First engine rebuild

[Bondo]

Re: First engine rebuild

Theres some spots with water in the oil but the oil I drained out has been sitting in a clear bucket since last night and I dont see any water in it. The places I found water were a tiny bit in the sludge in the bottom of the oil pan and in a couple of the valleys on the heads under the valve covers.

No water in the oil that was in the intake valley.

Ayuh,... Everybodyelse has pretty well covered most what what I see wrong,...
Bearing, crank, block-wise...

The water you found is condensate,... Forget about it....

I already bought a new complete engine for my boat a few months ago. this is just a project I want to do as a learning experience.

Basically, you have a Rebuildable core motor,...
Take the complete short block assembley, 'n the heads to the Machine Shop of your choice,...
They can do the total, final disassembley, boil the salvageable parts, 'n tell ya what you need for a usually reasonable price....
Then get Friendly with the guy doin' the work......

This would be the perfect time to consider a stroker crank kit, 'n Vortec heads,...
A Kit, a .030" overbore, 'n new pistons is a 383"er....

 

[Aloysius]

Re: First engine rebuild

Ayuh,... Everybodyelse has pretty well covered most what what I see wrong,...
Bearing, crank, block-wise...

The water you found is condensate,... Forget about it....

Basically, you have a Rebuildable core motor,...
Take the complete short block assembley, 'n the heads to the Machine Shop of your choice,...
They can do the total, final disassembley, boil the salvageable parts, 'n tell ya what you need for a usually reasonable price....
Then get Friendly with the guy doin' the work......

This would be the perfect time to consider a stroker crank kit, 'n Vortec heads,...
A Kit, a .030" overbore, 'n new pistons is a 383"er....

Now yer talkin' bondo....A cast crank will be fine for this application, btw. Use SCAT, not the Chinese crap.

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: First engine rebuild

Another newb question.

How do I take the harmonic balancer off? Will one of those pullers from a local auto parts stores work?

The bolt that goes in the center of it will go in about 2" and then it just turns freely in there. It doesnt go any farther or get tight.

I assume this is not normal?

 

[artificialreef]

Re: First engine rebuild

Also have your stuff magnafluxed. When i was younger i worked in an automotive machine shop and 50% of what came through there was cracked. I was the inspector and my boss got to a point where he said, your not letting us work on much. Cracks in heads and blocks will ruin your day even after a rebuild.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: First engine rebuild

Here are some pics of a spun rod bearing. This is when the bearing actually seizes against the crank journal and starts spinning inside the connecting rod. The first 3 pics are of spun bearings and the last is what your crankshaft will look like after it happens. Usually nothing good happens after that.

 

[Bondo]

Re: First engine rebuild

Another newb question.

How do I take the harmonic balancer off? Will one of those pullers from a local auto parts stores work?
Ayuh,... A harmonic balancer puller...
The bolt that goes in the center of it will go in about 2" and then it just turns freely in there. It doesnt go any farther or get tight.

I assume this is not normal?
Correct, it's stripped...

That Stroker kit is startin' to look Better, 'n Better.....

 

[NHGuy]

Re: First engine rebuild

You may have just identified another possible source of your knock noise...if the harmonic balancer bolt was stripped the balancer could have been jiggling around on the end of the crank.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: First engine rebuild

Oil pressure was lost while underway......

Worn away, yes. Lack of oil, maybe.

Maybe?

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: First engine rebuild

I got a harmonic balancer puller and I cant get it to work for nothing.


It didnt come with any instructions but its kinda self explanitory... I think.


Problem is that the threads in the hole in the middle of the balancer are shot.

So I dunno how Im supposed to get it off.

 

[coheej]

Re: First engine rebuild

Some balancer pullers have a tapered end that fits in the crank rather than using the threads. Try one of these.

 

[6meter]

Re: First engine rebuild

Bolt the triangluar tool to the balancer with 3 bolts. Use the long big threaded bolt with a point on the end and thread it through and bottom it out in the crank hole. Keep turning the big center bolt wiil remove the balancer.

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: First engine rebuild

Oh thats what that things (little tapered end piece) for. lol



So Im guessing I have 3 options.


