seems to have a knock at anything but idle. Is it rod knock? or what is it? heads and cam have 50 miles on them if that. oil pressure has never dropped below 20 psi ever motor has maybe 15k on it.

 

Hard to tell from the video, but it really does sound like a knock. Is it higher on the motor or lower?

 

hard to tell really but its a deep sound like a knock not a tick.

 

Yeah, it does sound like more of a deeper sound than the typical loud pingy sound of a tick. I've heard Knocks, ticks, and even exhaust leaks that make alarming sounds, but this sounds like a knock.

 

5 bucks says it's a collapsed piston skirt

 

Just 4 fun ... remove the belt, and start the car, and listen for a couple (just a couple) minutes - just to rule out something belt related. But it does sound like a knock.

 

Bummer d00d, it doesn't get much worse than having that happen.

I'll listen to it later when I get the chance and see if I can tell anything about it.

Try removing one plug wire at a time and see if you can pinpoint which cyl it is.

 

Ik especially sense I just did all that work now I'm trying to decide whether I wanna fix it or part it out and just bbuy something already done.

 

Fix it, make some improvements along the way...

That's half the fun (IMO) of owning these cars.

 

still there and the oil was metallicy after i changed it when i did the break in i thought it was the cam lube i used and then i chaned it again and its still a little metallicy

 

Sounds like it ate a bearing. Needs a rebuild, and what you do from here is your choice. Is the car worth the work and money that you'll need to put into it to get it back to running condition? Your call..

 

thats what im trying to figure out lol i have another shortblock that needs a crank kit idk if i wanna throw that in there and run it or what still debating. Or whether to part it out and but a third gen already done and not mess with it.

 

Well just try to put it in perspective..

What else about the car is good or bad? How are the brakes, the suspension, body, paint, any rust? How's the interior, etc....

Atleast you know more about this car than you'll know about another thirdgen that you buy. Theres no such thing as a third gen that doesnt need anything or one that is finished, they will all need work, whether big or small..

 

this one has rust on the pillars and rear fenders and interior needs work. but i just put new brakes, LCA's, Panhard, Balljoints, And lots of other stuff.

 

What do you have for heads? You stated 50 miles, so I assume they are new good heads/cam?

The reason I ask ... the president of our local chevy club had a ZZ4 crate motor that he just spun bearing in, and bad. He contacted some place in TX - for $1400 shipped, they are building him a 383 shortblock (block, crank, pistons, rods). He'll then put in his cam and heads back on. He couldn't believe it was so cheap! (I don't klnow prices, I assume that's good price). Anyway, this place builds 10 motors a week like that - maybe that's why so cheap (volume). If you like, I'll get a name/number for ya.

 

they were low mile heads and a brand new cam and the 50 miles is excessive it prob has less than half that. And was that forged at all or anything? And for a 383 can i use stock rods and pistons or no? cuz im thinking of just putting a crank kit in the other shortblock i have and running that.

 

I watched it.

Doesn't sound good for the home team...

Might want to go ahead and just try putting a crank kit in it. That's less than $300, you're not out much if it doesn't work, and it might just rescue it. Don't run it any more. If the rod with the bad bearing isn't ruined, it might survive, doing that. Not much fun but better than a complete rebuild.

 

is there anything else i should do while i have it out? and just a regular crank kit correct? no 383 or anything?

 

Check one more thing,just for fun.Crawl underneath and make certain that the torque converter bolts haven't loosened up on you.To be honest,that's not what it sounded like to me,but it's worth a few minutes of your time to check.

 

Can't 383 it with just a crank... can't change the stroke unless you change the rod length or the pistons at the same time.

If you end up having to buy all that stuff, then yeah; otherwise, if you just change the crank, it'll have to remain the CID it is now.

 

now is to decide which motor to fix i have a target motor which supposedly only has 30k but it also needs a crank kit. and theres this motor which supposedly only has 15k on it so which should i put the kit in? they both are 4 bolt mains.

 

any suggestion as to which one? and just crank kit and high pressure oil pump?

 

If the blocks are the same I would probly do the one that isn't in the car, if it's low mile it should still have the Hone marks in the cylinders. Are you thinking you'll have it more than 10k?

 

i hope i have it longer than that and now that i think about it ill pry just to the motor i have in the car now because then i dont gotta swap cam and heads and everything. And what bearings should i get just stock ones? or performance?

 

What to put back in, depends on what else is there now.

Not alot of sense in putting a crank forged in the fiery furnaces of Hell by 10,000 year old gnomes from purest nonobtanium alloyed with traces of irreplacium, if your pistons are cast "rebuilder" pistons and you have stock rods with stock bolts. Or vice-versa. Put back in something at least as "good" as what you took out, but still appropriate to its surroundings.

If this was stock rebuild, these guys here will do fine. http://www.standardcrankshaft.com/ Alot of "real" parts stores carry them. I've used many over the years with good success. Or, you could look at a mild upgrade such as Eagle or Scat. If a 442 casting came out, then the rest probably doesn't warrant much of an upgrade; just put another of those back in. They're CHEEEEEEP.

No need to get anythign special for main bearings; yerbasic normal ones should be fine. Only thing to watch for, is if the crank has a large radius on the journals; but your crank supplier can tell you that.

 

okay do i need half groove full grove or what? is one better than the other and what material or does that not really matter

 

Most of em these days are grooved in the top half only; that's fine.

The bearing metal needs to be something soft. Whatever material whichever ones you get are, is OK. There's nothing out there that's just stupid bad, that I know of, or wrong for the application. They're usually either some kind of aluminum alloy, or copper coated with some kind of metal that's gray and very dull looking. The copper kind is more common. Both work well.

 

#2 rod bearing:

 

That looks like the bearing seized to the crank and spun in the rod bore... although the phots are kind of blurry.

Is that what happened? Is the rod damaged?

At least it wasn't anything related to a H/C/I swap.

 

It kinda looks like it did the rod cap loooks kinda scratched but its kinda hard to feel anything.

 

Heres a picture of the cap it looks kinda bad but you can barley feel anything.

 

Looks damaged. Doesn't look runnable to me. I'd have to measure it to be sure though.

If you can get a bore gauge, compare its diameter to an undamaged one. You have about .001" tolerance there.

 

if it is what are my options? just get 1 new rod? or what?

 

YOu have 2 short blocks, right?

What does the other short block you have look like?

 

yea i do have anothers one that the thrust bearing is out on ill just put the crank kit in that one if theres no easy way to fix this one.

 

Yeah this one, that rod & piston is going to have to come out; which means new rings on at least that one cyl; which once you're at that point, might as well do em all.

Besides the thrust bearing issue, what kind of shape is that other one in? What took out the thrust bearing?

 

i do not know what took it out the motor was givin to me its a target motor with supposedly only 30k on it but i suspect it has more. The crank just slides back and forth is the onlything wrong with it. It ran fine when i have it in there and then realized that.