I have a thread started in the Junkyard Dogs forum... but no response yet.... decided to give it some exposure in this forum....... see if anyone can give me some advice... or wisdom....
I ran across a (what I believe is a 109 blocked) 3.8L complete motor in the junkyard .....apparently recently pulled.... with a tarp over the engine.....the motor appeard to have the reminants of a sticker toward the back of the drivers side valve cover... looked kinda like a goodwrench sticker... had some black and orange on it....
If it is remanned... it probably isn't std bore... so I can't decide if I am going back to try and deal on this motor or not....
If it is a Goodwrench replacement engine....... maybe the engine was new.......what are the chances it is std bore? I read where it might be a good chance of it having a rolled fillet (rods and mains) crank in it......Does this seem logical? I usually don't have that kind of luck.... If it was a goodwrench replacement engine.... and not a remanned... what is the likelyhood of the crank being std std...? Do the Goodwrench engines usually have 8445 heads? I plan on going back maybe this week.... and trying to strike a deal on this engine.... pending on what wisdom my fellow board members might add.....
I have pulled 2 N/A 109s out of my local junkyard in the last 4 months and both were standard bore, and both did NOT have the turbo crank. Make the deal it should be no more than 150 bucks. Think about it, who do u know actually rebuilt a N/A 3.8---Nobody right? also N/A blocks were not stressed the way turbo 109s were so it most likely has 80-100 miles of normal grandma-like driving before the body rusted out and the car was junked after the car failed to start one day. Good luck.
....... so it most likely has 80-100 miles of normal grandma-like driving before the body rusted out and the car was junked after the car failed to start one day. Good luck.
I live in MS..... cars down here last considerably longer with no real rust problems for 30+ years. I wish I could find if they still had the car it came out of.... would be nice to see if it had been wrecked bad.... and that was the reason for junking it out..... I do think the sticker I saw was a Goodwrench sticker.... my hope is that the engine is a goodwrench replacement engine.... and the crank and bore is all std..... and from what I read.... it could have the turbo crank if it truly is a replacement engine....
Well.... checked it over real good......the sticker on the valve cover... once cleaned a little.... revealed 231..... and the wrench from Goodwrench was still visible.... it was evident it was a longblock that got the donor cars intake manifold... ect..... it was blue... while the engine was black..... found SG1 on the RH side by the engine mount...... 6109 on the back inside the bellhousing area......once the whole casting number was cleaned good with a steel brush..... 6109 was there......pulled the pan in the jyard..... pulled the rod cap..... yep.... I believe those are rolled fillet rod... got a little trough either side of where the bearing rides....under the main caps look the same........ little troughs either side of where the bearing rides....real smooth.....
Brought it home.....
I will tell you I think I got a great deal... IF when I pull those 8445's... the cylinders look good.... the rod bearings and main bearings were GM....
The pistons have a big dish... and I don't see a marking on the top of them.... just two small notches on the edge of the piston....all facing the front of the motor on every cylinder
Some water has sat in a couple of the cylinders.... just a couple of spots have some slight pitting.... a good cleaning and a dingleberry hone run through it... and I'll have to examine closer....
I'll try and remove the crank, pistons, rods, and timing components tomorrow... and get it to a naked block....
Maybe it isn't as quite of a steal as I thought... but I wouldn't sell what I have for 3 times what I payed.... :biggrin:
I was really hoping a good hone... and reassemble with my 40k GN rotating assembly I bought last week....with new rings and bearings of course....
I do beleive Razor is correct. There are basically two types of Goodwrench motors. New and Reman'd. If it is a reman'd than it would say remanufactured on that decal. If it is new than it is basically a new engine and should have std bore and production bearings. Not one used part is used in them. Everything is new. Double check the crank real close. Even a NA crank can appear to be a turbo spec part. I'll try and dig up a recent thread on how to really ID it.
Edit: That is BS on a NA motor not being abused. Every 109 and 4.1 block I have ever bought out of the boneyard showed some sign of abuse. Some were infrequent oil and filter changes and every single one had been overheated at least once in its life. About 3/4 of the 4.1s had blown head gaskets too. There is a reason they are in the boneyard and its not always because they were in a wreck.
