- Hey, guys! I'm Larry Webster. I'm part of the Hagerty Media Team. I'm here with Davin Reckow. He's the guy responsible
for these really fun time lapse rebuild videos
that we've been putting out. So here, we're gonna talk
about the Chevy small block. But in the future, we're
gonna do the Hemi one. We're gonna do the one on the flathead. So, if you have any questions,
leave them in the comments and we'll see if we can answer them. Alright, ready? - Ready. - Let's go. Okay Davin, obviously Chevy Small Block. - [Davin] Obviously, the best. - [Larry] I mean, this is probably one of my favorite engines in the world. Where did you get this thing? - [Davin] This particular motor is out of a 1970 Chevy Impala. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] And convertible. And it's seen a lot of life. It's seen not so many oil changes that it maybe should have. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] As you can
see, it's a little greasy and grimy on the inside as certainly well on the outside. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] And roughly 80
something thousand miles on it. - [Larry] So we're looking at the springs. These are the valve springs. So the one furthest to the right. Which one is that? Is that, that's exhaust? - [Davin] Furthest to the right is exhaust and then it goes exhaust, intake exhaust, exhaust and it kinda floats
back and forth that way. On the small block,
they paired the exhaust in the centers which actually creates a
little bit of a problem because you concentrate a lot
of heat right in the middle. - [Larry] Oh yeah. - [Davin] But it's very
similar to like, a flathead V8. Flathead Ford V8 as well. When they went to the big block then they separated things out and it helped out. - [Larry] Yeah, so if we
could go back even farther. Let's see the rockers because what's interesting about this is what you don't see is you don't see any camshaft in the head. And this is the cylinder head up here. And this is one of the
genius parts of the motor. Is it doesn't take up a lot of space. - [Davin] This is the overhead valve and then the cam is down
the center of the block. - And these push rods that are to the right, right here. These are basically
sticks that follow the cam in the engine. - [Davin] Exactly, yup. And that opens, subsequently
opens up the valves. Allows the intake flow to come in and the exhaust flow to go out. And there's always a
ratio relative to those. It's typically not one-to-one. Stock on a small block
Chevy is one and a half. - [Larry] That's the lever arm. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] Alright, so
this motor, you're right. Look at all than gunk, wow. - [Davin] Yeah it's grimy. It missed an oil change here and there. - [Larry] Yeah, so you're
taking off the rockers first. Just disassembling the engine? - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] And are you gonna replace those? Or are you keeping track of them? - [Davin] On the rockers,
it doesn't matter as much. If we were to reuse anything
that's really critical is when you're doing your lifters. Your lifters have to follow the lobe on the camshaft. We certainly did not reuse the camshaft or the lifters in this particular motor. - [Larry] Yeah, and now
you're gonna take off the cylinder heads which is that sort of part of the block that the springs are in. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] So these, the
cylinder head basically is the top of the cylinder and it seals the hole where
the piston rides in right? - [Davin] Yeah, that's
the combustion chamber. - [Larry] Yeah, it makes
the combustion chamber. And these are cast iron? - [Davin] Yes. - [Larry] So they're heavy. - [Davin] They're not,
yeah they're pretty heavy. They're about 50 pounds. - [Larry] 50 pounds each? - [Davin] Yes, correct. - [Larry] Holy cow. - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Yeah. So now we're looking down those holes. That's where the pistons are in. That's a head gasket right there-- - [Davin] Yup, that's a head gasket. And you can see number one
in the lower corner here. That's number one cylinder. And it's basically top
dead center at this point. But you can see it's the stock pistons with the four valve relief. - [Larry] Let's get
that thing off of there. That's a lifetime chain. That's sort of one of the nice things. - [Davin] Yes and no, it
will stretch over time. - [Larry] It does, okay. I stand corrected. - [Davin] And if I remember
correctly on this one. This actually had the
nylon tooth timing gears to quiet things down. - [Larry] Ah! - [Davin] Which wasn't
necessarily the best. Yeah, you can see the
nylon on the upper top. You can see the tan color? - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] So that has a nylon tooth on it and that was all for noise. It helped quiet things down. Although of course, durability
