Suburban Project- Need Help!

[78C10BigTen]

I think that thing looks good. I am hopefully the under side is good. The cylinders look in good shape. Hopefully the rings are just stuck. I assume you are rocking it with a breaker bar?

Honestly with heads off if its stuck rings id spray the piss outta every cylinder with PB blaster and let it soak in. I bought a "new" short block crate 350 from my scrap yard job that was shrink wrapped in many layers of plastic, i sprayed all the piston tops with PB for about a week and turned it with the breaker bar and it turned over!!! The history, supposedly the guy who tossed it bought it new for his dirt track car. It never got used, drank some water and he tossed it. Worst thing i see is the lifters rusted in the galleye.

 

[AKguy]

Hopefully you do not find a pushrod wedged between the crank and the case like I did with my 455 Buick!

 

[80BrownK10]

Honestly with heads off if its stuck rings id spray the piss outta every cylinder with PB blaster and let it soak in. I bought a "new" short block crate 350 from my scrap yard job that was shrink wrapped in many layers of plastic, i sprayed all the piston tops with PB for about a week and turned it with the breaker bar and it turned over!!! The history, supposedly the guy who tossed it bought it new for his dirt track car. It never got used, drank some water and he tossed it. Worst thing i see is the lifters rusted in the galleye.

I'd use acetone and ATF mixed 50/50 if I was him. PB blaster is good too but that ATF is great

 

[B1075]

Hey All,

I want to apologize to B1075 for hijacking his thread inadvertantly!

My story...picked up a 1981 K1500 Suburban from a widow in Bakersfield who's husband died and this was their ranch vehicle. It was said to run when parked about 5 years ago.. I tried getting it to turn manually without plugs, oil in the cylinders, dep creep, mmo, atf/acetone- no go. Some much wiser members suggested taking off the heads and there was a decent amount of rust on some of the rockers and all the lifters are stuck however I pulled the head on the passenger side and the cylinders don't look too bad to me (but I haven't stripped an engine down in 25 years so memory is suspect).

The intent is to get this thing set up as a nice beach/sports hauler with 4 kids to get places, very little freeway driving. I plan on redoing interior, paint, suspension so I do plan on keeping it around and I don't need to roast the tires off at every stoplight (not anymore anyways, haha).

Someone suggested just buying a used 350 and throwing it in there as you can get them so cheap.. I have looked on facebook, craigslist and google search and I can't find anything cheaper than $500 (within driving distance) and the ad said "it needs work" so seems like I would be back in the same boat more or less except $500 lighter?

Also some of the wiser members suggested an LS swap which in my situation just isn't possible, not to mention sounds like a nightmare in California. An e-rod at $10k, which to be honest is probably the best long term situation but I can't drop $10k at the moment. So I'm back to getting it on the road with more or less what it has in it (or replacing with something similar).

A couple questions I have..at this point with the head off (soon to be both) and the engine still not spinning I know it doesn't look good. Also, that much tear down I would kind of be foolish not to just yank the thing out and either rebuild or replace. I'm looking online and locally and it looks like a long block is going to set me back about $1700 minimum and a $400ish core (that I need to ship at my expense) that may or may not get refunded, so really a $2100 outlay. I'm thinking if I were to rebuild the existing short block, provided it was rebuildable, I would spend somewhere in the $1000 range? I would then most likely buy some CARB legal aluminum heads in the $1100 range (vs having existing recon'd) and pretty much be where I would be with a long block cost wise with superior performance? I have already planned to use an MSD Atomic EFI setup so basically another $1k in either scenario. Does this sounds like a sane persons rationalization?!

Thanks all!

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No need to apologize Sen

Hey All,

I want to apologize to B1075 for hijacking his thread inadvertantly!

My story...picked up a 1981 K1500 Suburban from a widow in Bakersfield who's husband died and this was their ranch vehicle. It was said to run when parked about 5 years ago.. I tried getting it to turn manually without plugs, oil in the cylinders, dep creep, mmo, atf/acetone- no go. Some much wiser members suggested taking off the heads and there was a decent amount of rust on some of the rockers and all the lifters are stuck however I pulled the head on the passenger side and the cylinders don't look too bad to me (but I haven't stripped an engine down in 25 years so memory is suspect).

The intent is to get this thing set up as a nice beach/sports hauler with 4 kids to get places, very little freeway driving. I plan on redoing interior, paint, suspension so I do plan on keeping it around and I don't need to roast the tires off at every stoplight (not anymore anyways, haha).

Someone suggested just buying a used 350 and throwing it in there as you can get them so cheap.. I have looked on facebook, craigslist and google search and I can't find anything cheaper than $500 (within driving distance) and the ad said "it needs work" so seems like I would be back in the same boat more or less except $500 lighter?

