[Verdoro 68]

Don, the gentleman working on my heads, shares a shop with his son in law who did my block prep. There wasn't much to do there, he just gave it a once over and cleaned up the bore with a torque plate. They have pretty long roots in the community and run an old school shop that, as far as I can tell, pretty much operates by word of mouth. They have all kinds of interesting stuff coming through. I found out about them via another local Pontiac guy who I believe is also on the forum.

[400 Lemans]

Heres a set of 2Q wires.https://www.chicagomusclecarparts.com/products/896184

[Verdoro 68]

Just got these babies home and the first thing I had to do was slap them on the block to see how they looked. It was a long wait, but I'm super pleased with the attention to detail he paid to them. I'm going to cc them just out of curiosity, give them a coat of paint and commence assembly.

[nmoreilly]

Poetic

[SD455DJ]

Jeez Ken, you sure know how to keep busy! Those 96's look great and that'll be a fine running motor when done in your '68. Looking good!

Dennis

[jhein]

That whole motor is gonna look great but those heads are just beautiful.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by jhein

That whole motor is gonna look great but those heads are just beautiful.

They really are.

I have to say, he left no stone unturned on them and brought me along for the journey - right down to which side I wanted the heater fitting on. He tried to cut me a deal because he took so long and I refused out of respect. I very much feel someone’s time and experience should be properly compensated.

[napster]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

They really are.

I have to say, he left no stone unturned on them and brought me along for the journey - right down to which side I wanted the heater fitting on. He tried to cut me a deal because he took so long and I refused out of respect. I very much feel someone’s time and experience should be properly compensated.

Verdoro68,
Really like the way the heads came out. Good luck with it. I hope you get good numbers from the dyno. Are you going to run exhaust manifolds or headers?

I am going to do the same engine for my '69 GTO. However, life has thrown some curve balls my way and other projects are taking priority. The '69 is taking a back seat for now. Some of the curve balls are not car related.

I really don't know when the project will start up again at this point. Most likely a couple of years.

Jim

[Skip Fix]

Nice!

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by napster

Verdoro68,
Really like the way the heads came out. Good luck with it. I hope you get good numbers from the dyno. Are you going to run exhaust manifolds or headers?

I am going to do the same engine for my '69 GTO. However, life has thrown some curve balls my way and other projects are taking priority. The '69 is taking a back seat for now. Some of the curve balls are not car related.

I really don't know when the project will start up again at this point. Most likely a couple of years.

Jim

I'm running RA manifolds. Last time I rebuilt the engine, I pulled it one week before my son was born. Life got in the way then and it sat for a 3 or 4 years. The cars and parts will always be there, but sometimes priorities shift. It can certainly test your patience. Best wishes on your project and getting things sorted.



Found my first issue while mocking things up. Folks have given the repro RA IV intakes a lot of grief, but I have to say this one fits pretty well. The bolt holes all line up as do the ports and it sits squarely on the intake surface of the heads - without the valley pan on.

Where it doesn't work is with the Tomahawk valley pan. The pan and the intake has about 1/16-1/8" overlap on the front driver's side and rear passenger side. When I put the valley pan gasket in place with the intake gaskets, the intake gaskets won't sit down level with the ports because the valley pan gasket is in the way. If I put the intake gaskets on first (which is a non-starter), the valley pan goes almost all the way up to the bottom of the ports.

Seems to be common enough for Butler to mention it on their website.

***Valley pan/intake clearance on a Pontiac must always be checked with stock or aftermarket valley pans and intakes. You may have to grind the bottom of the intake runners if it sits against or on the valley pan and/or grind the top edges of the valley pan***

Looks like I'll have to take a good bit off to make this work. I'm thinking the best course is the clearance the valley pan in the offending areas or maybe split the difference by taking some off the intake too. I'm a little concerned about retaining a decent gasket surface area.

[Verdoro 68]

I forgot to put the head gasket in place. It helps a good bit, but this will still need some massaging.

[scott70]

I'm assuming you tightened the 2 valley bolts,,that will pull it down a little also.

[grandam1979]

I don’t use a gasket on valley pan just rtv has worked great for 20 years now.

[Verdoro 68]

CC'd the heads to make sure I wasn't way off the mark when I ordered the pistons. Since the heads were tucked away at the shop, I used the factory 72cc as a reference. Turns out it was a good guess with these chambers measuring about 72.5cc. That puts my compression ratio around 9.42:1.



Cleaned off the heads and block really good and said good bye to the piston tops I've been staring at for 6 months. I'm using Butler's head gaskets which recommend two light coats of copper spray on the metal side and a set of reproduction round port head bolts from Parts Place lubed with 30wt.





My son jumped in to help and put the valve train loosely in place. We also went ahead an installed the RA manifolds with Remflex gaskets. Kauffmann sent me 8.7" 5/16 push rods when this was going to be a roller cam/head swap project. Since then I've changed the lifters, cam and rockers so I doubt they're the right length.

Next up: measuring the pushrods and figuring out how much I have to massage the valley pan/intake.

[will slow gto]

Great to see it coming back together and your son lending a hand.

[Verdoro 68]

Measured the pushrod length via the method described in this Straub Tech video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5is9BsH5OU

Sure enough, the 8.7s are too short. After checking the intake and exhaust, it looks like I'll need an 8.850 pushrod to get the optimal pattern. I'm taking the opportunity to upgrade to thicker .116 while I'm at it. Put in an order to Butler tonight, hopefully they have them in stock.

Before with the 8.7s:


Correct length:

[HWYSTR455]

Doesn't get any better than that!

.

[Verdoro 68]

While I'm waiting for FedEx...

I spent some time tonight mocking up and fitting the valley pan, intake and cross over. I ended up notching the valley pan around the intake runners to match the valley pan gasket. I also had to trim the front edge a bit. Not much more than 30 minutes of work.



All the ports and bolt holes line up nice, although I did clearance the front driver's side bolt hole a tiny bit.

Next was getting the crossover and intake to fit. The heat shielding on the crossover needed a little trimming and persuading where it was hitting the intake, but nothing major.



Question on the heat crossover assembly - the big washers that hold down the crossover and intake are cocked because the crossover and intake have different heights. Looking at pics of original RA IVs, it looks like the washers are flat. Assuming this is an anomaly of the reproduction setup. I don't see any other way I could assemble it, although it doesn't look like I need the small washers.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Thinking I would grind the flanges on the crossover down to equal thickness of intake flanges.
Or grind steps in the washers.

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Thinking I would grind the flanges on the crossover down to equal thickness of intake flanges.
Or grind steps in the washers.

Yeah, ditto, I've seen that before and have doctored the x-over/intake to make for a better fit.

Is that an OE valley or an aftermarket one?


.