It's a pretty lengthy story about how the sand got into my engine, so to cut it short, I tore down my chevy 350 down to the block recently just to find out that all the main bearings and rod bearings were tore up by little grains of sand. The crank was already turned .010, and the scratches in the crank look pretty deep, I could put a new crank and bearings in there, but I'm wondering if that is even worth the risk, couldn't there still be a few grains of sand hiding, just waiting to tear up the bearings, again? I was planning on installing a whole new rotating assembly, but now I'm thinking it might be better to find a whole new short block with no risk involved. Has anyone gone through this before?
There shouldn't be any risk to reusing the block, as long as it's cleaned well before rebuilding. Take your crank to a machine shop and let them make the call as to whether it can be ground for reuse. If there was sand in the engine, simply replacing the crank and bearings is no guarantee that there isn't more sand lurking somewhere, just waiting to destroy another crank and bearings. Nothing but a complete tear down and hot tanking or damn thorough cleaning (pressure, bore brushes, hot soapy water) will get rid of it all
yes it is tore down to the block right now, I can wash it, can I get away with washing it myself, or is it just best to have a machine shop do it for me? If I take it to the machine shop I can have them hone the cylinders too I guess, make sure the new piston rings get the best chance to seat. I can get a new cast crank and bearings for $99.99 (sadly stock bearings). Or, I can get my current crank turned and install some good Clevite 77's, I'm guessing that would be the most expensive route, but would have the better bearings over just stock. Quick info about this block Bore: .060 Mains: 2 Bolt Miles: < 22,000 deck to piston clearance was flush. Sorry if I may have a lot of questions, I am just an amateur, thanks for such quick responses!
The easy and safe way is to just remove the filter adapter and remove the small oil bypass and put a pipe plug in the hole and reinstall it. Now all the oil must go through the filter. Now you have a choice #1 drive it easy for a few days or #2 install a hi flow filter like a K&N race filter and you will be good for say 1,000 miles. when done, reinstall another filter adapter with a bypass. I would still flush out the oil galleys with solvent
If its apart get it Hot tanked and cleaned. You will want to replace the cam bearings aswell remvove all oil galley plugs aswell. Also have the crank machinened/checked it will be fine if you didnt run it much.
When you get your crank make sure you clean the oil passages in it I've found them with grit from the grinding itself. You can't overstress clean. Heads come back from the machine shop with grit from grinding the seats still in the ports Cylinders should be wiped with a oily rag or wd40 untill the rag comes out clean.
That is very good news, ill be buying a cam bar to remove the bearings. That is good advice, how do you usually clean it, just spray with a can of wd-40? I think I'm also going to open up my fram filter that I was using, it's incredible that there was still sand going through the oiling system, you would think that it would eventually get caught in the filter. Kinda wonder if there was a tear.
That is why I suggested to plug the bypass, it allows oil to bypass the filter as the oil flow increases.
Hot tank the block and then ask the machinist where you borrowed the hot tank to advize you on turning the crank. Just like Eddspeed says only in fewer words.
Back in the 70s my pop drove an oldsmobile through a dust storm in Arizona.... ate the rings up and smoked after that.
There is nothing filthier than the bottom of a hot tank. Go ahead and hot tank the block and crank, but clean them again yourself after you get them home. my 2¢ .bjb
What he said - the cost of a proper hot tanking compared to the damage that could be done by another lot of sand in the system makes it a no-brainer...
Don't forget the cap plug under the rear main cap. It goes into the oil filter passage. Remove all oil plugs when hot tanking. I saw a Buick engine in 1978 that had casting sand stuck to the block in the lower end. It ate up the engine.
This is true, are Wix filters good enough in your opinion? Yes, some of it was from the previous owner, and some of it was my fault, ill be sure to be more careful this time. Excellent idea. yup, luckily they are cheap for what they do too! Ill look up all locations of the plugs on google, thanks a whole lot, all of you. I might just get this all together again, this time PROPERLY.
So was the sand from beadblasting the block ? I was never able to get all the crap out of a motor after doing that in my youth even after several tear downs and cleaning.
That is very possible, though I don't know what the sand looks like from bead blasting, I had some grains that were very slightly magnetic, and some of the other grains (true sand) looked like quartz. I am in need of a few more opinions, I can take this block to the machine shop, which could possibly take a month just to get down there since I will need to find a friend with a truck, or I can order up a "new" rebuilt short block, and rebuild the old in my spare time to sell, or for another future project. What I am more interested in than saving time is, what is the RIGHT way to do this, what would give me the best results with the least risks. I already have a pair of Comp Cams Aluminum 64cc heads (with fel-pro #1003 head gaskets), stainless roller rockers, Engle ep-26/28 cam and hydraulic lifters, holley street dominator aluminum intake, holley 600 mechanical carb. I currently have saved up $2k to get this done. The short block I am currently looking at: http://www.ebay.com/itm/355CI-SBC-S...pt=Race_Car_Parts&hash=item43b2f77584&vxp=mtr
Since you have all those other goodies, that short block would be the way to go to get you back together. With everything that has been done to the short block it would be a matter of bolt together "GIT-R-DONE" If it's in you budget, repitable seller with quality work go for it.You will be ahead.
very true, it would be fantastic to be able to drive to school again... the bus causes a depletion of sanity daily lol.
Maybe a guy who doesnt ever clean theres.... Also i shouldve stated after that it is machined inspected etc it needs to be thoroughly cleaned for final assembly, But most guys know that. Trilobyte If theres any ?`s pm me or call me
"I think I'm also going to open up my fram filter that I was using, it's incredible that there was still sand going through the oiling system, you would think that it would eventually get caught in the filter. Kinda wonder if there was a tear." Fram filters come from the factory pre torn. They are garbage. Don't waste your money on a Fram filter, just leave the old one on, it will be as good or better.
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