Brass Wire Wheel used to Clean 350 Chevy V8 Valves

I searched around on the net for the best way to clean those nasty engine valves and many folks said to use a brass wire wheel to get the job done. I am glad to say this is very true as I just cleaned four valves myself about an hour ago. The brass is soft enough not to damage the steel valve but strong enough to get rid of that baked on gunk. Check out the picture below.

Set of 350 Chevy Valves, before on the right and after on the left

Before and after close up

Exhaust valve close up

350 Chevy Valve Side by side comparison

Another comparison

Cheapest Homemade Small Block Chevy V8 Valve Spring Compressor, $9.00

Hi All,

I believe I just made the world's cheapest homemade small block Chevy V8 Valve Spring compressor. It took me about a half hour and it works great! Home made tools are the best! Here are the parts you need to make it from:

• Harbor Freight 8" C-Clamp               $5.99
• Harbor Freight 7/8" Socket - Deep    $2.99

8" C-Clamp and 7/8" Socket - Deep

 Here are the tools I used to make it:

• Drill Press
• 4" Grinder with cut-off blade
• 1/4" endmill
• 1/4-20 tap

Here are the steps I used to make it followed by the pictures:

1. Mark socket wall for cutting and cut with grinder using a metal cut-off wheel. I cut out two of the flats to create the opening and cut right before the thick wall started on the inside of the socket for the height. I also had to shorten the socket by 1/4" to make it fit better to the heads. I cut the extra off at the socket opening
2. Take your C-Clamp over to your drill press and clamp it to your table upside down as shown. My drill press is the larger table top one from Delta so I was able to do this easily. Small drill presses may have problems with this.
3. Move your table into position so that you can cut a flat directly inline with the clamp screw and tighten it into position. I eyeballed it and it worked fine.
4. Then you break the golden rule of never putting an end mill in your drill chuck just this once. Tighten your drill chuck in all three holes of the chuck with your chuck key.
5. Make sure your drill press is set at its slowest speed since you are cutting cast iron. Then, slowly and I mean slowly move the endmill down so it cuts a flat onto the curved surface of the C-Clamp. You only need enough of a flat to start a drill hole.
6. Next remove the endmill and try and insert a small drill without moving your table. This allows you to drill on center of the flat you just made.
7. Drill you hole starting with a small diameter and end up with a .201" through hole.
8. Chamfer the edges of your .201" diameter hole and then tap it using a 1/4-20 tap.
9. Get a 2" long screw and some washers and mount your  cut out socket to your C-Clamp to create your $9.00 Chevy V8 Valve Spring Compressor. I already had the taps and screws lying around.

One final note on construction of this tool, if you don't have a drill press or a large enough one you can still create a flat on the curved surface of the c-clamp using a file. You can then clamp it down upside down and drill by hand. A little harder to do but definitely doable.

8" C-Clamp in drill press

Harbor Freight 7/8" Deep Socket cut out

C-Clamp with flat milled on it

C-Clamp with pilot hole drilled

C-Clamp with 1/4-20 tapped hole in it

Small Block Chevy V8 Valve Spring Compressor for $9.00

Final Product

Small Block Chevy V8 S10 Blazer!

My new path forward is to install a small block Chevy V8 engine into the Blazer. I am doing this instead of going with the 3100 for a few reasons. One reason is that of budget and the other is a realistic expectation based on what I can and can't do. I really want to complete this project and get it rolling by the end of this summer. I have already made more advances that I did with the 3100 engine. I want to revisit the 3100 engine again because it is an impressive little powerhouse but it's not the right time for me and the Blazer. I gave the 3100 engine the "It's not you, it's me speech".

I was able to obtain a nice mid 70's high nickel content 350 block with crank, heads, and pistons for $100. I also got a truck transmission with bell housing, flywheel, shifter, fork, and pressure plate for $80. The block is honed and new mains installed. I am moving much faster now with the availability of 350 parts.

I came upon a crossroad on my 3100 Blazer Project

It's been a while since I have last posted but as the title of this posting states I came upon a crossroad in my project. My last posting showed that I was faced with having to hack up a structural cast aluminum oil pan that bolts to the crankshaft mains. In order to get the 3100 engine to fit I need to create a deep sump pan from it. With so many obstacles ahead I decided to go a different route and drop in an small block Chevy V8 motor.

One of the main goals of my build up of this Blazer S10 is to do it on an extremely low budget. So far I have been able to do this and have a great bottom line so far. I will share that with you all later. Wish me luck.

2.8 Chevy V6 Oil Pan Comparison

Hi All,

Here is a picture of my 2.8 v6 I just pulled and the oil pan for the 3.1 engines I have. I am now starting to doubt the cost effectiveness of completely swapping engine blocks. I may have to look into getting a RWD block and rebuilding a hybrid motor. Check out the picks.

2.8 & 3.1 Chevy V6 Oil Pans

Lots of 2.8 and 3.1 Chevy V6 Engine Parts

I now have three complete Chevy 60 degree V6 engines. I will be rebuilding a couple of them. I have two 1999 3.1 and one 1984 2.8 liter motors. I am not sure if I need to get rid of any of them. Hear is a picture of what I have.

Lots of 2.8 and 3.1 Chevy V6 Parts

The Engine is Out!

I finally got the engine and transmission out of my blazer. I was held up by the nasty cold weather we got but we're back in the 50's for now so I got the engine pulled. I've got a lot of clean up work to do on the engine bay but I look forward to it.

2.8 Chevy V6 and Borg Warner T4

!984 Blazer Empty Engine Compartment

1984 Blazer Riding High in the Front