What have you done to your square lately??

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WFarm

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Finished installing the new radiator and fans and tested everything to make sure I had no leaks and the fans cycled on and off at the right temps. All was good so went for a beautiful fall drive. Seems nuts to be driving around in a topless Blazer on Nov 7 wearing a jeans and t-shirt! (Temps around 80)


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DoubleDingo

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I’m replacing the cap and rotor on my distributor this afternoon. This is the first time I’ve done and any tips would be greatly appreciated!
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Was the distributor already out? If not, you just created a lot more work.
 

DoubleDingo

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No I pulled it. What do you mean ‘a lot more work’ ? What did I get into? :(
The cap and rotor can be replaced with the distributor in the engine. Typically no adjustments need to be made to the timing. Checked, yes. Now you have to get everything to drop back in correctly, to get the engine on #1 TDC firing position, not 180 out, then get the timing right.
 

Truck82

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The cap and rotor can be replaced with the distributor in the engine. Typically no adjustments need to be made to the timing. Checked, yes. Now you have to get everything to drop back in correctly, to get the engine on #1 TDC firing position, not 180 out, then get the timing right.
Ahh I see what you are saying. My distributor was installed 180 out already and I was having to time it off of a companion cylinder. I’m doing a tune up anyway so I decided I would turn the distributor back to normal and pull it all the way out. That brings up a question. Could I have turned it 180 without pulling it out? Also does anyone use a spark plug with a .060 gap or is .044 the standard gap for a 350?
 

DoubleDingo

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Ahh I see what you are saying. My distributor was installed 180 out already and I was having to time it off of a companion cylinder. I’m doing a tune up anyway so I decided I would turn the distributor back to normal and pull it all the way out. That brings up a question. Could I have turned it 180 without pulling it out? Also does anyone use a spark plug with a .060 gap or is .044 the standard gap for a 350?
Was it running before you pulled the distributor? If so, I doubt it was 180 out.

Yes, you can turn the rotor 180 degrees without pulling the distributor completely out of the engine, but with the effort to do so, it's easier to pull it, verify the oil pump shaft orientation(accounting for distributor gear meshing with the cam gear), then rotate the rotor to the correct position, and drop it in still accounting for that gear engagement. Final rotor orientation should point to the #1 wire on the cap. Once there, firing order verified from cap to plugs, plugs gapped correctly per application, most likely 0.045 if hei, timing needs to be checked. I probably missed something because I am tired and about to fall asleep. Hopefully someone else chimes in
 

Truck82

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Was it running before you pulled the distributor? If so, I doubt it was 180 out.

Yes, you can turn the rotor 180 degrees without pulling the distributor completely out of the engine, but with the effort to do so, it's easier to pull it, verify the oil pump shaft orientation(accounting for distributor gear meshing with the cam gear), then rotate the rotor to the correct position, and drop it in still accounting for that gear engagement. Final rotor orientation should point to the #1 wire on the cap. Once there, firing order verified from cap to plugs, plugs gapped correctly per application, most likely 0.045 if hei, timing needs to be checked. I probably missed something because I am tired and about to fall asleep. Hopefully someone else chimes in
Yes it was running before. I tried to time it when I first installed the distributor after I did a top end rebuild in the spring but couldn’t se the timing mark. No matter how far I turned the distributor in either direction the mark wasn’t there. Finally I pulled the valve cover and turned the motor over by hand and got the no. 1 piston at tdc compression by looking at the rockers. Still no timing mark. So I got underneath the truck and the timing mark was on the bottom. I assumed that meant it was 180 out so I used a companion cylinder to time it. (I think it’s no.4 or 6) Maybe I’m completely not thinking straight and am all wrong but I know that motor ran fine when I did that.
 

TotalyHucked

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Go Rhino, love em or leave em.
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I love 'em. I wanna build a 4x4 for the GF like that. Small lift and 33s, bed bars with Daylighters up top and a couple hung backwards underneath, 2 more Daylighters on the front bumper or old school square fogs, some kinda retro graphics and either white wagon wheels or slot mags
 

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Yes it was running before. I tried to time it when I first installed the distributor after I did a top end rebuild in the spring but couldn’t se the timing mark. No matter how far I turned the distributor in either direction the mark wasn’t there. Finally I pulled the valve cover and turned the motor over by hand and got the no. 1 piston at tdc compression by looking at the rockers. Still no timing mark. So I got underneath the truck and the timing mark was on the bottom. I assumed that meant it was 180 out so I used a companion cylinder to time it. (I think it’s no.4 or 6) Maybe I’m completely not thinking straight and am all wrong but I know that motor ran fine when I did that.

When you had the rocker cover off, did you "ahem" probe the spark plug hole to feel for the piston? If you did that, and the mark was facing down, your damper has spun. Otherwise repeat the procedure and get the piston on top. Just having the rockers free only indicates that you are on compression stroke. That's half of the equation, but you need to be sure the piston itself is at TDC.
 

BRetty

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I decided to replace my valve covers finally, since they were leaking and I was getting more blow-by than Jeff Beck. I can't get to our shared parking space behind the apt building, so I have to street park, but I had scored the killer parking right in front. So I started what I thought was a 90-minute job on Sunday....

What a PITA. Climbing over the fenders to get to the back of the engine was like trench warfare. I gave up on trying to loosen the diz hold-down to dial back my timing, and just tried to wrestle the covers off and scrape the old gasket crust off.

Here are my rockers. Is there an oil drain passage at the back of the heads by the firewall? One that may be blocked with sludge? Causing oil to back up there right where the main oil drips are?

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Rockers were fine, a bit of twist/side-to-side play but nothing loose or whack.

Then it got dark. Very dark. I became crushed with despair, so just lowered the hood and was going to finish next weekend. BUT! Goddamned Wednesday street sweeping! I woke up with a start at 4am remembering that!

So I tried to seal the gaskets and seat my valve covers and reconnect the plug wires and vacuumhoses and all that crap in the dark at 5am in a panic. Started first try! Then died. I got about100' still in street sweeping zone then had to tear off all the hoses and figure out what I missed. I called work gonna be late. Just wanted to get her someplace I would not get towed at this point.

Sonewhere in all this I think I left my keys in the engine compartment. I thought they were just fallen behind the seat and would find them later, rushed upstairs fir spare truck keys while my roommate who has a gray Camry and an office job with no deadlines sat petting his cat and watching Youtube videos where people watch other people play video games. Your guess as good as mine here.

So finally got her running not dying in gear from vacuum leaks. Decided I'd head several miles to the commuter rail station. Metrolink is very fast, too bad they don't start running in time to be useful to anybody who has to be at work at 7am. Like commuting to what I might ask? Your funeral? But since I was resigned to being 2 hours late it was the best option.

Turns out setting gaskets in a tearing hurry in the dark is a low-probability-of-success move. I parked at the train station and clouds of smoke came billowing up from my engine. The oil leak at the back of the block was now a stream on to the exhaust manifolds. Not sealed it seems.

To be continued.
 

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