as soon as I saw mako, laying out prices and the road to go down, I thought the same thing. Damn them for putting oil on those parts so that they were slick and fell on the ground and broke!

 

Yeah, I think that may be the way to go. Hey I am going to start on the engin compartment today. Is there a way I can secure the tranny up so I can roll the car out of my garage to power wash the thing? Right now I have it just sitting on a tire.

 

Don't get discourage Fatcat it's all part of the learning process. The good news is now you get to buy the better summit rebuild kit that includes pistons and rings along with a bunch of other parts for a little it more money @$400
Most of us dropped pistons (your luck it was an old one instead of new) we've broken rings, cross threaded bolts and even installed the piston in the wrong cylinder a time or two

The guys are right about slowing down, clean your work area and get organized.
You're at the point when you will be going to the machine shop to have everything checked out and get an idea of what needs to be done and you will be give specific measurements for your rebuilding kit. Piston size, bearing size and timing chain maybe???
The machine shop will need your new pistons to hone each cylinder to a piston and have the old pistons pressed off and new pressed on. This is the easy part. The machine shop will walk you through everything you need and may even assemble it for a good price. Your engine has good parts, why take a gamble on someone else's rebuild when you will know what what's in yours!!!

 

[QUOTE=hugie82;1582404529]Don't get discourage Fatcat it's all part of the learning process. The good news is now you get to buy the better summit rebuild kit that includes pistons and rings along with a bunch of other parts for a little it more money @$400
Most of us dropped pistons (your luck it was an old one instead of new) we've broken rings, cross threaded bolts and even installed the piston in the wrong cylinder a time or two

The guys are right about slowing down, clean your work area and get organized.
You're at the point when you will be going to the machine shop to have everything checked out and get an idea of what needs to be done and you will be give specific measurements for your rebuilding kit. Piston size, bearing size and timing chain maybe???
The machine shop will need your new pistons to hone each cylinder to a piston and have the old pistons pressed off and new pressed on. This is the easy part. The machine shop will walk you through everything you need and may even assemble it for a good price. Your engine has good parts, why take a gamble on someone else's rebuild when you will know what what's in yours!!! [/

So you mean I am not the only person to drop a piston? Hahaha thanks brother I feel better. I think I will call the guy from the shop we use today and talk to him about what he can do for me on tha machining.

Hey Hugie82, do you have a suggestion on the transmission question I just posted?

 

jack the transmission up the floorboard, take a piece of wood or steel and run it over the top of the frame rails. Drill a hole on each side of the transmission where the board intersects the transmission bellhousing bolt holes. Bolt the transmission to the board that is resting on the frame rails....

 

Fatcat, I once dropped a relatively expensive bottle of scotch right in the parking lot outside the liquor store. Stuff like that happens when you're not focused. I once poured oil into an engine without putting the drain bolt back in. I once installed a camshaft in a Pontiac 400 upside down (on a pontiac, the timing marks both go up, instead of top and bottom like a chevy, something like that, it was a long time ago) Just a few weeks ago, I rebuilt a Holley carb, and forgot to put the gasket on the power valve. Not really sure how that one got past me, but my point is this: All these things have one thing in common.......I only did them once. Everybody makes mistakes, but smart people learn something from them, that's all.

The Pontiac 400 is kind of a funny story, we installed the cam, lining up the dots like you would on a chevy, 'cause we none of us knew any better, and when we went to try to start it, it was sucking air in through the exhaust pipes, and blowing it out through the carb, somehow! it didn't take us long to figure out what we had done wrong, and I learned a valuable lesson that day: Always read the instructions!!!!


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

SBG, please check your PM.


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

I think the guy that he is looking at possibly buying an engine from is trustworthy. the question is, how much time does he have to put into rebuilding his own engine with visits to machine shops and waiting on them, parts, etc. not to mention the total cost of all that. If he wants to make it a learning experience(by doing the rebuild himself), then that is understandable. Then the decision is not based on economics, cuzz I think that "crate" motor will be less money.

