Rebuild of a Checker/Chevy V-8

In December 2002, I rebuilt the engine from my 1977 Checker Marathon "parts car" to put in
my 1972 Chevy Cheyenne pickup. I did a complete rebuild and took many photos during the
process. Some of those photos are shown below as a summary of how simple the small-block
Chevy engine really is. If your Checker has a V-8, it will be almost identical to this engine.
A big "Thank you!" goes out to Keith Routley for recommending David Vizard's book:
How to Rebuild Your Small-Block Chevy. This is truly a cookbook on exactly how to rebuild
an engine. If you have any sort of mechanical skills at all, you can do it using this book.

1977 305cid V-8 Re-Build
Bare 305cid Chevy Block (begin!) Crankshaft Installed New Pistons New Oil Pump and Timing Chain + Cover Oil Pan (bottom end done)
Harmonic Balance and Oil Filter Cylinder Heads, New Lifters and Pulleys Pushrods and Rocker Arms New Valve Covers and PCV Valve Aluminum 4bbl Intake Manifold (top end done)
Alternator + New Fuel, Water, and Power Steering Pumps Carburetor, Modulator Valve and Cooling Fan New Breather (almost done!) Distributor + New Fuel Line and Exhaust Headers New Belts and Spark Plug Wires (done!)

This engine is now running great in my pickup. I also transplanted the Checker TH400
transmission into the truck to replace a leaking TH350. The only change this required
was shortening the drive shaft by 6.5 inches, a $40 job at a local machine shop. The
engine was rebuilt stock except for a few minor performance modifications:

(a) replaced "dished" pistons with "flat" to raise compression ratio slightly
(b) replaced stock camshaft with "high-torque" camshaft (204/214 duration)
(c) replaced stock exhaust manifold with ceramic-coated "long tube" headers
(d) replaced stock intake manifold with aluminum GM 4bbl manifold
(e) replaced stock 2bbl carburetor with GM QuadraJet
(f) did a mild "port & polish" on the intake manifold and cylinder heads