JohnnyRingo
Well-Known Member
So....
Full disclosure: I know absolutely nothing about nothing, and I'm learning a ton as I move along. With that, I'm sure I've made a couple of mistakes that will probably be evident as I make this post and thread. Also, this is all for my 67 Dart restoration project.
A couple months ago I purchased a turn key 360 E58 with a 727 transmission from a local wrecking yard that specializes only in Mopar stuff. I purchased this engine for a couple of reasons. 1) It's turn key ready, so I ASSUMED (wrongfully) that I'd probably be good to go with something like this. 2) Because it's the high performance/cop car engine/Lil Red Express equivalent engine and would be a good strong runner.
Anyway, I got the engine delivered to my garage and started down this dark road. I began probably one of the most daunting tasks of my life--cleaning the grease/grime/dirt off of this engine and transmission. After probably 20 hours and $100 in cleaning chemicals (carb cleaner, engine degreaser, simple green, oven cleaner, etc), I finally got this block just about cleaned up and down to the original bare metal and paint in some spots. I was actually pretty proud of myself with how much I was able to do by hand.
Well, dad finally came up to town and we started unbolting a lot of the old factory pieces off like the water pump, intake manifold, yadda yadda. As soon as we popped the intake manifold off I could see disaster already happening. The camshaft lobes were all pitted and at least four of the push rods were bent (the only ones that would move with my finger). I suppose it doesn't take an expert to know that either of those things are bad news.
So after a long week of debate, I decided to rip the entire damn thing apart and start a rebuild project. I didn't see any major issues other than the push rods/lifters/camshaft going on.
I took the block to the machine shop along with the heads and crank. At the first brief inspection, I learned the block had never been rebuilt (which is odd, because the block had a Mopar Factory Rebuild placard tacked onto the side of it). The bores were fine and the pistons, rods, etc all appeared to be stock.
So I'm awaiting a call back from the machine shop to determine whether or not the block is even useable before I start buying all new parts. I guess one question is, am I out of line for calling the place I bought the motor from and asking for some sort of credit for the camshaft/lifters/push rods? A part of me feels that if I paid what I paid for it ($600) that those parts SHOULD have been in normal working order. They ran the engine before it was pulled and said it ran fine--I made the mistake of not actually being there for it, I suppose. They initially offered to give me a new (I'm assuming used) camshaft and push rods as a replacement. However, I told them at this point that I was now tearing the entire engine apart and awaiting a call back to find out if the block is even good or not, and now ordering an aftermarket camshaft now that I'm this deep in the project. I'm currently waiting for a call back from the owner in response to my question about a potential credit.
I'm already looking at dropping probably $3500 in parts between Summit and Mancini, and haven't even factored in the cost of machine work. I really never had any idea that undertaking something like this would keep having dollar signs sneak up on me.
Now some pictures:
-Kyle
Full disclosure: I know absolutely nothing about nothing, and I'm learning a ton as I move along. With that, I'm sure I've made a couple of mistakes that will probably be evident as I make this post and thread. Also, this is all for my 67 Dart restoration project.
A couple months ago I purchased a turn key 360 E58 with a 727 transmission from a local wrecking yard that specializes only in Mopar stuff. I purchased this engine for a couple of reasons. 1) It's turn key ready, so I ASSUMED (wrongfully) that I'd probably be good to go with something like this. 2) Because it's the high performance/cop car engine/Lil Red Express equivalent engine and would be a good strong runner.
Anyway, I got the engine delivered to my garage and started down this dark road. I began probably one of the most daunting tasks of my life--cleaning the grease/grime/dirt off of this engine and transmission. After probably 20 hours and $100 in cleaning chemicals (carb cleaner, engine degreaser, simple green, oven cleaner, etc), I finally got this block just about cleaned up and down to the original bare metal and paint in some spots. I was actually pretty proud of myself with how much I was able to do by hand.
Well, dad finally came up to town and we started unbolting a lot of the old factory pieces off like the water pump, intake manifold, yadda yadda. As soon as we popped the intake manifold off I could see disaster already happening. The camshaft lobes were all pitted and at least four of the push rods were bent (the only ones that would move with my finger). I suppose it doesn't take an expert to know that either of those things are bad news.
So after a long week of debate, I decided to rip the entire damn thing apart and start a rebuild project. I didn't see any major issues other than the push rods/lifters/camshaft going on.
I took the block to the machine shop along with the heads and crank. At the first brief inspection, I learned the block had never been rebuilt (which is odd, because the block had a Mopar Factory Rebuild placard tacked onto the side of it). The bores were fine and the pistons, rods, etc all appeared to be stock.
So I'm awaiting a call back from the machine shop to determine whether or not the block is even useable before I start buying all new parts. I guess one question is, am I out of line for calling the place I bought the motor from and asking for some sort of credit for the camshaft/lifters/push rods? A part of me feels that if I paid what I paid for it ($600) that those parts SHOULD have been in normal working order. They ran the engine before it was pulled and said it ran fine--I made the mistake of not actually being there for it, I suppose. They initially offered to give me a new (I'm assuming used) camshaft and push rods as a replacement. However, I told them at this point that I was now tearing the entire engine apart and awaiting a call back to find out if the block is even good or not, and now ordering an aftermarket camshaft now that I'm this deep in the project. I'm currently waiting for a call back from the owner in response to my question about a potential credit.
I'm already looking at dropping probably $3500 in parts between Summit and Mancini, and haven't even factored in the cost of machine work. I really never had any idea that undertaking something like this would keep having dollar signs sneak up on me.
Now some pictures:
-Kyle
