I cleaned a bunch of parts and started getting the new 302 ready to plop in. I pulled the #1 piston and the ring gap was already bigger than I was gonna gap them to, so I stuck it back in. Haha.
I pulled the cam out of the new one to see what it was and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is a CompCams Magnum 270. A tiny bit hotter that the Summit 3601 we have run for years. More lift, more duration and a tighter LSA. (110 vs 114). I lubed it up and stuck it back in.
Block decks are clean, heads are cleaned up, all mains and connecting rods are torqued, oil pan is cleaned. I ordered a new oil pump and pickup because I couldn't stand the thought of reusing these again.
I am going to check the head for flatness. I didn't have my straight edge there today. If it is not, I might have my buddy that I got the short block from do a quick clean up on it.
The last pic is the #3 rod bearing out of the old block.
So at what level of boost is it a good idea to go with o-ring grooves in the heads and special head gaskets?
We are not anywhere near needing that. We have been running 8 psi. I think this is just the result of not having a good surface to work with. I'd start looking at MLS gaskets if we were shooting for 15+ psi.
Heads on, rockers and pushrods cleaned and set in place. I found one broken pedestal. Luckily I have a spare. Surprisingly, I have learned it is not uncommon for them to break.
First time to assemble an engine on a Black and Decker Workmate. Haha, works good!
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