Also some of the wiser members suggested an LS swap which in my situation just isn't possible, not to mention sounds like a nightmare in California. An e-rod at $10k, which to be honest is probably the best long term situation but I can't drop $10k at the moment. So I'm back to getting it on the road with more or less what it has in it (or replacing with something similar).

A couple questions I have..at this point with the head off (soon to be both) and the engine still not spinning I know it doesn't look good. Also, that much tear down I would kind of be foolish not to just yank the thing out and either rebuild or replace. I'm looking online and locally and it looks like a long block is going to set me back about $1700 minimum and a $400ish core (that I need to ship at my expense) that may or may not get refunded, so really a $2100 outlay. I'm thinking if I were to rebuild the existing short block, provided it was rebuildable, I would spend somewhere in the $1000 range? I would then most likely buy some CARB legal aluminum heads in the $1100 range (vs having existing recon'd) and pretty much be where I would be with a long block cost wise with superior performance? I have already planned to use an MSD Atomic EFI setup so basically another $1k in either scenario. Does this sounds like a sane persons rationalization?!

Thanks all!

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No need to apologize Scenic. That’s a bad ass truck. I’d love to have something like that for my crew of kids. If it were me I’d rebuild the engine you have. I’d keep it as stock as possible. I live up in Northern California so I understand the smog issues. I’m a little worried about mine when it comes to having to smog it because it’s been sitting for so long. Seems to run great but you never know what the emissions are I guess. Keep going!

 

[OldBlueDually]

@scenic760 Beautiful rig you got there!!!!!! Man if you were closer I have a great running 350 in a 76 GMC I will pull at some point to sell (this is a parts truck I bought for my 76 GMC dually build). No offense, I really dislike californy.....that state sucks in many ways, the vehicles however are super nice!!!

Not sure what the prices are now, but a few years back a friend did a 350 build for around $800 and it was a sweet running 350. These guys on here however will know way more than I do about that. I am working on a 455 Olds for mine What I like about where I am, no smog crap like you have to deal with...well, yet anyhow.

Love those Suburbans! You got a nice one there!

@82sbshortbed Texas sounds very appealing!!!

 

[Ricko1966]

Tough to tell from just a couple of pics but I bet it wouldn't take much to make that engine run again. Cheap. Soak the bores with whatever your favorite poison is.I prefer acetone and atf. Rock the motor a little each direction then clean the trash that the rings push up out sand the cylinders lightly with wet dry 400 just to get the surface rust off.keep soaking sanding and rocking until it turns over smooth.Solvent check the heads , change the valve seals, rod brgs, main brgs oil pump and timing chain. It"'ll run a long time that way on almost no money. I haven't done this on a burb but have on plenty of other stuff, everyone that I 've done I was able to do without pulling the motor just lifted it high enough to get the oil pan out.No it won't be a new engine but it will be as good or better than any junkyard motor and it will cost you 150.00 and some time. There is a reason I didn't say new rings. I'm assuming you don't have a ring ridge remover and a cylinder hone.And a novice can do more harm than good with a ring ridge remover.

 

[Grit dog]

Well you’ve already got it tore half apart. From the looks of the cylinders and if there was oil in the oil pan, seems maybe just the lifters are locked up.
Could pop the timing chain off and see if the bottom end spins free I suppose.
If the lifters are rusted in idk what that involves if a lifter bore is messed up though.
I’m still in the camp of find a running engine for it. If you have all the smog equipment and get a similar 350 then you should be able to swap the smog exhaust manifolds and intake. Been a long time since I looked at an 80s engine with emissions stuff and i removed it and tossed it with the kitchen trash back in about 1990,lol.
I’d say depends what you find out about your engine. You have time, if you’re doing all that other work to it then you’re not really in a hurry for an engine. The right one will pop up.
That’s just me though. If I was retired and had nothing but time I might think different but I already have enough science projects and commitments to not take on projects for the sake of curiosity.

 

[Dave M]

Pull it out and finish stripping it down. Keep us posted. Have you got an engine stand ?

 

[scenic760]

Thanks all for the replies!

I've been trying to wrench on it for a couple hours every other day...gotta say my forearms are feeling it! That and my upper thighs from bending over the fenders. Neighbors probably aren't thrilled as this is going down in the driveway as my garage is packed with bikes/sports/woodworking stuff.

I'm going to pick up a hoist and stand today.

The wife asked me for status on it last night and I explained to her it's taking more time than I initially thought but I just need to keep tearing it down until I find out why it's not spinning, then put it all back together so I can smog/register it and park it on the street (it's been no-op status since 1999 being on the ranch). Then I mentioned maybe having to get a crate motor if it wasn't salvageable, then I brought up the idea of an LS swap with our current 2003 Suburban and she said "You know, now all the kid's friends are wanting to see this thing on the road, what would be the COOLEST thing to do?"...of course LS swap and she said "Then do it!"....I was sitting there in disbelief as I explained to her they would both be sitting in the driveway until it was done...truth be told I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle the LS swap right now... maybe if this engine is toast, then maybe

Thanks again everyone, I will keep posting!

