The 406 motor

Here's the 406 block on the stand ready to start work on it. It's a 4-bolt block from a 1971 Impala.
I had it boiled and magnafluxed, then bored .030 over. New cam bearings and freeze plugs were installed at the same time.

The business end of a cylinder head. They're stock heads with 1.94 intakes and 1.50 exhausts. The valves, guides, seats and seals are all new.

The other side of the head. New Z-28 valve springs and seals were also installed.

Here are the new Badger pistons and Federal-Mogul rings.

OK. Time to get this puppy together.

Crankshaft's in. Isn't that pretty? It was ground to .010 under.

And the main bearing caps and rear seal. I used Clevite 77 bearings.

It's got a Melling high-volume, high-pressure oil pump.

The pistons are starting to go back in. It helps if you put the right pistons in the right holes...then you don't have to do it twice.

This was my gopher for the day. A well-mannered young man named Matt. He learned something about motors and I learned something about patience. All in all his help in fetching things was very much appreciated.

OK NOW all the pistons and rods are in. I found that the rods had been marked with the correct hole number and orientation of the bearing cap. Once that was figured out, it went together pretty quickly.

Now the cam's going in. I'm using a Crane Compucam 2040, since I need to stay emissions-legal.

I temporarily mounted the timing gear and then coated the cam lobes with assembly grease and the bearing surfaces with motor oil. Now I'm sliding it in very carfully so as not to wipe the lube off nor damage the new cam bearings that the machine shop installed.

The new lifters are being installed. I used the Crane lifter set that was supplied with the cam. I lubed the lifter holes with motor oil and then put a dab of assembly grease on the end of the lifter that will ride on the cam.

Here's the Cloyes double-row, roller timing chain and gears. I'd never installed one of these before and the roller and thrust washers behind the camshaft gear were new to me.

Next page: More of the 406 motor.

Black Car Home

Chevy Asylum Home