Featured Technical "will it run" '63 Olds 394

Rock Auto delivered today.
wrong rings again.
closer but still not 100% correct
top ring good,
second ring wrong
oil control rings good.
wouldn't be a big deal but this little side adventure is taking up time and space
and the fun factor is waning.



on another note the pursuit of the blower drive is showing some light
fingers crossed on that one

 

Wow sorry to hear that, you need a .0925 or .0930 thick second ring correct?
I see all the Rockauto rings listed as 5/64 or .078. Sorry to have sent you down a rabbit hole. Rockauto is very good about returns however.
Dan

 

no apologies necessary Dan,
in my haste I didn't read their description thoroughly enough
you are correct, none of their 394 rings listed show correct second ring thickness according to my book.

 

Hello Paul, Kanter has rings for your engine std size, I talked to sales and they said they would verify ring size and thickness upon ordering by phone.
$58.36 for std size
800-526-1096
https://www.kanter.com/products/piston-ring-set-rng7800
Dan

 

I think this thread illustrates how eBay's functionality has changed over the years. I used to troll for underpriced vintage speed equipment. Now, I mainly use it to look for "off-beat" stuff and generally do all right. I still troll, and once in a while, pick up something good, but it has been few and far between lately.

 

Excellent, will fit Paul’s needs.
Dan

 

Yeah, about the only time I luck out on old speed equipment any more is when the seller has incorrectly listed it, as in saying that it fits a Y block when, in reality, it fits an early Olds V8.

 

thanks all for the tips on ring sources but I am over budget already,
I did the unheard of and scrounged a couple used compression rings out of my junk pile,
honed the one bad cylinder,
put it all back together and ran it for about a half hour.
it doesn't make sense right now to hone and re-ring all cylinders without a timing set, oil pump, valve job, cam, lifters and everything else a rebuild should get.
as said this was just a minor distraction, and has already taken too much time and money let alone parts than it deserves.

 

Sounds great. With that kind of oil pressure, I wouldn't be afraid to run it in something.

 

Sounds good, there sure are worse distractions!
Dan

 

Good save. Should remain usable for many more years.

 

I love that you did this. The internet has created this circle jerk of what we MUST do based on ultra high standards doled out by those who don’t work on cars, but rather live on the internet.

But in reality, this is the kind of thing that was done regularly before the internet told us it wasn’t possible… All to get a car ready to run on Saturday.

 

some still viable standard bore 394 pistons
one of which gave up it's top two rings



the still good piston from this engine needing a little clean up


four hour soak



couple 20 minute ultrasonic cycles in pine sol



reassemble piston and rod with cleaned up used rings



cylinder honed and piston in



head getting cleaned



I didn't have any exhaust manifold to head gaskets on hand but I did have some material so I made a set







you know the rest

 

Love it- that's the way to go. I'll bet that engine will run great for years as it is now- I'd run it.

 

This us how we used to do it. Junkyard ingenuity 101. Make the best of what you can dig up.

 

Now for a Model A to stick it in

 

My friend in high school got a 70 Elcamino 350 4spd for free it was in a guy in his neighborhood yard he said it hadn't run in 9-10 years if he got it going he could have it! We had a lot of fun with that sucker

 

If it's not too much trouble, could you run another compression test when it's ready? I, for one, would really like to see how effective a repair of this kind is.

 

yes, I was planning on doing that today, ran short on time yesterday.
the zero reading of number three was not 100% accurate as my old pressure gauge doesn't respond to very low pressures, I did crank it over with just my finger over the plug hole and it did blow it off, probably only 5-10 pounds but not zero.

 

If it were installed in a regularly driven vehicle where the replacement rings could wear in and get seated, there is no telling how long it might last.
My last 351W I changed the rod and main bearings three times, got another 20k miles out of it before the oil pressure went totally away.

 

Applause for doing this ...

 

You never know until you know! Sometimes a simple fix is all you need. My friend spent gobs of money having a machine shop redo a 427 Chevy put it in his 64 Chevelle and it sounded cool made big noise but I bet my '16 Tacoma would beat it. Lmao. He traded it for a '57 Chevy

 

My father used to say a 1/2,9/19,,5/8 wrench and a blade screwdriver and u could rebuild a Model A on the side of the road! He was a hot shit.

 

warmed the engine up,
pulled the plugs and did a compression test on all cylinders.
little change to right bank and cylinders 1 and 5 but cylinders 7 and 8 did come up roughly 15 pounds and number 3 came up roughly 200 pounds.

book says compression ratio is 10.25-1
and compression pressure cranking is 185

this test shows about 40 psi difference between highest and lowest.

I expect all these numbers will change the more time it spends running.

seems to run relatively clean and strong with minimal blow by but gives a small cloud of oil smoke when throttle it stabbed after idling.
I'm sure due to the worn condition of all components

 

I had a '59 Apache 3200 I put a '69 firebird 350 and turbo 400 in I used to run that additive called Restore in that shit was amazing it definitely made a compression difference.

 

Wow, glad it helped, I think you’re right if drove under load some I’ll bet the rest of cylinder pressures will come up. Even if they don’t come up I think you have a runner. A quick hone job and new rings will likely give you 200 psi across the board.
Another cool old engine saved.
Thanks for sharing.
Dan

 

Hey Paul , is that a 2 barrel? Just wondering, I also have a 394, don’t know much about em…

 

roch. 2 bbl

 

yes, the bigger 2GC