ArdWrknTrk Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Good news and bad news on the crusty '80 Bullnose project. I got the engine mostly RE-sealed this weekend, buttoned it all up to the transmission, and dropped it all into the 1995 frame. Bad news is that when I had the oil pan off I could see the camshaft, and it is not good. Looks to be some pretty serious wear on the lobes. No big deal I suppose...I can replace the cam and lifters, but I'm going to wait and do a compression test (and oil pressure test) and see how it looks from there. Stay tuned for more. I checked RockAuto, and the 300 cam/lifter kits are all out of stock. Anyway... Plan is to install the cab next weekend, and modify the 1995 crumble frame horns to accept the donor '86 frame horns I scavenged from the junkyard. I spent some time this afternoon measuring everything on my ;84 to make sure I get it all right. I made some fitting/measuring blocks out of wood so everything should be (relatively) correct when welded together. Other than that, I've just been making a list of parts to get on order asap. Shipping is going to start seeing Christmas delays soon, and I want to make sure I have enough parts to keep me busy through the holidays (I have a week and a half off). Is the white on the floor acid etch from the frame rails? If you have to replace the cam will you be going with bone stock or something with a bit more performance? These 300's seem to have more than enough torque for street duty, but might benefit from a bit more pep from what I understand. You better save yourself some work to do over vacation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Good news and bad news on the crusty '80 Bullnose project. I got the engine mostly RE-sealed this weekend, buttoned it all up to the transmission, and dropped it all into the 1995 frame. Bad news is that when I had the oil pan off I could see the camshaft, and it is not good. Looks to be some pretty serious wear on the lobes. No big deal I suppose...I can replace the cam and lifters, but I'm going to wait and do a compression test (and oil pressure test) and see how it looks from there. Stay tuned for more. I checked RockAuto, and the 300 cam/lifter kits are all out of stock. Anyway... Plan is to install the cab next weekend, and modify the 1995 crumble frame horns to accept the donor '86 frame horns I scavenged from the junkyard. I spent some time this afternoon measuring everything on my ;84 to make sure I get it all right. I made some fitting/measuring blocks out of wood so everything should be (relatively) correct when welded together. Other than that, I've just been making a list of parts to get on order asap. Shipping is going to start seeing Christmas delays soon, and I want to make sure I have enough parts to keep me busy through the holidays (I have a week and a half off). I wouldn't do a compression test. Instead I'd do a leak-down test. It will tell you far more than a compression test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Good news and bad news on the crusty '80 Bullnose project. I got the engine mostly RE-sealed this weekend, buttoned it all up to the transmission, and dropped it all into the 1995 frame. Bad news is that when I had the oil pan off I could see the camshaft, and it is not good. Looks to be some pretty serious wear on the lobes. No big deal I suppose...I can replace the cam and lifters, but I'm going to wait and do a compression test (and oil pressure test) and see how it looks from there. Stay tuned for more. I checked RockAuto, and the 300 cam/lifter kits are all out of stock. Anyway... Plan is to install the cab next weekend, and modify the 1995 crumble frame horns to accept the donor '86 frame horns I scavenged from the junkyard. I spent some time this afternoon measuring everything on my ;84 to make sure I get it all right. I made some fitting/measuring blocks out of wood so everything should be (relatively) correct when welded together. Other than that, I've just been making a list of parts to get on order asap. Shipping is going to start seeing Christmas delays soon, and I want to make sure I have enough parts to keep me busy through the holidays (I have a week and a half off). Sorry to hear about the cam but it sure looks pretty Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 I wouldn't do a compression test. Instead I'd do a leak-down test. It will tell you far more than a compression test. But it's not going to tell you much of anything about the worn condition of the cam. A compression test tells you a lot about lobe timing, ramp and lift. None of that has anything to do with a leakdown test, and all of that is what Cory is interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 But it's not going to tell you much of anything about the worn condition of the cam. A compression test tells you a lot about lobe timing, ramp and lift. None of that has anything to do with a leakdown test, and all of that is what Cory is interested in. Jim - I agree that a leak-down test doesn't