- Hey, guys!
I'm Larry Webster.
I'm part of the Hagerty Media Team.
I'm here with Davin Reckow.
He's the guy responsible for these really fun
time lapse rebuild videos that we've been putting out.
So here, we're gonna talk about the Chevy small block.
But in the future, we're gonna do the Hemi one.
We're gonna do the one on the flathead.
So, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments
and we'll see if we can answer them.
Alright, ready?
- Ready.
- Let's go.
Okay Davin, obviously Chevy Small Block.
- [Davin] Obviously, the best.
- [Larry] I mean, this is probably one of
my favorite engines in the world.
Where did you get this thing?
- [Davin] This particular motor is out of
a 1970 Chevy Impala.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] And convertible.
And it's seen a lot of life.
It's seen not so many oil changes
that it maybe should have.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] As you can see, it's a little greasy
and grimy on the inside
as certainly well on the outside.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] And roughly 80 something thousand miles on it.
- [Larry] So we're looking at the springs.
These are the valve springs.
So the one furthest to the right.
Which one is that?
Is that, that's exhaust?
- [Davin] Furthest to the right is exhaust
and then it goes exhaust, intake
exhaust, exhaust
and it kinda floats back and forth that way.
On the small block, they paired the exhaust
in the centers
which actually creates a little bit of a problem
because you concentrate a lot of heat right in the middle.
- [Larry] Oh yeah.
- [Davin] But it's very similar to like, a flathead V8.
Flathead Ford V8 as well.
When they went to the big block
then they separated things out
and it helped out.
- [Larry] Yeah, so if we could go back even farther.
Let's see the rockers
because what's interesting about this
is what you don't see
is you don't see any camshaft in the head.
And this is the cylinder head up here.
And this is one of the genius parts of the motor.
Is it doesn't take up a lot of space.
- [Davin] This is the overhead valve
and then the cam is down the center of the block.
- And these push rods
that are to the right, right here.
These are basically sticks that follow the cam
in the engine.
- [Davin] Exactly, yup.
And that opens, subsequently opens up the valves.
Allows the intake flow to come in
and the exhaust flow to go out.
And there's always a ratio relative to those.
It's typically not one-to-one.
Stock on a small block Chevy is one and a half.
- [Larry] That's the lever arm.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] Alright, so this motor, you're right.
Look at all than gunk, wow.
- [Davin] Yeah it's grimy.
It missed an oil change here and there.
- [Larry] Yeah, so you're taking off the rockers first.
Just disassembling the engine?
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] And are you gonna replace those?
Or are you keeping track of them?
- [Davin] On the rockers, it doesn't matter as much.
If we were to reuse anything that's really critical
is when you're doing your lifters.
Your lifters have to follow the lobe
on the camshaft.
We certainly did not reuse the camshaft
or the lifters in this particular motor.
- [Larry] Yeah, and now you're gonna take off
the cylinder heads
which is that sort of part of the block
that the springs are in.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] So these, the cylinder head basically
is the top of the cylinder
and it seals the hole where the piston rides in right?
- [Davin] Yeah, that's the combustion chamber.
- [Larry] Yeah, it makes the combustion chamber.
And these are cast iron?
- [Davin] Yes.
- [Larry] So they're heavy.
- [Davin] They're not, yeah they're pretty heavy.
They're about 50 pounds.
- [Larry] 50 pounds each?
- [Davin] Yes, correct.
- [Larry] Holy cow.
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Yeah.
So now we're looking down those holes.
That's where the pistons are in.
That's a head gasket right there--
- [Davin] Yup, that's a head gasket.
And you can see number one in the lower corner here.
That's number one cylinder.
And it's basically top dead center at this point.
But you can see it's the stock pistons
with the four valve relief.
- [Larry] Let's get that thing off of there.
That's a lifetime chain.
That's sort of one of the nice things.
- [Davin] Yes and no, it will stretch over time.
- [Larry] It does, okay.
I stand corrected.
- [Davin] And if I remember correctly on this one.
This actually had the nylon tooth timing gears
to quiet things down.
- [Larry] Ah!
- [Davin] Which wasn't necessarily the best.
Yeah, you can see the nylon on the upper top.
You can see the tan color?
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] So that has a nylon tooth on it
and that was all for noise.
It helped quiet things down.
Although of course, durability wasn't as grand as--
- [Larry] Well over time it gets brittle right?
- [Davin] Yup, it gets brittle.
It cracks, it wears.
Certainly not as strong as steel.
