Powering on...opted for a one piece rubber oil pan gasket [seen here] instead of the traditional 4 piece cork and rubber jobby. Got a Mopar high volume oil pump too. Lots of different points of view on HV units but for this engine with cam upgrade but seems not an issue at all. High pressure + high volume pumps are the usual culprits at very high rpm and in Ford engines primarily it seems. Long block came with a new boxed elgin/melling standard pump but had the mopar already. The mopar came with a new oil screen/pick up but despite the description when I purchased, it is not for the 258. I think it suits a 4.0 oil pan. Any 4.0 drivers need a new one? 258 screen faces opposite way so I recycled my donor one with the help of oven cleaner and very thorough pressure clean. Seal seems nice and tight with the pump. Will be oil priming engine before first start so we’ll see how good the seal actually is.
Some RTV in the corners on the gasket as per instructions and pan on.
Head bottom view. Ready to swap out springs now. New valves, stem seals and 3 angle hardened seats at reman.
Spring comparison…hi-lift that came with cam kit on left, note dampers inside, and stock on right. The hi-lift are obviously taller but also were softer/not as stiff as the stock springs. Dampers are pretty old school from what I’ve read but still widely in use. Possibly a racing thing originally? Anyway makes me want to check thoroughly for any binding down the track.
Shimmering block at TDC. Fel-Pro gasket laid on. The head bolts on the reman were original not new, No prob there and all checked out fine ultimately. I remember reading a US thread where someone rebuilding a 258 contacted ARP about bolt stretch etc at big revs and when he said he was working on a 258 they laughed and said get back to us when you are making 400 HP +. The thing of concern to me was that the bolts came out dirty/greasy and evidence of some minor rust in the threads. Maybe oversight or shoddy? Anyway, cleaned up block threads with tap and hit bolts with wire wheel. Nice result. All cylinders were really clean, new pistons. Bored 0.030 over BTW. Dropped in the lifters from Clifford kit.
Head on. Anti-seize on bolts and torqued as per spec in sequence and some thread sealer on #11 bolt [water jacket]. Put a smear of white lithium grease under bolt heads to facilitate gaining correct torque. Old wives tip!
The pushrod conundrum. Compared rods from crate to Clifford and quite a difference. Knew they were way short and tried on cylinder 1 just for fun. Rattle around at load let alone TDC. My guess is that they are intended for a zeroed deck block and shaved head. They are hardened chrome moly, however. Damn. So the crate rods are not and measured them and slightly under the 9.700 which is stock for this MY engine. So, naturally, allowing for some minor honing and decking in reman process that made sense.,,, but they’re not hardened chrome moly. Did the various methods of checking for required .020 to 0.060 range of preload and decided that if I wanted beasts to match the springs and cam should go 9.700 and shim up rockers for insurance rather than come up short. So after that long winded babble the pic shows from top - Comp Cams HD@9.700, Reman supplied at about 9.670 and Clifford supplied@way too short unless your decked for race fuel.
Comp cams installed and can see 0.030 shims installed under rockers if you look closely. Shim kit came with 0.030 and 0.060 shims so can get 0.090 total but I think i'm good. Yet to check lifter preload all round but quick test on cylinder 1 was sweet @ 0.040 difference.
