This 396 Big Block Chevy Sat For Years With Water In The Cylinders...

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Our customer is rebuilding their 1966 Chevrolet Caprice with a true 396 Big Block. Unfortunately, the block is going to require some extra work...
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[@JAMSIONLINE]

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[@Bbbbad724]

How thick are the sleeves?

[@georgeperillo6421]

My favorite Chevrolet engine family. As a youngster, I owned an L-78 396 Corvette Sting Ray and later a 1970 454 Chevelle SS. Big block Chevys are dear to my heart. Thanks

[@clannishkobra8965]

Whatever position or role your wife has at that hospital I fully appreciate her and everyone in the medical field.

[@xXSlickNickXx757]

Love the longer style videos with more tech info. I grew up around engines and my cousin working in a machine shop for a while so I always had interest in Machine work!

[@JohnnyAFG81]

This channel never disappoints, awesome work giving that BB396 another lease on life.

[@philbert006]

396 is a small block. Def one with a new lease on life, cause it was rough as shit before. They really do awesome work.

[@smoothwalrus9354]

@@philbert006 even thought it's under 400 cubes it's still technically considered a big block, due to the stroke and size of valves. Cool engine and massive props to the owner for wanting to keep it all original.

[@BLAC_WORX]

@@philbert006 a 396 is a big block....

[@philbert006]

@@BLAC_WORX yeah I get it. IDK why I'm confusing it with a small block 400. Gm had so many similar engines, and offered pretty much all of them in every car they sold in that era I suppose it's reasonable enough to be confused.

[@jrod264winmag]

@@philbert006 do you know what you’re talking about? I bet you think the 366 is a small block too

[@robertclymer6948]

I have always held the 396 Chevy big block in the highest esteem. The 396/375 horse power they put in the 68 SS Nova was my all time favorite. The 68 Nova SS this guy had was bare bones. No carpet, bench seat 4 speed that he could not keep on the road doing a burnout. It was always sideways, lol, AND his Mom in the car with him!! Precious.

[@CL053DC45K37]

The 396 in many years was really a 402.

[@davidlibby5430]

Sounds like my gram-ma's car.

[@vinceradical8910]

the 4 people waiting all own machine shops. . Absolutely loving the content. this is about as far down the auto rabbit-hole you can go,

[@JAMSIONLINE]

haha! Thanks for watching!

[@tonydoggett7627]

I don’t machine or rebuild engines for a living. However, I am a perfectionist for measuring! I fully understand the tolerances of engineering. I always learn something watching these videos. 😊🦘🇦🇺

[@1971VoiceoftheMummy]

That's it! Or a weekend warrior wondering how all this gets done.

[@janne65olsson]

@@JAMSIONLINE Just some wondering thoghts. Will this engine tolerate modern gas fule after install the sleeves? Or do you need to change walvseets and walves to?

[@nodrinkingproblemhere9095]

Try modifying can buses. I should have taken the blue pill...

[@GreggeSB]

Great work! I know a lot of folks won't consider sleeving blocks a reasonable repair, but I've seen some rare engines saved by sleeving. No shame in it, if it keeps an engine on the road a while longer.

[@isaakwelch3451]

I dont know why sleeving wouldn't be considered a proper repair, a lot of engines are designed with sleeves

[@GreggeSB]

Isaak Welch there are some folks who have the misguided belief that a sleeved block will never be "good" again. Like with the Jaguar block they recently repaired, I believe a sleeved block is just as strong, or maybe stronger than original. If a Steve Morris SMX engine will survive drag and drive events being designed as a sleeved block and make 4,000+hp, this motor will survive another 56 years with it's new cylinders.

[@richardprice5978]

@@isaakwelch3451 fear of the sleeve moving and or wrecking my crankshaft ect still on the fences for my 60's mopar 383-540CI platformed engine block wise former drown/rusty just as bad as this chevy or worse

[@richardprice5978]

BTW it's a all iron casting's engine

[@roachwerks3043]

I always wondered how you get a block squared off before it was decked. Great info

[@jeffhopper3526]

best automotive machine channel on youtube. JAMSinc provides a natural balance of humanity (family/personalities) and technical in a very enjoyable format, well done.

[@otterconnor942]

At my work we have 1.55 inch diameter bore seals that have an interface fit with the bores they're in. We don't heat the bore, and we only cool the seals in liquid nitrogen, and they fall in with no extra pressure. The much larger cylinder sleeves will shrink more than the much smaller seals that I deal with, so you should have more wiggle room and no need to heat the block, and not risk galling the bore or sleeves

[@supersportjames9452]

I’ve watched a lot of your shorts, then a a few of your videos. This channel is an absolute GEM! The information, the quality of the work, and the simple videos are top notch. Just got back from pri and this is great to decompress too for a while.

