408 Build Thread
I took another load of new parts out to the machine shop today and was pleasantly surprised. My long block is completely assembled!
It was early still and no one was there yet, so Doc took about a hour and went over everything that had been done up to that point. He said that he got a little carried away with the heads. We had talked about just cleaning up the intake ports and the short sides a bit, but he did both intake AND exhaust runners and blended out the bowls also. He said he had the tools out and was already working so he just kept on going. Hope that doesn't cost me too much?!? I asked about the gasket match on the intake and he took a bore scope out and showed me how nice he blended the manifold into the intake port. It all looked very nice! Here's a shot of an exhaust port.
He said that he measured for custom push rods and then figured out that Manley offers them in that length. They are intended for a Ford application, but I won't tell anyone else that. The cam is degreed in and when he determined top dead center, he noticed that the balancer was off? So he marked it with the true TDC. I'm not sure why it would be off so much?!?
Overall, I'm very pleased with the work that they did. Their attention to detail was very impressive. Doc really enjoys this type of work and it shows. He could have talked for another hour but I had to get to work so that I could pay for all of this. I couldn't resist setting my valve covers on top for one more picture before I left.
I took another load of new parts out to the machine shop today and was pleasantly surprised. My long block is completely assembled!
It was early still and no one was there yet, so Doc took about a hour and went over everything that had been done up to that point. He said that he got a little carried away with the heads. We had talked about just cleaning up the intake ports and the short sides a bit, but he did both intake AND exhaust runners and blended out the bowls also. He said he had the tools out and was already working so he just kept on going. Hope that doesn't cost me too much?!? I asked about the gasket match on the intake and he took a bore scope out and showed me how nice he blended the manifold into the intake port. It all looked very nice! Here's a shot of an exhaust port.
He said that he measured for custom push rods and then figured out that Manley offers them in that length. They are intended for a Ford application, but I won't tell anyone else that. The cam is degreed in and when he determined top dead center, he noticed that the balancer was off? So he marked it with the true TDC. I'm not sure why it would be off so much?!?
Overall, I'm very pleased with the work that they did. Their attention to detail was very impressive. Doc really enjoys this type of work and it shows. He could have talked for another hour but I had to get to work so that I could pay for all of this. I couldn't resist setting my valve covers on top for one more picture before I left.