I have had very little time over the summer for cruising so my three year old Lab, Oakley (Pokey) and I went for a drive last night.  This pic with the standing crop of soybeans in the background was on the West Perimeter highway in Winnipeg.  Pokey enjoyed her first ride in the GP!  

The GP runs like a top since I freshened up the engine a year ago and now has a whopping 200 miles on a fresh engine.  I will post about that aspect some time but when we tore the engine apart, which took less than 30 minutes, we found that three pistons were extremely tight on the wrist pin.  So tight that you could barely move the piston at all. After soaking the three pistons and rods in a solvent bath for a day to see if they would loosen up, it was not to be.  My initial objective to just re-ring the engine took a different turn at that point as the builder did not want to re-use the pistons, and really did not want to purchase replacements pistons as he claimed that he could do it but would not recommend it for a 50 year old engine.  He recommended boring it 30 over and get new pistons, rings and do it right.  So, that is the direction I went.

Upon tear down, the crank had been changed at one point which I discussed way back in May 2017 and it was revealed that a forged crank had been installed at one point.  So, the nodular crank was long gone and a forged crank, I think it is a 6223 (but that is just by memory), but the builder knew what the crank was instantly upon laying eyes on it.  So, I had a 396 with a forged crank, three tight and almost immovable pistons.  So, off to the machinist it went and new 30 over forged Speed Pro pistons were ordered, along with a cam, high output oil pump, etc.  In the shop, the machinist noticed a small imperfection in a wall and was not satisfied with 30 over.  My initial thoughts were, OMG, What have I done to this engine?  Long story short, they had to go another 30 over for 60 over so the block is a 408 now.

The good news is that the engine was very square and did not need a decking, so my numbers remain but the engine is L34 ish now.  The 396 runs very nice, a bit rough on idle but cruises nicely at 65 - 70 mph.  Passing is a breeze and the old girl really wants to take off at about 60 MPH when you put the pedal down.  I thought I had a heating issue in the summer but there is no issue at all and last night at 20 C, the engine was running at just touching 190 degrees.  So, the engine has a forged crank, that was in excellent shape and was polished up, speed pro forged pistons, a L34 ish cam, and the bottom end was ARP'd.  I have an Edelbrock intake on it and rebuilt carb that makes the engine run very well.  The heads received a going over and remain stock.  It cruises like it should.

-- Edited by 68 Grande on Thursday 6th of September 2018 08:38:00 AM