Looking for bare engine block with pistons

[Westieman]

Small update guys.
Got a batch of parts delivered this week, but still waiting for a quote on the exhaust manifolds and some other stuff.
Thoroughly cleaned the engine block and cylinder heads and replaced the camshaft bearings.
You would not believe how much dirt I got out of the oil ways and from under the camshaft bearings. No wonder most of the bearings were shot.
Some paint makes much nicer though!

 

[Lou C]

looks great. Never seen a light blue small block chevy before!
the traditional colors:
early Chevrolet: Chevrolet Orange
1977 on....GM generic dark blue (so they could use Chevy engines in Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Pontiacs before the public caught on and they got sued, class action lawsuit)

OMC early...an odd almost pastel blue
OMC late...Charcoal grey
Volvo early...Red, not Chevrolet orange though
Volvo joint venture with OMC...charcoal grey same as OMC
Volvo later...back to red
Mercruiser...black....

 

[Lou C]

putting the old 4.3 back together....painted in OMC Charcoal Grey

 

[Scott Danforth]

throw the expandable spring-loaded hone away. if you need to hone the block, you need to have it done correctly

 

[Scott Danforth]

looks great. Never seen a light blue small block chevy before!
the traditional colors:
early Chevrolet: Chevrolet Orange
1977 on....GM generic dark blue (so they could use Chevy engines in Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Pontiacs before the public caught on and they got sued, class action lawsuit)

OMC early...an odd almost pastel blue
OMC late...Charcoal grey
Volvo early...Red, not Chevrolet orange though
Volvo joint venture with OMC...charcoal grey same as OMC
Volvo later...back to red
Mercruiser...black....

Volvo was really close to Ford red from the rattle can matching

 

[Westieman]

Actually it is grey, color is distorted by the daylight I think. I would call it navy grey. I know it is not the original color but I prefer this over rust and 3 other colors. Over here we are on lock down remember? So NO shopping the past 4 weeks or the next 4 weeks if all goes well. Of course, I could have waited but, I like the color.....
And it will blend in nicely in the engine bay, no?
"Les gouts et les coleurs ne se discute pas!"
So, off to a weird eastern weekend. No family, no children or gran children, no friends, no boating, no motorcycling, no....
Only walking or riding a bicycle is allowed. ( 2 persons max.)Think our Westie dog will be very happy this weekend. :lol:
Have a nice Eastern, hope you enjoy it !!!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Enjoy Easter.... Have a bulgarian friend, he usually has close to 100 people at his place normally for Easter..... not this year.

 

[Westieman]

I hear that NY is bad. Hope you guys take care. How is Florida btw? Any lock downs in the other states?

 

[Lou C]

NY is very bad, it spread like wild fire through our excellent mass transit system in NYC and then out to Long Island (where I am) and Westchester County (where I used live long time ago). The suburbs are now really starting to feel it. Here you can still shop for food and other essentials. Not sure if auto parts stores are open but car dealerships are, at least for repair. NY has it the worst of anywhere due to high population density (keep in mind it is 8.7 million people spread out over the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn (were I spent my childhood), and Staten Island....

NYC has one of the biggest mass transit systems in the world and I think this is how it spread. The subways are made up of several lines that were independent companies in the old days (pre 1940s). You can ride from Coney Island in southern most Brooklyn all the way up to the northern Bronx which is quite a distance. Would take nearly an hr by car....

BMT= Brooklyn Manhattan Transit
IRT= Interborough Rapid Transit
IND= Independent Line

Then there's busses, ferries etc.

 

[Westieman]

Impressive! A bit like Paris, there they have the same problem.
Over here only food ( also for animals ), gas and medicine can be bought in a shop. Car dealers and there workshops are closed. Parts shops closed. Basically only the essentials are available. Only web shops bring some solutions but the delivery guys are on overrun and can not handle it entirely. A lot of restaurants are switching to delivery as are flower shops and many others. The streets are empty as are the highways were you only see ( a lot less ) trucks. Almost like in a disaster movie, it is so unreal. There is limited public transportation but very few people make use of it. Normally the sky is filled with airplanes over here since we are in the center of Europe, now there are only a few passing over.

 

[Lou C]

Interesting, its hard for me to understand how car repair is not considered to be an essential service.....so you ruin a tire in a pot hole, you can't change it...how do you go and get food?
Here too there is a startling lack of aircraft traffic seeing as how we are in the holding patterns of both La Guardia and JFK...
I ordered up all the stuff I MIGHT need for my Cobra about 2 weeks ago...tune up stuff etc. The rest I can get at West Marine who is still open as are a few shops I order parts from...