 

Ha! I feel better! Thanks and I always learn from my mistakes. The piston was a deal where my buddy told me the pistons wouldn't just pop out. He failed to tell me they wouldn't until the rings passed through and I didn't use common sense and realize that either! I think I am going to take the block to the machine shop and get the full story on it and decide whether to proceed or just buy the crate motor and put this rebuild on hold for a long project. I am trying to weigh the cost right now. I just hate to buy a crate engine for $1500 and have to pull it later (and never get my money back) to put in the one I rebuilt. I have 4 or 5 months to get this deal done and maybe to really build a nice engine it will take $2000 + but I may be money ahead going this route. Besides this ole girl has a lot of things I can work on while gathering the cash to really put a great rebuild in the engine.

 

Are there bolt holes in it to bolt to I am assuming? I tried that with the bell housing! HA! Not!

 

"nice" can be relative, I think what most guys on here would classify as "nice" is gonna take more money. hell, a good set of heads alone is $1500ish

 

Through all this I keep hearing a voice inside my head saying. There is going to be a special place in heaven for all this work in bringing my C3 back to life!

 

Hahaha I realize that but a good dependable car that I can go cruise around with the wife in is enough for me. I am not a racer although I had a Mustang pull up next to me at a light the other night and wanted some. As he took off I just cruised right through the light and laughed. Hahaha

 

There's more than one way to skin this cat. The crate engine is just one way to go, that's all. It's up to you which way to go, nothing wrong with spending the winter building an engine. It's probably going to take you longer than you think to assemble the engine, though. They don't go back together as fast as they come apart. You have to scrounge measuring tools, take measurements, partially assemble the engine, take more measurements, disassemble the engine again, (might have to do this several times) and once you have the short block assembled, the heads and valve train require the same painstaking process, but even worse. There's about 16 of everything, for crying out loud! Don't worry, stuff like this builds character, and teaches patience, both of which are good things to develop.


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

I think what it should boil down to is your personality. I personally am impatient and want to get something done and would not be happy having my car sit idle for months in my garage unable to drive it. If I tried to build it from bottom up saying "I'll order parts as I have the money" that would last but a few days and I would order thousands of dollars worth of parts with a credit card(totalling more then a decent crate engine). Then when the parts came I would stay up late(too late) get up early, all in an effort to hurry up and get it done. Probably make a mistake due to lack of sleep. No way could I handle waiting on a machine shop to do their thing. so, again, what kind of personality do you have, consult your wife(she probably knows you better then yourself). Then make your decision, if you want to build from ground up, you clearly have many knowledgable and selfless guys on here that want to help.

 

Fatcat, I usually will use 2 jack stands and a board to hold the trans up. Just leave enought space to slip your floor jack between the stands so you can adjust the height later when you're installing the engine.

Minus the cost of your heads, you should be able to finish the short block for around $1000 and that's including cam,lifters and timing set. You'll just have to wait and see what the machine shop says.

I will say you work pretty fast for a newbie! Just remember, it's quality of work, not how fast you can blow through it I've walked away with 3 pistons installed because I was making little mistakes ( dropping bolts, getting stuff dirty) come back to it when you're organized and focused with a good understanding of what you're doing from a YouTube vid or taking to us

 

oops.... corrected

one last bit about crate motors.... I've owned countless cars where I bought them because someone pulled out the motor "to do a quick refresh" then 5 years later, kids, life, boats, and stuff keep from them from finishing the car....

better is relative - You can spend vast sums on motors, but not necessarily have a better motor for your car.

 

Hear, hear! I say a 1,500 dollar engine in the car running is far superior to a 10,000 dollar engine sitting the garage half-finished!


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

I cleaned up my mess, got everything reorganized today and will call the machine shop Monday. I will make decisions on everything when I get feedback from them. Dougie1 I am probably more like you but I have learned to have a little more patience over that past years. I have to wait on the machine shop because I really have no idea how to do what you would do. :-)

 

OMG!!!!! Do I have a mental problem or what?! Cleaned up and put things on hold for the engine and started cleaning in the engine compartment...Instantly! I have a tone of work to do so I start surveying what needs cleaned and replaced, EVERY INCH! HAHAHA every piece of rubber, wire, paint, blah blah blah! Why can't I just say it's good enough and not have to get in every crevis!!! Am I just too picky or what? I really don't have the room to or the money to do a frame off on this little ride... Don't worry guys I am not going too fast just venting! I only removed a couple of dust shields and scrubbed...