[@zdog90210]

I'm glad to see you guys growing this channel and getting new sponsors! Get that bag!

[@joemurray6750]

This is such a well done video and your narration is getting a lot better and more natural sounding. Great job

[@housepumpinpc3983]

As always so far, you and your dad do great work and let the rest of us in your world. Thanks.

[@patricknichols7399]

Thanks, love to see these old iron engines brought back to life. Nothing like modern cubic inch to hp ratios but grew up on these old sbc and bbc’s. Thanks for the enormous amount of work it takes to video while getting the job done. 👍👍👍

[@edrefeen4006]

That is awesome!!… I love watching you do what you do. I have a 327 that I would love to freshen up. When that day comes I’ll be knocking on your door. Thanks for posting

[@crackerjackcreek]

Thank you for sharing generations and generations of knowledge and skill . Allowing a peek into what you have dedicated your lives to and sacrificed to become true masters of your craft. Thank you

[@logancarter2134]

Thanks for another great video with fantastic content and no silly music!!!

[@jeffboyer8214]

Drawing deck is cool. I like how you show and explain what's going on step by step. Safety is awesome as well happy to see you with goggles on & pushing the block away from you. Thank you for the videos & the time to explain.

[@SteveLowe65]

Just found your channel and immediately subscribed. I worked for Peterson Automotive in Englewood in the late 1980's. Sure do miss this kind of work, brings back a lot of memories for me.

[@glenj.taylor2938]

I'm looking forward to this one y'all, just like all the other ones. 😁

[@richardzapalajr.4412]

Great work. When we did anything different than stock. We tapered the notch. Using blueing and head gasket took much less time.. big flow improvement... Instead of square cut great vids .. keep them coming.

[@izalman]

Just love your boring machine... I watch other engine rebuilding channels but yours is by far the cleanest workshop and best machinery..

[@nathanahrens4280]

Really enjoy seeing this process each time.

[@oskurian6246]

I'm going to be honest I don't know anything about machining work but I've watched ever video so far! Great videos and look forward to every new one 👍🏻

[@SirFruit2000]

Always love a good cylinder reserving video

[@jmaster9925]

I love watching your videos, so cool to watch you guys do amazing and complicated work

[@stephensaasen8589]

What a great series! Glad the owner wanted to invest in keeping a numbers matching engine! My daughter bought a 1966 Caprice a few years ago. No engine or transmission but the guy that sold it to us said the fellow that had it pulled the 396 and tranny out 15 years prior and sold them. Then he let the car sit in his driveway. Wish we had that engine that came out of her car.

[@matthewrooke386]

Great project, so glad it’s continuing 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@johnmar7701]

I thought the old 396 cid style blocks had 0.030 inch extra meat on the bores. So one year the engines were advertised as “396” cid motors when they were actually “402” cid from the GM factory. Per Zora Arkus Duntov, “Cast iron is very heavy so we took another 0.030 inch overbore to lighten the engine”… something to that effect.

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

From '65 to '69 the blocks were 4.094 bore diameter , in '70 they opened them up to a 4.125 bore ( 402 ) cubic inches . Excuse me I should have said for the 1970 model year , as I have a block dated Nov. Of '69 that is a stock bore 402 .

[@skylinefever]

It was my understanding that smog laws for engines over 400 cubic inches was different for smog laws for engines under 400 cubic inches. For legal convenience, GM gave the engine 402 cubic inches.

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

@@skylinefever the smog laws were the same across the board, main thing was Chevrolet had the 400 small block coming out for 1970 , and couldn't have a big block that was smaller than a small block . GM wouldn't let them spend the money to make tooling to cast 402 emblems . If you ever see a '61 Chevy it shares the hood lettering with the '60 Chevy , " cause you spent too damn much money on that tooling " . Also , it gave Chevrolet bragging rights as having two engines over the old 400 inch limit in their intermediate car ( the Chevelle ) , the other divisions only had one .

[@helmnutter1634]

Not going to lie but im so hooked on the channel So much info and attention to detail. Watching from the 🇬🇧

[@evankibbe590]

The 396 is my favorite big block Chevy 👍👍👍😊🌎🌞

[@1BigDaDo]

I look forward to seeing videos now all time from this channel ! Thank you for sharing and making these for us ! God bless and have happy holidays

[@jsteganius6969]

The NHRA Stock Eliminator guys have to run that bore size 4 and 1 eighth. This is pefect for 1 of those!! Nice work!!

