I just picked up a SBC 350 for my car the other day. I didn't get to hear the engine running but I kinda believe the guy saying it was a good engine & it looks to be in good working order. He said it was a Jasper rebuild & it had about 22,000 miles on it from the time it was put in til it was pulled. It had some kind of "Warranty void if removed" think stuck to one of the freeze plugs on the front. It spins freely & it looks clean under the valve covers when I pulled them off to inspect it except where they were leaking. The outside is a little oily from valve cover leaks & the intake looks old. The heads look like some type of aftermarket heads. Should I remove the heads or anything else to check everything out before I clean it up & install it into my car? What are the normal things you guys look at before dropping it in? I plan on doing a couple things...New gasket set, double roller timing chain... What else???

 

Check the compression before you put it in, if you want.

 

What will I have to do to check the compression?

 

The front and rear main oil seals are a must, especially since the engine is already out. I would also do a pan gasket and maybe a new oil pump as long as your down there.

As for the heads, I would leave them unless you find low compression.

And if it was me I'd clean it up nice

 

to test compression, youll need something like one of these...

http://www.jegs.com/i/Sunpro/885/CP7826/10002/-1

and possibly an adaptor. you screw one end into a spark plug hole and turn the crank over. auto parts stores might rent these

 

Thanks guys for the tips! If you have any more let me know! I am going to start with the compression test tomorrow. What if the compression is low on a couple cylinders... What will I need to do then? I'm going to head over to the auto parts store & buy all the gaskets, timing chain, couple cans of paint & a oil pump (in case I need it)so I can throw it all on if it pass the test. I read on another site that I should squirt a little oil in the cylinders to lube the walls since it been sitting for a while before the compression test. What do you guys think about that? I want to pull the heads off to check for scars on the walls but then again I don't. Will i be able to see the cylinder walls good enough from the bottom with the oil pan off? I read on another site about a used engine & they said i should check a rod & a main bearing to make sure they are ok. hink I should??? I never did it but checking the rod bearings & the main bearings shouldn't be that hard. I already looked up the tq. specs & have them saved to my computer.


How hard is it to change the front & rear seals & how do I know if I need a one or two piece seal?

 

based on the fact that the valve covers are not centerbolt im gonna say that your engine is 1986 or older... ill run the casting # to make sure

in that case you'd have a two piece rear main seal

as for the compression, if you find low compression id go for a rebuild (including machining)

 

dont crack open the top end unless you have to. it looks pretty well sealed up as it is, and if the guy wasnt lying, it only has 22k on the internals. did he mention if the cylinders were bored over or rehoned?

the heads look clean, go for a high volume oil pump, and if you want to sqeeze some extra juice out of the motor, get a set of FULL ROLLER rockerarms

if you check bearings, make sure you tork them back to spec.

 

The block is from a truck, 350, from 1980 - 1985.

Those heads look like World Products S/R Torquer heads - either going to be 67cc chambers or 76cc chambers, with 170cc runners. Can you get the casting number to us, can't see it clear enough in the pic.

 

The heads on the engine now can use perimeter or centerbolt valve covers

Here is the site where i found some info on them

http://www.worldcastings.com/product...ron-heads.html
I don't remember if he said it was bored over any but I will check with him in the morning to see. I'll look into the high volume pump & the roller rocker arms
I posted the link above. Are they anygood?

 

that conferms a 2 piece rear main seal

 

22k miles and leaks oil???

Did you see paperwork confirming the date of the "rebuild"?

the word "rebuild" is in quotes because unless you see documentation that shows what was done, it's pure conjecture.

If you don't really care, then perform a compression test, wire brush the engine and paint it. Slap on some new valve cover gaskets and oil pan gasket, toss it in and cross your fingers.

basically, you have zero confirmed knowledge about the engine.

 

if you replace the oil pump,
do not get a high volume pump.
unless you want to buy new bearings and a standard volume pump later.

the HV pump WILL pump the oil pan dry, drop pressure and wipe out the main and rod bearings.
it also costs 5-10 horsepower more than the standard volume pump.

 

No... it won't.

 

do you have an oil pan with less than 7-8 quarts?
do you spin the engine faster than 3500rpm with those 4.5 quarts of oil?
if yes, it will pump the pan dry in less than 10 seconds,
always.
just because it hasn't taken out your bearings yet doesn't mean that it wont.
that's what running with no oil pressure does.

