I got my hands on another big block; the motor was bored .030 over and all I know is it was sitting outside (covered) for a few years. It was seized up and it took a 6 foot braker bar and all 185 lbs of me to set it free. It made 40-60 psi in all the cylinders. I sprayed the valves with wd40 and watched it bubble so they weren't seated.

I took the heads off, the cylinder walls are perfectly clean. I plan on pulling the crank to check the bearings. Anything else I should look for that might have gotten damaged when I freed the motor up? Their is no play in the pistons and they seem to be holding wd40 without leaking down or bubbling.

The pushrods were all strait, what could have been seizing the motor up?

 

Rust

 

I just noticed something else, I have never checked on any other motor so I don't know if it's supposed to happen or not. If I bring the piston to TDC and push on it left>right it has a little bit of play in it. Is this normal?

 

Play when you push on what?

 

Play like left to right inside the cylinder. I probably have about a 1/16th of an inch of play in the pistons side to side. The motor had an odd overbore though, it measured around .032-.033 in each cylinder.

Is it time to just sit the block, save up some cash and go .060 over and stroke it?

 

That's not right. The piston should rock up and down a few thousandths, but nothing like that.

 

It's not like you're going to just "refresh" the engine and use it. Even with an overbore, as long as the castings are not cracked or damaged beyond repair, it will make a good core to build a new engine. Even a bad cylinder can be sleeved to save a block. If you want to spend the extra money, you can get 8 new sleeves put in and start with a stock bore again.

Get it bored out .060" over with new pistons. Have the crank checked. It might just need polishing or may need to be turned. Get the heads rebuilt. New rings, bearings, gaskets, cam, lifters etc. Total rebuild including machine shop work and depending on the quality of the parts you use should be in the $1000 - $2000 range. And after that, you still have a basic stock replacement engine with a few upgraded parts.

Depending on the engine/head castings, the engine may not even be worth rebuilding.

 

It's originally a 91 or 92 crate motor, 4 bolt main. It was used as a generator in NYC originally. I think if I'm going to get it bored again, I'm going to go the rest of the way and have it stroked too.

So this project is on hold for a while.

 

So it's a gen V block meaning peanut port heads, one piece rear main, TBI intake, non adjustable valve train. Rated around 250HP. Good Mark IV heads won't fit without a proper head gasket so coolant doesn't leak into the lifter valley.

 

Yeah the heads were milled, ported and polished and from what I've heard made great low end torque... doesn't matter the heads are shot. Their is a flaky orange rust in the exhaust ports and all the valves are spotted with rust too. Not worth fixing them; if that's even possible.
But would this be a good block (if it's not cracked) to use to build a 496?