big block chevy heads

[smokeyco75]

Agreed. I just got a quote for the machine work. Heads rebuilt, block cleaned and bored, crank polished and deck checked for about $500. Another $80 to deck the block if needed. Same for the heads. Thats for labor only. Strangely the broke pushrod was on a different cylinder. I would like to use this engine, just disappointed in the deal because I grew up with the guy I got it from and he assured me that it was a good motor. All trust is lost with him now. On the bright side I get to build a motor again. It's been awhile and this will be my first big block. Hopefully the crank wasn't hurt. I will find out soon enough!

 

[fletcherson]

Agreed. I just got a quote for the machine work. Heads rebuilt, block cleaned and bored, crank polished and deck checked for about $500. Another $80 to deck the block if needed. Same for the heads. Thats for labor only. Strangely the broke pushrod was on a different cylinder. I would like to use this engine, just disappointed in the deal because I grew up with the guy I got it from and he assured me that it was a good motor. All trust is lost with him now. On the bright side I get to build a motor again. It's been awhile and this will be my first big block. Hopefully the crank wasn't hurt. I will find out soon enough!

If the broken push rod was on a different cylinder, that is actually good news. Perhaps the engine just sat and got water in it rather than overheat. A strait edge and some magnaflux should be enlightening. The push rod may have been the reason it got dry docked, still needs to be figured out.

 

[smokeyco75]

The interesting thing is although the rusty cylinders were related to the rusty intake ports on the driver side, the cylinder under the rusty intake port on the passenger side was free of moisture. Hopefully the crankshaft and rods check out okay. If so then a journal polis and some new rod bolts should take care of them.

 

[T-Test]

Cheaper than a crate engine. GET 'ER DONE!!!

 

[fletcherson]

The interesting thing is although the rusty cylinders were related to the rusty intake ports on the driver side, the cylinder under the rusty intake port on the passenger side was free of moisture. Hopefully the crankshaft and rods check out okay. If so then a journal polis and some new rod bolts should take care of them.

Better check the rods, I usually have them resized, but if the crank is ok you might get lucky. You just can't tell untill you get it apart and measure everything. Plan for the worst and hope to get lucky! The cause of that push rod would be paramount to me. If you have rust in the ports, that infers water entered the top rather than a crack or gasket. Make sure to tell the machine shop about the water, if they can't tell, so they will magnaflux or whatever their preferred method to look for cracks. I hope you bought that thing right, it's basically a core. I have seen similar engines sold as being "good", my question is good for what? Boat anchor, yard ornament, lol. It may have been ok other than whatever caused the push rod issue, then left to get wet, who knows? I am being nice for the benefit of your friend who sold it to you. I won't buy one as good without hearing it run or opening it up, I have been burnt by a friends honest mistake before. Hearing them run will fool you sometimes too. You might look into buying a rotating assembly. Sometimes you can get a deal on one with everything done for less than piece working things out. Check out engine re manufacturers and parts vendors that are trust worthy. You can't asume things are ok even if the mileage was low, I have seen low mile engines that were machined incorrectly from the factory, with main journal alignment issues, etc. I used to own a shop and we routinely replaced engines, etc with salvage parts. We had good luck for years, then it was as if we were cursed. We had a run of bad engines, Ford 351w mainly (errr!), I still have a distaste for them, but we wouldn't send one out if it wasn't right. I ended up basically donating my time to fix them and the customer got a better engine, I just got screwed. Years later my friend happened to be at the salvage yard that we spent thousands of dollars at and overheard a conversation that was basically if someone needs a engine, sell them one whether it's good or not, if they bitch within the warranty period, replace it, at least it gave them time to get one in. I was pissed! In 20 years, they have got zero business from me since then and I can't disclose my retaliation methods. You can't trust anyone when it comes to money and used parts, jmo. They may be dishonest, or just think it's ok and be wrong, but the end result is the same if you don't check it out.

 

[smokeyco75]

I am planning for the worst like you said. If the rods are even in question I will replace them. Probably with Eagle rods since I have had great results with them in small blocks. I am basically planning my budget to rebuild the heads if not damaged and replace everything except the block and hopefully the crankshaft. That way I will know exactly what I have.

 

[RPM]

New rods may be less money than rebuilding the old ones. By the time you magnaflux the rods, buy new bolts, then resize them, it may be less to just buy new.

 

[Golly]

My thinking is machine work costs the same for big block or small block and parts are pretty much the same price. If you abandon the big block now , you're going to have a buy a small block core , and do all this anyway. I would stick with the big block and have something a little different at the cruise night.

