New 408 for the Flyfish

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Good news, found where the piece of cast iron came from...it was from one of the oil pan bolt holes. I double checked that everything was clean and secure, bolted the pan back on with a dab of permatex on that bolt AND got the engine in the car Saturday. It was stupid hot outside (heat index was over 100), so I quit after getting it in the car. Still need to hook up the trans, install intake, and all the other little stuff.....Almost there!

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Not good to have an issue but always makes me feel better when I can find the source of it
 
More progress this weekend...and more steps back. Got the trans hooked up, motor/trans mounts set, started in on the oil filter adapter and got tired, lol....can't reach the bolt well...its one of those 1/16 of a turn, flip the wrench, 1/16 of a turn, flip the wrench...over and over and over.....

My torque converter won't move (not bolted to the flex plate yet), which has me concerned...I'm probably going to have to uncouple the trans and have a look...which sucks because it is a pain to align that thing up by myself on the garage floor with a jack.....oh well. More delays. No pictures this time because there is really not much to see other than 3 years worth of dirt/dust on my car.
 
You may have to take trans back out to reseat the converter. That sucks, sorry.
 
Back to work on the car after a long family vacation.

Finally dropped the trans last weekend, pulled the converter...everything looks OK. The converter fit in the back of the crank is pretty tight, that must have been what I was fighting. If you get the converter slightly cockeyed it binds up.

Went ahead and removed my oil filter adapter (because it is EASY to reach with no transmission in the way) that I never did get bolted all the way in to see the obvious reason it the bolt was not spinning on....rusty threads....like every other bolt hole on this piece of crap block from Indy....I'm going to wait to put the trans back in till I can order a 3/4" tap to clean out these threads.

Maybe I'll have this done by Christmas, lol.
 
Yeah, the passages look fine, just the threads look bad. I ordered a tap from Summit, should be here today. I was hoping to make it to the track this weekend....but there is pretty much no chance of that happening (too much other stuff going on, kids school stuff, work, the usual).
 
Sorry to hear about all the issues you're having with the dirty threads. That's kind of ridiculous that they didn't chase all the threads. Looks like it'll be an awesome engine once its in the car!
 
More progress, and more steps back again...

Progress: The 3\4" tap worked great, threads are cleaned up, no more issues. Oil filter adapter is on.

The lack of progress: Put the trans back in the car with converter, bolted it most of the way up and checked the converter for rotation...the converter still won't move. Removed trans again and measured the snout of the converter and the hole in the back of the crank. My measurements are not real accurate laying under the car with a micrometer, but the hole in the back of the crank and the snout of the converter are really close to the same size (about 1.815"). The converter goes in and out just fine on my old Eagle crank. I measured my old Eagle crank and it was a couple thousandths bigger, BUT it also has a beveled edge where the crank receives the snout of the converter (which makes it align easier). The Scat crank is just straight cut. Honestly, I have not been impressed with the aesthetic quality of the Scat forged crank vs the Eagle forged crank, and this is one more strike against the Scat crank.

So now I'm needing to shave 5-10 thou off of the converter snout...not sure how to do this. I may send it in to PTC for a refresh and ask them to do this at the same time...but for now....

Plan B:

I might make another post about this, but here goes....I have another converter. It is not right for the application, but it would work OK. It is a 10" that I used to use with my nitrous setup. It stalled ~3300 behind my old 360 (low 12's on motor). The snout on that converter is ~ 7-10 thou smaller, and it fits in the back of the crank very well. I'm thinking about using it just to get the car running this year, then swapping it out later with my 8" converter after I get it fixed...I know the car will be slower with the 10", but idk......is this a crazy idea?

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Well, if it gets you up and running to solve some right foot issues for the soul, go for it. It’s though to sit and wait through the issues that need be solved. Sometimes, ya just wanna go out and pound some pavement. Just for fun.

Then again, you have waited this long...... what’s a little more time?
 
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Years ago I worked in a repair shop/garage and “fixed” several motors with a spun bearing by sanding the crank down in the car.
You should be able to take a few thou of the converter snout the same way. Tear some emery cloth in strips the same width as the snout. Wrap it tightly around the snout, then wrap a piece of wire around the emery cloth 2-3 times around leaving like 2ft of wire on each side. Wrap the wire around each hand and saw back and forth. The emery cloth will spin tightly and sand the snout down evenly. Learned it from an old timer. On a crank you switch out to finer and finer until you reach .010 under. Takes time and patience. I’m sure the engine builders on here will eat this one up.
Good luck
 
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604B1duster said:
Years ago I worked in a repair shop/garage and “fixed” several motors with a spun bearing by sanding the crank down in the car.
You should be able to take a few thou of the converter snout the same way. Tear some emery cloth in strips the same width as the snout. Wrap it tightly around the snout, then wrap a piece of wire around the emery cloth 2-3 times around leaving like 2ft of wire on each side. Wrap the wire around each hand and saw back and forth. The emery cloth will spin tightly and sand the snout down evenly. Learned it from an old timer. On a crank you switch out to finer and finer until you reach .010 under. Takes time and patience. I’m sure the engine builders on here will eat this one up.
Good luck
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Great idea! I may give this a shot sometime this week. :)
 
604B1duster said:
I’m sure you could also use a dremel to add a bevel to the crank
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I thought about that, but laying under the car it a tight space to do it....I don't trust me in that situation, lol.