1) Buy a 383 stroker kit and Vortec heads and have the block machenied.

2) Take the crank and the block down to a machenie shop and have the crank turned and the block checked out and have the rest of the parts boiled. Buy new rings, gaskets, and bearings and throw it all together.

3) Just stripit down and sell whatever parts I can and be done with it.


I dunno what I wanna do. If I make it a stroker I dunno what Ill do with it. I guess I could throw it in my boat but I just bought a new engine for it a few months ago. I guess I could save it as a spare incase something happens.

Or I could look for another boat with a blown engine and put it in there.


I would consider fixing it (either option 1 or 2) and selling it. Even if I just break even it would be fine with me for the learning experience.


I dunno guess I got some thinking to do. What do you guys think?

Oh yea. Around a bout how much HP does a 383 stroker with Vortec heads put out?

 

[6meter]

Re: First engine rebuild

You said that you were doing this rebuild for the experience. Your decision will depend on what you plan on doing with the motor in the long run. If you want experience, rebuild it. If you want more out of your current boat, build a stroker. As the motor sits now, not worth much. Rebuilding to sell, usually a losing $$ proposition.

 

[fishaman]

Re: First engine rebuild

Thanks everyone
Another thing is the intake mani on there was a Edelbrock high rise aluminum. The boat was used in salt water. There was a good bit of stuff in the water passage in the intake manifold.

Wow, that looks like a potential problem... If your engine is not fresh water cooled, and your intake is just an aluminum Edelbrock without bronze inserts, the salt water will eat it out very fast. It might cause all kinds of problems, including water under the head covers, water in oil, overheating, etc.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: First engine rebuild

Rebuilding to sell, usually a losing $$ proposition.

I agree with that. I wouldn't buy an engine that "joe-blow" rebuilt. It's not worth the risk when I could buy a one from a shop, with a warranty, for a bit more.

If you are going to rebuild it for yourself, then I would proceed. But, I wouldn't rebuild it intending to sell it.

The only way to make some $$$ off it (or maybe break even) is if you could find a smoking deal on a nice boat with a blown engine. Rebuild the engine, install it, get the boat running perfect and then resell the boat. With the economy the way it is, it could still be a risky proposition and I wouldn't look at making a killing off it. You might even loose some money......

 

[Bondo]

Re: First engine rebuild

Or I could look for another boat with a blown engine and put it in there.

Ayuh,... That's the Only way you'll break Even, or maybe a few bucks ahead....
Not countin' Labor.....

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: First engine rebuild

So how is the correct way of taking the pistons out? Do I need to use a honer or something to smooth the combustion chamber part out of the cylinder? The walls are smooth but the combustion partis a little rough. Its just like a 1/4" at the top of the cyl walls.

Do the pistons come out of the top of the cyl's?

If I have a tiny bit of the oil coming past the rings when I trun the engine by hand does that for sure mean I need rings? I was thinking at first that maybe it could be from having the engine upside down on the stand but then I remembered that before I turned it over on the stand I took the plugs out and they all had oil on them.

 

[Bondo]

Re: First engine rebuild

So how is the correct way of taking the pistons out? Do I need to use a honer or something to smooth the combustion chamber part out of the cylinder? The walls are smooth but the combustion partis a little rough. Its just like a 1/4" at the top of the cyl walls.

Do the pistons come out of the top of the cyl's?

Ayuh,... There's a tool called a Ridge-Reamer that's used to knock down the ridge at the top of the cylinders...
Yes, the pistons come out the Top of the bores...

 

[Aloysius]

Re: First engine rebuild

In the pictures, there is evidence of oil coming past the rings.

Pistons come out the top. Rod caps are matched to the rods..don't mix 'em up.

 

[coheej]

Re: First engine rebuild

As you remove the pistons, put rubber boots over the rod bolts so you don't nick the crank. I would not reuse the old rings. I also wouldn't remove the ridge at the top. If there's a ridge big enough to be a problem, it needs bored anyway. Just tap the bottoms of the pistons lightly with the plastic end of a mallot and they will come out. The ridge at the top will be honed or bored out at the machine shop.