So 3 years ago I am 15 and I get my first truck, a 1990 chev reg. Cab stepside 4X4. Put lots of stuff onto the body of it so it had that perfect "gook wagon" look lol. Im driving it one day and the motor blows up. Alright, it had almost 200K on it, thats almost expected. I go to Checker auto parts to get a rebuilt engine. $900 bucks later I had an engine with a warranty. I put it in. 561 miles later it blows a head gasket and is full of coolant (in oil pan). Has warranty, so they give me another engine to put in. I do it, and this always ran a little warm, about 210-215 degrees year round, but it never overheated. Also, once the engine was warm, the oil pressure would go to about 15-20 pounds, pitiful I believe. Well, ive been running this one for about 1 ½ years, and a few weeks ago it blows up AGAIN. They tell me to bring it to a local shop so the shop can give their diagnosis. Turns to be 3 dead cylinders. Ok, they give me the go ahead to pull it. I take the motor out, and bring it to checkers. They tell me it has to be sent to Philadelphia for more "diagnostic testing." A few days later I check in and its still sitting. A week after that I go in and they tell me it overheated and im screwed. EVEN THOUGH ALL 4 HEAT TABS ARE STILL SECURLY IN PLACE. They told me when I bought the first motor that if the heat tabs fall off the warranty is void, well dammit there still there. So I own the shit engine still so I bring it home and pull the heads. On the top of the pistons it is stamped that they are for cylinders bored 080 over. Isnt that too much? I thought you could bore an SBC about 60 max, and this was 80, am I right? Im so tired of messing with CHECKER AUTO PARTS I could puke. I babied that pickup so much its unbelievable. Besides very regular oil changes, I rarely drove over 55 mph, and never took interstate. This is ridiculous. My dad said I should get a crate motor from GM and hed help we with it, so it looks like im going that route now, even though I shouldnt have to pay a dime. I need to cool down........................Briggs
I'm prolly gonna catch hell for this, but 15-20 hot at idle doesn't sound that bad. My 4.3 has about that with 5W30 Mobil 1. It may go up with a heavier oil, but I doubt it. Sorry to hear about your luck... but 80 thou sounds a little big for a late model casting. Hope you get it resolved soon. Jay
I have always been told that 60 over is about all you should go, but I am by no means a professional engine guru. I would compose a nasty letter to the big wigs and have a heart to heart chat with the upper crust of Checkers, because the situation you are in sucks. A GM crate motor is a good investment, I have heard nothing but good things about them. Good Luck, and I hope this gets resolved in your favor. -Joe
15 to 20 psi at 50 mph is not good. Eighty over isn't good. I would seriously look to a GM Goodrich crate engine. You seem to be having bad luck with the chain store stuff. Spend a little and get some piece of mind. At .080, your block is pretty much worthless...
I had a question about oil pressure out a mellings pump i installed in a sbc. The guy on thier end of the phone said 10 pounds per 1000 rpm. That was a high volume pump, not high pressure. Now, if you had 15 to 20 at 55 mph..something was wrong from the beginning..Maybe bearing clearences were too high from the "factory"..who know's. And i agree, 80 over is getting to the extreme. If i absolutely had to use it again, i'd have it sonic checked to see how thick the cylidar walls are. The walls may be too thin, and could very well have aided in the engine running hot all the time. Possibly causing the "over heating" they say you did. Before i would allow them to say "screw you" , i'd make sure the over heating issue wasn't caused because of a poorly rebuilt engine. maybe take the block to a local machine shop and talk to their engine builder. Ask him his input and see what he say's. These guy's live in these motors, and may be able to give you a little more info than we can here. As far as the GM motors,I know a lot of guy's that have had great luck with GM crate motors, either in hot rods, or normal drivers. I think they come with a 3 year 36K mile warranty. Just my 2 cents.. Good luck. Tony.....
My friend(thirycoupe) just got a new crate motor from GM, $1350, you get a warranty& don't have to worry about anything.Its a nice truck so chaulk it off as a loss & go for the crate jimV
oh yeah, I forgot to add that there were THREE different style exhaust valves between the 2 heads!!!!!!!!!!!
I wouldn't let them off that easy. 80 over is ridiculous. 30 pounds pressure isn't rite either. Start at the top of that chain and work down. The owner is where to start. Also check with a local engine builder and get his take on it. I hate replacing a new anything because it is defective. If I wanted to replace it I would buy used crap. And this coming from a guy that is going to use a 60,000 mile motor in one of his cars. Nutz.
First off, I am sure there are many here with more knowledge than me. However, here we go. You should be making somewhere around 40+ psi oil pressure when you are giong down the road at 35mph or above. .080 over is rediculous. I will not use anything that I have to bore over more than .040. You can go bigger, but you will have to have a really strong cooling system. For street use I would never reccomend greater than .040 for reliability's sake. Remanufactured engines are a great deal if they are from a "great company." These days you are almost better off to go with a genuine GM crate engine for a couple hundred more. The engine probably does show heat related stress due to the cylinders being "over bored." I would venture to say an OEM radiator would be hard pressed to cool a .060 over engine. I have noticed some of the imported engines I have rebuilt running above the thermostat when they are only bored .030 over. Justice
anyone know what the cubic inches of a 350 bored .080 over with stock stroke (as far as I know) would be? Just for shits and giggles and (un)bragging rights.............
I'd never buy cheap rebuilds from Checker. My kid usta work there and told me some horror stories about returns on rebuilt engines, alternators and starters. They use the cheapest rebuilders they can find and had a return rate of about 70%..... Conversly, I have a GM crate 350 in my Rocky Goodtime Van [85 astro] and I love it.....runs strong and cool. Sorry to hear of your personal horror story but I can't help but wonder if a lawsuit wouldn't cost more than the next rebuilt engine you would be awarded if you won....IF you won.. 0.080 over for a 350 chevy is way outta line and so it the low oil pressure you showed....I wonder who even manufactures 0.080 over 350 pistons?
.080 over would be 366ci, i run .060 over on the street in a pretty hot motor with no problems, .080 over is toally out of line for a factory type rebuild, i didnt think any body was still making those size pistons any more from the sounds of everything i would say it is a all around crappy rebuild, i have seen a couple around here that the local auto parts store is peddeling that look to be the same qaulity
Just remember "you get what you pay for" and in the engine rebuilding business when you buy a discount engine in general you get a baragin basement engine. I've seen them where when torn down there are some cylinders bored, but others not. The valves you mentioned are par for the course. This is just one of the many reasons I don't shop at the discount chains. You'll just be better off getting a brand name GM or other reputable brand. I would suggest that you contact both your Better Business Bureau and State Attorney General. Give them a documented history of the transaction and push for a refund. They may make you go to arbitration, but you should be able to settle the problem. If it comes to them giving you another engine have a good mechanic check it out thoroughly...
As a last resort you go to the bad publicity, mount that scrap motor with a sign and park in the driveway and chase their customers off, one way or another they will try to make you leave after you tell the world about the scrap rebuilds that they sell
[ QUOTE ] .080 over would be 366ci, i run .060 over on the street in a pretty hot motor with no problems, [ QUOTE ] [/ QUOTE ] I would bet you are not running an OEM radiator and fan. Justice
Briggs, this is a easy one, take your engine to a certified mechanic or engine rebuilder have him document the the fact of the poor engine rebuilding with a affidavid. Add the cost of the motor + the cost of the R&R plus document the hours you spend dealing with this issue+court cost if allowed. Track down the the corprate info file a case in small claims. it will cost you probably $40 for the suppena. They will pay you off... It cost them more money to fight it than to pay it, plus if they decide to do they will lose. because you have all the documentation. be prepared they will call you they day before your court date, around 5pm and say we will pay. Let them know that you will file a extension and you expect to receive a check before then. Why do I know all this? me vs. jeep corp.
i work run a machine shop and you wouldnt believe the shit i see! lots of hack jobs and shity repairs, ive heard about some of them checker engines before, miss matched parts and lotsa other crap. same with cyl. head rebuilders, they knurk the guides(which i dont agree with cause it dont last as long as bronze liners) and no hardened seats(which i dont agree witha alwasy iether in my opinion). .080 over, thats a joke, the more you bore the hotter they run, we call em heaters! low oil psi, whats the crank ground at? you shoul build your motor yourself! it aint hard at all, just gotta be clean and correct, get yourself a good 350 core, dissasemble,find a small reputable machine shop, drop the crank, rods, block and heads, have it bored 30 over, crank ground 10 under, have your rods reconditioned, new cam bearings installed, get a engine kit with all the stuff ya need and put it together, use plastigauge to make sure all the tolerances are correct, then you know whats in your engine. if its dione correctly itll last a long time. or the gm motors are preety good also, if you can get a core cheaper, the machine work and kit would set you back about blockwork 520, heads 300ish kit, 200 and up, so about 1000 then you gotta put it together. thats my take on it, but i personally would get a junkyard runner and put it in, always seem to have good luck doing that!
[ QUOTE ] I would bet you are not running an OEM radiator and fan [/ QUOTE ] its a standard duty walker in a model a coupe, with standard sbc fan bolted on the water pump but i have to agree with titus,build your own and you know exactly what you got, i get a real kick out of helping somebody assemble their first engine, and watch them fire it off. i am not big on crate motors as i have torn a few down anjd found "advertised" and "actual" are quite different.
I am impressed. It is not often you can get away with running .060 engine without upgrading the cooling system. I only tried it once. I ended up having to run an additional electric fan and go to a different vacuum advance to keep the timing from coming in to much at part throttle. I am also with Titus on building your own. However, I recently moved to the Toledo, Ohio area. The machine shop prices up here are ludicrous. They almost make it cheaper to buy it already built. I had to pay around $800 just to get the basics done on a block, rods, pistons, & crank. That didn't even include any head work. Down south I could get the heads re-worked and the other work done for under $600. Justice Justice
I agree with building it yourself, which I have always done in the past, but I worked at a machine shop, so I wasn't payin' much for machine work... With the prices people get around here now, I'd have to work pretty hard to come up eith the money to have the machine work done! The short block in my Chevy II was built for me by a place out of California that I now refer to as "SUCK-E-Motors". They've supposedly been building engines since 1946, but whoever bult mine had never bult one before!!! The reason I went with them was because after adding up the cost of all parts involved, I was only paying like $300 for ALL of the machine work and assembly, and they advertise in ALL of the major magazines, so I figured they must be decent..... DEFINITELY a case of "you get what ya pay for"! They said it would be here in 3-5 weeks, it took 9 months... The block was supposed to be align bored; they only did the 3 splayed caps They put the rear main seal for an align bored block in the standard cap (and destroyed it) the block was supposed to be zero decked, all of the pistons are .010-.013 in the hole They had the cam bearings cocked in the bores They screwed up drilling and subsequently stripped one of the bolt holes for the splayed caps the piston rings were installed with most of the end gaps lined up with each other 2 of the pistons had the oil ring support rails upside down And that's just the stuff I can think of right now! So it's not just the super budget places guys (I paid $3000 just for the short block!), seems everbody's out to screw people...
Boreing 80 over is the very last straw in a SBC. There is a placein San Antonio to still build motors bored that big. They usually only sell them to circle track and drag racers. They run kinda hot
It still amazes me that there are SO many horror stories about engine rebuilding joints floating around! It's sad that these places remain in business longer than a week with the shit-ass quality that some of them pump out! That said, I'm with Racefab on this...there ain't hardly NUTHIN' as cool as rebuilding an engine yourself at home, then firing it up for the first time! It ain't rocket science, and you're BOUND to do a better job than alot of these fly-by-night ripp-off "shops" do, even if you've NEVER done it before! When I was 17, I rebuilt the motor in my first car with the help of my Dad, and we spent the money for decent machine work and good parts. The motor came out great, and served the next few owners of the car well! Shortly after doing the final assembly on MY engine, a couple of my buddies and I rebuilt a 283 in my friend's driveway using a wagon for an engine stand, a cheap hone powered by his Dad's drill, lots of cleaner, a mail-order ring, bearing and gasket set, along with parts taken from my old 350 before the rebuild, such as the stock 350-300HP cam, lifters (numbered, of course!) new timing chain, my old oil pan and fuel pump, and a parts store oil pump. We rebuilt his stock 283 heads in auto shop, and slapped the little 283 together. Our "low buck driveway rebuild" ran flawlessly, and moved his 71 Ventura around ALOT quicker than the former 307 ever did...even with the two barrel carb and cheap, used headers we had to use due to budget limitations! And that little 283 was just a backyard rebuild done by KIDS with no budget or time for good machine work! The car never let him down, either! After those initial experiences, I was sold on doing my own engine work...and it's been very rewarding, to say the least! I don't do high dollar Reher-Morrison type of stuff...but I can go through a stock motor and warm it up a little with basic techniques and bolt-on parts with total confidence! And if I can do it...ANYONE can! (And from what I've seen and heard, you can't do WORSE than many of these parts joints and so-called professional shops do!!)
While I don't normally want to rag on a company, I feel Checker Auto Parts is a good place to buy oil, sparkplugs, and 1157 tail light bulbs. I and my friends & family have bought lots of rebuilt stuff from them over the years, but we've learned. Seldom do you get a good replacement alternator or starter from them that works on the first try. I got tired of swapping alternators or starters till I got a good one. And I've NEVER gotten a rebuilt carb from them that wasn't a cobbled together piece of shit. I won't buy anything rebuilt from Checker and neither will any of my friends or family. I'm done swapping starters 3 or 4 times to get a good one. Last alternator I bought, we had them test the new one in the store and 3 failed their test before we got one that passed. Never again...
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