I just wish I had checked fitment of the converter before I assembled everything...oh well, learn something new every time.
 
why not use a 90° countersink (don´t know if it´s the correct Name....) in a cordless drill? will Center and align itself, should make a nice bevel in the crank without too much effort. When the trans is out it should be easily accessible.

Michael
 
360duster said:
why not use a 90° countersink (don´t know if it´s the correct Name....) in a cordless drill? will Center and align itself, should make a nice bevel in the crank without too much effort. When the trans is out it should be easily accessible.

Michael
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I just did a search and couldn’t find anything that size
 
I didn’t read your whole post but will later. As far as the convertor being tight in the back of the he crank been there done that. And so has a friend. His was an eagle Crank and mine was a K1 crank. I didn’t catch mine till I hurt the thrust bearing but it a simple fix with a flapper wheel (sanding wheel) on a small die grinder. I honed out my pilot hole in the crank under the car. Took about five minutes and a couple of test fits. If you need a picture of the sanding wheel I used let me know
 
604B1duster said:
Years ago I worked in a repair shop/garage and “fixed” several motors with a spun bearing by sanding the crank down in the car.
You should be able to take a few thou of the converter snout the same way. Tear some emery cloth in strips the same width as the snout. Wrap it tightly around the snout, then wrap a piece of wire around the emery cloth 2-3 times around leaving like 2ft of wire on each side. Wrap the wire around each hand and saw back and forth. The emery cloth will spin tightly and sand the snout down evenly. Learned it from an old timer. On a crank you switch out to finer and finer until you reach .010 under. Takes time and patience. I’m sure the engine builders on here will eat this one up.
Good luck
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Always check the convertor fit to the crank "out" , before installing/always tap all threaded holes on any build.
USE A LONG LEATHER SHOESTRING FOR THE SANDING OPERATION MENTIONED HERE.
U don't need .010 clearance. And u can bevel the edge of the crank hole a little.
 
famous bob said:
Always check the convertor fit to the crank "out" , before installing/always tap all threaded holes on any build.
USE A LONG LEATHER SHOESTRING FOR THE SANDING OPERATION MENTIONED HERE.
U don't need .010 clearance. And u can bevel the edge of the crank hole a little.
Click to expand...

Are you the same old guy who taught me that trick ? Actually a flat shoe lace works best and the .010 wasn’t for the converter it was in reference to fixing a crank. But I’m still curios, are you tall and thin with white hair and glasses ??? Lol
 
604B1duster said:
Are you the same old guy who taught me that trick ? Actually a flat shoe lace works best and the .010 wasn’t for the converter it was in reference to fixing a crank. But I’m still curios, are you tall and thin with white hair and glasses ??? Lol
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You hit it right on the head, well, except for white hair , working on it tho--------------
 
Finally got the converter to fit!….It only took ~ 1.5 hours with some emery cloth and a “lazy Susan”. I put the converter on my wife’s lazy Susan and spun it while applying pressure with the emery cloth to the snout of the converter using a strap wrench. It was slow, but I removed about 8 thousandths evenly from the converter snout, and everything went together just fine after that. Motor and trans are hooked up, converter bolted to the flex plate, just all the little stuff to do now (headers, intake, starter, drive shaft, exhaust, etc.)….I’M IN THE HOME STREATCH!!


I have a lot going on this week, but there is a good chance I could start this motor this weekend :-D
 
I put in a lot of hours on the car this weekend, no major obstacles to speak of other than the intake being a pain to line up and some fuel leaks from the carb. All of those were solved by Monday afternoon and the car was completely ready to start by 5:15pm…. however, earlier in the day I promised my son I would take him fishing, and even though I REALLY wanted to start her up, I pushed the Cuda back into the garage and went fishing.


Unfortunately, I won’t have time to fire the car till Friday or Saturday…buy hey, slow is my middle name, lol.
 
flyfish said:
I put in a lot of hours on the car this weekend, no major obstacles to speak of other than the intake being a pain to line up and some fuel leaks from the carb. All of those were solved by Monday afternoon and the car was completely ready to start by 5:15pm…. however, earlier in the day I promised my son I would take him fishing, and even though I REALLY wanted to start her up, I pushed the Cuda back into the garage and went fishing.


Unfortunately, I won’t have time to fire the car till Friday or Saturday…buy hey, slow is my middle name, lol.
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Sounds nice, enjoy
Can we assume your flyfish-ing ?
Good luck on start up
 
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