tinman

One way I know of to learn about engine re-building is to take course at a Community College.........
Take it in the evenings........

my77stang

go for it dude, spend as little as possible by getting a stock rebuilders kit from northernautoparts.com they are like 200 bucks.

slap it together using backyard redneck tricks of the trade. if it runs great for 10,000 miles you got your moneys worth and then some

MrMiracle

There's quite a few specialized tools needed to rebuild an engine properly. When you see them do it on TV, all of the tolerances are already checked:

Engine Stand - If you can't flip the thing over, its going to be a pain to put the pistons in.

Breaker Bar / Sockets - Do not use a ratchet, and open ended, or an adjustable wrench to break torque. You'll just strip the screws. Bar and Sockets are a must.

Micrometers - For pistons, bores, journals, rod ends, just about everything that needs an exact measurement. This is one of the pricier items, and unless you get a digital one (which I don't recommend), they take a small bit of skill to read.

Balancer puller - for pulling the balancer. Ya think?

Scrapers - cheap. Razor blades will work too, but the scraper is safer. Used to remove gasket material.

Valve Spring compressor - for removing the valves and their springs. Never look directly down at a spring while removing it. Always point the spring away. Wear safety goggles.

Cam Timing kit - Getcher cam installed right.

Buckets - for all the crap that comes out.

holycrapitshassell

It's not hard per se, but building the bottom end of an engine is a huge pain in the *** imho. i've rebuilt several 600 and older 750cc dohc motorcycle engines, but like it was put earlier, it's all the same process. if you'd like to learn go for it, you'll be richer for the experience, but absolutely get help from someone who's done it before. it's going to take every tool in your box plus about a gazillion auto specialty tools. i'm going to add to the list mr miracle started, but we'll be here all day thinking of tools you'll need/ that will make life easier

set of piston ring compressors: self explanatory

ring grinder: rings do not come pre-gapped

torque wrenches: you'll need one between 15 and 100 ft lbs for most things. one in inch lbs helps for little things (good investment)

feeler guages: angled feeler guages, straight feeler guages, and plastiguage

an internal micrometer: in addition to the micrometer you already need

a caliper

beer

beer

a leakdown tester: always good to know your cylinders are within specs for leakage once you put it all together

my77stang

for the adverage guy who will build a motor like once every few years....

engine stand: they are cheap, just buy one cause its cool to have a motor on the stand
torque wrench: most people should probably own a "pop-off" style wrench, they DO come in handy
ring compressor: a PITA to use the cheap kind, but usually scored for free via tool rental at your local auto parts store
balancer puller: free tool rental
cylinder hone: free tool rental

ring filer? for the guy who is doing a 200.00 rebuild to learn motors, but normal rings that are pregapped. holy i dont know who told you all rings are file fit, cause MOST arent (but file fit is best obviously)

feeler gauges? for what? unless your building a solid lift cammed motor you wouldnt use em duiring a build
plasticgauge: uber cheap, no big deal there

then on to measuring tools. lets be honest. if your building a 200.00 motor you slap in ring and bearings and you run with it. sure, you hone the cylinders and you "polish" the crank with non-metallic scotchbrite pad or w/e, but in the end you just live with the fact that your tolerances are on the loose end of things because you didnt do any machine work. a loose motor will run and run and run, but too tight and your in big trouble.

anyways, check out this link:

http://www.northernautoparts.com/Pro...ctModelId=1546

if you have an early (non-roller) block, you can get the entire kit for 190.00 w/o pistons, or add dish or flattops for like 28.00 more.

holycrapitshassell

gah, you're right.. brain fart, lol. like i said, all i have build were dohc solid lifter and forgot what we were talking about for a minute. im a bit of a gearhead and get excited when we start talking tools:-p

same goes for the comp ring grinder. i honestly didnt know that rings came pre gapped for cars. but as for bikes (completely unrelated to topic) since the acceptable cyl. leakage is usually <10%, so honda and suzuki (the only makes i've owned) send rings that must be hand-fit.

but i absolutely agree with my77stang; if this is purely a learning experience, id spend as little as possible into this engine, and be satisfied with slapping in new rings and bearings yourself. like i said, its not really hard, all of the measuring is the only bitch part, personal opinion.

good luck

91lxstang

i plan on only doing it if it needs a simple rebuild that will cost a few hundred buxs at most. Thanks for all the info it helped alot. Now i know what tools are what and what id need and so on

my77stang

no prob, free tool rentals are your best friend. and i believe northernautoparts has the cheapest COMPLETE kit available from any store out there (and for like 10 bucks you can throw a slightly larger cam in there and add to the go fast factor)

tinman

Whoa, wait a minute...
You'll need a ring installer unless you want to have pre-twisted rings on the pistons.
I also vote for the harmonic balancer installation tool.
I already own these things plus all the stuff that others posted.
Trick is, you only need to buy the stuff once, some of my tools are 35+ years old.........