F54/P79 Swap Project

[siteunseen]

On 10/2/2019 at 8:12 AM, Captain Obvious said:

The Canadian Tool Exchange visited last night!!  Thanks @240260280!!

And even though I'm jumping the gun, I just had to try out the ring pliers. Seem to work just fine:

And speaking of such things... The Ring Fairy made a recent visit as well:

 

I got one too!

 

 

[240260280]

Sorry for the delay Cliff.  I had misplaced the envelope when on vacation in Newfoundland.  As a result those jets visited Dildo, and also drove past a moose we named Jimmy.

 

[siteunseen]

They look as good if not better than the NOS ones.  I'm planning on using the Dildo adjacent pair on a spare set and if they work as good as I hope then I'll put the NOS set in my shiny SUs.

Thanks a million!  Cliff

p.s

Did that radio knob make it to you in one piece?

[240260280]

Yes... sorry I forgot to confirm. Thanks!

I soaked those GJ's in vinegar and rubbed to remove oxidation.

One had a sticking ball that overflowed when I removed from a car so check them carefully. Maybe a good solvent soak and blast with compressed air would be a next step to ensure the passages inside are free of debris and buildup.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by 240260280

[Captain Obvious]

So I've been slowly working on the two F54 blocks here and I've got a question,

The two Phillips screws that hold the PCV vent baffle screen into the block... Mine aren't coming out easy and I'm wondering if they used thread lock on them.  Anyone who has taken those out have trouble with them? Last thing I want to do is snap one of those off in a newly painted block

@GGRIII 's in front and mine in the back:

We used different paints on our blocks. I like mine better.   

[Jeff G 78]

Throw heat at them and try again.  I can't imagine they used thread lock as high as the temps get in an engine, but it's worth a shot.  I will ask a friend who is a Z engine master.  He will know.

EDIT, I got an answer back.  He said to use an impact screwdriver to remove them.

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Jeff G 78

[240260280]

I use blue thread lock on those and also on the oil pickup fasteners... just to be sure.

[Reptoid Overlords]

I just took everything out of the old N42.  Those screws came out without any trouble, and I believe that engine has never been apart.  No sign of thread lock. 

[Av8ferg]

CO, mine were a little tight, but eventually broke free, I was worried I might strip the head. Try and 1/4” impact driver with an extension


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[Captain Obvious]

Thanks guys. I'll hit them with a little heat and try an impact driver. I haven't really put a lot of grunt into them yet because I was worried about fighting thread lock. Keep you posted!

And in the meantime... Here's some catch-up pics. This was my experience popping that troublesome front expansion plug.

I made this little adapter contraption for my slide hammer:

Carefully drilled (making sure I did not drill too deep) and tapped a hole into the expansion plug to accept the adapter:

Thread on the slide hammer and with a couple taps, out pops the plug:

Don't know if it would work on all attempts, but so far, I'm batting 1000 at two for two.

[Captain Obvious]

My build buddy hit the PCV screen holder screws with an impact and said they came out easy-peasy. Thanks for the info guys.

On another topic, this was my experience pulling that troublesome rear main bearing cap.

I made this little puller adapter contraption from a scrap parts I had laying around. Riddled with extra holes from previous fixturing and holding uses. Anyway, couple holes and some threaded rod:

Put it on the rear main cap and run the three threaded parts down into the holes in the cap. The two smaller threaded parts get threaded into the oil pan mounting holes while the larger part goes into the other threaded hole in the cap.

Put a couple washers under the puller as jacking points and then run the nuts down against the puller to lift the cap out. It's not pretty (or symmetric), but it's what I had laying around.

When you run the nuts down, it pulls the cap out a little. Keep stacking washers and repeating the process until you have the cap off:

The FSM uses just the one larger threaded hole, but I found the bearing cap tends to cokk sideways as you pull it. I found I could keep the cap even and pull much straighter out if I used the oil pan mounting bolts as well as just the traditional puller hole.

[Captain Obvious]

This was my experience pulling that troublesome center main bearing cap (#4 with the thrust bearing surfaces).

The chunk of scrap I used to make the puller for the rear main #7 (above) wasn't long enough to span across the width of the block, so I couldn't use it to pull the center main. If I had something longer laying around that was thick enough, I could have made one puller that would work for both mains #7 and #4. But I didn't.  However, since cap #4 is so much thinner and easier to pull than #7, I can get away with something thinner.

So for cap #4, I used a simple length of angle iron with a hole in it for a jack bolt. Use a couple pieces of scrap wood to straddle it off the oil pan mounting surface and it looks like this:

Straddle the bearing cap, screw in the jack bolt, and then use a ratchet to crank the nut down against the "fixture" to pull the cap off the block:

Couple turns with the ratchet and #4 cap pops off easy-peasy: