Oil Galley plugs in 340 block...

[1972roadrunner]

ok, FINALLY got her goin, but ran into some problems. i was using a HV oil pump with high psi spring in it, but it was wore out from pumping metal through it. now i'm using a Milodon High Volume/High Pressure pump. yes, i cleaned EVERYTHING up very well, then put it together. my only problem, was i had more plugs than i did holes for my oil gallies...

heres what i found:
3 in the back
2 "soft plug" types in the front...

my machinest says the other one (threaded plug) goes in the front of the block, and is kinda hard to find.

3 of us looked, and couldn't find it... any help would be wonderful!! so far, i made my own priming shaft by welding an 8mm alan wrench to a weldable stick of steel...smoothed everything, and put my electric drill on it. got a little over 50psi on the guage. when i pull the trigger, oil SHOOTS up where the cam gear is on the back of the cam, and pools up...which, only gives me about 50psi cold at idle when i start it... about 20psi hot.

oh, and another thing, the left side of the block (lifters and rocker arms on driver side) aren't gettin much oil. my new Rhodes hyd lifters won't pump on on the driver side (did it manually before insall), and oil isn't splashing all over on the left, but it is on the right. yes, i can see oil coming through, and IS on the top of the valves and filling the head, but not splashing all over. on the passenger side, my windshield is covered with oil (hood is off) from it splashing....

PLEASE HELP!!
thanx!

[skankweirdall]

There is another threaded hole forward of the left plug at the camshaft bore on the back of the block. The left lifter gallery does not go all the way to the back of the block. You'll need to remove the left plug and then seal off the left lifter gallery and reinstall the outside plug.

[delbert]

A threaded gallery plug goes in where you are seeing all the oil shooting up near the distributer drive gear (inside the block). It's an easy one to miss. If I remember correctly, the centerline of one of the threaded plugs on the rear of the block lines up with the centerline of the internal plug (Chrysler had to drill through the back of the block to machine the internal gallery; the plug on the rear of the block is just to block off the hole made for machining access). Take out that threaded plug on the rear of the block, then install the interior plug through that hole.

Wait a minute, it sounds like your engine is in the car, right? Well, then, you take out your distributor and carefully install that plug by going through the distibutor bore. The axis of the plug is parallel to engine centerline. It's easiest to use a recessed hex head plug here (vs. the square socket plug), allowing you to use an Allen wrench (which is the only thing you can use when you come at it from that direction).

[skankweirdall]

I forgot to add that I think you are using to much with the high pressure spring and a high volume pump. Especially with hydraulic lifters. I use just a HV pump with a race clearanced motor with fully grooved main bearings that spins to 8000+. Otherwise I would use just a stock type pump. Anything more than 10 PSI/1000 RPM's is really overkill. It wastes horsepower and can potentially ruin an engine due to washing out the bearings and running a stock pan dry of oil.

[5th_Ave_Sleeper]

Ok, you know that oil gally plug on the driver side in the back, that is bigger than the one on the right? its bigger, cuz you have to put a smaller one THROUGH it to plug off the left side lifter oil gally about 1.5 " forward of the external plug. If you didnt install this plug, I hate to tell ya partner, but the engine has to come back out!

[dave571]

Skankweirdal is right.

If you've just done the bottom end again, and your machinist has your clearances in spec, you've got too much oil pressure.

You're seeing it first hand! You've got a major bleed down, through the missing plug, and you've still got 50 psi when you start the engine. With a bleed like that, you should have virtually no oil pressure.

Use a standard oil pump. It's the best thing to use when you have proper clearances, on a freshly machined bottom end. You will still have very good oil pressure, and protection, as long as the clearances were done right, and the engine assembled properly.

[1972roadrunner]

thanx for the info guys...fortunately, my machinest will make house calls due to he's part family...and he doesn't charge either...