 

[smokeyco75]

I agree Golly. I have a parts list and source spreadsheet made up and the cost is only neglibly more than if I did the same with a smallblock. like you said, I already have it so I will work with it. When I get it done I will get dyno numbers.

 

[Golly]

What ever it is , I think it will be enough.

 

[mytbucketproject]

i also bought a bigblock chev and it had the same water marks in it , it was bought as a too recon type motor , i stripped it honed all cyl at home cleaned all parts bearings were suss so replaced with cheapies tipped petrol in heads found the ones that leaked past the valves and lapped them in cleaned ring groves and put it all back together cost 1 felpro gaskit set $75 bearings both 65 fired it up on floor all sweet so put in bucket cause its so easy to change lol expecting to have cracked head or block bet needed to find it , damn not a problem been running for 10 years breaths a bit in the last year done over 150 k i thought i was going to have to rebuild it , bore pistons crank regrind deck block heads recon and valves and springs ... but its cost me 14 a year with the budget build .. but i was lucky and checked every thing i could see , big blocks last a long time so i have found out and run ok even with rust marks in the bore , bit of extra oil usage lol jmo maybe i was lucky

 

[fletcherson]

i also bought a bigblock chev and it had the same water marks in it , it was bought as a too recon type motor , i stripped it honed all cyl at home cleaned all parts bearings were suss so replaced with cheapies tipped petrol in heads found the ones that leaked past the valves and lapped them in cleaned ring groves and put it all back together cost 1 felpro gaskit set $75 bearings both 65 fired it up on floor all sweet so put in bucket cause its so easy to change lol expecting to have cracked head or block bet needed to find it , damn not a problem been running for 10 years breaths a bit in the last year done over 150 k i thought i was going to have to rebuild it , bore pistons crank regrind deck block heads recon and valves and springs ... but its cost me 14 a year with the budget build .. but i was lucky and checked every thing i could see , big blocks last a long time so i have found out and run ok even with rust marks in the bore , bit of extra oil usage lol jmo maybe i was lucky

As long as you measure and it is within tolerance once it cleans up, ok, but I would say you got lucky! It's ok to get lucky once in a while. Lol. Depending on how pitted they are. I have honed rust rings out of cylinders before too, then used file fit rings to keep the gaps tight in low rpm street engines. Back in the days before my luck expired... Now it seems I do everything as perfect as possible and something still fowls up, back then no so much. It just depends on what you want the end result to be. We all know a t bucket won't be a strain on any v8. If the engine was good and just got wet, it may be worth a try, but measure it to see before wasting time and money on a worn out pos...jmo. I have seen old tractors that were so stuck that the head was pulled and a block of wood and ball preened hammer was used to break them loose, then cleaned and reassembled, run for years after. I have no dyno results, but the weeds got cut, snow plowed...

 

[Screaming Metal]

Thanks guys for the concern....really nice of all of ya....My Roddin' Family! hahaha....
The look of rust in the bores were probably from a valve being hung open, and someone washing the motor, or a little rain. Almost 90% of the cracks and bad leaks like that comes from someone taking a perfectly good motor, steam cleaning it or washing it, then when winter comes it freezes. Same with the Powerwashers. After I use one and its close to winter, I just pour a little Antifreeze in the injector side where you put the soap, or hang the siphon tube off in there. Protects the pump, keeps it lubed, and protects it from freezing.

The rust down in the port aound that valvestem is a puzzler, unless there was a crack there, or there was just sweat and dampness hanging on there.
In the past I have yanked a motor out, completely cleaned it, put a complete rebuild kit in it and gone on about my business, but thats when I was young and stupid.
IF you pull a motor for your Rod down, its always best to measure and check EVERYTHING! If you don't have the mics, use plastigage. Bores take the Mics and telescoping gauges. Always, I mean ALWAYS have your pistons in hand to bore your motor.
If you build a old school bigblock with the oldschool clearences, you can build a nice little hotrod motor with a old alum. HiRise, a RV cam, deck the block and shave your heads to hit about 9.0 to maybe 9.2-9.5. Anything higher than that and you'll be fighting the octane in the fuels. Unless you build a ethanol motor and jet it accordingly.

