Moves Like Jagger

[Mike_O]

Yeah, I'm considering getting it repainted, but maybe I should wait until spring.

The front windshield has a couple chips and a couple cracks though. But that's easily fixed.

Should I bother spraying the underside with an oil coating?

[johnunit]

Absolutely.

[Mike_O]

Then I will.

[GM_Guy]

So, they want $3700 to do everything I want done to the engine.

I'm gonna buy the parts piecemeal over the winter, then in the spring time I'll do the work myself.

I'll save thousands.

Price sounds about right. Your mechanic won't be doing the rebuild, he sends it off to a machine shop to do that part. Once he gets the engine back, he bolts everything back on, replaces (should) anything that is questionable or a wear item. Runs it in, changes the oil & filter, hands the keys over to you and tells you to bring it back in 500 and 1000 miles for an oil & filter change.

Visit a couple local machine shops, ask them how much to rebuild a 351. (a long block = engine + heads. Short block = just the engine, no heads). I'm going to guess you will be seeing quotes around 1800-2500 dollars. Ask about turn around times, what parts go into their basic long blocks. Will they use customer supplied parts?(ie: camshaft +matching lifters + matching springs).

You will need to decide if you are going stock, or performance as the time to select parts will be now.

Just how much work are you planning on doing? If you are entertaining notions of replacing pistons yourself, be aware you don't buy them until you know what size pistons you may need. Does your block have any issues that come to light when it is torn aparts? Will it need to be bored out necessitating oversize pistons? Just don't piecemeal yourself into a corner.

How much do you want to do yourself?
While you are talking to machine shops, get prices on doing various jobs. You'll probably want them to put in the cam bearings just becuase. Might even be included in the price. Gotta ask.

Alex.

[johnunit]

Great advice ^

[Mike_O]

Well, I don't know if it has heads or not.


I wanted to do the work myself, but I'm not confident in my abilities as a mechanic because, well, I've never done anything like this before. Plus I don't have an A-Frame for lifting the engine out, and I'm told you can't realistically do this with the engine in the car.

I realize that buying the pistons should be done after I determine the cylinder wall condition.

I have a friend who I kind of blew off recently that is a mechanic, I would have liked to borrow his shop for doing this stuff. Sigh.

Thanks for the advice.

[sly]

you can buy already rebuilt long blocks for less (around $2000).

HD truck 351w roller efi rebuilt:
http://www.apmengineparts.com/hd19.html

core charge: $410

non-HD 5.8L ~1500
http://www.apmengineparts.com/58liter8.html

[johnunit]

Generally speaking, you'll need the heads on the engine rebuilt if you are doing a stock rebuild. If you want more power, you should make performance (aftermarket) heads your first purchase. Probably tfs185 or 205's. In that case you'll have new heads, so just the 'shortblock' will need machine shop work.

[Mike_O]

you can buy already rebuilt long blocks for less (around $2000).

HD truck 351w roller efi rebuilt:
http://www.apmengineparts.com/hd19.html

core charge: $410

non-HD 5.8L ~1500
http://www.apmengineparts.com/58liter8.html

So mine's a long block?

That truck one looks nice.

I suppose I should look at getting a new transmission while I'm at it huh.

[johnunit]

Longblock and short block are states of disassembly. You have a fully assembled engine. If you remove the intake manifold and carb what's left is a 'longblock'. Remove the heads and it's at the 'shortblock' stage. They're both just shorthand for a partially assembled engine at different levels of dis-assembly. Buy a short block and you have to get heads elsewhere. Longblocks come with heads already.

[Piece-it pete]

Can I haz HD truck 351w?

It looks sweet!

Pete

[mitymerc]

Is there a particular reason that you want to rebuild it?

[Mike_O]

Well, I really love this car.

I want everything to work perfectly on it, as I plan to drive it for 10 years or more. Plus, it's kinda...um...the only car we have.

I have nightmares (yes, I dream about my car) about the oil falling out of the pan while driving, or the timing chain snapping, or something else going horribly wrong.

So yeah I wanna rebuild it just so I know it's gonna run good for a long time.

[Mike_O]

I'm mad at my carbeurator.

When I start the engine after it's been sitting for 8 hours or more, the engine runs rough. After a minute or so, it settles down and runs fine.

Is this the carbeurator? I need to know before I punish it.

[johnunit]

these carbs just need time to warm up. They aren't very "adaptable" in terms of tuning. What this means is that in a highly variable climate like Red Deer, in terms of temperature and humidity, it will often take time to warm up. If my car is cold I always give it at least 30 seconds before driving off, and usually 2-3 minutes before flooring it. If I put it in gear after less than 30 seconds of running, it will usually stall.