[Lear35A]

In other threads I've written up what got me to the point where I had to have my engine block wet sleeved. I'll start another one to update on how it's working out.



Today I started it for the first time. This always brings fear and trepidation to my heart, but that was unnecessary this time. It started right up with no coolant or oil leaks observed so far. There's no bubbling in the coolant tank, and the exhaust is clear. Basically I've only run it at idle and gently taken it to 2000rpm. I've gotten fluid levels where I want them, and am looking and listening for anything suspicious. So far, so good in these regards,



I have a couple of things that will take sorting out. The antilock brake warning is on and stays on. The alternator warning light is on and stays on.



There's a bunch to do with the front suspension to get the car so I can drive it, and the hood always takes awhile to realign. With a pretty busy schedule facing me I'm not sure when I can get it on the road. I am very anxious.



I have the DS1 SC installed, so this will be a reasonable test of the wet sleeves. Although I lost very little deck height with the wet sleeve machining, I did go with the thicker Porsche head gasket to be on the safe side.



More later.

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[Cloud9...68]

Congratulations! Sounds good so far. I can only imagine the plethora of issues I'm going to have when I finally fire mine up. FIngers crossed for both of us...

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[flash]

lol - we're all right there at about the same time. too funny.



i sure hope this works out. if it does, it opens the door for larger displacement setups.

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[RS Barn]

BTW

When you first fire up a dry engine-even after cranking until you have oil pressure. The lifters make a very scary noise for several seconds. Like REAL BAD.. It does go away quickly and may leave you with light tapping until oil comes up to temp.

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[Lear35A]

I had the car on the street today for the first time. I just went a couple of miles and never went over 4000rpm. Oil pressure is good, coolant temps are good, sounds smooth. I won't be driving hard until I get about 100 miles on it and get an alignment. The front wheels are pointed who knows where. So, so far so good!

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[Monstrous4Banger]

Congrats! Be easy on her for the break in. I may somewhat base my decision on sleeves or not, on how well yours turn out. Im eager to know how it goes, keep us posted.

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[Lear35A]

I changed my avatar to a running engine in the car (It had been my engine on a stand after the first rebuild). Drove the car a little today in the pouring rain here and then spent some time on finishing up the little things. So far, so good.

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[Lear35A]

OK, car's been aligned, and I've put a few miles on it. It runs hard and smooth. Water temp gauge runs a little less than half scale and stays there. Haven't lost a drop of coolant. The SC is doing it's thing. I'm not sure what else I can report regarding the wet sleeves. They appear to have saved my block. If anything else comes up, I'll mention it.

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[DaveN]

If all goes well for you maybe I will keep my damaged block "just in case". I'm sure sleeving it would have been more expensive than the 600.00 (block) and 300.00 (shipping) I paid though.

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[Lear35A]

I think this post can wrap up this thread. The engine has about 500 or so miles on it since I did this latest rebuild with the Darton sleeves. Over the last couple weeks I pulled the radiator, drained the oil, pulled the belts and of course the supercharger and inspected everything very carefully. I inspected the oil filter and filtered the oil through a paint filter. I flushed the heck out of the radiator. Everything looked good. I did find I that I did not have enough clearance between the balance shaft belt and the curved chrome plated guide at the bottom. Clearance is supposed to be .5 to 1mm, but the belt was definitely rubbing on this plate. I got this adjusted properly this time.



I got everything back together this morning and filled it with fresh antifreeze (50/50) and oil.



I've only made a short drive so far, but it runs great. I'm going to call this rebuild (the third) complete and successful. I am now ready for Flash's additional 15 to 20 HP.

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[Cloud9...68]

Congratulations! It's been a long haul, but I'm sure you learned a ton about these engines in the process (probably more than you ever wanted to know!). It must feel great to have it behind you so you can enjoy driving the car.

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