Customs Straight 8 Pontiac problem diagnosed - only 7 pistons working

Lebowski - I'm gonna yell at you! I'm 72, damn near died from Cancer in 2006, still not back to normal, got new aches and pains every week. Your health issues and lack of experience did not stop you from pulling the head off the engine so you are willing to try something, it seems.

The car is obviously not your daily driver, you have all the time in the world to fix it. Worried about dying before you get it finished? I'm going to start welding patches in the floorboards of my '49 Chevy and I know that I can't weld worth a damn but I'm going to teach myself how. If croak before I get it done, so be it.

I'm betting that just a good clean-up of that cylinder bore will be OK for a low-compression, low RPM motor like that Pontiac. I'd give it a shot without pulling the engine, and yes you are going to get greasy and make a mess. Get some books that cover that year Pontiac, read and teach yourself the basics, buy the specialty tools you might need. Go slow, think out each move, you have lots of time.

If you decide to take the challenge and get it to run again you will find the effort well worth it. Even if you never finish you will learn something, and you are never too old to learn.

 

That is one sweet looking car, if I was closer with a trailer I would be all over that and the replacement engine in the classifieds.

Why not take the guy on his offer to fix it up? A couple gallons of some Kentucky back country Whiskey should cover the bill!

 

In the good old days, you could have got a guy to come out and drop the pan, remove the rod, Clean off the deck and bolt on a Van Norman (I think) boring bar. Bore it pull in a sleeve, face and bore that, Hone to size and put everything back in place. About two days work. Don't think people do that any more.

 

I love old junk, my favorite engine in the whole wide world is the str8 Buick. My first car in 1958 was a 38 Buick, and I've built and rebuilt two 1940 a 1941 a 1948, a 1950 and am constantly on the lookout for my dream car a 1949 Buick sedanette with a str 8 and a stick.
I have owned three 50's Pontiac str 8's. They taught me to hate them, even the cool looking hardtop. That's just my opinion and I've earned it.
I do get it, I built and own a custom 40 Ford today, it is very HAMB friendly . Some of you would love it some may not. I don't care. If everybody hated old pontiacs and loved 40 Fords I wouldn't have been able to buy the barn find I started with.
By up to todays standards I meant the ability to get out of its own way which none of MY old Pontiacs could manage. One more time it's just my opinion, and you know the rest.
When you turn into an old curmudgeon you can have an opinion too.

 

Rich has got it. Did those kind of jobs in 60-70s in the car no big deal. If I owned that car I would get my friend that I sold my Van Norman portable bar to come over and a sleave would be put in.
By the way damm nice looking car !!!

 

I have to say it too, that is a nice looking car!

 

I saw that when I was a kid.. on a '49 Dodge. He also did the valve seat grinding on the spot too.

 

There were even rigs that would let you grind the rod journals with the crank in place.

 

My buddy has a old boring bar and I have helped do a six cylinder engine in place. pretty cool to do. sucked honing it though.

 

Wow.. never saw one of those before.