Shortblock
 

I am putting the shortblock together this weekend..... any suggestions???????

Take your time!! Check all the clearances. Never trust the machine shops. Especially the ones where I live. Plastigage the main and crank journals. Is you block de-burred and all oil holes chamfered? Paint the intake valley area with high temp rustoleum to make the oil drain back faster. Check crankshaft endplay and cylinder bore roundness. Check what you can with the tools you have. Don't use a high volume oil pump, 302's don't need extreme oil pressure. They make the oil plugs pop out. You should also tap the oil plug galleries and use screw in plugs instead of press in ones. All bolts should go in finger tight, if not you need to run a tap through the hole. Don't forget to use the piston ring expander. Put rubber hose on the rod bolts so you don't knick the cylinder bores. Stamp the rods and caps with appropriate cylinder numbers. Use a good torque wrench and never torque more than specs. The rod bolts always seem like they could use more torque, but they don't! Expect delays. I've built 2 302s and 1 big block Chevy(and you can always expect delays), unless you do this all the time. Good Luck!

1) Grease the camshaft lobes. The motor may not fire right away, and you want all the protection you can get.

2) I agree that plastigage should be used to check clearences.

3) Make sure the crankshaft endplay does not exceed .012.

4) Keep things clean. Keep your plugs in to keep dirt out of the chamber.