Jesse OBrien Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I ran into some rather serious engine seizure issues this weekend. Here's the article (with video) that I posted after it happened: http://madnessmanual.com/2008/05/27/rattling-engine-part-iii/ I thought I had a new engine coming up to me, but that doesn't appear to be the case any more. So, I'm wondering if you guys think this is worth pulling and rebuilding or just swap it out and replace it. Bear in mind, I'm moving in a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 without pulling the shortblock appart and carefully inspecting the components you have no idea what is causing the problem or what needs to be replaced or if its worth even working on whats left, it could be something fairly easy to repair ,or the engine might be total junk,at this point, but starting or trying to spin it over will only make things worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=NAL%2D10067353&autoview=sku this is the fastest cure, but not necessaraly the cheapest but in most cases its going to be very cost effective before you spend a dime elseware BUY and watch this CD and read the book, it will be the best $32 you ever spent http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html if you were local ID show you step by step how to pull it apart and inspect the components and make intelligent choices as to routes you can take based on your budget and goals, but trust me! BUY THE BOOK IT CAN POTENTIALLY SAVE YOUR WALLET ALOT OF sceaming and agony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschiltz Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I JUST ordered the same book Grumpy linked to. Amazon has it for ~30 shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Where did you get the car or motor from? Chances are that it needs everything to be correct. Might as well start off with another engine IMO. It is so sad to see members spending hard earned $$$ for results like that. Here in town a friend with limited knowledge paid $3500 for a 383 crate motor. It lasted 2 weeks before the oil pickup tube fell out of the pump and spun a rod. Took it apart, it had circle track claimer pistons, stock 400 rods, 30/30 stock 400 crank and some L98 aluminum heads. Surely not $3500 worth of parts. I built a 383 for my paint and body guy and it boils the hides off that '81 camaro with a th350 auto and some 4.11's. I had about $2500 in it, but used his dart sr torquer heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=NAL%2D10067353&autoview=sku this is the fastest cure, but not necessaraly the cheapest but in most cases its going to be very cost effective before you spend a dime elseware BUY and watch this CD and read the book, it will be the best $32 you ever spent http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html if you were local ID show you step by step how to pull it apart and inspect the components and make intelligent choices as to routes you can take based on your budget and goals, but trust me! BUY THE BOOK IT CAN POTENTIALLY SAVE YOUR WALLET ALOT OF sceaming and agony It's on my 'must read' list. I'll probably order directly from Amazon. There are lots of engines around here, I just need to decide which to go with. Where did you get the car or motor from? Chances are that it needs everything to be correct. Might as well start off with another engine IMO. It is so sad to see members spending hard earned $$$ for results like that. Here in town a friend with limited knowledge paid $3500 for a 383 crate motor. It lasted 2 weeks before the oil pickup tube fell out of the pump and spun a rod. Took it apart, it had circle track claimer pistons, stock 400 rods, 30/30 stock 400 crank and some L98 aluminum heads. Surely not $3500 worth of parts. I built a 383 for my paint and body guy and it boils the hides off that '81 camaro with a th350 auto and some 4.11's. I had about $2500 in it, but used his dart sr torquer heads. The motor was installed in the car when I bought it. I only paid $2500 for the whole kit and caboodle, so I can't really complain too much. The oil pan is pretty seriously messed up, though. I wouldn't put it past it to have leaked all my oil out when I wasn't looking, and driving it down to the store killed it off. I would think it would've overheated, though. I think I'm going to toss a new motor in, keep this carb and intake manifold (if possible), and take this 283 with me when I move (probably at the end of the month) then tear it down and rebuild from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 I picked up a 327 yesterday, and hope to have it torn down and dropped off at the machine shop by the end of the week. I left the 283 mostly in tact for now, so I can get lots of pictures while pulling it, just in case I forget which way a bracket goes, or which bolts came out of which holes (even though I'm big on ziploc baggies, that sometimes isn't enough). I need to find some bolts to put the engine on the stand I picked up, I believe they should be 3/8" coarse threaded? Can someone confirm? Pictures and detailed update to come on my