[@cameronjenkins6748]

To answer the question posed by the associated short for this video, yes this block is worth saving. Whenever the reason for saving an engine part is to keep the car numbers-matching and the car is classic enough, it is always worth saving that part. Not only that, if someone is willing to pay to have it saved, there's no reason to not save it.

[@summitlt]

I've got a similar overhead winch. If you throw a snatch block on it, it's half as fast and a little easier getting things positioned.

[@mattovictimcycles1334]

I know you can't give me a true pricing but really curious ball park pricing on this whole process to re sleeve a block....Great work glad to see a young machinist.....thanks

[@Capt_Ron]

Beautiful!

[@mattganus5178]

Love watching all your videos and shorts.

[@chetmarcotti4953]

Really great machining process

[@midgetrace]

I would like to see the main caps torqued in place when boring. It makes a difference as well as using a deck plate.

[@keithjurena9319]

Hone? Certainly. Boring? Not so much

[@jeanlawson9133]

Was otherwise a boat anchor.... Very nice work....😎 Thanks Scotty

[@GrandPitoVic]

Thanks for the video. That was great. Great content.

[@bruceyoung1343]

396 cubic. Sweet engine. Look forward to rest of series on this engine 🤞🙏

[@markmurray7031]

I've put lots of sleeves in and I put a lot more press in than you do.The old machinest rule " .001 for every inch " Another thing I don't do is all sleeves at the same time. I do one and skip it's neighbor. Reason being, once you press one in it will distort it's neighbor and that could lead to all sorts of problems down the line. I also use green Loctite on the sleeves and block. Heating the block is essential as you want the block to relax against it's new sleeves. I worked for R&D mechanical engineer from Pitt University who had many years of race engine building under his belt and I learned a lot from him.

[@georgiafan6618]

I assumed you would have to deck the block after sleeves installed before you’d cut the valve reliefs. Wouldn’t this better establish where valves would end up near block surface? I didn’t realize this amount of prep was involved in an engine build. It gave me a perspective on labor and good machining practices that I’d hope all shops engage in. 👍

[@djosbun]

Superb job!

[@Turboy65]

For future reference, if you were to indicate the valve clearance cutout arc at three points, you can mathematically determine the diameter of that circular arc and also derive the center position of it. There's no guesswork. It's measuring three points and doing the math.

[@robertwest3093]

I can't wait for Part 2!

[@arnoldj101]

Fantastic to watch as always! Just a question; would there be an issue with combustion gasses escaping/causing issues between the block and sleeve at the valve relief cut? would top hat sleeves be better? Not a machinist or trolling, just curious!

[@andrewclarkehomeimprovement]

Really well done. Question. Where you cut the valve reliefs, I think I saw that it cut all the way through the wall of the sleeve into the native block. Will there be a potential blow by/compression issue down the side of the sleeve?

[@dondonald69]

I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for the great content. 👍

[@Pooslingingmonkey]

Honestly that confused me. Why would that need to be done in the first place? Only thing that comes to mind is both intake and exhaust valves have been made bigger cramping up the combustion chamber so they cut that in the piston bore for when the intake valve opens. 🤔

[@colchronic]

Fantastic work

[@keithtynan7469]

Love the slo-mo 🙂

[@gdsstudio974]

Thanks for the detailed follow along. Just wondering about the clamp down using the cam sleeves. Would it be better to use a block under the clamp that is the same diameter as the cam sleeve for a full contact area?

[@jomomma8291]

Very informative.

[@anthonysantiago1999]

Great to see a Block survive with a fresh set of sleeves..

[@1971VoiceoftheMummy]

Nice Work!

[@markcarter9476]

All that precision machining and then you install the cylinder sleeves with the aid of a sledge hammer. Totally absorbing.

[@benjaminseward9553]

The cliffhangers get me EVERY TIME!

[@parkerottoackley6325]

Thank you Sir, nice vid

[@stephenpoe2037]

Interesting process !

[@vancejohn4834]

you reminded me back 40 years ago working in a machine shop. your sleeves went in easier than what i remember. would of killed for liquid nitrogen back then.

[@BeagleFanatic1]

I love when car owners spend the money to restore the original block instead of taking the easy way and finding another, or just swapping in an LS. Though I have found that some machine shops won't even work with owners when the amount of work required approaches what you are doing to that 396, at least none of the machine shops in my area.

[@alexstromberg7696]

Thats becasue if they mess up they will never have that customer again. Also they can most likely earn more money doing 5 other smaller jobs than this. Machine shops exist to make money.

