I'm baaack. After a couple of months of torture at work, I've decide to
haunt the oletruck pages again.
Good to see the oletruck chat again.
While off line, I tore the front off my 327 by removing the water pump
(defective - squealed => leaked), replacing front main seal/timing cover,
replaced steel freeze plugs with brass, and replaced outlet, hoses and
fittings.
Two questions:
1.) When removing the lower pulley, I noticed that the 7/16 bolt came out
with galled threads (I had to sit down in amazement and shock over this
one). The PO should definitely be shot! I also noticed that the water
pump and crank pulleys were mismatched (different groove spacing). What
was this guy thinking? How did I miss this during the sale? Jeeze!
Pulling the harmonic balancer (H/B) worked fine with the proper tool.
Thinking that I could somewhat correct this problem, I whipped open my
rollaway drawer filled with assorted taps. The tap I had seemed too
lightweight for a hardened crank (good only for aluminum) and I shuddered
at the thought of breaking it off at this stage of the game. So, I
refrained from the activity because I couldn't position myself to see the
hole straight-on anyway.
I lieu of tapping, I decided to clean up the bolt instead using a good die.
The operation was successful, however; I still have reservations about the
damaged crank threads and how to correct the problem.
I replaced the H/B with gritted teeth because the tool to press it in was
barely threaded into the crank, so needless to say, I was on pins and
needles the whole time. Fortuneatly, the 7/16 bolt appears to be snugged
down pretty tight.
What I fear is that I have remove the main crank to rejuvenate the threads.
Is there any alternative?
2.) While I was under the hood, I decided to pull/ flush the radiator and
replace the thermostat. I drove it to work today and noticed the temp
steady at about 190 deg.
I am correct to assume that a 180 deg thermostat is sufficient to use on a
327 with no A/C?
Tom B. '57 Stepside 3200
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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