wasn't as grand as-- - [Larry] Well over time
it gets brittle right? - [Davin] Yup, it gets brittle. It cracks, it wears. Certainly not as strong as steel. - [Larry] Right, now these are
the actual hydraulic lifters. Oil goes in those things. They take up the space
between the camshaft and the push rod correct? - [Davin] Yeah, that whole tolerant stack. - [Larry] Right okay. - [Davin] And of course
it adjusts relative to temperature as well. That's the real big advantage. - [Larry] Oh man. So that's coolant coming
out of the water jacket. I see you smiling down there. What are you laughing about? Is what a mess is in there? - [Davin] Yeah, it was just a mess. I mean, the bottom is worse than the top. - [Larry] Oh my gosh. - [Davin] It looks like
it's been undercoated with the old Texaco stuff if you remember. (laughs) Over on the left is your
oil pump and the pick up. And then you're looking at the mains-- - [Larry] So crankshaft. - [Davin] The main caps
that hold the crankshaft in. - [Larry] So yeah, okay. - [Davin] Yeah, exactly. - [Larry] And this is a critical part because this is the thing that connects the pistons to each other. - [Davin] It takes all the load. So all the horse power, if you will has to be contained by that. By the crankshaft. - [Larry] And it's supported
by those bearing caps. So this is the, engine
room is the wrong name but this is the... - [Davin] This is the truss. - [Larry] The truss. - [Davin] This is the
roof truss if you will. - I like that, yeah I can use that. (laughs) What's that? - That's a balancing hole. So the whole assembly is
balanced with bob weight. - [Larry] Ah. - [Davin] So it basically
doesn't vibrate itself apart. So there I'm pulling, that's
the lower timing gear. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] Another rods,
the main starts coming off. And at the point, the crankshaft can lift straight up and out. Which shows you the
bearing halves right here. - [Larry] Yeah, these
are pretty interesting because these are called,
these are bearings. They're plain bearings. - Yeah, insert bearings or plain bearings. Yup, depending on how you-- - Now a lot of people think of bearing as a race of balls going around a circle. - [Davin] Correct, nope. - That's not what these are. - [Davin] Nope, no,
they're a multi-layered surface if you will, or a composite. And they're meant to
have some amount of wear. - [Larry] So now you're pretty
much down to a bare block. - [Davin] That's, yeah. The only thing that's
left in it at this point is the little bit of gasket here on the oil pan. And then the freeze plugs as well. - [Larry] Okay. So now you've got a lot of cleaning to do. - [Davin] Yes. So this is basically a hot tank. Burn everything off. Wash everything off. And then actually go
through, this is a bead blast at the end here. - [Larry] So you put the block in there. It steams and cooks all the stuff off. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] The oil and the
gunk and everything right? - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Okay. And what's he doing here? Oh he's taking the connecting
rods off of the pistons. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] And that's a
hydraulic press right? - [Davin] Yup, and these particular ones. Stock ones are typically a press fit. We're gonna replace the pistons. - [Larry] Why? - [Davin] We are reusing the rods. Pistons tend to be, well they're aluminum so they're a little softer so they do take some wear. These particular ones
had a little skirt wear. And of course, with the bore being wore we turn the block, turn that bore so it necessitated new pistons regardless. - [Larry] So you say
turn, you mean you sort of bore it out and drill
down the hole cylinder. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] And it makes it a little wider. - [Davin] That's correct. - [Larry] So you would
need a bigger piston to accommodate it. - [Davin] Yup, so instead
of a four inch even block it's a four inch 030. So 30 thousandths over. - [Larry] So what's he doing there? Is he checking the roundness of it? - [Davin] Yup, checking roundness and size on the big end. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] And then he'll do the same thing on the small end as well. - [Larry] Wow, so here's the engine block. - [Davin] Yup, after
it's all been cleaned up. Looks a whole lot nicer at this point. - [Larry] Gosh, look how
short that thing is, amazing. So he's doing dimensional
checks and everything? - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] What is going on here? - [Davin] So here he's going through. This is where on the
cylinder head surface. Basically going through
