To sleeve or start over?

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Trevor B

Trevor B

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As I have managed to punch a hole in cylinder #1 and cause an impossible coolant leak into the oil pan, I am faced with a dilemma: sleeve the cylinder or find another block and start over.

I found a shop that will sleeve the cylinder. He quoted $150-175 for the sleeve but prefers to machine the block surfaces 0.008 before it leaves his shop. So $300-325 to get my old block back. He also mentioned that putting in the sleeve may cause a slight distortion in cylinder #3, whether this is noticeable or not he could not say but wanted to warn me.

So I’ve got to make a decision. I think I’d really like to stick with the 318 for this car (’73 Duster) as I’ve already got the Performer intake, and Edelbrock 1406 carb, 302 heads, Lokar throttle and kickdown, and 340 exhaust manifolds, as well as a virtually brand new Comp cam (XE262h-10). I’ve also got a complete set of new gaskets for the 318. This as opposed to getting a magnum block, a late 80s roller block, or a 360. So I'm in this engine some money already.

If I find a junkyard engine, I’m still going to have to pull it all apart, clean it up, and have it checked, no? Could be the possibility of a problem, could end up costing more in addition to whatever I pay for the block.

Any thoughts or ideas that can make this easier for me to think about?
 
Trevor B said:
So I’ve got to make a decision. I think I’d really like to stick with the 318 for this car (’73 Duster) as I’ve already got the Performer intake, and Edelbrock 1406 carb, 302 heads, Lokar throttle and kickdown, and 340 exhaust manifolds, as well as a virtually brand new Comp cam (XE262h-10).
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All of that ^^ would bolt right on a 360 block. Just tossing it out there.
 
My answer is "it depends" on what you find and for how much. If you happen to run into a good 360 reasonable on CL, example, then that. And, it depends on who / what you have for machine shops, how much you trust them, and how much it will cost to sleeve.
 
It sounds like this guy knows how to set a sleeve, and what happens when you use a sleeve. I have literally done hundreds of sleeves. Not one issue.

Just make sure he does a surface like he wants to and lightly hone the cylinder next to the sleeve.

Good to go.
 
Are you needing to build a short block? You outlined your top end but but in what condition was your short block before the hole? Stock? Rebuilt? Bored .0X", new pistons, bearings etc?

If you are building a short block from all new goodies then do a 360, your stuff would work fine and it would have a lot of torque and be a pretty fun street motor.

If your 318 was a fresh build and you want to reuse the pistons, bearings, etc. then fix what you have. If not, see the 360 recommendation or just find another 318.
 
Interesting.
The bottom end is all stock - I've done nothing to it but punch a hole in it.
302 heads on a 360?
 
Before you go down the 360 road, read up and ask a lot of questions. I might be come a severe case of project creep. I personally cannot see sleeving the block and not going through the whole bottom end properly..... but that is certainly project creep there!
 
I say get a 360 BUT! for $350 that's probably the cheapest route to get back on the road.
 
Did the same thing on a .060 340....sleeve it and it ran many more years....
 
When done right, a sleeved block will give many years of good service. I've ran sleeved blocks many times with no problems.
 
Why not just grab another 318 block, they are not that hard to find?
 
sireland67 said:
Why not just grab another 318 block, they are not that hard to find?
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I agree, not worth the $ to spend it on a 318 IMO, they are on every street corner around here LOL! You will pull it all apart to sleeve the block and find it needs bearings, rings, crank turned etc.
 
If you want another 318 block I have one with a crank rods and Pistons. Standard bore will need typical machine work. I'm about 45 minutes from you
Luke
 
I'd sleeve all eight if I could afford it.

Braze the hole, grind it flush, and roll on, if it's outside the ring sweep.
 
What Machine shop did you talk to ? Call m and m cylinder head in Hayward for a quote. They do good work.
 
There's nothing wrong with sleeving a block! I would personally go that route I stead of buying another motor that needs work! It's $350 vs about $2k!!
 
Much cheaper to sleeve that hole, clean everything, and replace the rings and gaskets. Around here sleeving includes the deck cut as they have to do that to trim off the sleeve, which is oversize (tall). It goes about $100/hole for me with the boring and trimming done on a modern Rottler machining center. It would not include the honing of the neighboring hole. Sleeve it and get back to running. Looking for another short or starting over is going to cost more any way you want to spin it.
 
this is you right ?

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=341463

if I read that post right, the cam is new, and everything else is 40 years old ?
so now you are looking at bringing a 40 year old block to the machine shop, and who knows what they will find
then, you need to buy a new set of bottom end bearings, and most likely pistons

I don't know man, it is quite a pickle

it would be a whole lot easier to decide if we knew more about the block you are using, but being 40 years old, iw378's offer sounds pretty good
 
moper said:
Much cheaper to sleeve that hole, clean everything, and replace the rings and gaskets. Around here sleeving includes the deck cut as they have to do that to trim off the sleeve, which is oversize (tall). It goes about $100/hole for me with the boring and trimming done on a modern Rottler machining center. It would not include the honing of the neighboring hole. Sleeve it and get back to running. Looking for another short or starting over is going to cost more any way you want to spin it.
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I'm sleeving a Ford 351 SVO block now and I rarely deck the block after, although it is the most correct way. I have a really sharp file that takes care of the top of the sleeve well enough that you usually can't tell which hole the sleeve is in. I would smear some green Loctite High Temp sleeve retainer all around hole before driving the sleeve in.

Furthermore I recommend de-glazing all of the other cylinders while its at the machine shop.

$150--$200 per hole is normal depending on bore and length.

All that said--It's a zero value 318. I would find another 318 and re-ring, regasket with a good light hone on the cylinders, replace cam bearings and of course have it cleaned properly. J.Rob
 
iw378 said:
If you want another 318 block I have one with a crank rods and Pistons. Standard bore will need typical machine work. I'm about 45 minutes from you
Luke
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Here you go.
 
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