84 K10 Engine Build

[MechanicMatt]

@Marshy yes to clean, virgin oil for assembly lube. Ive used actual assembly lube, but the GM manual says clean 5w30.

@audible fart if you pm me your last 8 of the vin Ill see if there is a kit available for your truck and get you the GM part number.

 

[audible fart]

@Marshy yes to clean, virgin oil for assembly lube. Ive used actual assembly lube, but the GM manual says clean 5w30.

@audible fart if you pm me your last 8 of the vin Ill see if there is a kit available for your truck and get you the GM part number.

Appreciate the offer man, but i'm going with summit. Called a chevy dealer earlier. They instantly copped an attitude when i mentioned one of my trucks is a 1992, as if was beneath them, then said they don't sell pre bent brake line kits. I've had nothing but good luck with summit& jegs too for that matter. No smarmy condescension from them. For example when the air lines blew off of my air shocks, Summit sent me out another air line kit free.

 

[Marshy]

@Marshy yes to clean, virgin oil for assembly lube. Ive used actual assembly lube, but the GM manual says clean 5w30.

@audible fart if you pm me your last 8 of the vin Ill see if there is a kit available for your truck and get you the GM part number.

I still used assembly lube on the rod and main bearings and cam. My machinist also recommended using SAE30 for break in and just run itba fee hoursband drain the oil and replace with 5w30... I bought a ZDDP additive to run in it with the SAE30 for extra protection. Even though it had a roller cam I figured it can hurt.

 

[MechanicMatt]

My next door neighbor runs the local machine shop, he swears by 15w40 rotella


Yeah audible fart, a lot of horses asses out there in the dealer world

 

[Marshy]

I read Rotella has higher levels of ZDDP than other oils. I'm sure it's always changing, they are taking it out because it's bad for cats.

 

[Marshy]

Some times even the manual is wrong... The torque specification table for the camshaft sprocket bolt says 22-30 ftlb but the assembly text says 18 ftlb. WTF

F' it. 22 ftlbs and some blue locktight. Done.

 

[Marshy]

Getting there!

I need to wire wheel the oil pan then I can put it on and paint it and the block needs some touch up also. Then drop the pushrods in and set their lash. Prime the oil pump, install the intake, distributor, wires, plugs, carb, headers, flywheel and maybe fire this SOB.

 

[Marshy]

Just like with Chainsaw, automotive engines have an ideal squish (also called quench). This engine has 20 thou deck clearance plus the crushed gasket thickness is the quench. Unfortunately, the the head gaskets I just put in are 40 thou thick which means my quench is 60 thou. The ideal quench is 35-40 thou which means I messed up. It was on my mind before I installed it and even called them to find the crushed thickness but they were closed. I'm looking at taking the heads backoff and replacing the gaskets with OEM ones that have 15 thou crushed thickness. I know Mr.Gasket makes a set that are 18 thou thick also... That would put me at 35-38 thou... Kind of stupid that what I put in are considered OEM replacements and are 40 thou thick. They must assume rebuilds are going to deck the block 25 thou...

Did I mention this is the first automotive engine I've ever put together?

 

[Marshy]

Took a trip to the junk yard today looking for a flywheel. There were only three manual trans Chevy trucks in the whole yard! Two trucks had V6 in them and of those two, one had the trans removed already. I took the pressure plate off and it didn't look like the flywheel I needed so I moved on to the V8 truck. I had to pull the whole engine to get the flywheel off. Luckily everything to the engine was disconnected already. Only bolts I removed were the bell housing bolts and the 2 motor mounts. Much to my surprise, once the engine came out I found a brand new flywheel, friction plate and pressure plate! I mean, this thing didn't have but a couple hundred miles on it. I couldn't believe it! So i took the whole thing. The flywheel surface has 2 spot the size of a quarter that shows any wear. This thing isn't even broken in yet!

 

[Moparmyway]

Nice build Marshy ............. did you have to prime the lifters like a normal flat tappet ?

 

[Big_Wood]

Nice build Marshy ............. did you have to prime the lifters like a normal flat tappet ?

