Old Race 340 Teardown

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Newbomb Turk said:
Ok, now I get it.

I’ve seen distributors with the tang too long.

If you need some clearance there just grind a little off the bottom of the tang.

I would not use a gasket to shim the distributor up.
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He's gotta have "something" to seal the distributor. He said the distributor does not have a machined slot for the O-ring seal.

To the OP, here's what "I" would do. Spray both sides of that existing seal with a good coat of Copper Coat spray and let it tack up. It never dries completely, so it will stand the distributor being turned to adjust timing and still seal fine.
 
RustyRatRod said:
He's gotta have "something" to seal the distributor. He said the distributor does not have a machined slot for the O-ring seal.

To the OP, here's what "I" would do. Spray both sides of that existing seal with a good coat of Copper Coat spray and let it tack up. It never dries completely, so it will stand the distributor being turned to adjust timing and still seal fine.
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Right, I knew that. That’s why I said not to stack them.
 
OK, yes, that's exactly the kind of feedback I need thanks so much everyone. I also went hunting into my old books and came up with this chart that shows several types of seals and o-rings in the distributor base. Since I'm depending on the added "shim" height of the steel seal that I have I think I will re-use it. I'm not sure about using spray copper seal, or other sealants, on it since it still has to slide when I adjust the timing. I guess just fingers crossed that there won't be too much oil seepage here. It looks like that Fel-Pro gasket is pretty common so I can use that as a fall back. But if anybody knows anything about that steel version that I have I'm all ears.

Perhaps I should start a new thread for this engine build-up? - Jim

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I would leave this thread going, so much awsomeness and history in one location, plus it will be easy to revert back and see where it all started. Just my 2 cents worth
 
I've had an interesting time starting to put this engine back together. With all my measurements made and inspections done I discovered that I could not find a source for rod bearings with the dowel pin hole that these rods require. So I had to rig up a way to cut the holes myself. I bought a standard reconditioned rod to use as a holder and drilled a hole in the rod cap through to the bearing saddle to give me a place to get a tool into the spot where the dowel pin would be. I used a 3/16" extra long end mill to index the rod in my milling clamp onto the axis of the lathe spindle. I used a couple of the old rod bottom bearing shells (with the dowel pin holes) to give me a precision reference to clamp the rod into place. It took some real fiddling to align everything just right but when I was done and everything tight I could wheel the carriage back and forth into the bearing dowel pin holes with no resistance. Then I shortened the end mill and clamped my new lower bearing shells into the rod and voila - cut down pin holes. Also spent some time with the cam gear drive. So now the crank and cam are in and the pistons/rods are next up.

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Super Sleeper said:
I've had an interesting time starting to put this engine back together. With all my measurements made and inspections done I discovered that I could not find a source for rod bearings with the dowel pin hole that these rods require. So I had to rig up a way to cut the holes myself. I bought a standard reconditioned rod to use as a holder and drilled a hole in the rod cap through to the bearing saddle to give me a place to get a tool into the spot where the dowel pin would be. I used a 3/16" extra long end mill to index the rod in my milling clamp onto the axis of the lathe spindle. I used a couple of the old rod bottom bearing shells (with the dowel pin holes) to give me a precision reference to clamp the rod into place. It took some real fiddling to align everything just right but when I was done and everything tight I could wheel the carriage back and forth into the bearing dowel pin holes with no resistance. Then I shortened the end mill and clamped my new lower bearing shells into the rod and voila - cut down pin holes. Also spent some time with the cam gear drive. So now the crank and cam are in and the pistons/rods are next up.

View attachment 1716350300

View attachment 1716350303
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Damn, I could have loaned you my rod bearing drilling fixture.

You got it done though and that’s all
that matters.

Edit: LOVE that gear drive. Great choice.
 
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