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machine work...

imma honky

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Augusta, Ga
FINALLY! Got the friggin engine torn apart. So I am takin it to the machine shop next week. What all should I ask to be done? The ring ridge doesn't look too bad, hopefully a bore-out won't be required. I noticed two crank bearings were scarred/grooved (if this matters for the machine work). What all should I take to them? This is all new territory for me, so try to add a brief explanation if possible. A guy at my work is gonna put new freeze plugs in (saves me a few bucks).
 
ok...is there a way to remove the dipstick tube??? I want to load this stuff up, but I can't get the tube to come off...
 
They are probably going to say you have to get a new crank. ANY scoring of the crank is not a good idea to put it back into a motor. Freeze plugs are very easy to take care of you could do them your self w/ a hammer block of wood and screw driver to remove the old ones. Hopefully you are having them rebuild the head unless it was recently rebuilt before the block. While its down look at some upgrades such as a better cam (for torque). Ask them to give you some suggestions to make the motor more reliable and longer-lasting while also giving you some better than factory power.
 
devildog0 said:
They are probably going to say you have to get a new crank. ANY scoring of the crank is not a good idea to put it back into a motor. Freeze plugs are very easy to take care of you could do them your self w/ a hammer block of wood and screw driver to remove the old ones. Hopefully you are having them rebuild the head unless it was recently rebuilt before the block. While its down look at some upgrades such as a better cam (for torque). Ask them to give you some suggestions to make the motor more reliable and longer-lasting while also giving you some better than factory power.
I'm not lookin for any more power/torque in this engine (that's what my spare is for). I just want to get this one back in ASAP so I can be driving again.
 
The ring ridge is carbon. You should have cut that out before you removed the pistons. It has nothing to do with deciding whether or not to bore.

For basics, the shop should "hot tank" the block (and head) to remove all grease and crud. They should "rifle brush" the oil passages to clean those out. Then comes the checking.

Check the cylinder bores for both out-of-round (egg shaped) and taper (worn more at the top or bottom than at the other end). If they find either condition, the cylinders need to be bored and you'll need oversized pistons. Also, if any cylinder walls are scored deep enough that honing won't remove it, they need to bore. Then they should check the head surface to ensure that it's completely flat. If it isn't, it has to be shaved to restore flatness. Whether or not they bore the cylinders, the last step is to hone the cylinder walls to a fine, diagonal cross-hatch pattern to help the rings seat in more quickly.

Crankshaft: Sounds like you were saying the bearings were scored, not the crank itself. The shop should check the journals for roundness and for scoring. If there's slight scoring, they might be able to polish it out. If any journals are out of round, or if there's deep scoring, the crank needs to be reground to a smaller diameter (0.010" undersized). Be sure to specify that the shop should clean out the oil passges in the crank after they work on it. This should not have to be specified, but a friend of mine rebuilt and engine that chewed itself up in 500 miles. Turns out the passes in the crank were full of grinding abrasive, which ate the bearings. The shop claimed my friend (a professional mechanic for over 50 years and a race driver who built his own engines) "should have known" to clean out the passages.

Head: Check the surface that mates to the block for flatness. If it isn't flat, it has to be milled to make it flat. Check valve guides for diameter. If they are slightly worn they can be knurled to restore clearance. If more worn, they can be drilled out and new guides installed. Then the valve seats need to be ground, and the valves should be ground to match the seats.

In disassembling the engine, I hope you kept the bearing caps in order and facing the same way they were installed in the engine. They MUST go back the same way. Unless you're getting new valves, you're also supposed to keep the valves in the same locations, but if you're doing a valve job and getting the guides reworked that isn't as critical.
 
Eagle said:
The ring ridge is carbon. You should have cut that out before you removed the pistons. It has nothing to do with deciding whether or not to bore.

For basics, the shop should "hot tank" the block (and head) to remove all grease and crud. They should "rifle brush" the oil passages to clean those out. Then comes the checking.

Check the cylinder bores for both out-of-round (egg shaped) and taper (worn more at the top or bottom than at the other end). If they find either condition, the cylinders need to be bored and you'll need oversized pistons. Also, if any cylinder walls are scored deep enough that honing won't remove it, they need to bore. Then they should check the head surface to ensure that it's completely flat. If it isn't, it has to be shaved to restore flatness. Whether or not they bore the cylinders, the last step is to hone the cylinder walls to a fine, diagonal cross-hatch pattern to help the rings seat in more quickly.

Crankshaft: Sounds like you were saying the bearings were scored, not the crank itself. The shop should check the journals for roundness and for scoring. If there's slight scoring, they might be able to polish it out. If any journals are out of round, or if there's deep scoring, the crank needs to be reground to a smaller diameter (0.010" undersized). Be sure to specify that the shop should clean out the oil passges in the crank after they work on it. This should not have to be specified, but a friend of mine rebuilt and engine that chewed itself up in 500 miles. Turns out the passes in the crank were full of grinding abrasive, which ate the bearings. The shop claimed my friend (a professional mechanic for over 50 years and a race driver who built his own engines) "should have known" to clean out the passages.

Head: Check the surface that mates to the block for flatness. If it isn't flat, it has to be milled to make it flat. Check valve guides for diameter. If they are slightly worn they can be knurled to restore clearance. If more worn, they can be drilled out and new guides installed. Then the valve seats need to be ground, and the valves should be ground to match the seats.

In disassembling the engine, I hope you kept the bearing caps in order and facing the same way they were installed in the engine. They MUST go back the same way. Unless you're getting new valves, you're also supposed to keep the valves in the same locations, but if you're doing a valve job and getting the guides reworked that isn't as critical.

Alright, that's what I needed to know. I did keep the caps in order, but I did not keep them in the correct direction.
Anything else? Anyone else?
I did not take them in yet, but will be takin them in next week for work. So if anyone has something to add, please do!
 
The caps should have a stamp on them telling you diriction that they need to go.
 
Spend the extra scratch and get new rod bolts! you wont be sorry!

If I were going to the trouble of rebuilding I would go with a high output or volume oil pump; most are high volume but I have bought a high output (pressure) pump before. Since this is your DD I'd say that a HV is what you need. Also ask here but I think you will find that a Dual roller timing chain is recommended for reliability. Change the gear on the distributor while it's out, usually under $20.

When the day comes to redo mine I am going with roller tipped rocker arms - I have a set in my 350 which is ballanced and pretty hot and won't buy another set of stock arms. My only question is which ratio to get, the others here might have a better Idea on that one!

I thought of 1.5 intake and 1.6 exhaust which should give me more of a "pull" on the exhaust side and help with performance as well as economy, any opinions?

Hope this was some food for thought and helps in some way.


JC95

PS:

Sorry for going off on a kind of hi-jack but thought it might be helpful.
 
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