I don't prime any of them. Just set them and let them tick til they pump up lol. well i do turn the engine a bit with the ignition killed to pump them up for the most part before start up but usually get a little bit of a tick anyways. Set the valve train with already pumped up lifters. You'll be ticking within a year! Nice score on the clutch/ pressure plate/ flywheel marshy! What HP you gonna be running? Last LS1 I built ended up around 560 and it would spin those dayco clutches. Put and exedy in there and it actually did pretty good for a stock replacement clutch. Got smart on the 3rd one and got one of those center force double friction or whatever they are. Even being a hydraulic system you got a leg work out with that clutch lol for the record. Your old engine like would have ran another 10 years with those bearings. You were only down to the copper. Most high hour engines I pull are down to steel. Let it be a lesson to the goofs who don't change their engine oil. also that k10 is among the nicest i have seen. around here the body would be near gone and the frame would be held together by the box rails lol

 

[kspakland]

Sweet project !!! You are making me wish I had the money and a shop to work in so I could freshen up the 383 stroker in my 84 K10.
I originally built it 14 years ago and installed it in a 66 K20. That heavy truck would jump when I stepped on the gas pedal. But 75,000 HARD miles later, it's getting a bit tired. I think I could bring it back to the way I built it for less than a grand. It set me back $3,500 when I built it originally 14 years ago, and I did all the assembly. I don't completely trust an engine I didn't put together myself, and seeing how you are doing yours, I am confident you will get a lot of service from yours, and many smiles as you drive. I assume you had everything balanced, it makes a huge difference in engine life and is money well spent.

 

[Marshy]

Nice build Marshy ............. did you have to prime the lifters like a normal flat tappet ?

I will prime the lube oil by using a priming tool to spin the oil pump.

I disassembled each lifter and cleaned them thoroughly and reassembled them with a heavy coating of oil. It was time consuming and made my hands hurt for a couple of days.

 

[Marshy]

Idk how much horse power this will have when I'm done. I haven't put anything into a HP calculator or anything but my guess is between 300-350 hp. Everything it stock except the cam and obviously I'm going with a carb, not fuel injection. Nothing in the rotating assembly was changed to warrant a balance of the internals. Only change was the crank was ground 10 under for the journals and pistons got new rings. The bores were in great shape and only needed to be deglazed with a ball hone. The deck and head were cut for a clean mating surface.

If I could do it over again with more money I would of had him measure the stock deck clearance and then deck the block to a certain height and used a flat piston with a D cup relief. At that point, if I had more money I would just build a 383.
My static compression is 9.2:1 but woukd of liked it to be 9.5:1 with a squish of 40 thousandths. I'm sure it will run fine.

 

[Marshy]

 

[Marshy]

So after trying several times to put this pig in I finally realized the engine lift I was using was a lot smaller than the one I used to remove the engine with. Once I got the right tool and took the hood off and I was in business. You can see the difference between the two (hood on vs off pics).

Where did I put those damn bell housing bolts!

 

[VinceGU05]

I thought you were being ambitious trying to fit with the hood on. Much easier without.
Bolts are on the back bench, or in the chassis rails [emoji12]


Sent from my iStihl.

 

[Marshy]

I found them, one was in the tool box and the other was with the old intake bolts.

Engine is in and all bolted up. Im woking on the wires/harness. Some wires are getting eliminated, some need shortening and one needs lengthening.

I have more more trip to the auto parts store for some sprial wrap, harness clamps and butt connectors and I'll be finished with the wires. Just need to drop the carb on and plug the fuel hose in and hook the throttle cable up, prime the oil and turn the starter! I wonder if I can get out of going to the MIL's this weekend.

 

[ih361d]

very nice truck ive had quite a few the couple years ive been drivin damn nice trucks and nothing can replace the way they drive

 

[Marshy]

View attachment 475543 View attachment 475544 View attachment 475545 View attachment 475546 View attachment 475547 very nice truck ive had quite a few the couple years ive been drivin damn nice trucks and nothing can replace the way they driveView attachment 475543 View attachment 475544

Nice trucks. Thanks for the comments. I wish the salt wasn't so terrible on vehicles in NY. It would be fun to do a frame off build on a clean truck sometime. It's be a treat compared to most things up here.