- [Larry] Right, now these are the actual hydraulic lifters.
Oil goes in those things.
They take up the space between the camshaft
and the push rod correct?
- [Davin] Yeah, that whole tolerant stack.
- [Larry] Right okay.
- [Davin] And of course it adjusts relative
to temperature as well.
That's the real big advantage.
- [Larry] Oh man.
So that's coolant coming out of the water jacket.
I see you smiling down there.
What are you laughing about?
Is what a mess is in there?
- [Davin] Yeah, it was just a mess.
I mean, the bottom is worse than the top.
- [Larry] Oh my gosh.
- [Davin] It looks like it's been undercoated
with the old Texaco stuff if you remember.
(laughs)
Over on the left is your oil pump and the pick up.
And then you're looking at the mains--
- [Larry] So crankshaft.
- [Davin] The main caps that hold the crankshaft in.
- [Larry] So yeah, okay.
- [Davin] Yeah, exactly.
- [Larry] And this is a critical part
because this is the thing that connects
the pistons to each other.
- [Davin] It takes all the load.
So all the horse power, if you will
has to be contained by that.
By the crankshaft.
- [Larry] And it's supported by those bearing caps.
So this is the, engine room is the wrong name
but this is the...
- [Davin] This is the truss.
- [Larry] The truss.
- [Davin] This is the roof truss if you will.
- I like that, yeah I can use that.
(laughs)
What's that?
- That's a balancing hole.
So the whole assembly is balanced with bob weight.
- [Larry] Ah.
- [Davin] So it basically doesn't vibrate itself apart.
So there I'm pulling, that's the lower timing gear.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] Another rods, the main starts coming off.
And at the point, the crankshaft can lift
straight up and out.
Which shows you the bearing halves right here.
- [Larry] Yeah, these are pretty interesting
because these are called, these are bearings.
They're plain bearings.
- Yeah, insert bearings or plain bearings.
Yup, depending on how you--
- Now a lot of people think of bearing
as a race of balls going around a circle.
- [Davin] Correct, nope.
- That's not what these are.
- [Davin] Nope, no, they're a multi-layered
surface if you will, or a composite.
And they're meant to have some amount of wear.
- [Larry] So now you're pretty much down to a bare block.
- [Davin] That's, yeah.
The only thing that's left in it at this point
is the little bit of gasket here
on the oil pan.
And then the freeze plugs as well.
- [Larry] Okay.
So now you've got a lot of cleaning to do.
- [Davin] Yes.
So this is basically a hot tank.
Burn everything off.
Wash everything off.
And then actually go through, this is a bead blast
at the end here.
- [Larry] So you put the block in there.
It steams and cooks all the stuff off.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] The oil and the gunk and everything right?
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Okay.
And what's he doing here?
Oh he's taking the connecting rods off of the pistons.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] And that's a hydraulic press right?
- [Davin] Yup, and these particular ones.
Stock ones are typically a press fit.
We're gonna replace the pistons.
- [Larry] Why?
- [Davin] We are reusing the rods.
Pistons tend to be, well they're aluminum
so they're a little softer
so they do take some wear.
These particular ones had a little skirt wear.
And of course, with the bore being wore
we turn the block, turn that bore
so it necessitated new pistons regardless.
- [Larry] So you say turn, you mean you sort of
bore it out and drill down the hole cylinder.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] And it makes it a little wider.
- [Davin] That's correct.
- [Larry] So you would need a bigger piston
to accommodate it.
- [Davin] Yup, so instead of a four inch even block
it's a four inch 030.
So 30 thousandths over.
- [Larry] So what's he doing there?
Is he checking the roundness of it?
- [Davin] Yup, checking roundness and size
on the big end.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] And then he'll do the same thing
on the small end as well.
- [Larry] Wow, so here's the engine block.
- [Davin] Yup, after it's all been cleaned up.
Looks a whole lot nicer at this point.
- [Larry] Gosh, look how short that thing is, amazing.
So he's doing dimensional checks and everything?
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] What is going on here?
- [Davin] So here he's going through.
This is where on the cylinder head surface.
Basically going through and flattening it out
and making sure it's a good flat surface
so the heads will sit down nice and tight.
And also that it's not
it's square to the crankshaft.
- [Larry] I see, so if the engine got really hot
it may have made that whole block warp a little bit.
- [Davin] It may warp, yup.
And from the factory, they're not necessarily square.
This one is four thousandths out of square.
- [Larry] Wow.