 

LOL...

ive run a BIG BLOCK oil pump thats been adapted for small block applications WITH my 5 quart oil pan for several thousand miles now and i couldnt be happier with it. i always have a boat load of oil pressure even, whether it be at idle or when im driving the car extremely hard. last i checked no spun bearings

post me a link where youve gotten your facts and ill take you a little more seriously. untill then it sounds like your talking out of someplace other than your mouth

 

I'm guessing you heard this from a salesman who was also trying to get you to buy a larger oil pan. Just sounds like a sales pitch to me.

 

lol to you too. a link proves nothing.
ive had this happen to me, personally.
not someone i know or heard about, my engine in my car.

 

how bout this,

hey veltboy, before or if you buy an oil pump, read up on HV vs. standard flow and
possible issues, pump shaft stress, drain back, pumping losses through excessive clearances.
you know, just everything. it should be easy to find.

i will say that you should stay away from all melling pumps.
they had some design changes around 7 years ago and the m55 and m55hv pumps
became, not good.
within the last year melling made more changes to manufacturing processes across their whole line, and as a result quality went in the toilet.

i don't have a suggestion as to what brand you should use, just be aware of the problem with this brand.

 

I was out in the garage yesterday messing around & decided to drain the oil, pull the pan off, & visually inspect things. I know that just looking at things doesn't mean anything but everything looks good from what I could see. The oil didn't have any metal shavings in it & the cylinders look good from what I could see. I rotated the crank so I could get a better look at each cylinder & I didn't notice any scratches or marks. It started storming & I threw everything back in the garage & locked it up. I didn't pull the main cap or check the front rod bearing yet... What should I do first... Should I pull it off the stand, put the pan back on, fill it with oil & do the compression test... or should I go ahead & check the bearings & replace those if they are worn any & throw a new rear seal on it then do the compression test?

 

Here is a couple more

 

I finally pulled the front rod bearing today. It looks okay to me. The bearing that goes on the cap side looks a little more worn than the bearing on the other side but there is no grooves. I slid my fingernail across it & it's prettty smooth. It has .020 stamped on the bottom so I guess that means the bearings are over sized? The crank is smooth as a babys bottom too lol. I haven't pulled the front main cap yet.

 

 

Looks clean. The oversized bearings mean the crank was resurfaced confirming the rebuild you were told was done

 

 

Looks good. Seems like everyone basically got it. New seals, new gaskets, etc. Nice find though. I've been thinking about picking up a spare engine.

Can't decide if I want to mess with the IROC, the Mustang, or just keep saving for another addition, a truck.

 

I'm sure you think you have.

What actually happens when you put an HV pump into a car, is that with each rotation the oil pump tries to squeeze more oil through the tiny clearances in the oil system. Of course the oil pressure increases then until the relief valve opens and the excess volume gets dumped straight back to the pan.

See if you can find a copy of the November, 2009 Car Craft. They did a comparison of standard small-block, HV, HV/HP and big-block pumps. In their test engine, the standard pump made 50.3 psi and flowed 6 gpm through the filter. The HV pump made 64.2 psi and 6.2 gpm. The HV/HP pump made 65.6 psi and 6.1 gpm. The BBC pump made 68.0 psi and 6.3 gpm.

As you can see, the flow through the filter and into the engine increases by only about 3% between the standard and HP pumps, even though there's a 25% increase in pump volume between the two. Certainly nothing to get excited about.

Even if you made the absurd assumption that all of the excess volume was pumped on top of the heads through the pushrods with none of it excaping through the bearing clearances, and the drain holes were just barely adequate to handle the return flow of a stock pump, the extra 0.2 gpm would take a little over 5 minutes to pump out the 4.5 liters in the pan. Nothing's going to happen in 10 seconds.

 

Which oil should I use in this engine regular or the synthetic & whats a good filter to use? Someone said there were 2 types of one piece rubber gaskets. Which one do i need for this 80-85 2 pc. rear main block?

 

10w30 or 5w30 whichever you prefer regular oil will be fine and filter its really what you prefer id suggest the napa gold filter made my WIX and stay away from fram. And which gasket are you talking about? oil pan?

 

yes the oil pan gasket. I don't want to buy the wrong one & they will not take it back after it been opened

 

the one piece oil pan gasket is napa part number: OS34510T and it will come with new bolts too.

 

Thanks!