Any of you negr/o/'s ever rebuilt an engine?
Share your stories. Can be good/bad or indifferent. Did you get it running better than before, or just skin your knuckles and lose money?
Pic related, it's my new project for summer. Apologies for the bad lighting, but I'll be impressed if you can ID straightaway.
I rebuild gm V8's for muscle car restoration. It'd alright, and it pays pretty well as a side job.
Yes, almost everyone here is a journeyman mechanic or better.
I'm sitting on an olds 403 block right now that's waiting for funds before I send it to the machine shop.
gonna try and build it up a bit speedy, aiming for 350-400 horsepower
i have stock heads for it, but I'm really looking for a set of olds 350 heads instead.
then I'm just gonna decide if I really want the roller cam, or if I'll cheap out and go flat.
Cool, you wouldn't do it full time though?
Absolutely untrue and we both know it
The waiting for money is the sticking point of every project.
yes I did
my first was 2T motorcycle engine when I was like 12?
that looks like Nissan RB block
Yeah, plenty, and that's a Nissan RB30 block
I'm rebuilding a $200 3sgte as a winter project
You're a hero of the people user, those are great engines.
What even qualifys as a "rebuild"?
I had a buddy that said he "rebuilt" his engine, and all he fucking did was take it apart, clean it and out it back together without even replacing fucking gaskets or seals.
It usually implies replacing any worn internal components as well as gaskets but people seem to think just changing a valve cover gasket qualifies as a rebuild
Rods pistons bearings if lower end
Valves springs gaskets if upper end
Im forgetting a ton of stuff
Just rebuilt my jeeps 4.0 the other day, retorqued the rockers and slapped on a new felpro valve cover gasket.
Most sellers consider any undocumented engine work to be a full rebuild.
I swapped the oil in my whip and changed out the transmission fluid.
Makes like 80 more HP.
Nice job user, I might have to do the same in a couple years
Yeah but that's different, they have no way of verifying the extent of work done so they just take it to the upper extrema
It means tk go through the engine and check every single piece to see if it's within manufacturers tolerance. Repair and replace any piece that is past life, and check all cooling, oil, ect passages for integrity.
You should basically make the engine like new again.
Sorry if it's a stupid question, but if I rebuild my engine I presume, if done properly, I can get another 100k out of it?
Presuming the engine's quite old, 250k km on the odo
Cheap out and go flat tapper. That's what I did. After break in I have just been using Rotella diesel oil, and have had zero problems in 16k miles.
When replacing rod/main bearings on a high mileage engine, is it enough to check for oil clearance with plastigauge with the new bearings installed, or do I have to have a machine shop do some fancy machining work?
Rebuilt by 1.6 prior to turbo.
same, mine was SOHC though
went from 110 at the crank to 350 at the crank, was good shit
a few yeah. currently working on an audi D2 S8 4.2. plan is to re-use internals w/ new bearings (internals are forged already) and get a thicker head gasket to lower compression. Then stick on a couple turbos
the 1st I rebuilt was a 1973 MGB GT. Had a good time but definitely got raped on machine shop charges (it was before I knew what I was doing... had the block bored + head redone [valves])
2nd was an EJ20 that got forged pistons/rods and a TD0520G turbo. That thing was a lot of fun, had to give it up because I am a little too big to be comfortable in a bugeye wrx. I still have the engine+trans and will probably shove it into an outback or forrester someday
Depends on what you replace, but yeah should be able to no problem.
Ive rebuilt a few transmissions but im too chickenshit to crack open an engine. I have a SBC laying around and i should give it a shot
>Ive rebuilt a few transmissions but im too chickenshit to crack open an engine.
wut
An engine like a SBC is easier to rebuild than a transmission. Transmissions usually require more specialized tools to rebuild, the only special tool you need to rebuild an undamaged SBC is a piston ring compressor.
> When replacing rod/main bearings on a high mileage engine, is it enough to check for oil clearance with plastigauge with the new bearings installed
Usually that would be OK but you wont be able to check out-of-roundness this way. Also it's not very precise.
That being said if you go with OEM bearings and install same size that was before you'll be OK. Many rebuilds are done this way.
If I use aftermarket bearings, should I then use a micrometer+bore gauge for measuring or let the machine shop do it?