I have to tear apart my motor again for a blown headgasket and I figured the bottom end has like 115k miles on it, I was wanting to give it a refresh. I want to keep my stock pistons, rods, crank, etc but just want to change out all the bearings, and put in some billet main caps. Can this be done pretty easy by yourself or is there any machining involved??? I don't want to go crazy with it...just want it to be reliable for next year and not have any worries of something breaking. Any suggestions? I'm by no means an engine expert but I can do my own work. Thanks.
Anybody here rebuild their own bottom end?
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well i believe you have to have the engine aligne honed if you replace the main caps. i guess it wouldnt hurt to swap out the bearings but i would talk to an experienced builder first, or at least check out the thread on thrust bearing failure. these things arent hard to do but theyre even easier to f***k up.
Cheeseburger
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If nothing is wrong with it, leave it alone........this advice will cost you a real good deal on parts for me in the future.... 
Cheeseburger
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alvin87gn said:
I am pretty sure he works for PTE (i think) so.......
Just got the shortblock done (im on month 8 now), if it aint broke dont mess with it... these projects cascade into lots of $$$ and time... as soon as it needs any machine work is where the trouble starts... many shops cant do buicks properly and the ones that do have long lead times.
Phil
Phil
I think the problem is Don has tasted that low 11 second time slip.. and wants another one... Problem is the stock shortblock is questionable in the low 11 second realm... and short of a major build.. its a tough call.
Also when you start getting miles on the motor things like piston to wall clearance becomes an issue..
If you have no money... then do bearings and plastiguage it.. shoot for a little under .002 on mains and rods if possible. any more than .002 you start to get questions.. everyone here can/will argue this.. point is the .002 should be a pretty good baseline.
Plastiguage it with the stock bearings and see what ya get
Its pandoras box when you take the block all the way down to the nubbs.. then the hot tank, hone, cam bearings, etc... then to do rings or not, etc... at the level your running your motor, at one point your gonna have to bite the bullet and spend the money strengthening it.. Is what it is..
Unless your planning on not racing it anymore
Also when you start getting miles on the motor things like piston to wall clearance becomes an issue..
If you have no money... then do bearings and plastiguage it.. shoot for a little under .002 on mains and rods if possible. any more than .002 you start to get questions.. everyone here can/will argue this.. point is the .002 should be a pretty good baseline.
Plastiguage it with the stock bearings and see what ya get
Its pandoras box when you take the block all the way down to the nubbs.. then the hot tank, hone, cam bearings, etc... then to do rings or not, etc... at the level your running your motor, at one point your gonna have to bite the bullet and spend the money strengthening it.. Is what it is..
Unless your planning on not racing it anymore
Hmmm, i kinda missed your sig... your almost into 10's... if you want to hit em with some kind of peace of mind then do the engine...
MY TIP: just quick fix the one you have if its a minor problem and start the new engine with another block. The only thing you'd keep shortblock-wise is maybe the rods and they can be found for like 50 bucks if you run stockers. Like i said, im getting a bit too close to a year downtime on mine and ill tell you something: I MISS THE RIDE!!!
Phil
MY TIP: just quick fix the one you have if its a minor problem and start the new engine with another block. The only thing you'd keep shortblock-wise is maybe the rods and they can be found for like 50 bucks if you run stockers. Like i said, im getting a bit too close to a year downtime on mine and ill tell you something: I MISS THE RIDE!!!
Phil
Cheeseburger
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d0n_3d said:
I got to 134+mph in the 1/4 on my bone stock shortblock before i had problems,(6 years racing) its your call.
BOOSTEDGNs
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If it aint broke dont fix it....my vette started out as a simple headgasket job and before I knew it I wanted this and then had to have that to go with this and yada yada yada.....parts alone on my 396 stroker over 15k and thats modest I know Im way over 20k and Id be lucky to get 10k for that car.....
My GN just got dropped off to get looked over for smoke out my vc's I praying to the gods this doesnt end up another money pit in my life..
this is worst than drugs very very addictive......
Alan
My GN just got dropped off to get looked over for smoke out my vc's I praying to the gods this doesnt end up another money pit in my life..
this is worst than drugs very very addictive......
Alan
BOOSTEDGNs said:
LOL yeah you are very right...
