Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Engine Rebuild - Teardown

I don't own a truck or an engine hoist.  To buy an engine and transmission in south Georgia, I needed both, so I rented them.  This meant I was "on the clock" the whole time, and had to get the engine and transmission picked up, separated, and mount the engine in the stand in one day.  It took some planning and luck, but it all worked out.

The seller said he was told " the engine was rebuilt" by the previous owner.  This seems to be the second most common line (right behind "driven by a little old lady on sundays") in the old-car-and-parts marketplace.  The actual running condition of the engine and transmission was unknown, so I just had to cross my fingers.

The engine is a B20F (8.7:1 compression) and was originally fuel injected, but has been converted to a downdraft Weber carb. This is my first time taking apart an engine, so I've got no real first-hand expereince to rely on, but for the most part things inside the engine look pretty good.   Well, at least they LOOKED pretty good, until I dropped the #3 piston while removing it.  A rookie error, and one that will likely cost more than I have invested in the entire engine and transmission to correct.

The cylinder bores will be checked out by the machine shop to see if they can simply be honed.  There is no real ridges or scoring, so I've got my fingers crossed.  All the bearings are standard size, don't show tons of wear, and the crank journals look decent as well.  Hoping to avoid anything more than a polish on the crank.




M41 dismounted
Pistons are +.040" Mahle
Pistons out
Damage from dropping #3 piston
Rod bearing wear (standard size)
Main bearing wear (standard size)
Piston skirts all look pretty good (except for the one I dropped)
Work area
Bin of parts to clean up
Block and crank ready to go to the machine shop to get checked out

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