and flattening it out and making sure it's a good flat surface so the heads will sit down nice and tight. And also that it's not it's square to the crankshaft. - [Larry] I see, so if
the engine got really hot it may have made that whole
block warp a little bit. - [Davin] It may warp, yup. And from the factory, they're
not necessarily square. This one is four
thousandths out of square. - [Larry] Wow. - [Davin] You know,
relative to the crankshaft. - [Larry] Is that a lot? Or not that big a deal? - [Davin] That's a fair amount. I mean, obviously it
was within specs for GM. But when you go through and you build them you want to get them as
tight as you can get them. - [Larry] And what is that? Just a huge grinding
wheel off the top of it? - [Davin] Yup. Kinda like a flag cutter I
guess more than anything. - [Larry] So this is where
you talk about that bore gets slightly bigger. - [Davin] Yeah, this is
the boring function, yeah. - [Larry] This is pretty common. This is why they call it a 30 over motor. - [Davin] Exactly. - [Larry] Right, so it's not four inches. It's four and 30 thou. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] Right. - [Davin] And pistons
for small block Chevys are readily available. You could even do a 10 thou. But usually 10 doesn't clean it up so you just go to the standard of 30. - [Larry] 30, got it. So how much does it typically cost to have this machine
work done on your block? - [Davin] It runs roughly 12 bucks a hole as far as machine work. - [Larry] Oh. - [Davin] So you're, you know 120 bucks. Somewhere in that ball park, $150. Obviously it all depends
on where you're at and who's doing it. But that's what they run there. The decking is another
usually $80 to deck a block. - [Larry] So yes, he's? - [Davin] Cleaning's $50. - [Larry] What's he doing here? - [Davin] Just deburring
the top edge of the holes. - [Larry] Ah, got it. - [Davin] Putting a
chamfer at it basically. - [Larry] Yeah. Make it easier to get the pistons in. - [Davin] Exactly, yeah. And then doing a final hone. So that final hone and
crosshatch is really what gives you the seal for compression with the rings. - [Larry] And the
crosshatch is the texture on the side of the cylinders. - [Davin] Exactly, yup. - [Larry] Oh, now we're
at the cylinder heads. What's going on here? - [Davin] So at this
point, he went through and we had a couple seats we had to fix. And there were some guides that were bad. And then he also, he's just
flat out machining the seats. We put in hardened
exhaust seats in this one. - [Larry] And is that so you can... Right, this engine was built in 1970 so the leaded fuel? - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] Is that true, or is that a myth? - [Davin] No, it's true. It's one of those things of you know how many miles did you put on it? - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] You know, it's a safe guard. It's kinda one of those,
well hey while I'm here I might as well put in good hardened seats and not have to think about it again. - [Larry] Right, so the original seats were of a softer material. - [Davin] Yes. - [Larry] And the seat is
what the valve closes against. - [Davin] Correct, yup. - [Larry] So the lead in the fuel supposedly had a
lubrication feature that-- - [Davin] Lubrication
and a little bit cooler. - [Larry] Little bit cooler. So the seats can survive longer. - [Davin] Exactly. - [Larry] Interesting. - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Yeah, so this machine. So you need a guy who really knows what he's doing here. This is a precise work. - [Davin] Yeah, there's a lot of. Obviously the machine
does a lot of the work but there's also a lot of craftsmanship through it as well. - [Larry] Well even the fixture. Look, he's got to make
sure that thing's in there square and solid and it's not gonna move. Because yeah, you're cutting metal which is a lot of force. - [Davin] Right. And here he's just
resurfacing the bottom side of the heads as well. - [Larry] Got it, okay. - [Davin] And the same principal. So you're getting a good seal. - [Larry] Oh, what's he
doing to the crankshaft? - [Davin] A little light polishing work. - [Larry] Look at that, okay. So now he's sort of, ah
he's putting the pressing in the pistons on the, well
it's a connecting rod right? - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Okay and these are these holes. Tell me, what are these
holes doing in there? - [Davin] The big drain holes are relative to the casting process of the blocks. - [Larry] Ah! - [Davin] But it is the water jacket so obviously have to have them sealed otherwise it would be like
Swiss cheese holding water. - [Larry] So those are
freeze plugs they call that? - [Davin] Yup, they
call them freeze plugs. And the function of that
is, if you do get water. If you have straight-up
