Well my dad and brother in law seems to think I should pull the motor out of the truck. They think that I should pull it and change all the bearings and ****. I said if I'm gonna go through all that I'm yanking the pistons and getting new ones due to the damage done to them. I really didn't wanna get into all this

 

Might as well yank it and rebuild the whole thing then...I say if you got the money, go for it. You could get forged internals and run open headers!

 

4 0 8 jk. I mean my only fear of you doing so, is taking the pistons out only to find damage to the crank. then what? Have to replace crank and pistons too? Ya already followed the tear down and see what we got. There have been surprises around every corner. It may have been more time efficient to just buy a short block, which still may be a good option. Are you going to have the block cleaned up now by a machine shop?

 

Thats the thing I don't have the money. I just lost my job 2 weeks ago. I was hoping to get this thing back together before it snowed and I got another job. Looks like that won't be happening now. Also no I couldn't. we have emissions here so thats a no no

I know which is why I am pondering yanking it out and replacing this crap. Nothing has been good this whole ****ing project. I should have just beat the **** outta it and let it blow up on its own

 

just put it back together man , dont make a money pit for yourself

 

Jinx, you need some time to think. Is it possible to put your truck in a garage somewhere so at least you're out of the snow and can work on it?

Here's some things to consider: You CAN get this engine running again and running better than it was. If your motor had good compression before you tore it down, then there's nothing wrong with the bottom end. If you pull it out and tear into that, it's going to be at least another $2,000 in parts/machining and another 6 weeks lost. If money is an issue, just replace the damaged bearing, go back with your original cam and valvetrain, put on your new heads and run with it. Did you ever determine what was causing your miss? Did you find any cracks in the heads, etc.?

 

Yea there was at least one crack that he showed me for sure the other day in the stock head. He is pretty confident that's what was causing the miss, but... after tearing down the engine, I guess he is concerned with the damage that's been presented. The cam bearings that are holding him up for now. I know you did a thread on replacing your one a while back in your build up. We both are still stumped as to how the damage to the top of pistons got there etc. I see how much of a PITA it is for him.

 

All my stuff turns into money pits lol


this is kinda aimed towards both of you. I see both your points on not doing it. However i'm down this far and I see my dad and brother in laws points too. My truck got I don't remember how many thousand miles on it. Like I said I'm ths far into it now so it kinda makes sense to replace stuff now while I'm here. I could say screw it throw it back together and then have something go later on and have to tear it all down again and spend more money later replacing stuff I already have. Also like Greg said he has been helping me through the whole tear down. Almost everything we have taken off has suprised us at something being screwed up. When I pulled the heads I wasn't really expecting to find gashed pistons. To be honest I didn't notice that were all messed up. I found that out when I was cleaning the gasket serfaces and cleanign the carbon off the pistons. I was amazed they were all gashed up. When we pulled the cam I wasn't expecting to find the bad bearing. Hell i didn't see it till I started cleaning them after my bro in law and greg left. I was all about throwing the new cam in there. My bro in law was the one that said no clean them up make sure theres no dirt in there and spray stuff down all the oil holes. I was in the process of wiping it off with a rag when I seen it was messed up. This all being said I kinda feel like money in the bank or not the more I think about it I want to replace this stuff. I def want to replace the pistons. My main reason for that is I have no idea how they got all bitched up. Greg and I talked about this tonight and we can't seem to come up with how it happened. Its at the top and bottom of the piston nothing wrong with the center.

Its like god only knows whats deep in the rest


Oh and I think I do have hair line cracks in the heads

 

When I was faced with this problem and limited funds I bought a used engine and dropped it in. I didn't do a big write up on it but it has been in for 6 months and I took it to CA and brought back a loaded trailer with no problems. Its just a thought total cost for me was under $800 with a new clutch, water pump, and tune up. When I have the funds I plan on rebuilding the old engine or I might rebuild a 360 for it since it only has a 318 now.

Chuck

 

wouldnt mess with it. If it runs be happy with that. Get a new job. Secure funds. Fix truck. =]