Well I still have to tear it all apart...luckily no water got in the motor when I blew this headgasket...I've blown 4 headgaskets now over the years and not one time has water got in the oil or motor...I've been very lucky...so I think everything should be in good shape...I'll pull the oil pan and look around...if everything looks normal I'll just put it back together and just run it...if something goes later than that will be the time I guess
next time I will make sure all my vacuum lines are tied down...that's what caused this whole mess in the first place...27 lbs of boost and the damn fuel pressure regulator line blows off (not at the regulator, at the hose connector piece)...happened on the very top of the run almost at the finish line...02's dropped to 0 and I let out...
Turbo-Archie
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Is Harry trying to sell you a stage block?? :biggrin:
I would put main studs in it and start building your other motor now.
I would put main studs in it and start building your other motor now.
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d0n_3d said:
To be serious you may want to ask Dan.
I've done mine. When I first got it, all I needed was bearings and rings. Then of course later on, I had to find some reasons why it needed a new cam, home-ported heads, more turbo, etc. If your oil pressure is good and you have good cranking compression, I would leave it alone.
DonnieShort
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Fwiw
IF it were mine, I'd rebuild the whole thing. Since you're down that far might as well. Now is the best time, season wise to do it. Parts will most likely be in stock and so forth. I pulled mine the last week of this past January. Nothing was wrong with it, just wanted to go fatser and freshin it up. I had hit the limit on what it was going to run and wanted more. It had a touch over 113,000 miles on the stock unopened motor. Everything was in such great shape when I disassembled it. I reused my stock rods, polished the beams and had them resized and fitted with ARP bolts. Crank was as new, they polished it basically for the hell of it. I used billet main caps on 1,2, and 3. The alignhone was perfect, clearances was .002 on the rods and mains. The machine shop knew the idiosyncrasy's of the Turbo Buick motor. The cylinder walls cleaned up to just a little over standard, but since I was using the Powerforged Speed Pro pistons I had to take it to the next available size which was 30 over and they used a torque plate. The budget didn't allow for the JE's even though I could get them in 10 over. Other than it taking me 7 months to do, mainly due to backordered parts and buying a piece at a time as I needed it and the budget allowed, it was a very enjoyable experience. I did all of the assembly myself from the bare bone block to the finished product, the machine shop only did the machine work and everything went together like it was supposed to. That is the key!! The machine work. I see alot of guys having problems and you hear all of these horror stories but if the machine work is right and you take your time putting it together everything will be good. Don't let others scare you. As long as you select the right shop to do the machine work, you will be fine. Make a plan of what you want to use i.e., cam, roller or not, rocker ratio, injectors etc. And go for it! Best thing I have ever done. And btw, this was the first motor I have done from the ground up. And my reward? First trip to the track I ran 10.87 @ 124mph
with alot left in it. Go for it, you'll be glad you did!!
IF it were mine, I'd rebuild the whole thing. Since you're down that far might as well. Now is the best time, season wise to do it. Parts will most likely be in stock and so forth. I pulled mine the last week of this past January. Nothing was wrong with it, just wanted to go fatser and freshin it up. I had hit the limit on what it was going to run and wanted more. It had a touch over 113,000 miles on the stock unopened motor. Everything was in such great shape when I disassembled it. I reused my stock rods, polished the beams and had them resized and fitted with ARP bolts. Crank was as new, they polished it basically for the hell of it. I used billet main caps on 1,2, and 3. The alignhone was perfect, clearances was .002 on the rods and mains. The machine shop knew the idiosyncrasy's of the Turbo Buick motor. The cylinder walls cleaned up to just a little over standard, but since I was using the Powerforged Speed Pro pistons I had to take it to the next available size which was 30 over and they used a torque plate. The budget didn't allow for the JE's even though I could get them in 10 over. Other than it taking me 7 months to do, mainly due to backordered parts and buying a piece at a time as I needed it and the budget allowed, it was a very enjoyable experience. I did all of the assembly myself from the bare bone block to the finished product, the machine shop only did the machine work and everything went together like it was supposed to. That is the key!! The machine work. I see alot of guys having problems and you hear all of these horror stories but if the machine work is right and you take your time putting it together everything will be good. Don't let others scare you. As long as you select the right shop to do the machine work, you will be fine. Make a plan of what you want to use i.e., cam, roller or not, rocker ratio, injectors etc. And go for it! Best thing I have ever done. And btw, this was the first motor I have done from the ground up. And my reward? First trip to the track I ran 10.87 @ 124mph
with alot left in it. Go for it, you'll be glad you did!!DonnieShort
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d0n_3d said:
No problem!
Jerryl
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VERY VERY true!DonnieShort said:
