CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

The Beige Jimmy

Those knipex cobra pliers work good or a small pipe wrench. The caps are hard and channel locks have a hard time getting any bite on them. But yes they just need to twist out at that point.
Everyone should have a pair of Knipex cobra pliers!
 
I like to get it spinning as freely as I can, and clean up the pipe, before I put it back together.

Martin
I did this today, thanks for the tip.

The new rear is an open 10 bolt with 3.42s out of a 1990 K5. I learned that I needed a combination u-joint to adapt my driveshaft's 1350 style to the yoke's 3R style. Finally got it put back together today and took it out to get burgers for supper.

My one man bleeder really doesn't do shit. I ended up using a 2x4 as my little helper buddy.

I should get one of the little pumper types instead.

20220305_172002.jpg


Looking clean and fat thanks to the fisheye lens effect
20220305_173653.jpg

Burger time
20220305_183252.jpg
 
Last edited:
So I'm cleaning up under the hood and decided to investigate the source of this oil leak. Looked like it was coming in part from the valve covers, so I replaced them.

20220306_164001.jpg

20220306_164006.jpg
 
But then I got to thinking that I should protect some of the wiring with split conduit instead of the copious electrical tape it has now.

Looking at the oil-covered starter wires, the starter, oil pan, and front drive shaft that are covered in oil and dirt, I began to question if all that would come from the valve covers only. Probably not.

20220312_144449.jpg

20220312_144502.jpg

20220312_144523.jpg

20220312_144547.jpg

20220312_144623.jpg

20220312_144556.jpg

20220312_144610.jpg

So would this likely be an oil pan gasket or do I need to replace the rear main seal as well?
 
Flywheel isn’t soaked in the backside. Looks like oil pan to me. But if you look further up the side of the block it’s just as gooey above the pan rail. It could use valve cover gaskets too.
 
That's what I was hoping for. I should be able to change the gasket without raising the motor off the mounts, yeah?
 
I've had the back corner of the valve covers leak and cause a mess all over the engine, swap them, pressure wash and go from there.
I think this is the most likely source of my oil leakage.

Nevertheless, I spent way too much time removing the oil pan yesterday. The gasket was a stubborn little devil. Also about half of the oil pan screws were only finger tight. So maybe it was leaking?

20220313_162558.jpg

20220313_225737.jpg

20220313_225756.jpg
 
Go with the one piece rubber one for the replacement you won't be sorry.
Yep, already picked one up. I'm going to stick it in dry since I'm lazy and reviews are mixed from what I've read on past threads. Some guys dab rtv in the corners, some don't.


Four bolt main!!! Can you hold back the power?

Martin
There's really no reason not to rig up a 150 shot at this point. She'll hold together
 
The Goodwrench 350 is unquestionably bread-and-butter basic. While all production small-blocks have employed a one-piece rear-main seal design since 1986, the Goodwrench 350 is assembled in Mexico and retains the classic two-piece pre-’86 design. This makes it an excellent choice for a basic hot rod motor for all pre-’86 cars since you don’t have to purchase a new flexplate or flywheel.

Starting with a four-bolt main cap block, the 350 employs a standard cast crank and cast-aluminum flat-top pistons with ductile-iron 5/64-inch rings. Chevy claims the compression is a wheezy 8.1:1, but after the test was over, we measured everything and came up with a slightly better 8.4:1. The good news with this low compression is that the Goodwrench engine should even run on 87-octane gas. The downside is that this low compression certainly sacrifices power. The long-block comes complete with an oil pump and pan, as well as a timing-chain cover and valve covers. The cam is a simple flat-tappet hydraulic with specs that are bone-stock tame. The 76cc chamber cast-iron heads (casting number 83417368) are fitted with 1.94/1.50-inch intake and exhaust valves and stock stamped-steel rockers.


This article is 23 years old, but my motor is probably about the same as the crate motor they describe.

What casting numbers would tell me exactly what motor I have?
 
Top Bottom