water in the jacket and it freezes, those plugs will pop out. - [Larry] Oh, freeze plugs. I get it. - [Davin] Yup. (laughs) It's as simple as that. Here's the camshaft bearings going in. - [Larry] That looks like
a complicated process. - [Davin] Yeah, unlike mains and rods. They're not a split bearing. They're one, solid diameter. And they have a hole that you're lining up relative to the feed. - [Larry] Wow. - [Davin] Or least relative to the groove and where you want them,
you clock them actually. And then, and they're also. These are specific to... The insides are a different
diameter then the outsides. - [Larry] Oh I should go
front to back of the motor? - [Davin] Yeah, so
there's a specific order you have to put them in. - Wow. So this is kinda fun right? Because, tell us about this. - So that is, in any kind
of manufacturing process you always have Julian dates or some sort of date coding
relative to your process. So if you have a, quite
honestly if you have a defect in your parts, you can track back and contain the problem. - Yeah, this was built on this day. - Yeah, exactly. It was never meant to be "Hey my car number is a
numbers matching car." That was never the point. - But that's how it's. - [Davin] But that's what's happening. - [Larry] Is that the number
you connect to your car? - [Davin] Yup, you can connect all that. That is a portion of the number. That is at least the date side of it that you can connect back to your car. - [Larry] Okay. - [Davin] So here we're just,
I'm mic-ing out the crank. Even though the machine work was all done at a reputable shop obviously I still always go through and double check because everyone makes a
mistake at some point in time. Verify what the diameter
is on the crankshaft. You'll see here in a minute I'll put the bearing halves in and torque the mains. Actually I guess we jumped past that part but at any rate. - [Larry] So you want to
make sure that your bearings match up with your crankshaft. - [Davin] And you have
enough oil clearance. - [Larry] Yes. - [Davin] So you've got
appropriate oil clearance. - [Larry] And then you're
putting assembly lube on that so you can spin it. - [Davin] Yup, yeah. - [Larry] What is that gummy stuff? - [Davin] This particular stuff is like a lithium based. - [Larry] Oh. - [Davin] There's multiple styles. Depending on how long, from my standpoint. Depending on how long the
motor's gonna sit on a shelf. This one was going right into a car so the lithium based is fine. - [Larry] You know what
he's tightening right now is a main bearing cap. - [Davin] Correct. - [Larry] And you know that this one came off of that exact
spot because he marked it. - [Davin] Yup, it's marked. And it also has an arrow
pointing forward as well. From the factory. - [Larry] So you know
where it goes, got it. So you're rolling now right? - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] This is the easy part. - [Davin] This is definitely
the, this is the fun part where it starts getting back together and it's getting bigger, as they say. - [Larry] You start making
engine sounds at this point? - [Davin] Pretty close, yeah. (laughs) - [Larry] And that thing
up there, that black thing. What's that called? Ring compressor right? - [Davin] Yeah, so the rings
naturally have some tension to push against the outer diameter or the inner diameter of the cylinder. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] And there's actually
three sets technically. You have an oil control ring. A lower compression and
an upper compression. - [Larry] Got it. - [Davin] And that basically
just squeezes along those and tightens them up. Because there's always a
clearance at the end gap. About 18 thousandths of end gap. And then that allows for
heat and expansion in that. But you need the compressor
to be able to get them into the hole. - [Larry] Alright so now
we're putting the camshaft to the timing chain. - [Davin] Yup, camshaft is as they say the computer or the brain of the engine. - [Larry] How do you know
how tight to make that bolt? - [Davin] Spec. - [Larry] Ah! So you have
a book that tells you? - [Davin] Heck yeah! - [Larry] Okay good. - Yup. Yeah, those are pretty small. They're 5/16 bolts. If I remember off the top of my head it's about 20 foot pounds of torque. - Yeah. - And it's critical that you line up. You can just see the mark
on the crankshaft here. And the mark-- - [Larry] Oh yeah. - [Davin] On the camshaft. - [Larry] Sure. - [Davin] You have to line those up otherwise your camshaft
will be out of time relative to the crankshaft. And when that happens,
valves crash into pistons. - [Larry] Yeah, so you
want the valves to open after the pistons move down. - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Yeah. What is that thing? - [Davin] So degree-- - [Larry] Oh yup. - [Davin] Degree-ing in the cam. Making sure everything is fine. Basically finding top dead center with a piston stop in a degree wheel here. - [Larry] How did you
