owlpuff

So I finally got my heads clean as good as possible.. Was in the process of removing the old head gasket seal that was caked onto the engine block and large chunks of the gooey metalish carbon crunch fell into the valley ( and countless microscopic flakes) . ( I was being extremely careful not to. ) So now am i f'd? I don't have the thousands needed to send it to the shop because every shop here in Virginia Beach wants to charge $100+ per hour and say it could take days to do a simple engine cleaning.. So here I am posting to the powers that be for further guidance. On the plus side the heads are off and look amazing!

owlpuff

Pretty heads!



Few month later with freetime between fulltime work and school.. -_-


As good as I could clean it with PB Blaster and non abrasive pads.




Can see the metalish flakes below

JohnS Z28

iTrader: (1)

....air compressor nozzle and blow them out? I dont quite understand what happened, so you were scraping old gasket off and shrapnel fell into the lifter trays?

reinhardt02

The rust on the cylinder walls concerns me more than any crude that fell into the oil passages.

I am also in Va Bch, in the Salem area. Where are you located?

owlpuff

Pretty much, but it fell past the trays deep into the block.


And yeah that rust is being a royal pain in the **** to clean, the old gasket was royally cracked and corroded, a cylinder full of water was my gift. yey!......
I am out by the intersection of Military Highway and Indian River

ToxicWS6

scrape and clean the best u can, for it dropping down were it shouldnt of then try ether a vacuum with a small hose taped ot the end or air compressor to blow out, if not just put cheap oil in it start it for a few mins, 20-30 mins trip around block and then do a cheap oil change, drive for 500 miles and change to what ever your prefered oil is, done that to couple ls1s ive rebuilt/head jobs and never had an issue

reinhardt02

Right down the street from me. Shoot me a PM if you need any help.

owlpuff

What should I use to clean it? Because I'm at the limit for this scratch free cleaning pad. it cant get the rust off, instead the rust is ripping apart the pad. If I use something more abrasive, how sensitive is the sleeve? just trying to figure the best course of action from here.

ironmanLS1

iTrader: (9)

That rust in the cylinders looks pretty bad. You may be able to get it off but if the wall is pitted the rings will live a short life. I have taken some light rust (Haze) out before but anything that bad would be coming apart if it were me.

ToxicWS6

honestly if the rust is bad enough its not rubbing off and is actually textured/that rough it needs to be honed out atleast probably machined

owlpuff

I've read in a few places that it is possible to use scotchbrite pads and worst case steel wool. now here is my thoughts.. To get it machined will cost $1500 - $2500. I could get a 'working' used engine for less, and if i were attempt to clean it and it works, I would be up a couple thousand dollars. If it doesn't work, what is the worst that happens? Another gasket gets blown? The thing I think a few members here are forgetting: Not everyone has a professional mechanic shop in their home garage, and not everyone has $10,000 of 'fun' money just sitting around in their bank accounts. I am looking for a practical solution that will not break the bank.

00MaroonZ28

iTrader: (3)

Those cylinder walls look like ****. I'd take it out of the car and get them honed at least. That shouldn't run you more than a couple hundred dollars.

reinhardt02

I hear ya on saving money, but saving money on machine work now may cost you the engine later.

ToxicWS6

i understand the not every one has tons of funding or a nice shop, i have a sloped cobble stone drive way and the funding of a single 23year old lol, what i did instead of fixing my forged 347 when it went is i kept it around till i figure out what i want to do, got a 5.3L long block from a junkyard for $525, swapped my heads cam and all into it dropped it in and had a driving car for the price of the engine and new head gaskets and lifters, and im fairly happy with it atm

owlpuff

So I think I should be able to get the shortblock out if needed. I seen a few guides around here on how. So I get a cherry picker for a few hundred bucks, get it out toss it in a truck and bring it to a shop. How much would it cost from there, or pre work should i do?

kennypowers

you can get a picker at harbor freight for less than a hundo. go ahead tear the block down have it cleaned and honed. do rings and bearings while you are at it, it doesnt cost as much as you think if you are resourseful and find a machine shop looking to rip you a new one. dropped my block off tonight to be cleaned and honed cost me 110.

2000PewterT/A

Those walls need to be honed, don't try to save money now cause it will cost more downt the road.

owlpuff

Well Right now I can afford around $600 overall. Any bit of "cost" I can shave off by doing labor myself I will do. Honing is something I definitely can't do. But taking a engine out, I can. Once I get the short block off, approximately how much work is it to get the pistons out? Something I can do with home tools or do I need specialty tools. <-- If specialty tools are needed, would it be more cost effective to buy the tools needed, or just pay the extra hour of labor to remove em.

Now I see this stand for $60 and they have a store down the road, gonna buy it tomorrow:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb...and-69886.html

And a cherry picker for $180 from Northern tools:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5491_200305491

And rings I found for $125
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...-piston-rings/

Totaling for $365 - $380 estimated after taxes/shipping ect. That gives $220 left for work done by a professional shop.

Am I missing something or does anyone know of a better place to get the parts I need for this job?


~Edit~ Any places you know give large military discounts are a plus!

reinhardt02

I have been looking for a good machine shop in our area. Please let me know if you find a good one. I would suggest you have the shop inspect the motor before doing any work to verify it is still sound.