My engine

[HotRodPC]

Oh **** !!! Watch out for that funky smell. 89S is eatin that popcorn again. Gonna be having greasy popcorn farts.

Hahaha, Like the new siggy too.

 

[89Suburban]

Oh **** !!! Watch out for that funky smell. 89S is eatin that popcorn again. Gonna be having greasy popcorn farts.

Hahaha, Like the new siggy too.

Flyers won tonight, beer is flowing again, sorry fellas.

 

[RailRiderHD]

I think I am leaning towards rebuilding it, I have 2 good buddies who have done a few 350 rebuilds before and they are more than willing to help, they both helped me pull the motor and tear it down, honestly after pricing stuff today i'm looking at around 300 bucks to have the machine work done and i found a rebuild kit i want for 220, so that should put me around 520 plus miscellaneous expenses that come up, assuming the block is ok i'll probably go that route, if it's not well i might consider a crate motor but this isn't a deal where i plan on putting 4k at a time in this truck, this is by no means my primary driver, plus i want the chance to rebuild my first motor, thanks for all the help guys!

 

[HotRodPC]

OK, sounds good to me and you prices sound inline too. Just to ask and make sure. You can get by without the balance and depend on factory balance, but does this incude getting the rods reworked? I highly recommend it to anyone building a motor, but even more so for you since you mentioned it had a rod knock. Knocking rods will get out of round in a quick order. Be sure to get the big ends RESIZED.

 

[crazy4offroad]

If you know what you are doing, you should be able to do a stock OEM reman motor in a 350 for under $1000.

The one I'm running now, mostly stock except for a few Edelbrock performance parts, headers, and Accel coil came in at around $1200. My next one wont be that cheap though.

Flattop Keith Blacks will be a couple hundred alone. One thing I'd like to add is how time consuming some things are. I like to snap gauge and mic each cylinder in 3 positions along the bore, parallel and perpendicular to the crank, for out-of-round and out-of-taper. (You do this if you want to try to keep your stock bore and pistons to prevent piston slap.) Some people do 2-position plastigauge on all the rods and mains to make sure the journals arent oblong. And some nutbags (lol me) like to weigh all the rods and pistons, find the lightest ones and take a little material off all the others to make them match (or nearly match) weights.

What I'm getting at is, dont be in a hurry. If you're in a hurry let the machine shop do the shortblock. Otherwise, consider it a highly precise job, with tolerances that have to be observed and followed. Read as much as you can, there are all kinds of tips and tricks that have trickled down from racing that only makes sense to do to prolong your engine's life. It's all alot of fun as long as you have that certain amount of attention to detail.

 

[HotRodPC]

It sounds like you know where not to cheat building a motor. NOWHERE !!! Several things you are mentioning are things that can be easily handeled, the of course if you trust your machinist, all you are doing by checking those things, is making sure he didn't make a mistake or miss something. As far as making sure you cylinders are round and correct taper etc, when you have the block bored and honed, request it to be done using a torque plate. It costs a bit more, but ensures your cylinders to be round and perpendicular to the crank, ever after you torque the heads onto the block. As mentioned, I also get the rods reszied and crank turned, so I know all of that is true and I do platiguage to make sure its right. Then having the rotating assembly balanced takes care of wieghing of parts. Most shops that do balancing match everthing to within 1/2 gram. That's pretty damn close for rod and piston.

 

[RailRiderHD]

Well I figured I should update this, I haven't done anything to the truck at all lately, I have been forced out of town for work since January 1st and am only home a couple of days a month, I am leaning towards just buying a rebuilt motor for the truck mainly due to work being crazy right now and never knowing when i will be home. I had 1500 saved and ready to order the motor then my DD (05 dmax 4x4, lifted) decided it needed 1600 dollars in repairs, so now it will be a couple more weeks to a month before I can order the motor. If anyone knows of a good deal on a running 350 in Texas let me know, lol I am ready to be driving this beast!

 

[HotRodPC]

Bummer man !!! When it rains it pours !!! But imagine that, you can get a complete new motor for the cost maintaining your Dmax. Sad reality right there. Thanks for checking in though. Working is a good thing !!!

 

[RailRiderHD]

That is no joke man..... a new actuator for the transfer case motor and 2 new hubs and i'm out 1500 bucks, lol. I guess you gotta pay to play, but I was really hoping to be driving the old 82 by now, i'm having some manual tranny straight axle 4x4 withdrawals!

 

[RetroC10Sport]

http://austin.craigslist.org/pts/2253228068.html

 

[RailRiderHD]

Thanks for the link man, that is one craigslist i hadn't been checking, i am here in houston for work right now and been looking... i also found a motor shop in tyler that will sell me a totally rebuilt long block for 950 with no core

 

[HotRodPC]

Yeah, Retro is in Central TX and bird dogging CL right now for a truck. Maybe give him a contact email addy while you are out of town and if he finds something he can send you a link to it so you can follow up and ask some questions about it.

 

[RailRiderHD]

Well I went and looked at quite a few motors this week and didn't find any that i just felt good about, so today I broke down and ordered a rebuilt short block from a local machine shop, since i know my heads and intake are good. They said it will be ready next Friday (March 25) then I will be hopefully getting this bad boy running again. Thanks for all your help and I will update this thread as I go

 

[HotRodPC]

You know that one should be good. How old are your heads? Or how many miles on them? While your waiting, you might want to get them off the old short block, clean them up and at least replace the valve seals and if they are real low mileage the only rubber or seals will be replaced and be about as good as new can be without a fresh valve job. I suggest this, cuz valve seals can go bad just sitting after they have been ran and coated with oil a few times. They will harden from time without needing miles on them.

 

[RailRiderHD]

Well the new short block should be ready on Thursday, hopefully I can find time to run and pick it up, got the brackets and stuff repainted today and the intake manifold all cleaned up, should be ready to put the thing back together this weekend... also does anyone know if i have to do anything special to line the clutch or anything up when i put the engine back in i have never messed with a manual before