New cam is in. Timing cover on, radiator, shroud, water pump, fan and clutch, power steering and belts all hooked up.

One more turd fairy tale: one of the valve springs was broken (defective spring with 15,000 miles on it) and had to be ordered. GM only part… should be here by Friday…

Hope to get one head back later today, the other will ahave to wait till Friday. Meanwhile I'm doing wheel bearing inspection and maintenance.

I have been contemplating rebuilding my engine or replacing it with a GM "crate" engine like you did. It looks like you helped me make my decision. Thank you for posting your experience with your Barth as it has helped me and I am sure other lurkers like me. I know there is nothing more frustrating than having to redo something you already did once and payed good money to have done for you. I think I would have burned it by now. You are a better man than me.

You are right. I had not summed it up completely but at this point the bottom line is, don't buy a GM crate motor. Lots of good forged parts but poor assembly and setup. Better off with a quality rebuilt from a reputable engine supplier.

In the past I have always rebuilt my own engines. Never had any problems…
In this case, to save time and get some upgrades I went with the crate motor. (My old Gen IV 454 had 2 bolt main bearings, flat tappet cam, and 2 piece rear main seal. The HO is a Gen VI block with 4 bolt mains, roller cam setup, one piece rear seal.)

I have now redone the HO with a stock 502 cam. With a new valve spring, a proper valve job, and proper valve adjustment I am hoping it will stabilize. To be fair, this engine does run much stronger at all rpms than the old one did.

I was off label to begin with as this engine was touted for pre emission/non road use. I still did not expect a company like GM would sell poorly assembled junk motors that would fail prematurely.

Fortunately, I am able to make lemonade and I will build the right engine eventually. (It appears the lower end is very good.)

My only consolation is that I will eventually get it right and in the meantime this thread now has about 40,000 views and people like you who will get the message:

DO NOT BUY GM CRATE ENGINES!! THEY ARE ASSEMBLED POORLY AND PRONE TO FAILURE.

I will report on the next phase when it is up and running.

Wow. Sorry man, that is a lot of extra work.

Thanks for the comment. You know as well as anybody… if you want the job done right…

I just hope I can steer others away from this kind of crap. Totally uncalled for. I didn't know GM stands for Garbage Machinery. And they have the nerve in their ads to claim "we are precision grade!"

If this thing goes together in time I am still planning the trip to Denver after Minnesnowta. Maybe see you again on the way back, been a long time. take care, be well.

Nice work on these posts, Steve. Your expertise is surpassed only by your patience.

Spent a day waitng for heads. Pulled front wheels, inspect brakes and grease bearings and suspension. Installed Centramatic balancers on the front wheels.

Got the heads back yesterday, one is still waiting for that valve spring. These things have big valves! 2.19 intake and 1.88 exhaust. The seats are almost touching in the head.





I replaced the right side head, torqued it in. Bolted up the exhaust header. Installed pushrods, pushrod guides, rocker arm studs and rocker arms.




The OEM engine had non adjustable valves. The rocker arm pivot bolt is a fixed length. Since I believe the reason the intake valves burned was due to improper clearance, I wanted to be able to adjust them properly. I replaced the OEM fixed bolt with an adjustable threaded bolt. This way I can be sure the valves will be set right.






All the right side needs is the valves adjusted, valve covers on and spark plugs and wires.

I am hoping I will get that spring tomorrow, if not it may delay my Minnesnowta run.

Here is the culprit:



It just arrived. Make my day! I will be able to replace the other head, maybe running yet today. Should be able to make it to Minnesnowta!

Great Steve, Looks like you will be able to get to Denver now also. See Ya soon I hope!

Mom always said two heads were better than one!



I need to adjust the valves, install the intake manifold and the rocker covers and the engine is mostly done.

Wires, hoses, alternator, spark plugs and away we go!

Hot digity! When I grow up I want to be like you Steve

FYI I have to meet my ride at 8:30 am on Tuesday. I'll call Monday and see if there are issues bringing DBarth that early Tuesday before I leave...........

Starting to look like an engine. Need to install alternator, distributor and wires. Should be running tomorrow.

Finally got the alternator, distributor, plugs and wires in and zip tied the harnesses together.

Started right up. I ran just a few minutes, I will top off the coolant again tomorrow and should be ready for a test drive.

Once I get the final timing and idle set it should be ready for the road.

Last thing I needed now was a surprise valve job. It will be done barely in time for the run to Minnesnowta.

Once again:
Have Barth, will travel

Have Barth, will travel
Started up this morning. Set the idle, set timing. Runs good, no leaks. (That's one of the good things about machines, if you set them up right they pretty much have to work!)



Pretty much back to normal… Went for test drive and it seems good. I am still playing with the base timing and the idle. It ran real smooth and there were no problems. I have advanced the timing slightly and I will continue to tweak it as I get down the road.

I changed the engine oil this evening and I will check the tag axle hubs in the morning. Hopefully this engine will finally be stable.

We will head out for Minnesnowta around noon. A real road test!

Very nice job! Hope your problems are over.

I note, however, the green cable ties are incorrect, being on the port side. They should be red ("Port wine is red").