[@skylinefever]

Thanks for the video, I did not know how to deal with the BBC cylinder relief.

[@mikeburnett7028]

WOW. Awfully complicated for me, but I’m glad there are people out there who know how to do this stuff correctly

[@pauljanssen7594]

Once in a while we would get an engine like that in the machine shop we would tell the customer it's a good ideal not to rebuild it just sometimes the rust would cause the pinhole that you can't see sometimes after you're bored you can actually see the pinhole.

[@v8packard]

The few times I have sleeved all cylinders in a block, I did one at a time. Bored the block, install the sleeve, then set up to bore the next cylinder. And so on. Take so much from all the cylinders really compromises the integrity of the block. Doing them one at a time minimizes how much the main webs, deck, and cam tunnel move when you sleeve all cylinders. People think metal doesn't move, but it does.

[@Kenny-1958]

I always bore every other hole and install sleeve. Press fit distorts the adjacent hole. Then bore the other two. Sleeves are always going in round holes.

[@v8packard]

@@Kenny-1958 Sure, I can see doing that. I still hate sleeving every cylinder. But, if I absolutely have to..

[@georgemclallen9884]

I spy an h-body in the background... new subscriber here. People that don't know what it takes to properly do machine work should be watching your channel. Keep up the good work

[@tcmtech7515]

Fun Fact: If you ever need to do a cold-shrink-to-fit job on something liquid LPG from your BBQ grill tank works really well in a pinch. It can cool things down to ~-40 F/C and is one of the cheapest basic cryogenic liquids you can find anywhere. Safety-wise, treat it like you would any highly flammable parts cleaner solution or gasoline while taking advantage of its cryogenic cooling ability.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

How many fewer burgers will the tank cook after an 8 cylinder cryo process?

[@tcmtech7515]

@@wallacegrommet9343 At ~$6 to refill my 20# cylinder off my 1000-gallon bulk tank, it is irrelevant.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Let the barbecue commence!

[@bigturboxr3i]

Lee from Barum engines sent me here. Cool work, subscribed.

[@markkaminski2416]

Do you ever shrink components for press/ interference fits?

[@Don6939]

Being a Job Shop Journeyman Machinist prior to getting my Engineering degree we would always put sleeves in the freezer overnight or in a vat of liquid nitrogen, once the nitrogen stops boiling its as cold as its going to get. Wear heavy welding gloves when handling sleeves out of the nitrogen or you will burn yourself. You could literally drop the sleeves into the block. Thank you for sharing, I do miss machining.

[@paulvaso8524]

Great decision on not make us wait a day for the video! Will watch it now

[@johnnystanley4469]

Nice work

[@southronjr1570]

Curios about something, why did you cut the valve reliefs in before you decked the block? When you deck the block you will essentially be making the valve reliefs more shallow and depending on how much you have to take off the deck, couldn't that cause the valves to make contact? Did you cut them deeper than needed with a guesstimate as to how much you will be taking off to clean the block up or is there already enough clearance in the reliefs to account for the decking?

[@cheerdiver]

Excessive labor. Decking would have moved an already established 'zero point', due to being removed from the boring bar fixture.

[@neilwalker8686]

You can get a set of half moons that set in the cam bore so the clamps have more surface area.

[@shoominati23]

I nsaw a guy use an oversized valve sharpened on the sides to cut the valve reliefs into the cylinders of an engine, worked like a charm

[@stevengiles346]

It never fails to amaze me how some people store vehicles. You can wind up with a pile of junk it isn’t stored correctly. I’ve seen knuckleheads buy a fairly decent car and then store it in the yard under one of those cheap blue nylon tarps from the local hardware store. They’re not waterproof an will trap water underneath and decimate a car. Really sad. Then they wonder why it will cost thousands to fix the damage.

[@jeffwallsinger6411]

Great video

[@michaelmartinez1345]

These people are very good at what they do, and often bring old-worn equipment, to factory specs. and sometimes , even BETTER than factory specs.

[@davidlagle7000]

Very nice 👍

[@superdupergrover9857]

1:13 What we have here is an example of a variOUS cylinder displacement engine... :)

[@ronnieboucherthecrystalcraftsm]

sleeves with out a top flange always worry me i have seen so many move = but mainly in alloy blocks !

