I haven't accomplished much but here's where I stand. I've got the accessories removed, intake, and heads pulled. Overall it looks really clean inside which is nice. I'm stuck on the crank pulley. I have the three smaller bolts out, but the center one is fighting me. The crank keeps turning. I've tried wrapping a spark plug wire around the pulley in an attempt to keep it from turning, but no luck. I don't have an impact, but I have a drill. I need a socket to drill adapter and I'll see if that will free this bolt. I'd sprayed fogging oil into the cylinders while the engine had been sitting, so that's probably why the pistons look wet.

 

Long time with no updates (busy with life I guess), but everything is completely stripped. I found very deep ring grooves on the crank's thrust bearing face, but every other surface was pretty smooth. I took the block and crank to a machine shop as was told the crank isn't salvageable. I'm looking into a replacement crankshaft now. What would cause such damage to the face of the thrust bearing?

 

A little more progress. Got the block and heads back from the shop. Kinda surprised they didn't wrap anything. With the help of my wife (she did most of the tape work) I went to painting. I'm thinking of spraying the bare metal parts of the heads with fogging oil, bagging them, then sticking them somewhere safe until they are ready to install. Paint isn't perfect, and there are some runs, but it's better than rust. I'll let the paint on the block cure another day or so and try to clean out the insides before installing the crank.

 

Looking good so far. Good Luck and keep up the good work.

 

Thank you!

I forgot to mention I went with a new crank. I'm debating on what to do about the transmission. I've asked my friend to find out more details regarding the one currently in the truck. (It was rebuilt sometime in the past before the truck was parked, but the PO mentioned a massive fluid leak. Not sure if that was before or after the transmission was rebuilt.) The transmission that came with the engine is supposed to be good, but I'm not sure if it caused the damage to the crank or not.

 

Another update. Crank, pistons, cam shaft, oil filter adapter, and rear main seal are installed. The pistons I bought had a note indicating the intake and exhaust valves were symmetrical and direction didn't matter. Connecting rods are Scat I-Beam stock replacements and use a floating wrist pin. Clearances looked good, and I double checked (and found one) wrist pins for improperly seated c-clips. I'm really hoping I installed everything correctly.

 

Well, here's where I stand at the moment. The engine is almost back together, and I have to touch up the paint in a few places. I plan to mount the intake before I prelube the engine and check for leaks. I'm concerned about my intake manifold bolts. Does anyone know which goes where? The FSM doesn't distinguish location by size, only by bolt or stud. I know the long studs go in the front. The two shorter studs go on one side of the TBI, and the longer bolts go where the hooks and brackets go. I assume two short ones go on the other side of the TBI where the manifold is the thinnest. I have a third short one that I'm thinking got mixed up with my intake manifold bolts, or are there supposed to be three short ones? I ordered a brand new kit, but apparently it's for older 350's as all the bolts are equal length and there are no studs. Anyone know where I can buy the correct kit, or should I just get new bolts from the hardware store and reuse the studs?

 

Intake manifold is installed and I also tried to prime the 350, but I'm not sure if my drill speed is too low or the primer tool has poor fitment. Oil is barely oozing from half the rocker arms. (On both sides of engine). I'm thinking it's the tool as there is a definite rattling sound when the drill is on. Everything moved freely by hand and I added assembly lube to the oil pump gears.

 

I'm feeling so, so close to being finished. I plan to install a few components with the engine in the truck. A few things are holding me up. The AC compressor, starter wiring, heater core hose, and engine mount bolts still have to go. I'm guessing I have to pull the AC compressor clutch and pulley to get the mounting bolts free.





Any idea what caused this? I put brand new spark plugs in the 4.3L when I got it running to make sure everything was functional before starting the swap. I'm 100% sure the head gasket is blown as it ran horrible when I added coolant to the radiator. There was also water present in the cylinders when I put a camera in them to check them out. I'm guessing this was caused by incompressible fluid entering the chamber?

 

Old 4.3L got pulled today. The V6 frame mounts are killing me. I have all but one removed on the driver side, and only one removed on the passenger side.