When is an engine too far gone to be worth saving? Found this Desoto hemi in a neighbors corral, he says it has been there since the late fifties.
I would say take it to a machine shop & have them give it the once over. Then you will know one way or the other. Just my 2 cents
Hard to tell. Drag it to your local machine shop and have them take a look. Those hemi blocks were very well made with good iron and consistent wall thickness, so it is definately worth a shot. Even if you have to stick in a few sleeves, it's not a big deal. Good luck, -Abone.
It's saveable. Those older engines can take a pretty good overbore. If I needed a De Soto I would consider that one.
sit the ***** in a tank fulla deisl for about a month and wat ever the deisil doesn't free up an air chilsel wil and believe me thats all an engine shop will do cause those pistons arint trustworthy for ashtrays
even if the block is junk the rest of the parts are worth something to somebody. I've parted out several old motors that other people felt were junk and got decent money for my efforts
Maybe BILLY MAYS has something you can just spray on and get it unstuck, LOL. Desoto engine is still a good build for a rod, considering it has short tail. Can adapt to most MOPAR autos.
I agree, if it's bad paint it up and put it in the corner,unless your like me and are running out of room for stuff.
If you can get it taken apart, you could acid dip the block. Acid dipping makes them look like new including the water jackets. I built a Y-Block for a friend that had been dipped and it was a pleasure. Really weird to look inside the water jackets and see clean and smooth metal.
Thanks for the help. I'm not out much just to have it checked out. I checked the # & it is a 276 Desoto. I will let you know the results.
This 354 needed a 40 ton press to get the pistons outta the rusted cylinders...it's got five sleeves (two cyls. were busted... three were rusted beyond boring).... I've also go a DeSoto 291 and a Chrysler 392 waiting for the same treatment... yes... you can save it.
Check this link out. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=292239 I sleeved this back to a standard bore. It's a ***** getting the crank out saving all 8 rods. Sledge hammer and a 2ft. punch does it though. First thing to do is get it apart and make sure it isn't cracked. Could've froze a few times in Utah in the time it sat... Jeff
saving is in the eye of the beholder,if thats the motor you want than it is worth saving...as long as it can be machined,sleeved and made functional.2 cents!!
Looks saveable to me but, I'm not one of the motor guru's around here. If it turns out to be junk, I'd do exactly what Larsdk only I'd eventualy build a '28 or '29 A Model truck to haul it around in the bed of.
dump that anchor and put a vtec honda motor in its place, it too is a hemi, it too is as good as this rust bucket
Can it be saved? Possibly Is it worth saving? Probably not. You can buy a nice Desoto block for far less than what you would have into trying to save that one. If it were mine, I would roll it over, sawzall the rods in half to get the crank out, and then procede to building my conversation piece out of the remains.
I have saved worse. The 348 Chevy that is going in my dads '58 Apache pickup looked worse than that. I sandblast all the rust out of the cylinders, and the pistons usually come right out.
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