Firemedic1966

And when I say rag tag of parts disassembling the motor..I mean bolts looked newer, cam/lifters/pushrods, timing chain. The crank appeared to have recently been turned and most bearing except for the 1st main all looked newer as well.
I went ahead and went with a new crank, due to worry that the vibration had caused fatigue on the original crank. Better safe than sorry. I also went with a different cam profile, am adding a pertronix igntion, and debating a PVC system instead of road draft tube

wmf62

PCV, better for the engine and less mess....

Bill

MikeM

If you're curious about how old the bearings are, there is a date on the back side of the shell.

karkrafter

Main bearings generally don't fail. There was a contaminate floating around in that engine, dollars to donuts last owner wiped a cam and didn't clean the block properly. Certainly there was no need for a new crank, could have just reground the original.


It would be a good idea to have it professionally assembled and the cam broke in on an engine stand so you don't have this issue again.

GTOguy

This^^. Main bearings are pretty bulletproof. Go with a PCV, and install it as pictured in several threads. That way you can use your original valve covers. They made/make an adapter that screws into the road draft tube boss in the block, but I simply used a large grommet and plugged the PCV valve right in on my '61. Very glad you kept it original, you did the right thing. I wish mine had the original motor..........

vettsplit 63

This.... I hope you threw those 50 year plus year old rods as far as you could throw them. I have zero faith in the early 327 rods and bolts that have seen a billion stress and heat cycles. 1020 steel aint much. Scat or somebody else's 4340 rods are cheap insurance

Firemedic1966

The entire bottom end is new. Crank/pistons/rods/rings/freeze plugs/cam/lifters/timing lchain/bearings/bolts/oil pump/pick up.

I had the block hot tanked/bored/cleaned and checked. About the only thing original is the block. While I was at it I had the engine balanced and the short block assembled.

I figured replacing the crank was cheap insurance. I plan on driving the car quite a bit and want to rule out any weak links. Unfortunately I have decided to go all out and replace the balancer/water pump as well. My rebulder also went thru the heads and at least found zero issues there.

Also my flywheel had a few spots on it so I went ahead and had that machined as well.

roberts427

And when something goes wrong who do you blame ??

Westlotorn

Glad you are getting it back together. Hope it runs really strong.

Mikado463

the way it should be ........yourself !

karkrafter

Read my post again, I said 'CERTAINLY It's not spun' and it wasn't.


I never advocated using a 'spun' rod again. Let me say this, 99% of the time when you 'spin' a bearing, the car is not usable..at least not for long. Without reading the whole post again, OP was still driving this car with a knock. No bearings were 'spun'.

Westlotorn

Sorry, this point was answered way back in this thread so I corrected the post. Front main damage, that is really odd in a rebuilt engine.
I am guessing bad mechanic skill involved.

SDVette

That's a big "EXCEPT".. Using that logic, we should all be driving Teslas..

Another vote for keeping it original.

427Hotrod

Glad we kept it all "original".....


Seriously...glad you got it fixed.


JIM

Kerrmudgeon

You guys like to dig up old threads don't you?......I'd like to hear what it has run like all season, and if the OP is happy with the work done......it was last January after all!

20round

my grandpa showed me a trick when I was a youngster, buying my first car! carb was out of wack and engine needed a tune up bad! we did all that then he got the car warmed up. he then grabbed a Dixie cup of cold water pinching the sides together so that it just dripped out when pouring. he revved the motor to about 2000 rpm and dripped the cold water in the carb, lugging it a little bit. the crap that blew out of the tail pipes was amazing! he did that with about 2 cups full of water. in between letting it good and warm.it ran awesome after that. he exsplained that the cold water hits the hot carbon deposits on the pistons and knock them loose. now, yes you have to be carful not pour it all in and hydro lock the motor! I have done this a ton of times in the last 40yrs with great results IMO.. troy