Engine Assembly Lube Advice during Rebuild

[DBCJ]

I've torn down my AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l to just about nothing. Although for about the same cost, I could of swapped out to a new chevy motor, I wanted to keep it Jeep. Plus, its been a good father/son rebuild project. Here is what i have done so far:

Block and head have been hot dipped/cleaned
Cylinders bored .030
Valves/seats machined
Full master rebuild kit including:
-cam
-double roller timing set up
-New Pistions
Every single part on this engine has been cleaned and/or repainted!

We are just about ready to put it all back together, and Im trying to get some input on assembly lubes,ect. Ive been told to use assembly lube on some parts, and engine oil on others. What do you guys recommend for assembly lube for the following:

Camshaft bearings
Crankshaft bearings
Connecting rod bearings
Lifters
valves
Cylinder walls when reinstalling the pistons

Any other parts I should be lubing up as putting back together? If so, lube with what?

This has been our first full rebuild and it has been a great (and expensive) experience, but worth every penny, cut, scrape and bruise along the way!

 

[caveman]

When i rebuilt my engine i put assemlbly lube on every wear point that i could find and get to.

 

[Tinman22]

Any assembly lube on the market will do for your AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l .
Use assembly lube on

Main bearings,rod bearings, rocker arm fulcrum ,rocker arm tip at valve and pushrod my dad also slathers the timing chain

Use the supplied (I hope) cam breaking lube that came with the kit on the entire cam not just the bearing surfaces
dist. Drive

Use engine oil on

Pistons (with rings installed)
Lifters (you may want to pre soak them in a small bucket of oil to purge air from them)
Valve stems before installation
And all seals
pour the rest of the oil over the valvetrain before the valvecover goes on

Remember remember remember cam break in and assembly lube are just that break in not go ahead and drive away lube they will plug your oil filter with themselves and any microscopic bits of AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l that weren't needed forcing your oil to go through the bypass and not the filter so don't leave them in for long. How long I don't know I usually block the bypass so I watch my oil gauge when it starts dropping its time.usually around ten miles or so.

Good Luck

 

[Tinman22]

Also no synthetic until after break in (2000 or so miles) or the rings may or may not seal up.

 

[GatorBate]

I just rebuilt my AMC 304 and I used Comp cam break in oil. They recommend runing it for 30 minutes at 2000 rpm then changing it out. Also I was told to use a zinc oil additive in my new rebuild. Today's engines do not need the lubricating properties of zinc because they have roller cams, so unless you buy racing oil, today's motor oils do not have zinc in them any more. The old flat tappet that we run still need the zinc.

As for assembly lube, I used the lube that comp cams sent with the cam on the cam and tappets and Lucas assembly lube on everything else that moves.

Over 100 hours on the engine (yes, I installed a Hobbs meter) and its running great and the oil pressure is holding around 50 lbs. It use to run between 10 to 20 lbs.

 

[PaRenegade]

Curious DBCJ, if you don't mind. Ballpark, what do you have into that rebuild in $?

 

[DBCJ]

Thanks all. This was just the advice I was looking for. For the pistons, what's the best way to oil those up?should I apply it to the cylinder walls, or actually dip the piston in oil. I'd imagine I wouldn't want the top surface of the piston contaminated with oil.....

 

[Tinman22]

I use an oil can on the rings and skirts. Also lube the piston pins. I assume they are new also use engine oil through the two holes on the bottom of the piston otherwise you stand a fair chance of light pin seizure that will sound like a light piston slap till it clears up. The machine shops rarely lube them after assembly.

 

[Tinman22]

Btw after oiling the rings recheck your gap stagger

 

[mstar]

Just a couple unsolicited things you can do before startup.

Prime oil pump and system with a electric drill motor and adaptor shaft.
I like to install a external pressure gauge on engine will doing this.

Pressure test cooling system prior to installing coolant with air.
You will need a STANT testor or something like it.


Hope everything goes well, mike

 

[DBCJ]

Curious DBCJ, if you don't mind. Ballpark, what do you have into that rebuild in $?

Im about $1300 into the engine. Here is how everything priced out:

Hot Dip, bore, and resurface engine block= $400
Hot dip head and resurface valves/Seats= $200
Engine rebuild kit with having the crank turned= $645
(That price included upgrading the pistons, cam, timing chain/gears and a few other parts)
Total is about $1250.
The time with my son as we start putting all this back together= PRICELESS!



