got some experience with american engines lately., i spent all winter buying up tools for this Options

[3sgteLuke]

about a week ago my buddy and i went half and half on an old camaro engine thats been sittinging around in a shop since '89. its your typical small black and i figured id get an engine teardown and rebuild under my belt. first impressions really highlighted the reason for the deterioration of american brands over the years. dont flame, i like some american cars, camaros included, but the further we dug into this engine the more i was turned toward japanese engineering. for one thing the routing of all the coolant passages was ridiculous, im not gonna get into detail but wouldnt you want to cool the hottest part of the engine first? then the whole rocker mess started. To require such an overbearing system for just two valves per cylinder... sigh. The reason behind low revs became apparent when we worked out way to the crank case, at first glance everything looks alright but after the oil slaked off the internals just looked sloppy, and poorly machined like it there wasnt any real effort in design... im not sure if that makes sense but i know when a part has been poured over time and again to perfect it as much as possible. maybe im just splitting hairs but all the japanese engines I had seen apart put a better impression on me, especially mazda bp motors with their ever useful piston squirters. For now were gonna rip everything out check it, clean it, then reassemble with new gaskets to sell to our buddy dave. So far all parts are well with spec (plastigage ftw!) since the motor only had 80k on it. well probably going to change the water pump and oil pump before slapping on a holly carb and such. dave wants it to replace his 350... why? i dont know, but his camaro runs like ass with his 5.7 and shot tranny. long story short japanese > american for a million reason and counting.

[DEATH]

I feel you. But on the subject of machining - remember you're dealing with pre-CNC machined equipment and that is a rather old line of engines that has been thru many many revisions over the years. IMO the Chevy 350 is one of the best engines ever produced by the US.
Note 1: This will probably be moved to off topic seeing as how it has nothing to do with Celicas
Note 2: If you're engine is the same as your screen name - you too have "piston squirters"

[delusionz]

for one thing the routing of all the coolant passages was ridiculous, im not gonna get into detail but wouldnt you want to cool the hottest part of the engine first?

I could just be talking ****, I donno as I've never seen what happens when you reverse the water pump flow, But just a thought here.....,

it would seem logical to me that the hottest part gets "cooled" last. To the way I figure, the water doesn't "cool" the engine, the water absorbs the heat from the engine and transfers it to the radiator where the wind and the fans blow the heat off so it makes more sense to me if the hottest part of the engine is last in the path back to the radiator so that the heat doesn't quickly dissipate in the rest of the engine block before it has a chance to get to the radiator.