Engine Rebuilding : Engine pre-assembly>Long-block build-up

Long-block build-up

Part 1. Preparation and safety

Objective

• Build-up the long block.

Personal safety
Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:

• Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
• Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
• Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
• Hand protection - such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
• Respiratory equipment - such as face masks and valved respirators

If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.
Safety check

• Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.

Points to note

• Carefully check gaskets as you fit them for any orientation marks.
• When disassembling make sure all components go back in the correct order into their respective organizer trays.
• Use extreme caution when you remove the camshaft, as it is very easy to scratch good new bearings.

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Part 2: Step-by-step instruction

1. Install heads and gaskets
   Put the head gasket and head back on the engine with a couple of bolts. Do the same for the other side and when they are secured in place with a few hand tightened bolts, clean off the intake manifold surfaces of both heads.
2. Install intake manifold and gaskets
   Check the new intake manifold gaskets for any directions on which way to install them. To hold the intake gaskets in place, lay them on the head and line up the bolt holes with the threaded holes in the head. Then tape them in place so they don't slide down. Carefully lay the intake manifold in place on the gaskets and thread some bolts into all four corners.
   This check is necessary because the decks of the block were machined and the bolt holes of the manifold may not line up exactly. If they don't, the bolt holes in the manifold will have to be filed or drilled out a little larger so the manifold bolts will be able to match with the threads in the cylinder heads.
3. Install the distributor
   With the manifold on, install the distributor. First look at the drive rod for the oil pump. Occasionally, while the motor is rotated upside down, the oil pump drive rod won't seat correctly. Rotate it until the distributor drops into place. If it doesn't drop all the way flush to the manifold, look at where the distributor gear meets the oil pump drive rod.
   The gear in the camshaft drives the gear on the distributor and makes it spin. The oil pump rod interlocks with the bottom of the distributor which in turn drives the oil pump. The distributor won't drop down if the slot in the distributor is not lined up with the oil pump rod. With no oil pan in place, just spin the oil pump rod until everything lines up and the distributor will drop in place, flush with the block or intake surface. Check to make sure that all these moving parts mesh together and rotate smoothly.
4. Install the covers
   Sit the valve covers on, without their gaskets. Make sure they are flat all the way around and that nothing prevents them seating in place. Check the valve cover gaskets to make sure that they also fit. Then try the timing cover to make sure it was not bent during removal.
   The oil pan was checked during the installation of the oil pump, so all of the engine covers should now have been checked.
5. Disassemble engine
   If everything fits, completely disassemble the engine again, making make sure that the valve train parts all go back to their places in the organizer tray and that the gaskets go back into their packages to stay clean. The pistons go back in their tray and any bolts you remove go back to the correct storage bins or bags.
   When the crankshaft is out of the engine again, wipe off the main bearings and the rod bearings and put them in bins away from any dust that could collect on them.
   Use extreme caution while you remove the camshaft, as it is very easy to scratch good new bearings.