Go Slow, take your time,and do it right. If your diligent, and shop wisely, you can build a helluva motor for under a $1000. Machinework will eat up a good bit of that.
You can get a BigInch stroker kit for that motor (that comes with all the crank/rods/pistons, etc), have all that machinework done, assemble it, and never have to rev it past 4500 to really scare the hell outta yourself.
Me, I LOVE force induction. Build a good stock strong base motor, which is not any more expensive than a stocker except for the rods (if you use a truck motor to start with), then put your money in a blower, or a small dual turbo setup.
If you fashion up alot of the custom made parts yourself, you'll save a good bit of money, plus make it your own, so it'll be totally unique to your car.

Just remember, you don't have to have a ton of money to be cool or to look awesome. Theres still alot of cool older intakes out there for the BBC's. Do a good basic rebuild, put a little cam in it, a gear drive if you like that sound....and a old logger 3x2s/ 4x2s/ 4x1s or 2x4's....do it your way, the way you want it. You'll be happy, have pride in your car and Cruise with it. And maybe get a younger soul hooked on our sport to boot....
Happy Cruisin'!

 

[smokeyco75]

Screaming Metal that is the plan. Machine work and a more or less basic rebuild with a just barely lopey cam, Eagle rods, hyperutectic flat top pistons and rebuilt heads. All topped of with a dual plane intake and a 4150 Holley. More than enough motor to give me pucker factor when I mash the go pedal hard. Pulled the oil pan the other day and found no obvious damage below. I'll pull the rest of the engine apart in the near future and find out what I am working with. The engine supposedly came out of a dually which the casting numbers seem to agree. It is a two bolt though.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Most all the truck motors in the 65- 75 range had the 4 bolt mains, there were some that slipped thru, especially if they weren't slated for Heavy-Duty use....ie, H-D. They all had steel cranks and the good rods, but a 2 bolt main is plenty for the street. If you do a hop up and all, you have to get up into the 650 Horse range before you start having block distortion in the lower webbing. You can get by with a 2 bolt block and a Girdle till if you ever get to that point, (Blower or Turbo'ed)....but for the street on a mild BBC Buildup, a 4 bolt isn't totally necessary. Thats extra money that can go somewhere else in the build.
Just stick with a good quality rebuild kit that has good bearings and rings.
Usually the rings and bearings in the stroker kits are pretty good, they usually suck in the gasket dept., but the gaskets are cheap, for a good set. That is, if you go that route.... Scat and Eagle have some really good prices on their rotating kits. PAW used to have some nice kits too....but they have moved on down the road.

 

[smokeyco75]

Well I have some good news folks. The two cylinders that had moisture in them cleaned up to a mere stain with a little penetrating oil and a rag. There is no measurable ridge at the top of the cylinder and the carbon on the pistons was minimal on most of them. The rod and main bearings all checked out good with plastigage. I think I'm going to put a fresh oil pump in and change out the cam and timing gear set and worry about the heads.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Hell, thats sounds fantastic! If theres no ridge up top of cylinders, they can probably machine hone everything for the new pistons....all else sounds good. If the heads test OK, Then you'll be good-to-go. Once you get used to a BB, its hard to settle for a SB anymore....

 

[fletcherson]

Hell, thats sounds fantastic! If theres no ridge up top of cylinders, they can probably machine hone everything for the new pistons....all else sounds good. If the heads test OK, Then you'll be good-to-go. Once you get used to a BB, its hard to settle for a SB anymore....

That's a fact. I ran a Pontiac 455 for years, then went with a sbc. I rebuilt it two more times because it just didn't seem to run right, nothing wrong, just not right. The last time I stroked it with a 400 crank. Problem solved. Still not the same power I was used to though, but much better than the 350. I had similar experience with my ford dually, there is no replacing the 460, but the fuel prices doomed it, now I have a 7.3 idi in it, not sure about it yet.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Oh, I'd just ordered a stroker kit for one of the customers....
I remembered this....a little food for thought.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/project-cars/sucp-0901-496-chevy-big-block-build

You can get a 489 kit for the 454, for $1000, balanced
A 496 for just a touch more....the Performance Machine, And Eagle. Scat has them, too.
Kit comes with Good bearings and rings....
For the money, if you want to save money having a fast car....go to 540 or 570 cu.in.'s (About $2000), then stick in a small rv cam with the small 4bbl and alum hirise....and you'd never stop smilling.
By the time you get everything done to the motor....grinding the crank, boring the block for stock pistons, having your stock rods redone, decking here there and yonder, and pay for all the stuff....you could have a 5oo" motor, and would run circles around the 454 and would've have to mash on the go pedal as hard.
Just giving you more options for your dollars....
But Hey, for a car that weighs less than 1400-1500 lbs....a good stock 454 is is way overkill anyway. Pat the gas while idling and you'd bark the tires