First Engine Build

My 225 is tired and making strange noises. I think it needs to be rebuilt, but I have never done an engine rebuild before. I'm considering having someone else do it. Anyone have suggestions for rebuilding this motor in Boise, Idaho?
Is there a wish list for improvements when contemplating a rebuild? Right now I have the old rochester carb on the stock manifold. I do have an electric fan and advanced adapter headers. I also have HEI from another old buick that seems to work pretty well. I'm using an old sm420 and stock transfer case too.

 

Do you know any local racers?
They almost always know the good shops.
Talk to the shop and make sure they have a CLEAN shop 1st.

 

The 2 improvements I would make on the motor while having it rebuilt would be a Mellings oil pump kit and Cloyes double roller timing gear and chain set. Other than that follow Jerry's advice about the racers.

 

actually, a good intake is the offenhauser dual port. it DRAMATICALLY increases low end torque. stick a holley 470 truck avenger on it which will increase your low end torque aswell. plus you will have really good mileage due to small intake runners on the intake when the front barrels only are engaged.
i am in the process of building mine right now and this is my setup...
9.6:1 hypereutectic speed pro pistons (91 octane)
offenhauser dual port intake
rhodes lifters
260 comp cam (in lower rpm, the lifters makes the cam act like a 240 comp which is even better torque, plus when i get it above 3000 rpm, they open fully and will allow great passing power)
holley 470 truck avenger for good angles.
HEI with the vacuum advanced remove and mechanical set to full advance at 3000 rpm
electric fan on radiator
the whole thing will be punched .030 so itll be about a 234 oddfire.
i have a local shop with dyno so once its together and tuned, i will give stats on it for anyone interested. hopefully, it preforms close to my expectations. but anything will be better than 160 hp.

 

Phalanxx...What's the purpose of removing the vacuum advance?
Keith

 

Let me know how this goes. You might be the man for the job...

 

I'm in the same situation as you and I'm in the same area. I started my CJ rebuild about a month ago and I've just started on the engine. Tomorrow I'll continue the strip down and this week I'm going to start looking for a machine shop in Boise or Mtn. Home to do some of the work for me. If you ever need a hand shoot me an e-mail I'll be glad to drive up to Boise to help. Gives me an excuse to grab some more cigars from Sturmans. I can't give you any technical help as this is my first rebuild and I'm relyin on books and the guys on here to help me get it done. I can let you know what problems I run into during my rebuild.

 

when i rebuilt my 84 gmc (350 with the edlebrock performer package on it), i took it to a local machine shop in new jersey. the older gentleman who owned it built race cars. he told me that by removing the vacuum, you have more precise control over timing. you can set how far it advances and by what RPM it is fully open and not have to worry about diaphrams leaking and slowly getting worse. by removing vacuum, you remove ALOT of potential operating boons. if there is no vacuum, you dont have the leak problems, backfires wont blow off the hoses etc. vacuum leaks make it run leaner and run like crap. sometimes they are intermittant and a pain to track. when you stick your foot in it, you want it to go. so when it hit XXX RPM, it was fully advanced where it needed to be, and not dependant on engine vacuum for position. there might be more to it, but when he finished my distributor on my truck and i put it together, it would lay 60 yards of rubber with 31X10.50 on it easily/everytime. mechanically, he set it to open fully at 3000 RPM, idle at 12-16 deg before TDC and full advance was 32 deg (which is perfect for SBC). with the way these rhodes lifters are designed, they fully open at 3000, so if everything is mechanically set for the same, it should run great. the GMC performed the same way, everytime. so i am setting my jeep up the same way. the only vacuum my truck had was for brakes. might just be a preference thing, but my truck ran great, and this guy built racing cars for a living....i trust his opinion.
hope it helps.

 

also, a thing to note is when you get it back from the machine shop is to take it to the car wash and blast it with the hose. clean everything. take a tap or 2 out with you and run it down every hole. then blast it again to ensure all you bolt holes are rust free. once its clean, make sure to dry it off pretty quickly. when you are putting in the pistons, the cutting oil they use is nasty and doesnt come out very easily. the BEST stuff i have seen/used to clean the cylinders before removal is tranny fluid (after all, it is a detergent based liquid). you will be suprised that after you clean it with whatever, to run a wrag of tranny fluid in it and see the ammount of junk that will still come out of the cyl.
but dont do any of this untill you are actually ready for assembly. the oil actually will protect the block while it sits and awaits all the rest of the parts. (mine sat in my dining room for 2 months while i waited..i love being a bachelor sometimes.)