 

[Bextreme04]

Thanks all for the replies!

I've been trying to wrench on it for a couple hours every other day...gotta say my forearms are feeling it! That and my upper thighs from bending over the fenders. Neighbors probably aren't thrilled as this is going down in the driveway as my garage is packed with bikes/sports/woodworking stuff.

I'm going to pick up a hoist and stand today.

The wife asked me for status on it last night and I explained to her it's taking more time than I initially thought but I just need to keep tearing it down until I find out why it's not spinning, then put it all back together so I can smog/register it and park it on the street (it's been no-op status since 1999 being on the ranch). Then I mentioned maybe having to get a crate motor if it wasn't salvageable, then I brought up the idea of an LS swap with our current 2003 Suburban and she said "You know, now all the kid's friends are wanting to see this thing on the road, what would be the COOLEST thing to do?"...of course LS swap and she said "Then do it!"....I was sitting there in disbelief as I explained to her they would both be sitting in the driveway until it was done...truth be told I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle the LS swap right now... maybe if this engine is toast, then maybe

Thanks again everyone, I will keep posting!

I believe in Cali if you do that swap you will need to program the VIN into the computer and leave all the remaining items intact. The 81 would then be on the hook for the 2003 emissions standards and equipment to include the fuel evap system and catalytic converters. Its an easy swap outside of cali because you can cut all that crap out... in Cali you would have to get all of it swapped over.

 

[scenic760]

I believe in Cali if you do that swap you will need to program the VIN into the computer and leave all the remaining items intact. The 81 would then be on the hook for the 2003 emissions standards and equipment to include the fuel evap system and catalytic converters. Its an easy swap outside of cali because you can cut all that crap out... in Cali you would have to get all of it swapped over.

I believe you are correct sir! I have read a few threads of people doing it and at first intimidating but as I read through them it's not rocket science. It's a lot (A LOT) of little steps and tweaks.

Eventually maybe LS swap but for right now I'd like to get it running and registered. I picked up a hoist and stand today.

You bring up a good point as if I go through with putting on the MSD EFI I would think I have SOME leeway on cam/heads as the emissions standard for an '81 has to be astronomical compared to a 2003?! Does anyone know if there are any charts out there with allowable pollutants?

As someone mentioned earlier I have the luxury of time at the moment, however after going through a house remodel previously I know I'm on the clock with the wife.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

 

[Salty Crusty]

Hazard Fraught has their 2-ton cherry picker for $189 right now, you might need a coupon.
The best engine stand to use in conjunction is a tricycle style but with a bar across the front, making it 4-wheeled. This one will easily fit between the legs of the cherry picker to get it transferred. I have some of their older 2-leg ones with splayed legs, it's a royal PITA to get the engine from the hoist to the stand.

 

[scenic760]

Hazard Fraught has their 2-ton cherry picker for $189 right now, you might need a coupon.
The best engine stand to use in conjunction is a tricycle style but with a bar across the front, making it 4-wheeled. This one will easily fit between the legs of the cherry picker to get it transferred. I have some of their older 2-leg ones with splayed legs, it's a royal PITA to get the engine from the hoist to the stand.

Thanks Salty!

Yep, picked up them up yesterday...they were out of stock at my local store so I had to drive 35 minutes to another store..gave me time to catch up on returning phone calls, haha

I looked at the bigger engine stand and was thinking the same thing, looked like the legs would bump into each other when trying to transfer it? I got the 1000lb capacity which I would think is plenty for a 350?!

Today's project is putting the them together!

 

[OldBlueDually]

Thanks Salty!

Yep, picked up them up yesterday...they were out of stock at my local store so I had to drive 35 minutes to another store..gave me time to catch up on returning phone calls, haha

I looked at the bigger engine stand and was thinking the same thing, looked like the legs would bump into each other when trying to transfer it? I got the 1000lb capacity which I would think is plenty for a 350?!

Today's project is putting the them together!

That will be just fine for your 350!

I searched a bit too, and I came across this one on Amazon, I am VERY impressed with it. Easy to use, and you can literally move this engine (455 on it) around with 1 finger, it rolls so nice. I did not want to wait to get a stand (ya know, part of the "need it now" problem I have)...but I was happy waiting for this one. It is $110 right now on amazon.

Big Red T26801 stand.

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[Salty Crusty]

For those unfamiliar with them, engine stands are one of the coolest devices ever invented to find washers on the shop floor...