A bit more progress.
Since getting the engine in I've been concentrating on all the little ancillary jobs that are needed before I can test fire the engine.
My outline plan is to get to a point where I can fire up the motor and do the initial run in before doing final fit on the body.
This means I'll need to
- complete the fuel pipe
- Fit engine oil filter
- Fill with Oil
- Set static engine timing
- Install distributor
- Fit oil pressure and water temperature senders.
- Spark plugs and leads
- Fit radiator and hoses
- Header tank
- Electric cooling fan
- Cooling fan switch
- Fit exhausts
- Wire up Rev counter, oil pressure gauge and water temperature gauge.
- Wire up starter motor and rig up a temporary starter button.
Fuel Pipe
So I've started on the fuel system and run the fuel pipe part way down the chassis. The build manual suggest that the fuel pipe should be run from the tank directly underneath the diff then across to the inside chassis rail. AK supply a stainless cover plate to protect the fuel line under the diff. I must admit to being a bit concerned about this arrangement - despite that fact that AK and lots of others use that route to pass IVA. I found an article on the forum from Jaykay about an alternative route through the suspension arms round the side of the diff so that's what I've decided to do.
The idea is to use 10mm copper pipe with a couple of soldered elbows, then fabricate a suitable bracket to support the pipe as it passes through the suspension. This ends up with a rigid pipe route that is clear of the drive shaft and not affected by the suspension travel. The rest of the fuel pipe I've decided to run using rubber.
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| Fuel pipe section from tank |
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| Fuel pipe section underneath drivesharft |
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| Fuel pipe section exiting suspension area |
Engine filter, oil and timing.
A bit more work on the engine - as I had removed the distributor, I took the opportunity to fill the engine oil through the hole. I read somewhere that filling through the rocker covers takes an age. I firstly filled the oil filter with oil before fitting this.
Next problem was to set the static timing. The trick is to find Top Dead Centre on No 1 cylinder. On the Chevy 350, No 1 cylinder is the one nearest the front of the engine, so UK passenger side front.
I rotated the engine using the front pulley bolt (Chevy engine rotates clockwise when viewed from front) until the timing line on the harmonic balancer was at TDC. You need to confirm that this matches the firing position, in other words, at TDC both valves on No 1 cylinder should be closed. I did this by removing the rocker cover and observing the movement of the valves. The valves should remain closed for a half turn of the crankshaft up to TDC - in other words during the compression stroke. Some folks stick their finger over the spark plug holes to detect the pressurization of the cylinder but that's hard to do without an assistant. Next task is to refit the distributor.I bought an oil priming tool from Roadcraft which is useful for turning the oil pump shaft to line up the distributor drive gear to the oil pump while you line up the distributor rotor with plug cap no 1 of the distributor. This process has given me a basic start point for the timing. In reality I'll have to remove and reset the distributor prior to starting the engine for the first time as I will need to use the oil primer tool to pressurize the oil.
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| Rocker cover removed while setting static timing |
