Poor life choices - C4 content

A hacksaw blade used carefully to notch the shell and then a punch should take it right out.

This is called "Bonding" or getting to know you, "IT'S ALIVE", "IT'S ALIVE"

In reply to Don49:

Thanks Don, I hadn't considered something that simple!

Carefully drill a small hole in what's left of the seal. Thread in drywall screw. Use claw hammer on the screw head to pull out seal. Take your time.

Hello Pete:

Your build thread is truly inspiring, but now my own neglected project has begun taunting me every time I walk past it in the garage. I may have to take action. One suggestion: when you get your block cleaned from the shop -treat it as if it is the filthiest thing at the bottom of a frat house dumpster. Use plenty of dish detergent, brush and hot water scrubbing, then dry/blow dry to prevent the internal surfaces from flash rusting. Then, take lots and lots of paper towels and clean transmission fluid and wipe down the cylinder walls/machined surfaces, keep doing it over and over again until the towels/fluid are pink/clear, no grit or dark smudges. There's crud in the pores of the cast iron that needs to be scrubbed out then wiped off. Good luck.

The way I normally remove seals that can't be driven out the way they went it is to collapse them in the bore with a hammer and screwdriver, but that's kinda violent for a stamped cover. I'd try grabbing it with vise grips and twisting to collapse it that way, they're made of thin soft steel and bend easy once you have a good grip on it.

I've yet to see one of those seals that I couldn't pull right out with my lineman pliers.

Just grab the metal part of the seal real tight and twist the pliers. That will pull the seal out-of-round and free it from the cavity.

Man, this thread keeps delivering, you are making amazing progress!

I hope you figure out what the deal was with the engine soon. But in, like, a good way.

I remember having a hard time with that seal also on the 350 that went into the Suburbal. I don't recall exactly how I eventually got it. I do recall it put me in a foul mood . I think I used some wood blocks and worked around the seal until it came out. There are plenty of good suggestions above as well that I might ought to have tried. But yeah...I also experienced a tough one.

In reply to ssswitch:

Thanks!

My best estimation is something like this: While the car was parked permanently 3.5 years ago, it's become apparent that it had not been driven much or frequently for a number of years. Given what I've learned about C4's so far and what I've figured out on this one, either the dash went out(it's dead now) or there was a TPI problem(one injector pigtail had been replaced) leading to it being driven & started very infrequently for a number of years leading up to it being parked 3.5 years ago.

That scenario would fit with the problems we found with the engine - the rings were severely stuck on several cylinders, and both cyl-1 lifters were equally stuck. Additionally, there was rusting in all cylinders. If the car hadn't been driven and allowed to warm up, but had been started for short periods infrequently, it would have allowed the varnish to form and also promoted condensation in the bores.

Regardless, it's not presently a problem: the new crank arrived today and the cam bearing tool will be here in a day or two. I picked up some assembly lube, rtv, engine paint, etc. today. I need to give the oil pan a good cleaning after power washing it Saturday, then I'll install the freeze plugs and get the block & pan painted. Hopefully I'll have the bottom end together by this weekend, then I can go through the heads.

Day-36(1.5-hours):

Thanks to the combination of suggestions for using a hacksaw to slit the front seal lip in a couple places, and vice grips to twist and pull it inward, the seal came out easily. I spent some time finishing degreasing the cover, sanding off some of the surface rust, and giving it a final cleaning.

However, I noticed the ridge on the back side of the lip is pitted in areas. Will this cause leaks, or more than normal, anyway? Or do I just need to glob on more rtv?

I started cleaning the oil pan next. I was able to de-sludge most of it with mineral spirits and a small wire brush, but the access into the sump isn't very good under the baffles. So I poured some mineral spirits into the sump, sloshed it around a bit, and let it sit overnight.

The crank arrived today, but I decided to leave it packed up until I have the block ready for it.

Sounds like you're at the hump where you're done taking apart and it's going to start getting put back together. Great job.

In reply to Stampie:

Thanks!

Almost...I haven't touched the heads yet at all, other than a cursory once-over to check for easily visible cracks. After I get the bottom end together, I'll disassemble & clean the heads. I doubt I'll do any porting - with the mild cam I selected there's probably no need for it anyway - so I can start reassembling them with the new springs and seals.

I thought I'd found a carb today. It's an Edelbrock 1405(I think either a 1405 or 1406 would be best for me)"like new" with less than a year of use for $200obo. We set a place to meet around lunchtime, then he messages me a while later saying he misplaced the choke plate & can't find it. I did some googling, but it doesn't appear they're available separately, so I asked him to message me back if he finds it.

