David Neibert
SCCoA Admin
Dave Dalke and I (mostly Dave) have been fighting this 347 turbo motor install for the past 4 days (started Wednesday AM) and we have had nothing but trouble. Even working on the car from 8:30 AM to well past Midnight we wern't going to have the engine in and running by the time Dave was supposed to go back home Friday evening. I'm gratefull that he agreed to change his flight and stay until this morning (Sunday).
Most of the fitment problems were related to the Dart block and the Canton oil pan from hell, that was required because of the 4 bolt main caps on the block. The K-member had to be severly modded, motor mounts reworked, power steering lines and cooler relocated, raised engine (1") and trans (3/4") mounting positions for oil pan clearance, and dozens of other little things.
Anyhow we finally reached the point of firing it up last night and it sounded great (exhaust manifolds only) but withing a few minutes of running it started making a knocking sound and generally running like a$$. After checking everything we did several times and not finding anything wrong, we took it for a drive last night 2:00 AM and again this morning. It's got very low vacuum and feels like it's only running on 6 or 7 cylinders. Four of the freeze plugs are also leaking slightly. It really pisses me off, because we took every precaution (including priming the oil pump) to insure that nothing would go wrong.
Next step is a compression test to locate the problem cylinder/s and I'm crossing my fingers that the motor doesn't have to come out again. I think it's only a seized up rocker, that's holding a valve open. I should have it firgured out in the next day or two.
BTW, Dave Dalke did excellent work on this project (Thanks again Dave) and if he hadn't been here helping me, I would have freaked out on the second day when I saw how much of the K-member needed to be removed. Here are a few pictures.
The old motor.
Dual in-tank pumps.
Fuel lines.
More fuel lines.
Fuel pressure regulator ready to mount.
K-member mods required to clear oil pan. It was still necessary to raise the engine install height by 1" to clear the top of the K-member.
Engine and trans ready to install. BTW, We had to test fit the motor at least 4 other times before getting this far.
And how it looks installed. And yes even with the motor raised and inch it still fits under the stock hood.
David
Most of the fitment problems were related to the Dart block and the Canton oil pan from hell, that was required because of the 4 bolt main caps on the block. The K-member had to be severly modded, motor mounts reworked, power steering lines and cooler relocated, raised engine (1") and trans (3/4") mounting positions for oil pan clearance, and dozens of other little things.
Anyhow we finally reached the point of firing it up last night and it sounded great (exhaust manifolds only) but withing a few minutes of running it started making a knocking sound and generally running like a$$. After checking everything we did several times and not finding anything wrong, we took it for a drive last night 2:00 AM and again this morning. It's got very low vacuum and feels like it's only running on 6 or 7 cylinders. Four of the freeze plugs are also leaking slightly. It really pisses me off, because we took every precaution (including priming the oil pump) to insure that nothing would go wrong.
Next step is a compression test to locate the problem cylinder/s and I'm crossing my fingers that the motor doesn't have to come out again. I think it's only a seized up rocker, that's holding a valve open. I should have it firgured out in the next day or two.
BTW, Dave Dalke did excellent work on this project (Thanks again Dave) and if he hadn't been here helping me, I would have freaked out on the second day when I saw how much of the K-member needed to be removed. Here are a few pictures.
The old motor.
Dual in-tank pumps.
Fuel lines.
More fuel lines.
Fuel pressure regulator ready to mount.
K-member mods required to clear oil pan. It was still necessary to raise the engine install height by 1" to clear the top of the K-member.
Engine and trans ready to install. BTW, We had to test fit the motor at least 4 other times before getting this far.
And how it looks installed. And yes even with the motor raised and inch it still fits under the stock hood.
David
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