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Owen,

thanks man! i'm going to run this information to my dad and let him read what you wrote. he has a way of explaining things to me, because that was all klingon to me per say LOL!

the motor is completely apart. block is ready to go to the machine shop and heads too.

all pistons out. new piston pins have been purchased, but old ones look okay. bushing have been qouted for pins.

crank is out, etc etc. if you go back many pages on the thread you will see me and my dad taking the engine apart.

i have NOS 55 lifters already and all my pistons "look" okay.

i do plan on having the machine shop clean everything up and check everything for cracks etc, and also put in the cam bearings, but other than that i want to do the motor myself. so yeah...fun begins. ;0)

thanks again dude!

Hank

but other than that i want to do the motor myself. so yeah...fun begins. ;0)

Sorry, I didn't go back in the thread and see that your engine was already apart. I'll bet you'll find doing much of the engine yourself will be a terrific learning and rewarding experience. I know you'll keep us posted, and I look forward to reading of your progress.

Was the block already checked by the machinist before the pistons and other parts were ordered? I wouldn't order any parts until the machinist checks things out in the event that oversized items may be needed.

no parts have been ordered yet, just price qoutes. i am going for standard size right now....but yes i will be taking the block in to see what may need to be changed from standard.

the only reason i haven't taken the block is because i want them to install the cam bearings. don't wanna mess those up myself. so i may just order the cam bearings, then take the heads and block in for dipping/cleaning/etc etc....then order the rest of my parts from the advice of the machine shop.

my family has been using this machine shop since the 50s. so they know us very well and i know they will do me right.

thanks for all the input guys! ;0) and you can bet your bottom dollar i'll be posting all kinds of fun pictures during the process. i like helping others with my pictures if i can.

Hank

its off to the machine shop today. will post pictures later.

YAY!!!

Hank

well all the pieces are at the machine shop getting checked out. valve job gonna be done. and i totally forgot to take pictures boooooo me!!

any suggestions on using hardened valve seats?

Hank

news from the machine shop.

1. we all know my block was repaired at one time from the outside water jacked being cracked. well it has another one, could be from the old one or not, don't know. he magged it and has it marked. he said i could use "gm" tablets....never heard of those....but i think i'll just have them fix it.

2. heads are being magged right now and valve job to follow

3. crank is done.....shows to be 2 under....so he is saying at least use a 1 over bearing. this is all greek to me. i need to do some research and i need to find out just what sized Kanter has anyways.

thats all i have for now, will be going by the machine shop today to talk with them and look at what he has found.

Hank

Henry, good to hear from you. Happy New Year.

The GM tablets your machinist refers to are what Cadillac used to fix their notorious V-8 that had internal coolant leaks. The tablets would dissolve and plug the leaks (mostly). Think of stop leak in a bottle. Terrible situation. Some here may have direct experience with this and can elaborate.

If it were me, I would want to know a lot more about the cracks in your engine block before deciding to have it repaired. It sounds as though in addition to the external crack there may be one located internally. The internal one is not good. There are a lot of these V-8 blocks around and you may be better off with another good sound block that needs no repairs. You are going to spend a lot of money rebuilding this engine, and a compromised block is not a good start.

The crankshaft bearings are measured in standard and under size. Standard size bearings for a crankshaft with standard size journals and under size bearings for journals that have been turned to a smaller size. The under sized bearings have a thicker shell to make up for the smaller journal size. Clear as mud?

(o{I}O)

thanks JW happy new year to you too!

the engine block will be fine. very small crack on the outside water jacket on the side that was fixed already. can't even hardly see it. i'm going to run a weld over it just to hold it. since i don't plan on driving this thing daily it should be just fine. it was probably already there for years and years. and considering what the block has been through i wasn't surprised that something would show up.

no internal cracks at all. all cylinders are good. at the most they are .012 worn down from use and that was just at the ring ridge. i will be fine with a hone, ridge ream, and new set of standard rings. so that is good. my father in law has a ridge reamer and i got a honer for Christmas. should be exciting and fun to learn.

the crank is worn .002, so i will be ordering .002 over on the main and rod bearings and then plastigauge to make sure everything is okay before putting it to use.

the manual will com in handy with all this ;0)

the heads were great...no cracks. proceeding with hardened seats and a valve job. all valves are out and will be checked over. spring pressures will be checked as well.

over all i think this motor is going to come back together nice for a good cruising motor. all i need it to do is start run and be reliable....i don't need to win drag races or cross country trips in it. and considering it ran when i first got it.....it should be just fine when i'm all done.

i will post pics shortly, gotta get my camera's cord to upload.

Hank

Henry, the cracks in the block being on the outside should repair. However, a .012" taper in the cylinders is more than a ridge ream and honing will fix. If I recall correctly .005" - .007" taper is max without reboring. I would say that you need at least .020" boring of the cylinders and new over sized pistons. Jack Vines is the resident expert here on these engines and can provide good advice based on his vast experience. I know you are on a lean budget, but it is better to wait and do it right than to have to do a second time.

(o{I}o)