- [Davin] You know, relative to the crankshaft.
- [Larry] Is that a lot?
Or not that big a deal?
- [Davin] That's a fair amount.
I mean, obviously it was within specs for GM.
But when you go through and you build them
you want to get them as tight as you can get them.
- [Larry] And what is that?
Just a huge grinding wheel off the top of it?
- [Davin] Yup.
Kinda like a flag cutter I guess more than anything.
- [Larry] So this is where you talk about that bore
gets slightly bigger.
- [Davin] Yeah, this is the boring function, yeah.
- [Larry] This is pretty common.
This is why they call it a 30 over motor.
- [Davin] Exactly.
- [Larry] Right, so it's not four inches.
It's four and 30 thou.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] Right.
- [Davin] And pistons for small block Chevys
are readily available.
You could even do a 10 thou.
But usually 10 doesn't clean it up
so you just go to the standard of 30.
- [Larry] 30, got it.
So how much does it typically cost
to have this machine work done on your block?
- [Davin] It runs roughly 12 bucks a hole
as far as machine work.
- [Larry] Oh.
- [Davin] So you're, you know 120 bucks.
Somewhere in that ball park, $150.
Obviously it all depends on where you're at
and who's doing it.
But that's what they run there.
The decking is another usually $80 to deck a block.
- [Larry] So yes, he's?
- [Davin] Cleaning's $50.
- [Larry] What's he doing here?
- [Davin] Just deburring the top edge of the holes.
- [Larry] Ah, got it.
- [Davin] Putting a chamfer at it basically.
- [Larry] Yeah.
Make it easier to get the pistons in.
- [Davin] Exactly, yeah.
And then doing a final hone.
So that final hone and crosshatch is really
what gives you the seal for compression
with the rings.
- [Larry] And the crosshatch is the texture
on the side of the cylinders.
- [Davin] Exactly, yup.
- [Larry] Oh, now we're at the cylinder heads.
What's going on here?
- [Davin] So at this point, he went through
and we had a couple seats we had to fix.
And there were some guides that were bad.
And then he also, he's just flat out machining the seats.
We put in hardened exhaust seats in this one.
- [Larry] And is that so you can...
Right, this engine was built in 1970
so the leaded fuel?
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] Is that true, or is that a myth?
- [Davin] No, it's true.
It's one of those things of you know
how many miles did you put on it?
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] You know, it's a safe guard.
It's kinda one of those, well hey while I'm here
I might as well put in good hardened seats
and not have to think about it again.
- [Larry] Right, so the original seats
were of a softer material.
- [Davin] Yes.
- [Larry] And the seat is what the valve closes against.
- [Davin] Correct, yup.
- [Larry] So the lead in the fuel
supposedly had a lubrication feature that--
- [Davin] Lubrication and a little bit cooler.
- [Larry] Little bit cooler.
So the seats can survive longer.
- [Davin] Exactly.
- [Larry] Interesting.
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Yeah, so this machine.
So you need a guy who really knows
what he's doing here.
This is a precise work.
- [Davin] Yeah, there's a lot of.
Obviously the machine does a lot of the work
but there's also a lot of craftsmanship
through it as well.
- [Larry] Well even the fixture.
Look, he's got to make sure that thing's in there
square and solid and it's not gonna move.
Because yeah, you're cutting metal
which is a lot of force.
- [Davin] Right.
And here he's just resurfacing the bottom side
of the heads as well.
- [Larry] Got it, okay.
- [Davin] And the same principal.
So you're getting a good seal.
- [Larry] Oh, what's he doing to the crankshaft?
- [Davin] A little light polishing work.
- [Larry] Look at that, okay.
So now he's sort of, ah he's putting the pressing
in the pistons on the, well it's a connecting rod right?
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Okay and these are these holes.
Tell me, what are these holes doing in there?
- [Davin] The big drain holes are relative
to the casting process of the blocks.
- [Larry] Ah!
- [Davin] But it is the water jacket
so obviously have to have them sealed
otherwise it would be like Swiss cheese holding water.
- [Larry] So those are freeze plugs they call that?
- [Davin] Yup, they call them freeze plugs.
And the function of that is, if you do get water.
If you have straight-up water in the jacket
and it freezes, those plugs will pop out.
- [Larry] Oh, freeze plugs. I get it.
- [Davin] Yup.
(laughs)
It's as simple as that.
Here's the camshaft bearings going in.
- [Larry] That looks like a complicated process.
- [Davin] Yeah, unlike mains and rods.