Yeah, just degrease it and glue the gasket on with a light smear of RTV, I repeat, light smear, just enough to see it.

EDIT: Also, before putting the heads on don't forget to check how far the pistons are in the hole at TDC (check all 8), since you aren't decking anything I think you need a thinner gasket than the kit will have in it.

I've had good luck with Holley "refurbished" 4160 type carburetors off eBay. Holley resets ones that they get back as warranty claims then sells them for roughly $100 off regular summit/jegs pricing. I've got one on the plain Goodwrench 350 in the '78 Malibu and one on the 5.0 in the Mustang. I don't have significant driving time on either, but they run well in the lots of little test drives I've done on each and I could not discern that either carburetor had actually been installed or used previously when I received them. Link to $220 eBay Holleycarbumaretor

That's barely more than the $200 you'll were planning to spend on the used Edelbrock and it will have a factory warranty.

My experience with used carburetors is that not a one of them is worth a hoot. Seriously, if I can't drive it on the car it's coming off of, it's a core in my mind.

There are way too many "Runs great, just went with a bigger one" carburetors being sold that should be advertised as "My cousin said this was on his buddy's car that another guy said 'went real fast' one time when we all got drunk and decided to race. That was probably 15 years ago, though...it's been used as a wasp nest since then"

I have to put in one (admittedly unsolicited) vote to resurrect the TPI. That's one good lookin' setup that a lot of folks have been able to keep running for a lot of decades now.

I have Holleys, But call Bill Teichnor at holley their resale dept. is top line stuff. I am Looking for a 4165 to rebuild will trade great square bore.avoid eddy's I wuld rather see Quadrajets than eddys and will help you.

In reply to BrokenYugo:

Good point on the head gaskets, and not something I'd considered. Their thickness wasn't spec'd in the kit, although the kit was labeled as a "stock rebuild" kit, but I'll check their thickness to be sure.

In reply to ClemSparks:

That seems like a really good deal on those Holleys, and I agree with you 100% about trying to find a "good" used carb. I'd been leaning toward Edelbrock because people have been telling me they're easier to tune than Holley, but it sounds like you didn't have any problem?

Easier NOT, Ps If you want to try your hand a rebuilding I will Send You A carb Today, Jus' cause we love ya,and I have some Extras.

In reply to GTXVette:

Thanks for the offer! I actually rebuilt an Edelbrock 650 carb about 8-years ago. In a hotel room . It was for the '62 Tempest LeMans I had at the time with the Indy 4-cyl. It wasn't a bad job at all, but I'd also just pulled it off a (mostly) running car.

Clem - I just found this reman Edelbrock 1405 for $10 more than the Holley. But is it worth it?

If ditching the TPI for a carb, then I vote for the Holley. Maybe it's a hold-over from my teenage years reading Car Craft, but to me that is just what a carburetor is supposed to look like.

An Edelbrock is one of the few carburetors I haven't been into. While I'm not much of a brand loyalist when it comes to carburetors...I've always kind of steered clear of the Edelbrock. It doesn't even seem like a conscious decision...just lack of familiarity I think. If you're comfortable with the Edelbrock, I don't see the harm. I have done exactly zero tuning on these two Holleys. I don't expect they'll really need any. But if they do, there's not much more user-friendly (performance 4 barrell) carburetor out there.

I've never been much of a carburetor "tuner." More of a carburetor "owner" and "carburetor maker runner." School of necessity and all that.

I too am a carb "owner" and not much of a tuner. I've had an Edelbrock 1801 500 cfm on an Edelbrock Performer in my 350 El Camino for 12? years now. It's easy to "make run good enough" for daily driver purposes, but it always felt like I left something on the table. Could just be undersized though.

Thanks for the link Clem. If I upgrade to 600 cfm, that's a pretty good way to go.

Carter Competition series and Edelbrock are very much the same. Edelbrock bought the molds (made by Weber) from Carter when Carter went under.

The Holley's of which We Speak are New, Not Reconditioned,though they are return to Factory from point of purchse and Redone by Holley.

I kinda do consider Myself a Carb Tuner and Have Built, eddy's, AFB's,webers,Carters,SU's,1 bbl.2bbl.3bbl.4bbl.and combo's of the above,and some I can't remember, If you go Edelbrock Buy a fuel pressure Regulater on the way home. set it at 3.5 psi and leave it there, 525 cfm is all a 350 flow's at streetable rpm/under 7 grand,so no point in any thing bigger than 650cfm.