HOPEFULLY, if it is behind that big plug, i can get to it w/out pullin the motor...but i dunno, pretty tight clearances. if anthing, i'll PARTIALLY pull it, just enuff to get to it.

thanx again

[rustycowl]

Don't forget there is one under the rear maincap. It is a soft plug. If it is not installed the oil filter is partially by-passed. There is also one(this one is a pipe plug) under the oil filter adapter.
You may be able to snake that plug in under the distributor, without pulling the engine. You may have to remove the quill shaft. Put a rag in there to catch something if you should happen to drop something. Just remember to remove it before you button it up.

[cuda66273]

I gotta follow this one......

[cuda66273]

http://www.barbneal.com/wav/ltunes/foghorn/fogleg28.wav

[1972roadrunner]

Originally posted by rustycowl
Don't forget there is one under the rear maincap. It is a soft plug. If it is not installed the oil filter is partially by-passed. There is also one(this one is a pipe plug) under the oil filter adapter.
You may be able to snake that plug in under the distributor, without pulling the engine. You may have to remove the quill shaft. Put a rag in there to catch something if you should happen to drop something. Just remember to remove it before you button it up.

huh? you sure your thinkin SB?? we took the rear main cap off, and looked. all the holes were accounted for. my machinest only took out 2 soft plugs out, and those were in the front under the cam plate...

under the oil filter adapter?? wait, under the dist?? i think thats the one i'm workin on. i looked again and the oil isn't comin up, it's going from the gally that feeds the lifters... the oil shoots out and lands directly in the area where the cam gears go... i almost had it last night, but ran into some "snags", such as my hood springs ripping the hell outta my pants, my lightbulb in my drop light exploding, and i need to modify the swivel i'm usin so it'll work better at extreme angles... if i can't get that to work, i'll yank the tranny.

cuda:... heh, that was a funny wav file!

[cuda66273]

http://www.barbneal.com/wav/ltunes/foghorn/fogleg33.wav

[Billydelrio]

1972RR - Have you got that plug in yet? I always install the inner rear galley plug before I put the engine in the car!! If you do get it in without pulling the manifold or engine, you need to let us know how you finally did it.

The plug over the rear main is a 5/8 press-in plug that is not easily seen. It is removed by pusing it out hte bottom of the block with a 1/4 in" rod through the oil sending unit hole. Nine out of ten machinists don't remove that plug because they don't know it is there.

Billy

[dave571]

I think you can get that one in the lifter gally, by cutting down an allen wrench. Depending how small your hands are, of course.

If you leave the one under the adapter plate out, you will still have oil pressure, but the filter is bypassed.

[1972roadrunner]

i doubt my machinest (who of course deals with more chebbies than anything) knew about either plug.

if i'd have known about this plug, it would have DEFINENTLY been in the block before the block was even partially assembled...

i don't have small hands, so going through the dist hole, or lifter galley was out of the question, but i DID in fact, slide the transmission about 3 inches back, and 4 inches down, which allowed me access to that big plug. i then pounded the smaller plug onto a long extention, and stuck it in and tighened it down. the big plug has been replaced, and tomorrow the tranny will be put back up.

NOTE TO SELF (and others...) don't yank that damned dip stick tube out of the transmission unless your ready for a shower!! not sure if thats normal, but i'm all wet!!

thanx for the info!! wouldn't have found it without y'all!

[biggerhammer]

I don't know who your machinist is, but I as a general rule, pull all the plugs outa a block, then clean the bores, then REPLACE the plugs so my customer doesn't have to worry about them.

[cuda66273]

Now there's a Guy who knows what he's doing.

Biggerhammer can you email me?
cuda66273@hotmail.com

[1972roadrunner]

he got all the ones out that he knew about, then hot tanked it... then he was a jerk to charge me $15 for pullin plugs out, only because i couldn't find my torks bits for my air ratchet. THEN, he put them in a little baggy (without cleaning the plugs off) and sends it home with me...

well, when i changed the oil after the pump replacement, there was no metal to be found (checked with magnet and fingers), and i cut open the oil filter and it was pretty clean. i'm happy .

i'll keep y'all updated. tonight i'm gonna stab that tranny back up there, and fire it up. i'll report the oil psi cold, hot, and on the road. CAN'T WAIT!!

thanx for the help guys, really. i appreciate it.