440 rebuild time. Doing it Good!!

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 3..I have been making wire harnesses for everything..
Harness for the fuel system...Engine control..and the transmission safety switch with temp sensor wire..
So I have some loose wires to go through to get the engine started..

Pic 4..Used this old computer heat sink to mount the HEI modual..But I clamped it to a piece of painted steel..In other words no ground for the HEI..Doesn't work that way..With one of the mount bolts, run a wire back to the battery ground..
There was no spark without the ground wire..

Pic 5..I didn't want to put fuel in the fuel tank..So just drawing it from a 5 gallon container..

Wired the pump and no fuel was being drawn..Had 1 of the check valves in backwards and it acted as a plug..reversed it and all was fine..

Did I forget anything else..oil in engine good on that..trans fluid ..takes 14 quarts with the deep pan..I have 10 in it right now..Put the trans in neutral..not park..circulates the oil that way through the cooler..

[Eyez Open]

Just do a walkaround like your doing and take notes/list. Review and light her up, after you make sure she's water tight that is.  


No thermostat and spare water hose at your side... Interesting fresh starting a engine and tranny in one move. Maybe one at a time, trannys are not to be trusted.

[RockwoodMike]

With Nick and his dyno, no worries of a transmission..With me,the engine will be spinning the torque convertor..so 10 quarts will be a good start to fill the TQ up..and not burn up the transmission..

The thermostat is in..180..with a 1/8th hole to equalize the water with no air pockets..

with tranny in neutral, it circulates the oil through out all the passages..

After the engine is done, then drop it in gear and let the drive train spin..

Shoot!! Vacuum to the power booster of the brakes..forgot that one..

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..Slight leak of gas..Ring seal needs a sealant to tighten correctly..Fixed

Pic 2..Stupid on my part..Water pump outlet to the heater core..didn't bother to tighten it..And no thread sealant..Stupid is what stupid does..

Pic 3..Used starter solenoid..doesn't work..makes a loud clunk but no power to the starter..

Now here is the biggie..Thought I had a head gasket leak of water..Nope!!

Each exhaust header bolt goes into the water jacket..Who at Mopar came up with that??

Thread sealant needs to be applied to the bolt threads..All over the WWW on Mopar forums of guys installing headers then having leaks..

More later..

[Eyez Open]

Not so bad is it? This is your first Mopar build after all. Your doing a incredible amount of rebuilding speed bumps are just part of that much rebuilding.

[RockwoodMike]

Not so bad is it?

It is all relative..I have done many Ford 460 cam breakins..Never had a problem..But each one takes about 2-3 years off your life with the stress as it is running..And this was no exception

Uncle Tony has several videos about setting base timing during cam breakins..Instant start is important..Cranking an engine any amount is not a good thing..

Using UT's methods I set the timing..Set the crank at 20 or what ever base timing you want..Electronic distributor..set the spinner thingy to the pickup coil..should be very close..

So I did all that...Crank..Crank..Crank..Crank..Crank..Crank..no fire ..What the F is going on??

Pulled the dist out to manually test for spark..everything fine

Timed it again as above..Crank..Crank..Crank..Crank..pop..pop..Crank..Crank..

Finally fired up..Long story short..(too late)..the timing was way retarded..The GM HEI modual has a large delay in it's action to fire the coil

Engine ran for it's 25 minutes..Everything is good for the cam for now..

But while it was running, it was getting hot..after idle down,and shut off, it blew water out the radiator..I didn't have the cap on which was to watch for water circulation..

Let things cool off some and added lost water..Advanced the timing..started right up and ran much cooler..

I don't have a timing light that I can use..Bought a brand new Innova 5568a light but need to make the battery leads longer..With the battery located behind the front wheel. the leads are to short to hook up the light and use it at the front of the engine..I'll fix that..

It idles very nice..Transmission is filled now..
After it is hot, the oil pressure twitches with RPM..The cam has a hole drilled in it to send oil to the top lifters,,And then it is blocked till the cam comes around again..

Just got to work out the bugs

[Eyez Open]

Great job..there always are unforeseen issues. When I fired up the Ramblers old 454 I had followed every protocol known for loosening it up before ignition. It all went quite well frankly, only after taking almost a full day getting off the old oil filter. I've never seen a oil filter welded to a engine like that. Cut the can off and it took a chisel to get it tapped off...

[RockwoodMike]

I know this is probable over doing it..But I am going to install a by pass oil filter on this mighty 440 Mopar..
Using 4AN fittings and hose..

Regular spin on filters can go down to 20 microns of filtering..

This set up is down to 5 microns..

Pic 1..shows the bracket and mounting for the actual filter housing..

Pic 2..Get pressure from the rear of the engine where the oil pressure sensor is located..Installed a 4AN to 1/4 NPT adapter..

Pic 3..Goes through the filter and then dumps back at the fuel pump..

Pic 4..Here is the filter..all the oil must pass through that small hole..Very restrictive and slows the oil passing through..Maybe lose about a pound of pressure..
But you get super clean filtered oil

Nothing is too good for my Becca

[RockwoodMike]

The By Pass filter all hooked up..