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Original motor rebuild

mountain33

Well-Known Member
Local time
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Mar 3, 2020
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Location
NJ
Im to the point where my engine needs to be rebuilt. 100 psi compression in all cylinders, while it starts and runs good its tired. Im in the dark when it comes to rebuilds. Looking to boost HP maybe to 400 but really dont care. I only drive it maybe 750 miles a year. Reliability is main goal. I am assuming pistons, cam, carb and distributor need to be replaced or is it a matter of rings and reuse everything else? I had heads done 2 years ago and have put on 1000 miles on them. Budget of about 8k to do the work. Just looking for thoughts on what to expect.
 
What engine? Basically you don't know what is needed until it's out and torn down. There are to many questions until there are some facts.
 
I agree with Jerry need more info and the only way is to tear down and go from there. It could be a basic rebuild.
 
I spent a couple years working in an engine shop about 40 years ago. A good shop will check for wear/taper in the cylinders to see if overboring and new pistons are needed. They should also mike the crankshaft journals for wear or out of round. The rods need to be checked on the big ends. Wouldn't hurt to check the align bore of the main bearing journals. The block should be completely degreased and cleaned. We used to "wet test" blocks for cracks as well. (Found one in my old 440 that way.) New cam bearings will be needed. All moving parts should be inspected, etc.
One thing that used to cause problems should be avoided... Our shop did NOT clean out oil passageways and coolant passages, etc. in blocks and crankshafts that had been machined. For liability purposes, everything that had been machined. (UNLESS we assembled the engines complete), was CLEARLY tagged that the customer was responsible for cleaning out the machine chips and debris etc. before assembling their engines. I saw a lot of people come back upset because they had an engine failure where they had not done the cleaning. So, if you have any machine work done, clean everything when you get it back...
 
I had this done on my original 440. $3800, then $400 for break in.
Screenshot_20220515-172105.png
 
I spent a couple years working in an engine shop about 40 years ago. A good shop will check for wear/taper in the cylinders to see if overboring and new pistons are needed. They should also mike the crankshaft journals for wear or out of round. The rods need to be checked on the big ends. Wouldn't hurt to check the align bore of the main bearing journals. The block should be completely degreased and cleaned. We used to "wet test" blocks for cracks as well. (Found one in my old 440 that way.) New cam bearings will be needed. All moving parts should be inspected, etc.
One thing that used to cause problems should be avoided... Our shop did NOT clean out oil passageways and coolant passages, etc. in blocks and crankshafts that had been machined. For liability purposes, everything that had been machined. (UNLESS we assembled the engines complete), was CLEARLY tagged that the customer was responsible for cleaning out the machine chips and debris etc. before assembling their engines. I saw a lot of people come back upset because they had an engine failure where they had not done the cleaning. So, if you have any machine work done, clean everything when you get it back...
I was going to have the shop do the assembly of the motor complete. When i pickup motor it will be a running motor.. Since Im not concerned with cost. Should i just go with pistons, rods, camshaft, basically everything internal except crankshaft? Is it usually expected that i breakdown motor? Remove heads, carb and accessories? Its a 383.
 
I would strip the engine down of all accessories. Leave the main engine assembled for the machine shop to tear down and assess any problems at the same time. Plus, that makes them responsible for all the parts. They cannot say some things were missing and have you buy replacements upon assembly. You may have cylinders that need boring and new pistons, or they may be within tolerances and just clean up with honing. Same with the crank journals. May just polish it and replace standard size bearings, or if worn, may need to grind to an undersize. You will not know what parts you need until the internals are checked out. Don't buy parts until you know for sure what is needed, and if they may need to be oversized or undersized.
 
I would strip the engine down of all accessories. Leave the main engine assembled for the machine shop to tear down and assess any problems at the same time. Plus, that makes them responsible for all the parts. They cannot say some things were missing and have you buy replacements upon assembly. You may have cylinders that need boring and new pistons, or they may be within tolerances and just clean up with honing. Same with the crank journals. May just polish it and replace standard size bearings, or if worn, may need to grind to an undersize. You will not know what parts you need until the internals are checked out. Don't buy parts until you know for sure what is needed, and if they may need to be oversized or undersized.
Thanks for taking the time to give me some insight on what to expect. I plan on getting through this summer and have work done in the late fall. Will probably go talk to the shop about the motor next week. Its a pain to get engine rebuilt. While the shop is highly recommended they only want to rebuild motors. They wont pull them or install. So I finally found a shop to pull the motor.. Which was another pain. (not a lot of shops in my neck of the woods) Then they will load it into my truck once pulled so I can bring it to the rebuilder. Then once rebuilt bring back to be installed. Really appreciate my motorcycle right now. so much easier to work on. Thanks again. You kinda put my mind at ease.
 
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