site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 3.5" 3/8"NC 16 thread grade 8 bolts are what most engine stands use BTW dont forget about two 3/8" fender washers under the heads of each of the bolts to prevent the bolts from pulling into the motor mount head and a 2" section of 3/8" fuel line pushed on over the bolt keeps the bolts centered and far less likely to fall out or get lost, and don,t forget to use MOLY GREASE on the tool heads rotational bearing surface allowing the motor to turn far easier Ive found these to be a decent value and far safer than the cheaper three leg stands http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47304 stands like this, are just begging to get you seriously hurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Whoa, what an awesome hemorrhage of great information! The stand I got is somewhere between the two. It's basically the second, but with double-legs (A-shaped rather than T-shaped), I'm pretty confident that I won't run into any problems, but rotating it is a BITCH. I only moved it a little to see how much effort it required, and I'm really hoping that after I get the oil out of it it'll be better. Updates to come soon, intake manifold and valve covers are off... The heads do not look very good, we'll see what it looks like under them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschiltz Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Make sure it's greased. When I got my engine stand it was all rusty and gunked up in there. With it cleaned and greased it's not hard to rotate an engine by my self. Draining the oil will help a lot. Make sure you have lots of rags/ cardboard/ kitty litter when you flip the engine over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Uhhhh... I found some new problems. I started tearing the motor down, and the pistons were completely stuck. After I got the heads off, this is what I found on the two rear-most cylinders: I'm guessing something lived in there, but who knows. It's not rust; it's all just strange build-up on top of the cylinder walls. It's soaking in WD-40 and will soak in diesel tonight. Hopefully I can get those pistons freed up and have it at the machine shop by the end of the week. The cylinder walls are as smooth as a baby's bottom, which means it's probably got some serious miles on it since the last rebuild. I'll measure the bore on each of them, and see how much meat I have left to play with before taking it down to the shop. It's possible that this has never even been honed before, we'll see about that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Crap---that doesn't look good at all. Almost looks like water got in there and wreaked havoc in there. Yet, the cylinder walls are smooth, not pitted at all? I think it will certainly need a honing at the very least. I'm sure one of the more experienced will chime in. I have not seen the same 'rust' issue like that before... Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Crap---that doesn't look good at all. Almost looks like water got in there and wreaked havoc in there. Yet, the cylinder walls are smooth, not pitted at all? I think it will certainly need a honing at the very least. I'm sure one of the more experienced will chime in. I have not seen the same 'rust' issue like that before... Davy, admittedly, it did look pretty nasty. However, it didn't turn out too bad. It doesn't appear to have any rust on it, because once I let them soak all that buildup came off and the cylinder walls on the bad cylinders are just as smooth as the other cylinder walls. Very happy. I also did a little work on my heads to clean up the valves, but they look like they're a wash anyway. Pictures of the cylinders attached (since I can't link to picasaweb directly). I now have the engine hand cranking about 5 degrees or so easily. The more gunk that gets worked out by soaking, the more it's going to free up. Then I should be able to get the crankshaft out and send the block out to get honed or bored if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Uploading the 'old' pics for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 You might try to get the pistons down as far as you can, then protect the tops pf the pistons with cardboard or thin plastic. Then rent one of those ball-hone tools from autozone, and use that to remove the "buildup". Hopefully, the pistons would be free allowing dis-assembly of the engine. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 its looking like coolant sat in the cylinder for A LONG TIME I doubt you can save the current bore size, youll most likely need to bore the block. soak all cylinders in a mix of carb cleaner and diesel fuel and liquid wrench at least over night then a few wacks with a section of 2x2 wood with a big hammer should free the piston enought to disassemble the engine, remover all the rods and pistons before removing the main caps and crank then if the lock looks salvagable take it too the local machine shop for a detailed inspection,cleaning, cam bearings and freeze plugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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