miles to a quart...

so my 58 willys pk gets about 20 miles to a quart of oil... it is time for a rebuild. my front and rear main seals are toast. i have found rebuild kits. i havent pulled it apart yet so i dont know yet if i will get to reuse the pistons and everything. i anticipate that i will. it is the orginal 6. but hey now it will be reliable and it will give the chance to do the 4 spd swap that i have been to lazy to get done.

if anyone has rebuilt one of these engines is there anything special that i should look out for or be aware of? advice, tips etc appreciated.

 

That depends, how much experience do you have working on engines?

 

well this will be my first complete tear down and rebuild but i have the help of 2 people who have been through this a few times.

 

Buy a factory shop manual for it.

 

l had a 1975 vega wagon, stock motor, that was every 25-35 miles it would need a quart or more of oil, but it got 30+ miles to a gallon of fuel. needed to stop and buy a case of oil every two weeks and keep it in the wagon.

l would fill it with oil and check the gas

l figured it got 20 miles to quart


Later <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

Yeah, I had a Studebaker like that. But, back in the 60's there was a gas station in our neighborhood that had a pump, just like a gas pump, that dispensed re-refined oil for $.11 a quart. I'd be filling the oil more often than filling the gas tank.

 

Hehe, when I was just out of high school I worked night shift at a gas station. We sold bulk oil for 10 cents a quart in those gl*** bottles with the metal pointed tops that people now consider collector items. Every night the same guy would pull in with a 53 Ford and I would put in 4 quarts of oil, and he would drive off, smoking like a chimney. It was his ritual to do that every night on the way to work. I guess 40 cents a day was cheaper than a rebuild.

As for your question about rebuilding the Willys, yes, get a manual for it, and there are all levels of "rebuilds". Some people simply do a ring and bearing overhaul and others remanufacture every part back to factory specs. Find a good machine shop and let them guide you on what needs done to the block and heads.

Don

 

If oil rings on the pistons are broken, there might be enough damage to the cylkinder wall and piston ring land(s) to require an overbore. budget and plan accordingly. a compression check before teardown might be worth the effort, especially if putting a little oil in the cylinders raises the compression reading.

First factory I worked at, a guy drove in his beater truck every morning, slid a drain pan under the engine and when he left work, poured the oil in the drain pan back into the engine!

 

thanks everybody. i bought a manual when i first got the pickup in anticipation of this day. now to figure out what i did with it... i do have a machine shop lined out to hone , level and what not. paying in cash is always a good thing...i hadnt thought of doing a compression test to see how that turns out; but it is now on the list for this weekend along with homework and fixing the snow blower. thanks for the thoughts. good stories to hear.