Yep - it's a 305 shortblock for Right Price But...It was started without oil. Seems this young guy had it rebuilt, put it in his car, fired it up, started knocking and then pulled it out, my buddies dad just wanted it out his yard. Another friend needs the heads for his V8-S10 project so I get the block. He started it with no oil, filter is bone dry and a few drops in the pan. The walls have a nice cross hatch and pistons look good. So what gets wiped out when this happens? Is it all the bearings, cam and the oil pump? I plan on using the heads off my 262 and get some low-mid range cam. The motor is for the Bucket (bye-bye Buick) since I have a T-350 laying around and set of roadster headers I got off the HAMB last year. I just want something with enough power to challenge and smoke the Green Bean
Its a 350 & Turbo 400 out of a 71 Skylark with 130K on it all its lacking is a carb and oil drain plug, ran when parked I parted out the car and was going to run this in my bucket but it is too wide to loose that much foot area. I do want to get rid of the motor &******* if you know anybody interested.
depending on how long it ran with out oil will depend on how bad the damage is, but needless to say, knocking is no good! if there was a fair amount of****y lube, the damage MAY have been minimized, but chances are, you should look at it as needing another rebuild. pull it apart. pull the cam out, mic everything. check all contact surfaces. who knows, you may get lucky! and make sure to use a bottle of tribotech engine treatment if and when it goes back together! it saved my behind when my oil pump went out on the way home from bakersfield and i didnt know it.
That Byooick will smoke the 305 in terms of torque and power. However, the real point of your post was what to do with the shortblock. You have to completely tear it down and see what happened. At a minimum you need all new bearings, new cam and lifters, timing set, and probably toasted the distributor bushings. It is unknown whether the crank and rods have damage that is beyond repair, my guess is that they will need some regrind to clean up. It all depends on how much they were run before the knocking. The pistons need to check the pins and see if they are still tight or if they became worn. The rings should be replaced, they are cheap anyway. Overall, I think you may have gooten soemthing for free that could be more work than it's worth. If the engine parts have been run too long, the damage is at the point it is better to just scrap it and get a 350, it's bigger and has more potential than the 305.
I'd say it's worth every penny... So far.... It could have been lower end knocking or it could have been just dry hydraulic lifters making noise and not damaged. I'd pull the pan and the rod and main caps and check the damage. If it still has****embly lube in the bearings that's the first good sign. if the bearings are dry and the crank is scored, keep looking for a "free" ($100 or less) 350 because the parts are cheaper. If the bottom end is still OK put a new pump in it just out of general principles (I replace oil pumps if they are readily available if I pull the pan for any reason, they are cheap and because they are before the filter in the system they wear out fast) and run it. if you have to go through it, weigh what it need$ against another deal.
Thanks for the input - I agree with 38Chev on the torque & power issue from the Buuky which may be too much for a light T. I may mothball the motor if no-one here wants it and use it for another heavier project in the future. I guess it all comes down to what Dr J said "if you have to go through it, weigh what it need$" then it's Buuky time again. Thanks again - this place is the best
Listen to Dr J. There is hope, because the lifters with no pressure would have started a really scary racket before the bearings went, IF there was decent****embly lube. And examine cam lobes--probaly examining lifter bottoms would be enough. They'll scrape away****embly lube and fail quickly if the engine isn't tossing oil around.
Hey Dixie, Before you start to rebuild that freebie check out this tech o'matic by FatHack http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=164167&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 There is alot of good info here specifically for the sbc 305. Enjoy.
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