Help!?! Just took apart my 360, and found bad things!

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myasylum

myasylum

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O.k. before I bought this engine, I drove in the car. it had a lot of power, didn't burn oil and ran smooth. So, I was just going to do some mild upgrades. Rebuilding the whole thing just seems a little above my capabilities.
Of course when I took off the heads, things don't seem so nice. I see some pitting in the cylinder walls, in two of the cylinders. One piston looks like a valve hit it, and a couple pistons look as though there's chucks missing out of it. However there appears to be a lot of carbon so it's possible the carbon is just chipped out of that area.

I need your opinion. If I need to rebuild this whole thing, I just might scrap this whole project because I don't have the knowledge or money.

I'm sending some pictures so you guys can see what I'm seeing. Not to mention the white valves tell a story itself. running too hot, right?

urgh!

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Firts things first, don't freak out! from the pics it looks normal to me. the valves are going to look like that in a motor with some miles on it, they are exhaust valves and they get hot. second i doubt you have a cracked piston as the motor would probably smoke and run like crap. since you are this far pull the pistons and clean them up. its probably just the carbon flaking off. last if your seeing any pitting on the cylinder walls that are deep enough to catch a finger nail just flex hone it and put new rings on. as long as the bore isn't too worn or tapered you will be fine. a re-ring and bearing change is always good insurance and cheap and easy.
 
I Would Hone It Out Real Good And If You Have To Go With Over Size Rings Im Working On A 400 It Has Afew Pits In One Cylinder Im Just Going To Hone It Real Good Ive Done It On Several Motors. Good Luck.
 
I would start by wiping those cylinder walls down with WD40 then see how it looks.
 
Nothing to lose any sleep over there. I would just go ahead, make your upgrades & put it back together. saw your other post about checking the bore size, go ahead & do it, but again, if its been bored, I wouldnt get all hung up about it. You can clean the carbon off if you want, I wouldn't even get too concerned about that. If you are douibtful about your ability to rebuild a short-block, dont touch it. theres nothing visibly wrong there, it ran good, so make your changes & put it back together.
 
I'd put it together and run it. My 360 looked pretty much the same and it runs fine. It might have been running just a tad on the lean side...but nothing looks damaged.
 
Judging from the gasket it's already been apart so
I'd guess it's had some kind of service in the past.
If you've got it apart this far I'd guess you have the
tools and enough skill to rebuild it.
Just get a book, ask some guestions and I bet the guys
will jump in and help if you get stuck.
 
The heads look pretty much normal to me. May have been a tad lean. If it was running good when you pulled it, just put it back together and run it 'till it blows. Maybe by then you will have the bucks for a rebuild. Just make sure you post pics of the carnage so we can oooh and aaah. 8)
 
Anytime I have a set of heads off a motor I take a drill with a wire wheel and clean all the carbon off the valves along with the combustion chambers then replace the valve guide seals. I also clean the carbon off the tops of the pistons if I am going to reuse them. I agree with longarm, if you got it apart you will be able to put it back together.

If this is your first motor I would get this book...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0895864797/?tag=joeychgo-20

I have rebuilt many small blocks and I still use the check list in the back when putting them back together.
 
too bad you didn't get a compression check before you pulled it down. if this thing was a running motor i'd have to agree with the guys on this one. at least pull a rod and main cap and look at it first. chances are good that you are gonna be at stock bearing sizes, and they ain't that expensive. so i say bearings and seals, hone and re-ring and build it. since you already need the master gasket kit and an oil pump ,just do it man. if you just run it, and it breaks, what did you save?
 
Thanks guys you rule! I don't have the money for all this as of yet... This project I guess may just take a bit longer. Always something.

Are these "Sealed Power" pistons any good? $400.00 for this set seems fair, and just may be the way to go? Are these equal to stock or a bit better?

http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/sealpowkitc.html


Thanks!
 
ya get what ya pay for! like everyone said ur pistons should be fine just clean everything up a few new bearings and rings and mild honing and you will be ok and you could do all that for less than that 400$ for those pistons, might need to get a book and ask a few questions maybe even borrow a tool or 2 but thats how we all learned well i know i thats how i did. good luck man
 
I would get some plasigauge and check the bearing clearances. If they are within spec, just throw a new gasket set in it, do your mods and drop it in. Why even waste your money/time on pistons/rings/bearings if you don't have to. Chances are if you need anything it will be bearings and that's it.
 
myasylum said:
Are these "Sealed Power" pistons any good? $400.00 for this set seems fair, and just may be the way to go? Are these equal to stock or a bit better?
Click to expand...


I'm running the cheapo Summit rebuild kit with those pistons in a 40 over 360. It was in a 73 scamp as my daily driver with no problems. Now the motor has a duel tunnel ram and is going in my 53 Merc pick up and that will be a daily driver.
 
The heads are trashed looking at the pics. The guides are bad, and it's trying to burn a ton of oil. The chambers should be fairly clean, not wet at all, and the exh valves should be white and alomst powdery looking. The heads need help.
 
Decisions, decisions!

I see that Voodoo cam and the first thing that comes to mind is the motor is going to be used for more than going to buy groceries. LOL
 
So what's your budget?

Since the engine is out anyhow, I would completely disassemble it and give everything a cleaning, measurement and visual inspection. Unless I saw something that scared me, my plan of attack would be something like this:

Heads: Take to machine shop, probably need new guides, resurface valves and seats, springs to match cam.

Pistons/Bores: Clean piston crowns and ring grooves, hone bores, new rings same size.

Bottom end: Replace bearing inserts with same size, polish crank.

New: Timing set, gasket set, cam & lifters.

This would be an "Overhaul" not a "Rebuild" which will be fine for freshening an otherwise healthy engine. Obviously if the bores are out of spec, or there are parts which are damaged, you'll have to dig a bit deeper.
 
In my experience, the reddish tan color on the exhaust valves is normal for a moderate milage street motor on unleaded.
 
One cylinder is using some oil, but the rest of them look ok, thats not to say great, but what I would expect. The thing is, usually, if you put something like this back together & leave it alone, it will keep going pretty much the way it was when you took it apart. As soon as you get in there & start messing around pulling valves out, disassembling the short-block ect., you usually HAVE to go in and rebuild it. You have already stated you arent up for that at this point in time, so I would think long and hard before I go in and start disassembling the heads & short block, because then you ARE gonna have to do a rebuild on this thing. I dont see anything there that I wouldnt expect to see on a street motor with unknown mileage on it. As you said, it was running ok when you took it apart, Its not gonna blow up tomorrow, so I would put it back together and run it, unless you have the money to really go to town on it now.
 
If this were me, I would be telling myself:

"You already have it out now. Grab one of those rebuild kits that were posted and send the heads to the maching shop to be checked. Maybe save and get a set of higher compression pistons when I bolt it back together."
 
Did you do a compression check before you pulled the heads? If it was a good amount (100 on the low side for a low-comp SB) then you shouldn't have to worry about rings or honing. When I checked the compression in my stock 318 2-bbl. it was around 95 psi, and that was with the throttle all the way closed. I'm sure if I had opened it it would have been closer to 120 on all cylinders.
 
340 Dart said:
If this were me, I would be telling myself:

"You already have it out now. Grab one of those rebuild kits that were posted and send the heads to the maching shop to be checked. Maybe save and get a set of higher compression pistons when I bolt it back together."
Click to expand...

Bingo! I am running those Summit pistons and I am pretty happy with them but I do wish that I had saved and gotten a set of higher compression KB instead.
 
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