[@BobSmith-mj7ik]

Thank you for saving a classic

[@randyschield2515]

Try using liquid nitrogen to install the sleeves. Saw a video of a machine shop in Australia, putting in bushings after line boring. The liquid nitrogen cooled them down and they just slipped in

[@yambo59]

I dont know if this is true or not, but back in the day I remember reading that the sharp edges left in they cylinder by those valve reliefs need to be softened / rounded a bit where the cylinder wall meets the relief so they dont create a "hot spot" and contribute to preignition / spark knock. Read this in a big block Chevy engine building manual years ago, not sure of the validity of the info.

[@SWATT101]

Ahhh the good ol days...built a 325hp up to 375hp with forged crank and pistons back in 86 for a 69 Chevelle...it was a window shaker .

[@tilen3266]

Love how nowadays he explains everything

[@darrellbedford4857]

Another great video. For putting the sleeves in can't you freeze them.They might shrink enough that they will just drop in. When warmed up the sleeve will expand to its original size. Liquid liquid nitrogen or dry ice can be used to shrink them. I should have waited until the end of the video before suggesting the cooling trick.

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

Our local speed shop used to put them in the Pepsi machine , which they kept just above freezing , best Mt. Dew in the county .

[@alexstromberg7696]

@@bobbrinkerhoff3592 liquid nitrogen is lile -200c. It will shrink at lot more than in a pepsi cooler

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

@@alexstromberg7696 Not everyone has access to liquid nitrogen or would want to deal with something that cold due to the dangers involved. Also , as a retired machinist I can attest to the effect that a 40-50 degree change in temperature can make in the diameter of a pin or a sleeve . The amount of shrinkage required for installation is around 0.0025 inches ( about the thickness of a piece of masking tape ) , depending on the engine builder .

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

@Jared Mayer The why is simple , most engine shops have been in the same location for decades. and are now landlocked and unable to expand their building to allow the addition of a furnace large enough to hold engine blocks or a tank to sit the block into with hot water . Everyone thinks in terms of automobile engines when it comes to size , but most shops also do work on farm equipment , semi trucks , and construction equipment, all of which is much larger than a small block Chevy . Some shops will use an oxy/acetylene torch with a broad head tip to take the chill off of the block .

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

@Jared Mayer the why is still as simple as most shops don't have the space to build a furnace box as you describe . Most shops are older and landlocked with no room to build on an addition as much as they need one , also with modern zoning laws , moving to a new location can be a major undertaking. . And , yes I'm well aware of how sleeves are installed in diesel blocks , but you still have to use physically larger equipment to work on them , and that uses up floor space that is already at a premium . For a shop owner to commit to a new piece of equipment they are going to look at Price , How much use it will get , and Do I have room for it , and will it actually make me any money ? I've been going to Indy since 1965 , and was building and campaigning cars on the streets and strips before you were born . And , how did you know that this retired machinist has his late mother's recliner in the corner of his race car trailer for safe keeping ?

[@jezdrury4246]

Your videos are absolutely brilliant, very intelligent guys! Question, do you account for wear on the cutter as you bore cylinder to cylinder, or do you adjust the cutter regularly? Cheers guys! PS , I’ll come and work for you 😅

[@jamesdungan6198]

I find these therapeutic, old grumpy bugger I must have become LOL

[@kairu_aname]

"Hey! Get off my lawn's metal shavings! I swear, every two seconds that kid's meeting with my metal shavings!"

[@DavidHuston]

We tried running both the 396 and 427 in top fuel. Had a lot of trouble keeping the valve trains from breaking so had to back to the 392 and 426 Chrysler motors. The 396 and 427 were great otherwise.

[@patrickwendling6759]

Love it

[@ecrusch]

Nice work there junior. Take your time and double-check your math before advancing. That big block will roar back to life in no time. Thanks.

[@oscarg.9054]

As a machining and Bruce Springsteen fan i think i found the perfect video. I wonder if this was the block of the car from the song Racing In the Street🤔😻

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

This block came out of a '66 Caprice , not a '69 Chevy with a 396 " . I'm still trying to figure out how he stretched out fuelie heads to fit his big block !

[@shannonwatson5473]

Love the videos! I so wish I had went into machine work instead of aircraft mechanics.

[@davidvanbrunt4233]

396 has always been my favorite...

[@BobSmith-mj7ik]

Awesome

[@chadfullbright5393]

How do you know how deep to cut the valve relief without decking the block first

[@CL053DC45K37]

My mom had a 1966 Chevy Caprice with a 396 and a 4spd. It was cream or off white in color with black interior. Her ex husband sold it out from under my mom to his brother in law and that same day when she got home from work she found out what he did and boarded a plain from Indiana back to California where where she was from and she filed for a divorce the next week. The Caprice ended up somewhere in Tennessee.