jclayc

iTrader: (8)

I'm going to bite the bullet and pull the engine and see where I go from there. Seeing how far things are stripped down at this point, pulling the engine doesn't seem too hard... And I'll just deal with doing it in the cold.

I could then take the short block and have the cam bearings replaced at a machine shop - but then I should also have the crank polished and bearings done too, at minimum. Lots of "might as wells" from there.

(I talked to a local shop and they quoted me $3400 to rebuild my block (pick it up, upgrade bearings, balance/polish my cam, forged rods, forged pistons, install the cam and timing gear & drop it off too). But for that price, I'll order a new shortblock (http://www.thompsonmotorsports.net/p...products_id=11) and sell my old one.))

ryridesmotox

Sweet mother of god... $3400? They must be joking. That's like $300 an hour shop time.

I'm on mobile so I can't see your location. When you figure out what you want for the lower end I think I know someone who might want it... Depending on pricing/shipping.

warriorpluto

iTrader: (2)

For $3400 he could have a stroker or an ls3

TST_brah

Normally, I'd think that bearing wear like this would be the result of a breakdown of the oil film. I wonder if the crank bearings look similar. Was it possibly run without oil at some point? Like after an oil drain? Or filled with a bad spec? Is this the thrust-load area of the bearing?

serik21

How would running the wrong spec of oil cause so much damage it's not like you can go buy oil that's so far out of spec that will ruin your car.

TST_brah

A production engine wouldn't be so sensitive to this, but an oil too thick or too thin or with certain additives could potentially, in certain conditions, be pushed to the point where the oil film thickness is lost. I disagree with the second part of your statement, but one would have to try pretty hard to accomplish it.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

I used 5w30 synthetic in the car since I bought it at 25k miles (45k mi at the time (with a lot of track time) when I discovered the bad bearings). I don't know what the condition of the crank bearings was. Was never run without oil unless it was before I owned it.

rand49er

So, what did you end up doing?

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

Had it rebuilt with forged internals, balanced crank, new bearings, arp hardware, heads installed and a few other things for like $3250 for all parts but the heads and labor. Only thing I regret is not getting it done as a 383.