They're not a split bearing.
They're one, solid diameter.
And they have a hole that you're lining up
relative to the feed.
- [Larry] Wow.
- [Davin] Or least relative to the groove
and where you want them, you clock them actually.
And then, and they're also.
These are specific to...
The insides are a different diameter then the outsides.
- [Larry] Oh I should go front to back of the motor?
- [Davin] Yeah, so there's a specific order
you have to put them in.
- Wow.
So this is kinda fun right?
Because, tell us about this.
- So that is, in any kind of manufacturing process
you always have Julian dates
or some sort of date coding relative to your process.
So if you have a, quite honestly if you have
a defect in your parts, you can track back
and contain the problem.
- Yeah, this was built on this day.
- Yeah, exactly.
It was never meant to be
"Hey my car number is a numbers matching car."
That was never the point.
- But that's how it's.
- [Davin] But that's what's happening.
- [Larry] Is that the number you connect to your car?
- [Davin] Yup, you can connect all that.
That is a portion of the number.
That is at least the date side of it
that you can connect back to your car.
- [Larry] Okay.
- [Davin] So here we're just, I'm mic-ing out the crank.
Even though the machine work was all done
at a reputable shop obviously
I still always go through and double check
because everyone makes a mistake at some point in time.
Verify what the diameter is on the crankshaft.
You'll see here in a minute
I'll put the bearing halves in
and torque the mains.
Actually I guess we jumped past that part
but at any rate.
- [Larry] So you want to make sure that your bearings
match up with your crankshaft.
- [Davin] And you have enough oil clearance.
- [Larry] Yes.
- [Davin] So you've got appropriate oil clearance.
- [Larry] And then you're putting assembly lube on that
so you can spin it.
- [Davin] Yup, yeah.
- [Larry] What is that gummy stuff?
- [Davin] This particular stuff
is like a lithium based.
- [Larry] Oh.
- [Davin] There's multiple styles.
Depending on how long, from my standpoint.
Depending on how long the motor's gonna sit on a shelf.
This one was going right into a car
so the lithium based is fine.
- [Larry] You know what he's tightening right now
is a main bearing cap.
- [Davin] Correct.
- [Larry] And you know that this one
came off of that exact spot because he marked it.
- [Davin] Yup, it's marked.
And it also has an arrow pointing forward as well.
From the factory.
- [Larry] So you know where it goes, got it.
So you're rolling now right?
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] This is the easy part.
- [Davin] This is definitely the, this is the fun part
where it starts getting back together
and it's getting bigger, as they say.
- [Larry] You start making engine sounds at this point?
- [Davin] Pretty close, yeah.
(laughs)
- [Larry] And that thing up there, that black thing.
What's that called? Ring compressor right?
- [Davin] Yeah, so the rings naturally have some tension
to push against the outer diameter
or the inner diameter of the cylinder.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] And there's actually three sets technically.
You have an oil control ring.
A lower compression and an upper compression.
- [Larry] Got it.
- [Davin] And that basically just squeezes along those
and tightens them up.
Because there's always a clearance at the end gap.
About 18 thousandths of end gap.
And then that allows for heat and expansion in that.
But you need the compressor to be able to get them
into the hole.
- [Larry] Alright so now we're putting the camshaft
to the timing chain.
- [Davin] Yup, camshaft is as they say
the computer or the brain of the engine.
- [Larry] How do you know how tight to make that bolt?
- [Davin] Spec.
- [Larry] Ah! So you have a book that tells you?
- [Davin] Heck yeah!
- [Larry] Okay good.
- Yup.
Yeah, those are pretty small.
They're 5/16 bolts.
If I remember off the top of my head
it's about 20 foot pounds of torque.
- Yeah.
- And it's critical that you line up.
You can just see the mark on the crankshaft here.
And the mark--
- [Larry] Oh yeah.
- [Davin] On the camshaft.
- [Larry] Sure.
- [Davin] You have to line those up
otherwise your camshaft will be out of time
relative to the crankshaft.
And when that happens, valves crash into pistons.
- [Larry] Yeah, so you want the valves to open
after the pistons move down.
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Yeah.
What is that thing?
- [Davin] So degree--
- [Larry] Oh yup.
- [Davin] Degree-ing in the cam.
Making sure everything is fine.
Basically finding top dead center
with a piston stop
in a degree wheel here.
- [Larry] How did you learn all this stuff?
Did you just watch Youtube?
(laughs)
- [Davin] No.
