Engine Rebuild Tightness

[tscruggs]

I do not know proper lingo - so..... I am rebuilding the engine - many of you know the saga - long story short - torqued main bolts, rod bolts, etc and now the engine will not turn - heads are not on yet - when you loosen the bolts to hand tight you can turn the engine by beating the end of a ratchet connected to the crankshaft nut - how difficult should it be to turn the engine using a standard 3/4" ratchet - new bearings, etc. all pistons and rods turned the right direction and in the right places - Please Help!!!!!

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Travis,

Something is wrong, do not beat on the rachet, take it back apart and check all your clearances/sizes. Also make sure none of the main caps are on backwards or the wrong location, same with the connecting rods and caps. My friend used a aftermarket crank and it was bent.... same thing happened, it got tight when torqued down to spec's.

Chuck

 

[Chuck Leeper]

"when you loosen the bolts to hand tight you can turn the engine by beating the end of a ratchet".
Suggest you take the engine to someone w/ experience...

 

[DailyDrifter]

I'm with Chuck.

Did you use assembly lube? How were the clearances when you used plasigage? Could be wrong sized bearings in the crank journals.

 

[tscruggs]

Am tearing it back down - Plastigage, etc all are within tolerances according to Haynes Manual - Crank, etc are all good - I believe that the NEW BEARINGS from SUMMIT are teh culprit - I am going to replace pistons one at a time and turn after each install until I find the problem - I have had two of these cars - bought one new in 87 - first time I have torn the engine down - have wokred on several Chevy V8s but they are a little different - THANK YOU!!!! I will let you know what transpires

 

[bison]

 

[Daniel Jost]

That is a huge issue the last thing i would do is force it to move, plasti both the top and bottom of the journal, also look at the bearing you will be able to see were it is pinching the crank, it will be shinny and/or scratched.. I broke a crank once and mushroomed a journal very very slightly, put the crank in and torqued it for clearence and the plasti gave away exactly were the issue was and you could see it on the bearing. so a new main bearing and 109 block later fully TQ'd you could easily spin it with no rods connected. also make sure all the bearings are in the right way so the guide tabs are right

,Dan