checking out shortblock
checking out shortblock How can i tell if the shortblock i am using is any good without ripping it apart? The cross hatchs look good i dont really know what else i can do to check if it is good with out tearing it down, any help would be great. Thanks
Without tearing it down and magnafluxing and sonic checking, you will never be certain. You may want to take it to your machinist for a visual inspection. They can snap a few measurements and at least give you a better feel for it, but without pulling it apart, you can't know for sure. It doesn't take much runout on a cam bearing or main to cause problems, and you can't realisticaly measure it when together. If the motor was running fine, and exhibiting reasonable results in leak-down, the rings are probably fine. You can give it a good visual, clean the oil galleries, check crank endplay, and (while adding a skim of oil) rotate the assembly and measure the bores.
pop the pan off and wiggle the rod caps and see if they are loose(spotting the start of a rod knock) check the oil in the pan and see if it has any water mixed in it, check for bearing shavings (pan will sparkle like glitter on a stripper). other then that it would be good to go.
is it going in a stock application? was it stored in a bag? weigh the cost, if stock application and you roll the dice and assemble it, you have head bolts, gaskets, lot of time and labor to loose if it's no good, if you tear it down, put new rings bearing, high strength bolts,check clearances, you can be worry free, costs more but you only do it once!!