tell you boo about the cam. But my experience is that a compression test doesn't either. The '82 Explorer I had tested good on the compression test, but it almost shook the mirrors off when idling. A leak-down test determined that the valves were bad on three adjacent cylinders in the firing order. And when I got it apart I found that the cam was also bad. But the compression test said everything was good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 Is the white on the floor acid etch from the frame rails? Yes sir, that is exactly what it is. You can see that so far I've only done the middle section of the frame. This was for two reasons...one, so I can place the cab on the frame and, two, so I could do some other work and take a break from the frame rehab. Grinding rust, drilling and chiseling rivets, and welding is thankless dirty work...lol. The rear section of the frame won't take all that long. I'm going to replace the leaf hangers, and sand blast the leafs themselves. Won't take much to get that end of the truck finished up. I'm going to pull the front spring towers off the frame soon, and then finish the front end of the frame. This engine has been sitting for a long time, and I had zero history on it, so I was fully prepared for it to need some work. I'll see how a compression test looks...that will be quick and dirty. I'll do a leakdown test after that possibly. If it needs a rebuild, then so be it...it's all part of the adventure...lol. This is supposed to be kind of a beater truck anyway:nabble_smiley_tongue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Jim - I agree that a leak-down test doesn't tell you boo about the cam. But my experience is that a compression test doesn't either. The '82 Explorer I had tested good on the compression test, but it almost shook the mirrors off when idling. A leak-down test determined that the valves were bad on three adjacent cylinders in the firing order. And when I got it apart I found that the cam was also bad. But the compression test said everything was good. I would say do both. The rings are working with the engine spinning. Not on a leak down unless you are rocking them as mentioned in another post. The leak down will help you determine what is leaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Jim - I agree that a leak-down test doesn't tell you boo about the cam. But my experience is that a compression test doesn't either. The '82 Explorer I had tested good on the compression test, but it almost shook the mirrors off when idling. A leak-down test determined that the valves were bad on three adjacent cylinders in the firing order. And when I got it apart I found that the cam was also bad. But the compression test said everything was good. I would say do both. The rings are working with the engine spinning. Not on a leak down unless you are rocking them as mentioned in another post. The leak down will help you determine what is leaking. I was under the impression that Cory had just spotted the worn cam and wanted to quantify how bad it was, not go digging to make this a bigger project than it already is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 I was under the impression that Cory had just spotted the worn cam and wanted to quantify how bad it was, not go digging to make this a bigger project than it already is. Well, it's almost kind of the opposite really...lol. I had always planned on doing a compression test to see what the numbers were. It takes all of 10 minutes to do, so why not. However, I spotted the worn cam only because I was changing the oil pan gasket. In any case, I'm going to try it out as it is, and if it needs cam, lifters, and valve work, then I might be pulling the whole thing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I was under the impression that Cory had just spotted the worn cam and wanted to quantify how bad it was, not go digging to make this a bigger project than it already is. Well, it's almost kind of the opposite really...lol. I had always planned on doing a compression test to see what the numbers were. It takes all of 10 minutes to do, so why not. However, I spotted the worn cam only because I was changing the oil pan gasket. In any case, I'm going to try it out as it is, and if it needs cam, lifters, and valve work, then I might be pulling the whole thing out. Just pull the engine, Cory... you can get the cam out with it in the truck but why do all of that bending over? These are light engines with lots of room to get them in and out. I would pull it and at least put in new bearings and rings and hone the bores. These are zero balance engines and don’t tend to get a lot of bottom end wear. It is usually pretty easy to freshen them up. It’s the valve train that likes to wear out. The master kits are pretty reasonable. I’d get the head done at a shop so they can make sure it’s flat and do the rest at home if the bottom end seems decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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