[HermanH]

Today brown dropped off some more Ford Racing parts:

The crucial part here is the thrust plate. This holds the camshaft in position and in a sense, it will now allow me to start the bottom half assembly; that is, to permenantly bolt in the oil pan and front timing chain cover. If I had a water pump, that would also go on. But first things first: I need to check the end-play of the cam after the thrustplate has been installed:

I believe it's a little on the tight side but according to an article I saw for CHP motors, they check for end-play between .004" - .012". I'm just under .004" as you can see. :shock: I used assembly lube liberally between the plate and the cam just in case. :lol:

One little step at a time.

 

[atomicalex]

Becareful about over-lubing. You can build up some nasty hydraulic pressure which will be just as bad as contact wear. Other than that, looking good! :thumbup:

 

[Medrosje]

over-lubing...since when was that a bad thing?

 

[HermanH]

Medrosje: I think Cathy has a valid point. The assembly lube is an ATF looking fluid but with a viscosity around 90 wt. gear oil. It's meant to stay there just long enough until oil reaches the journals/bearings during those crucial few seconds when the engine is being fired up. It should disolve into the rest of the oil once the pump has built up enough pressure. I could see where too much of this stuff in the wrong places could "clog" the oil path temporarily but by then the damage may already be done.

Cathy, recall a couple of months back, I DID purchase an oil primer shaft. It's on my mental check-off list of things I will do prior to actual cranking of the motor under a live set of spark plugs and A/F mixture from the carb. But thanks for the forewarning. Can't be careful enough, especially when we're talking about $8,000 worth of motor here!

 

[atomicalex]

Nope, I'm not thinking of clogging, per se, but that the end play doesn't leave enough of a flow path. The oil then requires higher pressure to keep up the flow rate. This forces the cam in the opposite direction. You will want to check the cam bushes after about 1K miles to make sure there is not any wear on the collar edges toward that end of the shaft. If they're good after 1K, they will be fine for a very long time.

 

[HermanH]

ic. Well, then, the priming tool will def. be handy as I can hand crank the motor while the oil is flowing; this should help wash out that area while under "low" RPM (and I do mean really low like 5 RPM!)

 

[Medrosje]

oh, assembly lube. sorry, must have been thinking of something else.

 

[HermanH]

UPDATE: tonight, I installed the timing chain cover along with the steel dampener minus the 50 oz. counter weight ( the rotating assy. is internally balanced). Pilot bearing went in while I was at it and since all of the journals and the oil pump were already torqued to spec a few months back, the oil pan and gasket were installed as well. Oil pan was given another once over for cleansliness before it went on.

Folks as of right now, the bottom end of this engine is sealed! Sorry, no pics but there' really not much to look at (see earlier mockup pictures).

 

[HermanH]

 

[Medrosje]

that looks so good Herman. right on.

 

[Green_Hornet]

Herman - IIRC, a 1/4" deep thinwall hex socket will work on the oil pump drive shaft - I used to just hook mine up to a variable speed drill, did fine for priming the system. Not sure what lifters you plan on using, but I had some Crane racing hydraulic lifters that worked great to just under 6K rpm, and you didn't have to futz with lifter adjustments periodically. Seems like a great project!

 

[Blade]

Looking good. 8)

 

[HermanH]

Herman - IIRC, a 1/4" deep thinwall hex socket will work on the oil pump drive shaft - I used to just hook mine up to a variable speed drill, did fine for priming the system. Not sure what lifters you plan on using, but I had some Crane racing hydraulic lifters that worked great to just under 6K rpm, and you didn't have to futz with lifter adjustments periodically. Seems like a great project!

yeah, I know but I've actually heard guy's breaking their primer-shafts so I went with ARP. It's thicker all around.

I'm using CompCam hyd. roller lifters. Must not wipe the cams because they do not recommend the typical moly-disulfide break in lube! I will use assy. lube though despite that.

 

[D.Passat00]

:thumbup: