Okay- took the heads off the caddy engine to see why it would turn over. Turns out there was some gunk in the cylinders and a few stuck valves. After pulling the heads and cleaning the cylinders a bit, the motor now turns over fine. But I have other problems. It appears that one of the pistons lost a chunk somewhere during its life (See the picture). The chunk apparently was shoved against the head because there is a shallow dent in the head (I dont know if you can see it in the picture.) Now someone had apparently pulled this part out and then ran the engine with the piston in this condition. The cylinder walls all look good, Even on the cylinder with the bad piston. Now I got the motor for free, and have a full gasket kit for it. IF I can score a used piston AND if none of the bearings are bad (havent checked yet) Should I run a glaze breaker through each cylinder and then re-ring the whole motor OR just replace the piston and slap it back together? Can I run a glaze breaker through it and NOT change rings? If the bearings are bad, I will probably give up on it- I really dont want to completely rebuild it. Your opinions please. BTW- take a look at the nice patch work done to the bottom of the intake- I planned to build a sheet metal intake for it anyway. Thanks -Joe-
I say glaze break, re-ring all cylinders and throw it back together. Those blocks are bullet proof. Hopefully you can score the right piston. but if you are going to build a manifold why not bore it up one size and get new pistons and rings. sounds like you are going to put forth more than the minimal effort anyway. Are piston/ring sets that pricey? Could be cheaper in the long run. Good luck.
Have you got a means to check compression? Wouldn't this say something about the state of the engine? Check for ridge at the top of the cylinders. Total Mileage? If you replace the bad piston, and get it up and running, at least then you'll know what you've got. I'd hate to re-ring it, and then learn that there is more work to be done, AFTER putting it back together. ...Von's post makes a case for the strength of the lower ends, so it may be worth the additional effort. I've not heard a bearing knock in these motors...so it could be OK.
You've got to break open the bottom end anyway to replace that piston, why not throw some new bearings in it? That is, if the crank is any good. The rod bearing that goes with the bad piston is likely to be stressed at the very least. I'd say re-hone and re-ring, new bearings. And make sure there aren't any cracks in that chamber.
Hmm... What normally happens to me at this point is I can't stop replacing parts. Just finished a flatty which had one bad piston - thought I'd ****on it up and be done with it.... that was about $5,000 ago. If you've got it apart - check EVERYTHING; if it's in spec use it - if it's outta spec - replace it. BBpacer's comment on the broken ring land cylinder's bearing is right - betcha there's a bit of clearance on that one! would **** to pull it apart, re-ring and then spin the rod bearing 45 minutes into startup...
All good points- I do plan to pull the pan and check all the bearings.. just havent gotten to it yet cuz it is sitting on a dolly right now and not an engine stand. From the looks of the engine and the missing piston chunk, I would say that it went bad, someone pulled the head, removed the chunk, replaced the valves and bolted it back together... and it looks like it was ran after that. Im trying to keep the build for the whole car as cheap as possible but since I did get the engine for free, spending a couple hundred on a rebuild kit isnt so bad. I'll check the bearings and let you all know what I decide to do. I think now that it is turning over I may bolt the heads back on with the old head gaskets and try to take some compression readings to see how it looks.
parts look a bit pricy! http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1320185,pgname,Engine (year may be wrong I just guessed)
I've done several non-chevy 50s motors....those are expensive parts for the 429! and I think rock auto does have pretty compe***ive prices on this stuff.
I just check your links - and that's quite a bit more than I recall pyaing for 472 parts - but that was several years ago
429 aint a 472..... It's also been a while for me working on that type engine, I did a caddy 390 around 1990 I think parts were only about double what a chevy cost.
429 was only a 4 year engine, costly to rebuild but all the parts are available...at a price. I know several people with 429's pulled for parts if you want the info...PM me and I'll give you some email addy's
429 block had a reputatuon for warping if bored too, make sure you've got a GOOD machinist. Just saw a set of NOS main bearings .010 for around $79.00 on E-bay, might be worth looking into. Its a fierce motor just depends on how much you want to spend. Also be aware of the following if its a 1964: It is a ONE YEAR only block, the later 65-67 ****** WILL NOT BOLT RIGHT UP TO IT! The block was cast for the dual coupling hydro, there is an adaptor ring for the 1 year only turbo hydro, the rings are known to crack! The crank for a dual coupling hydro and the turbo hydro cars are different, they have a different flange depending on which ****** they were built to take. To put a later ****** on there motors you will need an adaptor kit & I think Wilcap are the only ones doing them now. I think you had the dual coupling hydromatic, hte to say it but good luck finding someone who can or will work on it. Hats off to you for going ahead with this though, I LOVED my 64 & 65's with the 429.
Thanks for all the info everyone. I have the Dual coupling Hydro cuz no adapter ring. If it needs machine work, I think I will step back. but we'll see when I finally get it torn down the rest of the way. Thanks -Joe-
Okay- took the pan off this weekend. Everythign looked good to me but im no bearing expert. I took out the bad piston and took the caps off a few more- All look the same- Dull grey, no major scratches or discolorations. I took off 2 main caps- again both looked the same. I found a paint marker #6 on the cap of the bad piston and all of the pistons/caps and main bearing caps have the cylinder or journal number stamped into them. If this was a small block chevy I would say it had been rebuilt. Not sure if Caddys had the numbers stamped into them or what... So I think it is good. I plan to replace the rings and the bad piston only and torque everything back together. Looking at the pictures, does this sound like a decent plan? Im I wrong and the bearings need replacement too? I dont have much "used bearing" experience.
Get some plastic gage and check the bearings with it to see if they are in tolerance. Also a MUST CHECK is the timing chain and top sprocket. I think the top sprocket has nylon teeth and they break off when they get old. Around here in Wisconsin you can find rusted out Cads that still run good with 472's in them for under $500 for the entire car.
I run a 429 Cad in My 49 Merc. I LOVE IT!. With 279 rear gears an old Autolite 4 bbl it gets 14.5 MPG and ripped off a 15.08 at the track. We drive the piss out of it. It holds 30 - 40 lbs oil pressure all the time. I have just recently tuned it up and put on a new 600 Holley. Man it hauls *** now and still gets good milage. I will take it to the Friday night Hotrod drags this month Ill bet it runs 14.80s. Good Luck stick with it. FEDER
Sometimes when you uncap a rod you'll find the bearing shell is not a tight fit in the rod and cap anymore(when it got torqued it lost it's preload), if this is the case, lay a piece of gl*** on the workbench and apply a little pressure on the shell, just want to spring it a little so it will be tight in the cap or rod and will stay put while you re***emble the damned thing. Can't stress enough how important attention to detail is.
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