dartfreak75
Restore it, Dont part it!
Is that where it is now?
Fast rebuild?
- Thread starter Alecb
- Start date
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Alecb
Well-Known Member
No, this was back in March. I haven't had the time to start pulling things apart yet. I suspect the inside of my engine looks worse now than it did back then.
my68barracuda
Well-Known Member
Are you saying that you would drive to Chicago Illinois for a 100k slant motor before you would drive to Tacoma Washington for a 500 mile rebuilt slant ?
I am not understanding that. See post
#18
To the OP. You are getting good advice, you'd be well advised to follow it. I just rebuilt a slant for my truck, I'm into it north of $4K and I'm not done yet (but very close Thank God). I previously rebuilt the block and head for a slant car - machining, parts, etc were $2800 and this was four years ago. The car engine took two months to get back, the truck engine was three months.
I tend to lurk more than participate on this forum as well as slantsix.org. I read a lot and chime in a little. The used slant on .org belongs to member "Reed". I have never met him nor talked to him, but other slant folks I know pretty well do know him, and all reports are this is a solid guy. You could rent or borrow a pickup, drive up and back in two somewhat long days, and for a grand or whatever you negotiate plus gas money/hotel money you have your engine. Take a cooler for drinks and portable food and you won't have to do fast food on the way. You would be getting a known good engine for dirt cheap, no big money to rebuild and no time delay either. It's a no-brainer. Is it possible your new engine will take a crap? Of course! Anything mechanical can break or fail. However, your odds for a good outcome are excellent. As a personal endorsement, I gave serious thought to getting this engine just as a spare "in case" or for another future slant vehicle.
I tend to lurk more than participate on this forum as well as slantsix.org. I read a lot and chime in a little. The used slant on .org belongs to member "Reed". I have never met him nor talked to him, but other slant folks I know pretty well do know him, and all reports are this is a solid guy. You could rent or borrow a pickup, drive up and back in two somewhat long days, and for a grand or whatever you negotiate plus gas money/hotel money you have your engine. Take a cooler for drinks and portable food and you won't have to do fast food on the way. You would be getting a known good engine for dirt cheap, no big money to rebuild and no time delay either. It's a no-brainer. Is it possible your new engine will take a crap? Of course! Anything mechanical can break or fail. However, your odds for a good outcome are excellent. As a personal endorsement, I gave serious thought to getting this engine just as a spare "in case" or for another future slant vehicle.
When I posted my part of that post, I didn't know where the op was located. I don't think he knew where I'm at, either.
Yeah, I'm sure he could come up with 100 or so used, running /6s w/o going more than 1 state away if he looks around. I agree that the 500 mile fresh engine would be better bang for the buck and last longer with less "might as wells" to have to do along with the install, than would be with mine. I sure wouldn't expect someone to come all this way for one.
While I was able to scrimp and scrape and look around for deals along the way and I don't remember every last nickel spent, I'm sure I don't have that much into my build as halfafish does in his /but I can see one costing that much, easily, to rebuild.
Lots of variables involved, too many to mention between one rebuild and the next.
But timing was "just" off, that 500 mile engine was posted not long after I reached the point of no return on the one i'm putting together,/had I not been that far into mine at that point, I would have likely looked into a way to get that engine here, instead.
kesteb
Well-Known Member
Reed is a good guy. I have bought a lot of stuff from him over the years. His engine is good for the money.
Dale Davies
Well-Known Member
For quick turn around to get back on the road quickly, this is probably the best solution.
dirty white boy is correct in that for a first timer on engine work will not be quick.
My advice after pulling wrenches for 25+ years is to buy the rebuilt engine and install it. You do need to determine what caused your engine to overheat in the first place so the same does not happen again.
I overheated my '40 Ford Fordor with a '66 289 when the electric fan quit and I had been on the highway. Stopped at A&W and the drivethru was really slow. The rings lost tension and the blowby pushed the rubber seal out the back of the intake manifold and oil would leak out and down over the transmission.
Now for the cooked slant, dismantle the engine. At least get the head off to inspect the wear on the cylinder walls. This will require measurement with an inside micrometer or snap guage and an outside micrometer. For this I highly recommend getting help.from a friend that REALLY knows mechanical stuff or a local car club. If the cylinder wear is minimal, you may be able to get away with reaming any ridge at the top, a light deglaze hone of the cylinders and installing new rings. Ring end gap measurement in this case should be 2/3 to 3/4 down the bore where there is little wear. Also the ring groove clearance must be measured as the ring grooves (lands) can be worn.
If you have to bore the block and have the valves and seats touched up, drill a 2 × 4 almost through with 12 holes to hold the lifters in order so they can be put back on the same cam lobe they previously rode on. This may be the time to think about stepping up the cam to a mildly more performance cam. Remember though that a new cam requires new lifters and that requires breaking in the cam at 2000 to 2500 RPM for about 30 minutes on the first start. The timing needs to be real close so you do not have to crank it over a lot before it starts.
Again, if repairing or overhauling this engine, get experienced help to guide and teach you. Buying some pizza and beer goes a long way to a car guy education and maybe new friends.
Yea mine was a serious build that took better part of a year (I had no need for it so it was worked in when Dave had time to work on it).
about like mine as well.... along with the machine shop either questioning everything I asked them to do to it, (maybe because it's "only" a 6 cylinder< I dunno) as to whether these engines can "take it" or every time I'd stop by to check on something, and I asked if they did "X" they seemed "surprised" I wanted "that" done, yet it was all written down and handed to them when I brought the head to them, which my note was sitting right next to my motor's head, the last couple times I was there....
Dale Davies
Well-Known Member
Check the head for a crack. Coolant/water can cause pitting over time and when the crack grows it will start to overheat.
Luckily my machine shop guy is an avid MOPAR guy. So he absolutely loved doing my build
Dale Davies
Well-Known Member
Might be good to know why you had the cylinder head off recently. I know this sounds dumb, but did you use a torque wrench and the factory recommended sequence to torque the head bolts?
I worked at a service station in a town in Saskatchewan and was using a torque wrench to tighten some bolts one day. A farmer that did mechanic work on the side came by and asked if my "feel" was not good enough. Nope. Some time later he did an overhaul on a 400 Ford. The next summer the fellow stopped at the stop sign. I was watching out the window while airing up a tire. When he stepped on the throttle to go, a huge cloud of smoke can out the exhaust. Straight into the station and asked me what happened. I replyed that without looking into it, my money was on a blown head gasket. He then asked why I figured that, I responded that the person that screwed the engine together did not believe in torque wrenches. When I pulled it apart the sled rockers were worn bad and the cam was also worn. Turns out when he had torn it down he tossed all the parts in a pail so they did not go back with their previous mated parts or positions.
An RV type cam and new lifters, a double roller timing chain, rebuilt exchange heads, 16 new rockers and pushrods got the top fixed. I also pulled the oil pan to check the bearings and torque all the main and rods. Cost more for me to do the top end correctly than what he paid for the rering and bearing job with "lapping" the valves. The valves were also worn around the seats.
Justice; he got to screwing the guys wife.
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