tips and tricks assembling amc-v8's

cobra5laddict

AMC final assembly v-8 :? i an in the final heat with the 360 and i am ready to assemble. i just wanted to see if anyone has an opinion on assembly. 1. any tips on the valley pan style intake gasket/ assembly? 2. any places sealer/ rtv to be used when installing heads with new gaskets? 3. should i use teflon on the head bolts threads? i was thinking indian head or something? 4. i measured the distance between the oil pan and pickup screen.. it is right at 1/2" with the gasket installed. good or bad? 5. any tips on sealing the oil pan or intake? 6. DO NOT use vasaline to prime your oil pump. i thought this could be a thread that would help others in the future as well. :-|

jeepsr4ever

1. any tips on the valley pan style intake gasket/ assembly? yes be liberal on the scilicone on the corners and let it sit untorqued for 20mn. slightly snugged and then tighten it down all the way after 20 mns 2. any places sealer/ rtv to be used when installing heads with new gaskets? NO 3. should i use teflon on the head bolts threads? i was thinking indian head or something? Light oil 4. i measured the distance between the oil pan and pickup screen.. it is right at 1/2" with the gasket installed. good or bad? Good 5. any tips on sealing the oil pan or intake? yes let the silicone hardned slightly with a little tension on the bolts then snug down after 20mn. 6. DO NOT use vasaline to prime your oil pump Correct..prime the pump forst before startup

tufcj

#1. I put black RTV around the water passages (both sides of the pan) and at the corners where the heads touch the block. I spray the fuel passage ports with copper "spray a gasket". Just an addition on #4. Make sure you have the an original nylon button, or someone suggested a 1/4" nut brazed to the bottom of the pickup. I've seen them stress from vibration and sink to the bottom of the pan causing oil starvation problems. Just something so it can't possibly suck tight to the bottom of the pan. #5 Just a small blob of black RTV where the cork pan gasket mates to the rubber end gaskets. Some Permatex trim adhesive (used sparingly) will help stick the gaskets in place. Don't ever coat cork gaskets with RTV. Bob tufcj

cobra5laddict

why not use RTV to coat cork gaskets? i have seen people do it several times what is the problem with it? other than being a p.i.t.a. to get off if you ever need? just curious.

Penguin

cobra5laddict wrote
why not use RTV to coat cork gaskets? i have seen people do it several times what is the problem with it? other than being a p.i.t.a. to get off if you ever need?

just curious.

It is to easy to make the gasket pop out from the slippery RTV.

Rogue Racer

A trick that works with cork, paper or rubber gaskets is to coat the gasket and the mounting surface (be sure the metal is squeaky clean) with contact cement like is used to afix Formica or other laminate for a countertop. Let them sit for the specified time to cure and then press them together. Be careful that they are aligned correctly because once they touch they are permanent! They won't move or squeeze out during assembly and will withstand many assembly-disassembly routines without being destroyed. This works especially well with oil pan gaskets to the block, valve cover gaskets to the cover, front cover gaskets to the front cover, water pump gaskets to the water pump and intake gaskets (if you are using Mr. Gasket or other fiber gaskets) to the intake manifold. You can still use a dab of silicone sealer in the difficult to seal places like the corners of the intake manifold and the corners of the oil pan. Surprisingly, cleanup is not difficult if you have to replace the gaskets. The gaskets peal off relatively easily with a scraper and the old contact cement comes off with lacquer thinner. Also, if you use Mr. Gasket or other fiber intake gaskets, throw away the end seals and just use a bead of silicone sealer across the ends of the block. Be sure to use enough to fill in the gap between the intake and the block (test fit it first), but not so much that it will squeeze off into the valley. The automotive type RTV is good, or hardware store Dow Corning clear in a caulking tube works well also. The trick about letting the slicone set up a bit before the final torquing down helps, too. The AMC is not hard to assemble. If you will follow the advice given by the many experienced contributors to this thread, you will not go wrong. My only additional advice is to be sure that the camshaft-timing gear-fuel pump eccentric-distributor driving gear on the camshaft assembly has the oil passage holes correctly machined and matching so that there is adequate oil supply to the cam-distributor gears. I cannot stress enough the importance of priming the oil system before starting a new engine. Be sure you have oil pressure at this time and that all the obvious places you can see oil circulation (rocker arms, distributor gears, etc.) is satisfactory.

fuzz401

I like to use this Hylomar on the intake at all the ports never hardens and easy to clean up and silcone on the ends were the rubber gaskets would go
http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?SourceArea=&SourcePage=SEARCHRESULTS&MfrCode=PTX&MfrPartNumber=25249&CategoryCode=3289

Penguin

Is that the stuff that looks like snot? I have heard that is really good at holding gaskets.

fuzz401

it is a dark blue in color and it is some what thick