-Dave

 

[Scooter402]

The time with my son as we start putting all this back together= PRICELESS!



-Dave

This is the only one that matters, anyway.

 

[hdgapeach]

Question about priming the oil system prior to start up on a "new" rebuild:

Was wondering if the drill priming would contribute to washing the special cam lobe / lifter lube off prematurely and possibly cause early lobe wear????

Just wondering.......Heck, I used to use Vasoline to lube new bearings in rebuilt engines back in the '70s, so what do I know??????

 

[mstar]

Question about priming the oil system prior to start up on a "new" rebuild:

Was wondering if the drill priming would contribute to washing the special cam lobe / lifter lube off prematurely and possibly cause early lobe wear????

Just wondering.......Heck, I used to use Vasoline to lube new bearings in rebuilt engines back in the '70s, so what do I know??????

I would rather do the priming than start it without oil in the pump.Where talkin running it long enough to get some pressure .That's it. Don't think you will have much oil in top end.I fill the hyd. lifters with a squirt can so I know there full and adjust valves to zero slack or a little more before starting.I think any engine book will tell you to prime pump. mike

 

[Tinman22]

As far as the cam goes pressurized oil only gets to the bearings so no problem. The lobes are Basicly splash lubed and it's the lobes that really need the cam break in lube. Also pre lubing Goes it may also give away some mistakes. I was pre lubing a small block Chevy once and discovered I had forgotten a galley plug.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Question about priming the oil system prior to start up on a "new" rebuild:

Was wondering if the drill priming would contribute to washing the special cam lobe / lifter lube off prematurely and possibly cause early lobe wear????

Just wondering.......Heck, I used to use Vasoline to lube new bearings in rebuilt engines back in the '70s, so what do I know??????

This is the practice of all engine builders so I would think it's not going to wash the assembly lube away causing wear.

 

[hdgapeach]

10-4, Gotcha. Makes a lot of sense. Didn't realize the main objective was to prime the pump. I was thinking the pump was spun to push oil everywhere to soak everything down for a while.

I've never squirted the lifters full either. Always put 'em in a coffee can full of oil a few hours before I know I'm going to stab the cam in the block. Dropping them in the hole and filling with the little oil squirt can sounds less messy!

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[mstar]

10-4, Gotcha. Makes a lot of sense. Didn't realize the main objective was to prime the pump. I was thinking the pump was spun to push oil everywhere to soak everything down for a while.

I've never squirted the lifters full either. Always put 'em in a coffee can full of oil a few hours before I know I'm going to stab the cam in the block. Dropping them in the hole and filling with the little oil squirt can sounds less messy!

Thanks for the clarification.

Some additional clarification.Sorry not trying to turn this into a engine building thread. When I say prime the pump that means you run long enough to get pressure and fill oil galleys and oil filter so when it fires off there is no lag.When filling lifters with squirt can is done on the bench and then set them in a pan of oil until installation.As someone else said it can save problems if there is a leak.Ditto on the pressure test on cooling system.The last thing you want is to have problems on that initial start up and cam breakin. We see enough of that on TV car shows. Mike

 

[PaRenegade]

Thanks for the insight DBCJ. I have a spare engine (AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l ) that I got to rebuild while still driving my current original engine. And I had figure it would probably run me around $1500, and I will also swap my current head over since I did just have a valve job done on it.

On another note, something hdgapeach said. I filled my oil pump with Vaseline before closing it up. I wiped some assembly lube on the cam, even though I didn't take it out or change anything, and also wiped some on the new timing sprockets and chain before covering that up. Now I didn't add oil yet because I figured to do that prior to starting so it is still laying around the head and hasn't all migrated down to the pan while sitting because this engine has been sitting for close to 2 years, and hence my concern. Should I still need to prime it via the distributor removed? Nothing is new except the valvetrain and the timing set. Is the vaseline enough to start a prime?

 

[Tinman22]

Priming the pump isn't the big issue. Priming the system is on a fresh motor filters are empty galleys are empty and so on.. After start up it may take several seconds to get oil every where. Your pump actually looses prime every time you change the oil. It picks it up real fast. Bigger issue is the empty filter. But anyway if it's been sitting awhile pull the coil wire or disable the ignition somehow and turn the motor over till oil preassure comes up . That's how we always did the cars in storage for more than 6 months.