A little benefit of an engineering degree
and I look at pictures on manuals.
- [Larry] You read?
- [Davin] I didn't say I read.
- [Larry] Oh.
(laughs)
- [Davin] That's why I keyed in on pictures.
(laughs)
And timing cover on.
Of course some sealant on that
to make sure it doesn't leak.
- [Larry] Oh, the oil pan's going back in.
- [Davin] Yup, oil pan back in.
- [Larry] That's a nerve wracking time right?
You're like, "I hope I got it right."
- [Davin] Exactly right, yup.
I hope I remembered torquing all of the rods.
- [Larry] Oh, so you've got to put the valves in too.
- [Davin] Yup.
Yeah, so you have the blue piece as a spring compressor
to compress the spring.
And there's angled valve keepers
that go in and hold, go to the stem
and things like--
- [Larry] Little clips.
- [Davin] Yeah.
Almost like a tension/re-tension
because of the spring pressure.
- [Larry] Once you get you know, once you do that once
it's kinda, it's less demystifying.
It's not as hard as it looks I think you know?
- [Davin] Nope, but two hands definitely help
because one to keep the spring compressed
and one holding the keepers.
- [Larry] I mean, they must be making.
Back in 1970, they must have popped one of these engines out
every five seconds.
- [Davin] Oh yeah, yeah.
- [Larry] Okay both, they're already on.
Oh, you're gonna paint it?
- [Davin] Yeah, we went all out
and painted it as well.
Mask it off just like it was a car door I'll say.
And actually, there's a little
I'm gonna say a myth
a good automotive primer
and a good automotive paint
is far better than any of the rattle cans
that you can buy in the store.
- [Larry] Okay, so you've done this.
You've used automotive paint
with an automotive spray gun.
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] And got the things hot
and the paint doesn't peel.
- [Davin] No.
- [Larry] Okay.
Okay so now you're putting the rocker arms back on.
And the push rods.
- [Davin] Yup.
- [Larry] Those are those sticks, the metal sticks right?
- [Davin] One thing in here that gets tricky
or can be tricky
is you don't just torque the rocker arms down
to a dead stop.
- [Larry] Oh?
- [Davin] You have to adjust them.
I take my one hand and I rotate the push rod
and then start tightening that nut
right until I feel a little bit of tension.
- [Larry] Oh!
- [Davin] Or just where it contacts.
Give it a quarter turn and that's where I leave them.
- [Larry] You're sealing off the edges
because the intake manifold seals the V of the engine.
Because there's oil flying around in there.
- [Davin] That's correct, yup.
And you have vacuum on this side
so you want to make sure that you have a good sealed area.
Otherwise, if you can't pull vacuum
then you're not gonna pull.
You're gonna pull extra air into the combustion chambers.
That's, call it not regulated.
- [Larry] So it's important that there's no leaks.
- [Davin] Correct, yup.
- [Larry] Alright, okay.
And this is the same intake manifold?
It looks like a new one though.
- [Davin] Yup, this is a brand new
Performer intake manifold.
- [Larry] So you couldn't resist
trying to make it more powerful right?
- [Davin] Yeah, I know.
Lots of spark plugs.
- [Larry] Oh you kept that awful cast iron exhaust manifold?
- [Davin] Yup, the best part about
the cast iron exhaust manifold
is you don't have to beat the daylights out of them
to get them to fit around the steering shaft.
- [Larry] Oh right.
- [Davin] And the plug wires don't burn off on you
all the time.
- [Larry] Right, there's lots of clearance.
Now, here's a misconception.
You barely have to tighten those valve covers.
- [Davin] That's correct.
- [Larry] Right? You could over torque them.
- [Davin] Yeah, the torque spec is like 10 or 12 foot pounds
so it's really light.
And it's real easy to over torque them.
And you squeeze out the gasket.
The same thing on an oil pan, it's the same.
Because the cork starts to flex
and push up pretty quickly.
- [Larry] So conversely, if you make it too tight
it will leak more.
- [Davin] Right.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- [Davin] That's exactly right.
- [Larry] Oh, you got an Edelbrock carb.
- [Davin] Yeah, so upgraded from the two barrel
to the four barrel.
- [Larry] Oh, looking like you're done.
- [Davin] Isn't it fancy?
- [Larry] Oh, that looks great.
- [Davin] Look at that.
You ever seen one run on a stand?
- [Larry] No, it's just like a plane.
It cleaned itself out, amazing.
- [Davin] Pretty awesome.
- Yeah.
(laughs)
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