I know youve all heard it a million times, but:

Almost a year ago i was driving in my 84 camaro(305, 700R4) with the t-tops off and radio on. All od a sudden the car died, i then noticed the temp was up. I was on my way to the parts store to buy parts for another car so i pushed it the rest of the way there. When i got there i got it to start and i could hear a knocking noise from the driver side. The guy there checked my oil and said it was bone dry. He then put in 4-5 quarts and said it wont go that far. I took it to a friends house because his dad said he would help me. He then checked the oil and said it was about 4 quarts over. We ( several old school mechanics) listened to the knocking and they gave several ideas: thrown rod, spun bearing, flat cam, bad rocker arm... all day long. relations went bad, the car is unstartable and it has sat at my house. Now i have time to work on it in autos, but my teacher is one of the old school( whats this new fangled fuel injection) people that listened to it.

So here goes the question. I'm ready to get it running. if i start taking apart the engine, how can i tell what is wrong? Ive read stuff ab out it, but have no hands on experience. Do i need to pull the motor and take the oil pan off? or can i pull the heads and check there? I dont need so much of an exact answer, just a path to follow. Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for the long post
Jared
84'fxrupr

 

First, define the noise.

A main bearing is a hard steadily-repeating rap, like hitting the block with a hammer. knock-knock-knock-knock.

A rod bearing sounds similar, except isn't regular. More like knocka-knocka-knocka-knocka.

A lifter/rocker/valve is more of a tap. A single valve will be tap-tap-tap-tap. More than one will be irregular, like tappa-tappa-tappa-tappa or tapity-tapity-tapity-tapity.

Boy, that makes me feel grown up describing that stuff.

Anyway, overheating/engine-stopping/varying-oil-levels/noises, in general, are not good signs. You could have overheating caused by low oil (not good at all), overheating leading to low oil (not quite as bad), one of the above and then too much oil because the water went into the oil pan (really, really bad). Or, if the oil level is a red herring, then maybe just a pulled rocker stud (not particularly good, but at least fixable). Or, even if a red herring, still something not good cause by an oil problem.

The only way to know what's wrong is probably to take it out and take it apart.

 

thanks...
Like i said, its sat for a year so i can't specifically recal the noise. THe only thing i remember is that it was consitent because that what all the old people were arguing over...! The guy who was supposed to help me fix it only helped me take it apart( by take a part i mean break fuel lines, cables etc.).

So i guess my question now is do i have to take it out to check? would it be easier to pull it and put it on a stand than to take off the top end and heads while leaving it in the car? I just need experienced advice, that was MY CAR and all i got was that resulted in a parked camaro and a kid in a grand am

Thanks for the help
Jared
84'fxrupr

 

Allright!

So the motor is out! I spun the bearings on the front two pistons. Oh yay. So my shop teacher tells me the crank is bad (I, I, repeating I havent mic'd it yet). and obviously the front two rods are bad. we stripped the eingine down to block (i found and extra punch inside the water jacket!) because i got boared. So now i'm stuck. I will most likely sell the car(parents) and i want to get the most out of it. so now i need more advice on my options.

1. Short block. found a company that sells 305 short blocks for $425 plus core. I could do a head job and put them on. It also comes with a 6 month warranty. Less work, guaranteed, but more $$$

2.Piece/parts. My shop teacher has a 305 out of an 86 blazer. it cracked a back piston and so it sits. My teacher will sell me the crank and rods off of it and then i could buy a rebuild kit and put mine back together. Question though, will the crank and rods from a blazer work on my 305? Still need a head job. More work, not guaranteed to work, but less cash.

3.As is. I could always sell the car without a motor. Less money, but less money put into it as well. THis also means little to no work.

I want to get as much money out of it as i can. Its not that im against working its that my shop teacher is an &$$ and makes it hard to work. THanks for the suggestions,
Jared(84'fxrupr)

 

It usually works out best to sell as-is.