440 refresh ???

[KAMSGTS440]

Hi all, am restoring my GTS which has been sitting since 92'...the HP 440 block thats in her came out of my challenger in 80'...was bored 60 over in 80' and sat till 91 when it went into my GTS...refreshed in 91 boiled out and honed in prep for me taking it back east...car didn't go back east, I came back and ( thanks CA for your smog laws then ) its sat since...

fast forward to now...am going to go thru the engine once again, but because its already bored 60 over AND honed once since then, I don't now if I can hone her out again and use the pistons in her...afraid that they will be "sloppy" in the cylinders...My question is can I aquire custom "oddball" size pistons so I don't have to punch out the bore any further, or can I safely punch out the bore even further and get next size bigger pistons...

been out of it for so long I'm back to "newbie" status

 

[moper]

You should carefully measure the bores. Depending on the piston you may be ok. If not, you could order custom bore size pistons for an extra few hundred over the cost of a shelf part number. In terms of loose and sloppy... Again, a forged piston like the TRW battleships will probably be fine and not noisey. But it will always be sloppy. If this is the numbers block then it makes more sense to store it and use something else. If it has to be used, just expect the costs to be more. I would NOT bore/hone it any further unless you have it carefully sonic tested.

 

[KAMSGTS440]

the pistons in it now are TRW pop-ups 11.5's...1 person ( after the hone @ 60 over ) said they could hear a knock ( in 91' and blamed it on slop from the hone after the 60 over punch), but I heard the engine run and couldn't hear it...if there was a knock, it could have easily been pre-ignition, but that doesn't make sense running racing gas...


BTW, IF the numbers matched the old Challenger with this motor, its long since gone...stolen & totaled in 85'...So your telling me I could order pistons for a 4.382 or 4.385 bore???

or should I just go the short block route...I'm on a 5G budget for the engine/tranny rebuild with $1200 allotted to the tranny, want to beef it up from stock.So my delimma is do I have enough left over for the engine @ $3500??? A short block with 4340 steel crank 4340 rod package from PAW is $3500, the guy doing thew R&R on the engine wants $900 so I don't know if I can save a little money for a intake/carb setup by going the oddball piston route

 

[bOb shingler]

trw's can run with .008"+ clearance and be fine. just get yourself a 400 grit ball hone and have at it. you mentioned the the motor sat so a ball hone should do it.

 

[bremereric]

trw's can run with .008"+ clearance and be fine. just get yourself a 400 grit ball hone and have at it. you mentioned the the motor sat so a ball hone should do it.

Bob, once he has honed it again is there anything like oversized piston rings for his pistons?
:read2:

 

[godfatherofchry]

if this motor hasent been run much i cant beleve there can be that much wrong with it.

 

[KAMSGTS440]

like I said, it has less than 10 hrs on the motor...its just been sitting for 18 yrs...and yes, it is frozen

 

[moper]

The question is why is it frozen. If the rings rusted to the bores you may have issues. But, I've seen a B body drag the rear tires because the oil pump drive rusted to the bushing in the block. I was sitting in the car dropping the clutch behind the tow vehicle...lol. So it doesnt take much. a couple stuck piston pins could do it too. I think if you are plannign to re-use it, regardless of the care, I thin it will be short lived. The bores are sloppy loose. Not fatal, maybe not even noisey. Those pistons can take damn near anything thrown at them. But the bores will be very rough with any type of stone hone. With the rocking and surface finish the rings wont seal well, or for long. The PAW deal might be a good idea. You can order pistosn in any size, it's just they get more expensive. Same thing with ring sets.

 

[KAMSGTS440]

..

 

[KAMSGTS440]

UPDATE: the engine WAS NOT FROZEN!!! we fired it up today after 18 years of not running...repleced the fluids dropped the tranny pan (very clean inside looked brand new) and fired it up...started right off then died...the coil blew out so replaced it and VIOLA...it started up and went into gear...still gonna take out the engine and tear it down...am hoping that I can put oversized rings in her on a 60 over bore with 1 hone job since then...anyone know if something like that is available for this engine...was either going to change out the pistons (if possible with the 60 over and 2 hone jobs since the bore job) or can I get away with shaving the TRW pistons in her to try to bring the compression back down to stock from 11.5 to 1 which they are now...any opinions/suggestions??

Bob any suggestions/comments on oversized rings??

 

[CHEATHAM]

I ran a 340 with TRWs and it was built on the very loose side for racing purposes, i used the gapless rings and file to fit rings and it ran good but it did still have some blow by, i belive it was from the pistons rocking back and forth and not letting the rings sit square in the bore

 

[KAMSGTS440]

well, the block is at the machine shop...very minor surface rust in some cylinder walls,even an emery cloth would remove it...guess I find out early next week if I can get away with re-ringing her on the 60 over bore...I hope!

 

[green1]

Dunno about 60 overs, but on standard bore, .005 overs are to be had.