 

[Westieman]

I remember in the 70's we had the oil crisis. So on Sunday's, to save fuel, we were forbidden to drive cars, trucks, motorcycles.....50 years later we do not drive to save lives, gas is very cheap these days. Price of 95 ron is about 1.05€/liter.This is 25% off compared to February. ( about 4.36 $/gallon ). LPG is even cheaper, I use it in my Escalade. ( 1.45$/gallon ).Have been considering to use it in the boat but it would be difficult to have it filled up on the water so I will stick to gas.
Still waiting for the quote on the exhaust manifolds . But then, there is no hurry. Plenty off other things to do :faint2:

 

[Westieman]

On the pictures at # 20 you can see the block and pistons. I took the block apart and numbered everything. Now I noticed something weird, can you see what is wrong?

 

[Westieman]

Here is how it should be....

 

[Lou C]

On the pictures at # 20 you can see the block and pistons. I took the block apart and numbered everything. Now I noticed something weird, can you see what is wrong?

Notch on the pistons should be facing forward..

 

[Westieman]

Exactly, wondering what more surprises this engine will bring me. Hope the bearing caps are matched correctly. I marked them before dismantling but if they were already in the wrong position....Already put the crank back in as a "try fit " and there is some "sticktion". Sure there is something wrong. Will try to interchange the main bearing caps #2 and #3.and see what happens. It sticks when I tighten #3 main bearing. Last picture is from the mercruiser engine of my first boat, 1990 Sea Ray. Boat had been sitting for 20 years in dry shed but with engine cooling system filled with salt water. Gaskets were eaten by the salt. Then somebody wanted to put it back in service. You can guess what happened, water everywhere inside the engine. Luckily I was able to save it and it still runs fine. Engine only had 49 hours on it!

 

[Lou C]

All inboards with cast iron engines should be closed cooled (heat exchanger) from the factory in my opinion. GM designed these engines to use antifreeze in a pressurized system. The boat companies use raw water cooling because it’s cheap. Not because it’s better! When I eventually replace my old engine that is a must. Closed cooling + remote oil filter mount. You will get approx 3x the engine life and have easier winterizing. A closed cooled GM marine engines can easily last 3000-4000 hrs as long as it is properly maintained. A raw water cooled engine in salt water will eventually corrode around the water passages in the cyl head and then get leaks where the head seals to the cyl head gasket. The cyl heads will eventually rot through behind the valve seats and that can hydrolick an engine and bend rods. You can preemptively avoid this by replacing the cyl heads when they have had between 10-15 years of salt water use. The cyl blocks rarely if ever rust through (at least in this area, hotter saltier water could be worse). I had to replace my cyl heads after approx 15 years here. The had not rotted through yet but I had both head gaskets start leaking so it was time. The machine shop guys felt that they would not seal properly if resurfaced. The re-manufactured cyl heads cost $550 USD plus about $250 for a marine gasket set and new head bolts.

 

[Westieman]

That is so correct Lou! A closed cooling system is much better on every engine! I totally agree. But I do think this will last only if the heat exchanger is in stainless steel. I had this system on my VP AQ171. ( pic ) but the exchanger was in copper.
But even then, regular maintenance is important. When I worked for BMW we had some problems with aluminium cylinder heads. The inner cooling passages corroded away because the cooling liquid was not flushed regularly and turned corrosive.
Today I found more trouble! I think this started all the problems on this boat. Salty water and its effects on metals...

 

[Lou C]

Yep that looks like it’s been leaking for a while. Well do you have to replace the outer transom plate? Hard to tell by looking at it.
What ive done with the raw water cooled boat in salt water 18 years:
every year winterize and flush engine before draining. Then after draining fill engine and exhaust system with non tox antifreeze with corrosion inhibitors. While some dispute this Mercury Marine has been recommending this in their manuals for years now...
I think doing this has helped. I used to buy expensive -100 marine AF from west marine now I mix up my own no tox from Sierra PG antifreeze....

 

[Westieman]

I am afraid so Lou, will have to take things further apart. I will look in to it later this week when the weather is better. This morning I wanted to have a look at the West Marine website. Due to GDPR I was refused access. They claim handling International orders. Apparently not....Wanted to compare the prices of the exhaust manifolds and other stuff. Any other suggestions Lou? So, now some more fiddling around with the engine. Will be back on this evening and check your comments. Thank you for that, always looking forward to them! Oh eh, please forgive me for the maybe poor English, I keep on trying to get it right