with assembly lube (STP) and put the rod on its respective journal. You should have the torque number for each rod bolt recorded, so torque them to that value, and then if your obsessive like me measure the stretch of each just to be sure...



There's the crank all assembled, ready to go in!


I like to go through the assemble process in my head a time or two and make sure I have everything ready to go and all laid out in front of me, that way I can't forget anything. Put the left half of the engine case on the engine stand with the opening of the case half facing up. Make sure you have all the dowel pins in the case. I like to put the #2 bearing halves in each case halve and set the case halves together to check alignment of the bearing halves. Gently tap them as necessary so they line up properly. Then life the right side of the case off, being sure not to disturb the #2 bearing halves, and set it aside. Put the #1 and #4 bearings on the crank with plenty of STP. Coat the # 2 main journal on the crank with STP. Put the oil slinger on the crank, facing the correct way. Now carefully lower the crank assembly into the case half, making sure the #'s 3 and 4 rods go into their respective openings. Rotate the #'s 1, 3, & 4 bearings around till the marks you made on them line up with the case parting line and the bearing "drop" onto their dowel pins. MAKE SURE ALL BEARINGS ARE SEATED ON THEIR DOWEL PINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should be able to look at the #1,3, & 4 bearings and see that they are all the way seated into their saddles on the case. If there's any gap between the bearing and saddle the dowel is not in its hole. Don't do anything else till you are 100% sure your bearings are properly seated and located on their pins.
Now its time for the cam and lifters. Lube up each lifter side with regular motor oil and the head with the cam paste your cam came with. Put the lifters in their holes. Do the same on the other case half, and use lifter retaining clips to keep them from falling out when you go to put that case half on. Now put the cam bearings on their respective saddles on both case halves and lube them up with STP. Lube up the cam lobes with your cam paste. Rotate the crank in the case half till the dimple on the cam drive gear is a little past (clock wise) the case parting line. Now take the cam and mesh its gear with the crank gear such that the two dots on the cam gear are on either side of the crank gear. Keep the teeth meshed and rotate the cam down into its bearings. Rotate the crank and verify that the dots all match like they should. Now you can lube up the distributor drive and its two shims and put it into the case half. Make sure its oriented properly with the engine at top dead center. Put a distributor in the hole to keep the dist drive from falling out of place.


Okay, my fingers are tired, later we'll finish up the short block

I figured I should try to finish this thread, as much work as I put into it way back when...

Anyway, when last we left off, the short block was about to go together. Like I said before, lay everything out in front of you and go through the assembly process in your head a couple times to make sure you aren't forgetting anything. Don't forget the cam plug or the o-rings on the main studs, or the big beveled washer and woodruff key that go on the crank. If you have any mains that are shuffle-pined then those don't get an o-ring. My case has the center mains shuffle-pined, so none there. As for sealing the case halves, Curl-t seems to work well and is easy to clean off if you need to take it apart again later. Permatex Aviation also works well, that's what Darren at DRD uses, and it cleans off pretty easily too with a little acetone. So once you have the lifters, cam, cam plug, crank-rod assembly, and distributor drive all in place with their respective bearings, everything lined up (as described in previous post), and your case sealant of choice painted on (a THIN coat!), then you are ready to lower on the other case half. Don't forget to put the half of bearing #2 and the lifters into the second case half! Carefully lower the case half into place down the main studs until it comes into contact with the other case half. The two case halves should touch or come *really* close to touching with very little effort. If they don't, then start checking to see if something is interfering. If they do go together then put on the 6 big stud washers with some RTV or other sealant on their bottoms (toward the case) and then the nuts. Snug down the 6 nuts in a criss-cross pattern, but not too tight! Verify that the case halves are touching all the way around. Now check that the crank will still spin! If it won't, chances are you pinched a bearing of something else is bound up in there. Stop immediately is the crank won't turn freely. Now put the two washers and nuts on the front (flywheel side) of the case that are on the two long cam studs with sealant on the washers. torque them down. Now bring up the 6 main studs (criss-cross pattern) to maybe 10 or so ft-lbs. Make sure that crank will still spin. It it will at this point you should be home free! Bring them up to their final torque in increments of about 5 ft-lbs or so. Now finish off all the small studs and screws in the case and torque them down. check one last time that the crank still spins.


Time to start preparing for the long block. Check the fit of the wrist-pins in the rods. Mine were too tight, so I opened up the rods a little by hand. I use a little piece of sand paper (maybe like 200-something grit) warped around a deep socket that just allows it to fit in the rod. Hose is off with WD-40 and then slowly work the rod, trying to remove material as uniformly as possible, and checking for fitment frequently:

won't fit:


sand paper on a deep socket


take your time...


perfect fit!


If you're running 10mm head studs with 94's, you might have to clearance the cylinders a little so they clear the studs. The studs should not be touching the sides of the cylinders...

I use a cutter like this with a die grinder


you can see where I removed material near the base...


and the top of the cylinders


Since we're working on the pistons and cylinders now, might as well set ring gaps. put each ring down in it's cylinder and square it up with a piston as shown below. then take a feeler gauge and measure the gap. for a naturally aspirated motor the standard ring clearance is .004" per 1 inch of bore, so for a 94 mm piston that comes out to about .0015". For turbo/super charged it's .005"/inch and for nitrous motors its about .006"/inch. If the gaps are too small you need to *carefully* file the ends of the rings to open them up. they should usually be about right out of the box though. but I don't trust anything...




You can also lap your cylinders into your heads if you want. Use valve lapping compound on the cylinder and rotate the cylinders back and forth in the head until you see a smooth surface. You don't have to do this, but I needed to since my chambers were ceramic coated and I wanted metal-on-metal for the sealing surface. even under normal circumstance it can't hurt!




At this point you are pretty much done messing with the cylinders. Clean them off and mask off everything but the finned area and put a *light* coat of high-heat black paint on them. This will serve two purposes: the black color radiates heat better, and the paint will prevent rust scales from forming, which can lead to poor heat transfer. Next scrub the insides of the cylinders out with a Barillo pad and Comet detergent. Yes, Comet detergent. dry them off thoroughly and put a little light oil on the insides to keep them from rusting.

Next up is setting up the valve terrain...

Good info, Brian.... keep it coming.

Wow Brian!! What a great thread!

Wow! Every time I read this I like it more. Nice job.

Thanks guys! One of these days I'll finish up the thread, lol.
FWIW though, that motor is still going strong, woopin up on cars with over twice the power.

Ya this thread is helping me with my build, i learned a few tricks, thanks

Unfortunately, my motor isn't complete 'cause I am waiting on the next installments of this write up...

Lol