learn all this stuff? Did you just watch Youtube? (laughs) - [Davin] No. A little benefit of an engineering degree and I look at pictures on manuals. - [Larry] You read? - [Davin] I didn't say I read. - [Larry] Oh. (laughs) - [Davin] That's why I
keyed in on pictures. (laughs) And timing cover on. Of course some sealant on that to make sure it doesn't leak. - [Larry] Oh, the oil pan's going back in. - [Davin] Yup, oil pan back in. - [Larry] That's a nerve
wracking time right? You're like, "I hope I got it right." - [Davin] Exactly right, yup. I hope I remembered
torquing all of the rods. - [Larry] Oh, so you've got
to put the valves in too. - [Davin] Yup. Yeah, so you have the blue
piece as a spring compressor to compress the spring. And there's angled valve keepers that go in and hold, go to the stem and things like-- - [Larry] Little clips. - [Davin] Yeah. Almost like a tension/re-tension because of the spring pressure. - [Larry] Once you get you
know, once you do that once it's kinda, it's less demystifying. It's not as hard as it
looks I think you know? - [Davin] Nope, but two
hands definitely help because one to keep the spring compressed and one holding the keepers. - [Larry] I mean, they must be making. Back in 1970, they must have
popped one of these engines out every five seconds. - [Davin] Oh yeah, yeah. - [Larry] Okay both, they're already on. Oh, you're gonna paint it? - [Davin] Yeah, we went all out and painted it as well. Mask it off just like it
was a car door I'll say. And actually, there's a little I'm gonna say a myth a good automotive primer and a good automotive paint is far better than any of the rattle cans that you can buy in the store. - [Larry] Okay, so you've done this. You've used automotive paint with an automotive spray gun. - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] And got the things hot and the paint doesn't peel. - [Davin] No. - [Larry] Okay. Okay so now you're putting
the rocker arms back on. And the push rods. - [Davin] Yup. - [Larry] Those are those
sticks, the metal sticks right? - [Davin] One thing in
here that gets tricky or can be tricky is you don't just torque
the rocker arms down to a dead stop. - [Larry] Oh? - [Davin] You have to adjust them. I take my one hand and
I rotate the push rod and then start tightening that nut right until I feel a
little bit of tension. - [Larry] Oh! - [Davin] Or just where it contacts. Give it a quarter turn and
that's where I leave them. - [Larry] You're sealing off the edges because the intake manifold
seals the V of the engine. Because there's oil
flying around in there. - [Davin] That's correct, yup. And you have vacuum on this side so you want to make sure that
you have a good sealed area. Otherwise, if you can't pull vacuum then you're not gonna pull. You're gonna pull extra air
into the combustion chambers. That's, call it not regulated. - [Larry] So it's important
that there's no leaks. - [Davin] Correct, yup. - [Larry] Alright, okay. And this is the same intake manifold? It looks like a new one though. - [Davin] Yup, this is a brand new Performer intake manifold. - [Larry] So you couldn't resist trying to make it more powerful right? - [Davin] Yeah, I know. Lots of spark plugs. - [Larry] Oh you kept that awful
cast iron exhaust manifold? - [Davin] Yup, the best part about the cast iron exhaust manifold is you don't have to beat
the daylights out of them to get them to fit around
the steering shaft. - [Larry] Oh right. - [Davin] And the plug
wires don't burn off on you all the time. - [Larry] Right, there's
lots of clearance. Now, here's a misconception. You barely have to tighten
those valve covers. - [Davin] That's correct. - [Larry] Right? You
could over torque them. - [Davin] Yeah, the torque spec
is like 10 or 12 foot pounds so it's really light. And it's real easy to over torque them. And you squeeze out the gasket. The same thing on an
oil pan, it's the same. Because the cork starts to flex and push up pretty quickly. - [Larry] So conversely,
if you make it too tight it will leak more. - [Davin] Right. - [Larry] Yeah. - [Davin] That's exactly right. - [Larry] Oh, you got an Edelbrock carb. - [Davin] Yeah, so upgraded
from the two barrel to the four barrel. - [Larry] Oh, looking like you're done. - [Davin] Isn't it fancy? - [Larry] Oh, that looks great. - [Davin] Look at that. You ever seen one run on a stand? - [Larry] No, it's just like a plane. It cleaned itself out, amazing. - [Davin] Pretty awesome. - Yeah. (laughs) Hey, thanks for watching. If you liked it, please subscribe. And if you had any questions
or comments or feedback we'd love to hear. Please put it in the comments. Thanks. - Take care.
