I got this 331 at what i think is a good price, and as I got the heads off, i noticed one of the cylinders is busted, I've been reading other posts about sleeves, but I'm not an engine guy, and don't know much about sleeves, but if it's able to be saved then it's worth it to me to spend the money to do it. As you know, these are not like small block chevys, and on every corner, i searched a long time, and drove 15hrs to get it, so i dont want to be so quick to give up and start over. any info will help, thank you!
Yes, but the one beside dont look much better. Your going to have fun getting the pistons out, there will be quite a rust pit where the rings are,were.
no, it won't turn, the others just have dried up crudd, but it comes off pretty easy, looks like theres some pitting though, and there are two pistons at the top of the stroke, so i cant see what those look like yet
Looks pretty rough and maybe just the tip of the iceberg. Only way to tell is take it to the machine shop and let them give you an opinion and estimate.
well, thanks for the help, i just wanted to know if it was possible to fix that one cylinder, so i guess i'll finish tearing it down, and head to the machine shop!
Well, to answer your question, yes, pretty much anything is possible. Realistic, that's another. No way we can tell just by looking at an isolated low res. photo on the internet. But, still, yes, that looks highly suspect it might be toast. Get all the **** out/off of it and take some better pictures and maybe we can armchair it a bit better. Or just take it to a local shop and see what they can actually likely do for it. It will cost and extra couple hundred per sleeve. That block is worth maybe a few hundred tops by itself in reasonably usable condition. 331's are not super expensive and shouldn't be that hard to come by a decent one if you know where/how to look. Not sure why you needed to drive 15 hours to get one. You probably p***ed about 50 without knowing it. Also, I would pay for shipping before I would drive 15 hours to go get it. But you got it now, it's rough, just take it to a local shop and see what they have to say. You're going to have to do that anyway. Good luck with it. Hopefully it can be saved without too much extra cost.
I guess the price changes depending. I figure $100 for a sleeve above what you would have paid to bore it in the first place. If the other cylinders aren't cracked they will clean up with a bore and you might want to go to 354 standard bore. I have run sleeves in several engines (Never a Chrysler) never any trouble
A prorerly installed sleeve and by that I mean where the machinist leaves a step at the bottom for the sleeve to sit on (so it cant move ) works well. I prefer using the thicker ones when I can as it gives more support at the head surface but that depends on the core and its original casting thickness. And you are right These dont grow on trees and it behooves us to save everyone we can. Don
Don't know what your time is worth to you but 15 hrs of driving burns up some gas and what you are looking at paying to a machine shop is not trivial. The HAMB is a great place with members all over the world, if I was in the market for an old hemi I would put out some feelers here and see if you couldn't get a better engine to start your build. My shop partner just sold a nice 331 for $800, IMO there are better ways to spend your cash than trying to resurrect the dead (or at least the terminally ill).
After you get it all apart take it to the machine shop and have it checked out to make sure that there are no other surprises with the block. A sleeve usually cost somewhere around $100.00 to install. good luck with your hemi and hope everything works out for you.
Looks like a great project for a Molasas bath, as mentioned on several recent threads. Low cost way to clean imaculately, then inspection is much easier for far less money than an engine shop would charge to vat it. Sleeves should fix it, IMO
You've got all the important stuff (heads, valve covers, exhaust manifolds, intake, blah blah blah) so I'd say **** the 331 block and buy a 354 poly head engine. Those are fairly easy to find/not that expensive and you can transfer all of your Hemi stuff over to it. Plus, if your 331 is an extended bell, the block swap will eliminate that and the money you would have spent on an oddball bellhousing adapter or modifications will offset the cost of the new block. I'm currently looking for a Dodge Red Ram Hemi and I'd be fine with one with a broken block since I already have a poly block to transfer all the stuff onto. All I really need is complete heads with valve covers and exhaust manifolds.
There is a Red Ram Hemi currently listed on Sacramento Craigs Lst and one in San Antonio TX, The guy listing in SAC is in NV, wants 500, The guy listing in TX, has a bunch more stuff with it, for 600
I don't know. it kinda looks from the picture like the cylinder is "unwould", like it cracked at the deck and sprang outward. a cleaning will tell. good luck
Ouch! Didn't you say you knew where an Industrial motor was? Buy it! Swap around parts until you have a good complete motor. Between the two (***uming the IND motor is in better condition) you should have a good core to start with. I agree, not much we can tell from your picture. If it's the only cylinder that's bad, then sleeve it and be done. $100 a hole is typical. Although, with a crack like that, I suspect you'll find more damage. If water froze in the block, there could be a mul***ude of things wrong and your heads might eve be cracked. Keep tearing things apart. I also agree that you could find a replacement extended bell block for very reasonable. And they are all over. I got one for $75 and a case of beer once. I see the blocks come up for around $150 to $300. You still haven't told us your plans, either. Automatic or manual transmission?
Wow, I can't say for sure... Besides the obvious damage - with that much rust will the water jackets and stuff clean up completely?
Ya know what is really funny, I put my 354 up here in the cl***ifieds for 800 and got no response, the lowered it to 500 and still nothing, yet i see motors like this selling for more than i wanted for mine all the time, i just don't get it. oh well mine looks good as yard art!
Looks like a good candidate to dis***emble and throw in a mol***es bath. I think then at least you'd have a way better visual of what you're dealing with. Tough to tell from those pictures.
Well, I went to the machine shop today, and the guy said he can totally save it, so now it's in his hands, and I'll see if I get anymore surprises. And I was looking into wilcaps adaptors for a T5.
Awesome! That's great news! Find out what he has to do to it and share it with us. And make sure to do a build thread on the motor, too. The extended bell Chryslers, lend themselves well to manual transmissions since no additional bell housing is needed for the adaptation. I have the T5 adapter and flywheel from Wilcap and it's VERY nice and Pat at Wilcap is a great guy to deal with. Keep in mind that this engine originally had an Automatic type transmission (whatever Chrysler's name for it was, then), so there are no provisions for clutch actuation. So you are almost forced to use a Hydraulic t-out bearing, unless you want to take a notch out of the bell to clear a fork of some kind. Congrats, and keep us in the loop on what is found along the way!
I cut a notch in mine (1968 didn't have those new hydraulic throwout bearings) It's easy and works fine.
you guys must have mol***as factories that give free leftovers....a 55 gal drum of syrup around here would cost a fortune...
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