A couple more pics that were supposed to be in the above post:
#1 shows the heavy duty block webbing around the mains, giving the motors their reputation for strength.
It also shows how the block skirts extend well below the crankshaft centerline, hence the name,
Y-block. Viewed on end especially with pan in place, they resemble a letter Y, as opposed to the
V of the SBF and SBC.
#2 Front of motor where timing cover is bolted. Stock timing covers are heavy. I will be putting my aluminum
cover on though. There is a simple pan that goes on top of the valley, with an airspace between it and
the bottom of the intake manifold.
#3 4 of the solid lifters installed. Motors never had hydraulic lifters. Flat tappet lifters, and their
matching cams, have been failing with high frequency when the SM grade motor oils are used, due to
the additive ZDDP being removed to extend catalytic converter life. Most likely will be running GM oil
additive EOS on each oil change. It has lots of ZDDP.

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Looking good Mike. Assume Gomer and Goober didn't screw anything up. Deck hight is where it belongs, etc.

Looks good to me! Thanks for the pics. Nice to see this project coming along :thumbsup:

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Deck height will be known soon, at least on number one cylinder when I install the piston rod assembly. Going back to the first post, the deck height and cam are the reason this venture started.

I just received the ARP catalogue yesterday which I forgot that I ordered. Glad it came, because it has some very good instructions for rod bolts. This motor has ARP rod bolts.

Gomer said I wouldnt have to check for rod bolt stretch on installation. Wrong! So it will take a little mental digestion and planning before the piston/rod/rings go in place. Think I will take one of the assemblies over to my super expert mechanic friend and have him examine the bolts to make sure they are the correct application first.

Also remembered that I will have to remove the cam and the two number one lifters to wipe lobes and faces clean on number one before checking cam timing. That shouldnt be difficult though.

Mike

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Gosh, this brings back memories. Rod bolt stretch. Haven't heard that term in a long, long time. Assume you have a mik, with dial indicator for that.
Next you'll be talking about "plastigauge." (think that's the way it's spelled) Do they still use that?

Yes Memphis I used Plastigauge to check the main clearance. Can you say all of this is Ol Skool ?

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Progress has slowed some due to time being required on other items. TDC checked on #1 piston shows it between .004 and .005 in hole, so that is good. I did have a go at cam timing without removing the cam, but results were not satisfactory apparently because of the excess assembly lube on lobes and lifters. The indicator mounts on the deck to check lifter movement, and I needed an extension to reach down to the lifter. The picture shows two extensions. The first I made with a ball point pen, drilling out the end to .199 in and placing it into the indicator pointer end which was .200. The lifter end of the pen housing was sanded down to fit better into the dished lifter. It actually worked equally, maybe better than the second extension made by my mechanic using a piece of brazing rod which threads into the indicator. The brass rod seemed to flex a little at lifter rise. I want to check both methods after cleaning off the grease, just for the hell of it.
Mike

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Really looking good Mike. The idea with the pen is brilliant. Looks like it will give you very accurate readings. Keep those photos coming. Walking down memory lane makes me feel like a kid again.

A couple days ago I went to the barn to get some gas for the rototiller. Decided to quickly take the piston/rod assembly out of #5 hole and put it where it belonged in #1. It was in 5 for a quick looksee at the deck height. Anyway, the motor was in a position with the crank in an accessable postition, and I didnt rotate the motor on stand before taking loose the rod cap. As I was turning toward the table with rod cap in hand BANG! Quickly wheeling around, there was the piston and rod bouncing off the leg of the stand. It slid out. DUH! OH Shit! Damn! Picked it up and saw two nicks midway between the thrust face & the piston side. Good I thought, they are out of the way, and cleaned down the puckered areas with 800 grit. Went to put the piston in #1 and it would not go. No way. Looked closer, and saw a badddd problem.

When the piston hit the leg, its skirt came crashing down and the rod rushing up, and creased the bottom of the skirt from the inside, pushing it outward. One junk piston.

A whole new set of pistons is on order now, and there has been a very hard lesson learned (or two or three). Since money has become an issue (gas doesnt help), I decided to maybe pay for the pistons with this book. The last one I saw on e-bay went for $152. Just hope all those nonwinning bidders show up this time.

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Ohh no

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Hey the short block is for the most part together! The new new piston set had a lot of variability in piston weights, and I was lucky to find an excellent match without going through material removal.

The machinist had not sized the cam to the new cam bearings, so a experienced friend helped me do that using blueing to determine where on the bearings the cam was rubbing. We then scraped the bearings, reinsterted cam, checked again for high areas with blueing, scraped, removed and repeated the process too many times to count. Finished the surface of the cam bearings with 0000 steel wool and washed the block thorougly.

The process for inserting piston/rod/ring assemblies had me a bit anxious since I'd never done it. It went pretty well, though required a lot of time. A new AutoZone ring compressor failed after the second assembly, and a retired mechanic friend came to the rescue by lending his compressor for a day. Getting the first oil scraper ring into the cylinder was always the most difficult.

There is a problem on the cam nose. The hardware that goes between the cam gear and nose bolt/washer determines endplay of the cam, at least that is the way it looks after hassling with it for a week. At first I had zero endplay, not good. Now I have .060 endplay, also not good. So that will need to be worked out before the final installation of the timing cover.

The crank had been in and out so many times that I installed another new set of main bearings during the final assembly. Probably overkill but it felt better.

There isnt much else left to do. Check the wear tolerances of a used oil pump to see if it can be bolted up, put in oil galley plugs. Good thing because it looks like our ranch may possibly, finally, sell. That would mean no time for anything but moving.

Last week I bought 5 new brass bodied thermostats to fit this type motor for a total of $9.50 (including shipping) on ebay. They were supposed to be 190 degrees. Figured one could go into motor, one save for backup and 3 resold. 190 degrees would have been perfect for mileage, heating up the oil for less drag. After receiving them, saw that the box said 190 degree, stamped on the stat was 195 degree. Checked three of them in a cup of water with accurage thermometer. All three were BARELY open with water boiling at 208 degrees! So the five new thermostats went into the metal recycling trash.

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup:

Here it is, a finished 292 shortblock. The displacement is now 301 inches, and compression 1/2 point below 9:1. It should run circles around the current low compression motor (and many more circles per tank).

The pic shows an old cast iron timing cover used just to seal things up until the aluminum cover is installed. The lightweight aluminum jobs are slick! 7 lbs lighter, and there are only a few over 100 in the world. The harmonic balancer also hasnt been fully inserted.

A new oil pump is on order, as the used one on hand is worn out.

It would be great to put on a billet flywheel lightened by 5 lbs. before the motor install this winter, but need to find a couple more books to sell .

If I can do this anyone can, so lets have some more posts on motor builds!

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46 1/2 ton with 56 292:thumbsup: