I recently rebuilt my 302 with new piston rings and new bearings. My question is that after i torque down the rod bolts the engine will not turn over at all. Even with the heads off. I have checked to make sure all the pistons and in the correct orientation and that the caps are on correctly. If you have any ideas please help me out. I have never had this many problems with one engine before. If i cant figure it out im ready to just buy a late model motor and go efi. Thanks John
Something is binding. I would go to each bearing journal, and loosen them up, to find which one(s) are binding.
ok i tried that and it looks like its cylinder 7 that is locking it up but all the others make it extremely hard to turn I put a torque wrench on the crank bolt and it took 145 ft lbs to turn it before number 7 and after that I couldn't get it to budge.
Im not sure ill have to check tomorrow I'm fed up with it tonight and I'm afraid if I keep messing with it I'm gonna mess something up because i don't have the patience for it lol. But i will check that tomorrow morning and see. Thanks
Dude! Take a break! It will still be messed up tomorrow, and your head will be more level. It is probably something minor, and you will figure it out when you chill out!
My thoughts exactly lol. I'll figure it out in the morning, I know its prob. something that I'm just overlooking. I do have to say thank you to everyone on here. Advice like this is why I joined this site. Thanks again.
Wrong size bearings for the crank grind? Did you plastigauge them? I learned 40 years ago to never trust the crank grind or the size marked on the box and have used plastiguage to check them on every build. More than once I have found a mismatched bearing. Without the heads on you should be able to rotate the short block by hand
Make sure you put the thrust bearing on number 3 not the rear like a Chevrolet... Seen this done a few times..
No the main bearings are fine the crank turns just fine with the caps torqued down. Just the rods are holding it up.
