Today's updates....

Got the harmonic balancer (dampener?) back on, had to track down the tool at AutoZone. Wish I had the right puller to get it off.

Got scared here a little and started scrambling for photos, turns out the heads on the 318 are almost identical, unlike the V6 where I could pretty much tell where everything came from. Anyways, tracked down what went where in the photos, and confirmed my theory by seeing the matching casted number "8" or letter "B" on the head and block. Until I figured this one out I was matching them up off of markings on the valve springs.



Removing rocker assembly. Didn't remove this to get the heads off, probably should have. Helps to read directions before you start. I wanted to remove them and made sure I had no pistons at TDC before I put the rods back in for each cylinder.



Installing passenger side head on the engine stand...



Both heads on and I set the intake manifold back on to see what it would look like. I will bolt it up once the plenum plate shows up this week.

 

Nice keep up the work.

 

I went back and re-read the other posts. I didn't realize they were all related to the same project. I guess I need to logon more often .The project is coming along very well. I almost can't wait til mine brakes so I can start to rebuild

Did you have any of the engine media blasted or, did you engine gunk it prior to painting? How far did you break down this engine? I haven't rebuilt an engine in a long, long time and I'm trying to get a grip on what I'm in for.

 

Lol, watch what you wish for.

I didn't completely take it apart, the pistons looked good so I left the cam and pistons, conecting rods, etc. in the block. Almost took it all apart, but no reason to at this point. Everything looked good and the motor wasn't blown when I got it, was just in an accident. All the gaskets and seals were changed, including rear main seal. That was a fun one. Not bad once you figure it out though.

To clean the block I used a bunch of different things. Lots of brake cleaner, scotch brite scouring pads, wire wheels, wire cup brushes both knotted and fine wire, a small 1 inch wire brush on my electric drill, some 3M sand blaster pads for my angle grinder, wire brushes, etc. I basically took every type of wire brush I coudl find and started away scraping and brushing and cleaning with brake cleaner. Lots of elbow grease. Took some time but i was happy with the results. A sand blaster would have been nice, but even if I had one I probably wouldn't have used it too much because I wouldn't want to risk blowing sand into some of the holes.

After I painted I cleaned out all of the threaded holes with a die set.

I woudn't say I fully rebuilt this one because I didn't do anything to the block really. Best advice I can give you is keep the work area clean, take a ton of photos at every step from all angles, and I have one table dedicated to just parts. No tools, just parts. Also, I keep a bucket for all of the old bolts I know I don't intend on reusing, but I am not throwing them out, just in case. When you rebuild yorus there is a little more into it in terms of cleaning, specs, and machining. Shouldn't be too bad. I might rebuild my V6 just for the learning experience.

Best guide I have is the engine section for my motor out of the service manual. Every now and then I open the Haynes manual for a quick torque spec.

When you start on it feel free to email me, I will give you some hints. The front main seal is one I would look into either finding the tool for or fabricate if you are good at that sort of thing. Everything else was pretty straight forward.

 

Cool, that's all good to know. I will definitely keep this post in mind when it's my turn. My luck I will have to do an entire rebuild but, that could be a good thing, seeing as the body is in such good shape, I wouldn't mind a fresh engine.

 

hmm, unless you're the sort that likes to keep spare parts around (aka a good/rebuilt engine) that may be a good place to recoup some of the expenses of the gaskets and such (or how about that fancy nv4500 or that SAS you've been talkin about)

 

Well, if I did rebuild it I would put it into a truck for my Dad or sell it to a friend. Ultimately it won't be mine in the end, I don't think I will want to drive it once I finish the V8.

I do keep planning out the SAS, the more I research the more my orginal plan had changed on it.

Got the trans fluid on order now for the NV4500. Might have the truck up with weekend or this coming week.

 

Well, good news for me, I got the V6 back up and running. Still lots of white smoke, but I am thinking it is residual moisture left in the system. It is becoming less, and the truck hasn't really been driven to burn it off yet. So that puts the V8 swap on hold if the 319 holds out. The plan would be to find a new truck and do an off the frame build on the 318 with the NV4500. Possible the solid front axle swap on that truck also.

 

Man this whole post feels like deja vu. Heres my build post with pics & stuff. Hit me up if you got any questions.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ome-today.html

Looks good!

 

sounds even better... if you have the space... why just have one truck... IF YOU CAN HAVE TWO!?!

I wish I had another DD, that way I could do all the upgrades I want without the threat of not being able to get anywhere...

not to mention any savings on gas just rolling around the city, not really taking advantage of the power at hand.