Cost cutting engine building
 

I'm evaluating all my options here, and as it stands right now, I need to get this car running ASAP, as cheaply as possible. A little background info: My stock engine has a wristpin knock in cylinder #6.

Now.. assuming that there might be other damage elsewhere, I went ahead and picked up another shortblock, disassembled to the block, and found absolutely no signs of abuse or even slightly beyond normal wear. Perfect in every aspect.

So I'm thinking to myself.. if, after further inspection of my original engine, everything else seems ok, couldn't I just pay to get a hone through #6, and use a known good rod/wristpin/piston from the engine I bought, and re-ring it?

If I can do this, I will, because I see it as being the quickest and cheapest way of getting this car driveable ASAP, and letting me work on building a mean ass drop-in motor on the side.

Try this on for size matt...A few years ago I took some 92 h.o pistons I had sitting around and berry honed and cut the ridge with a ridge reamer in a 89 grand marquis block I had sitting around and took emroy cloth and polished the crank very lightly and put a f-cam in it and assembled the short block and later sold it for 1k to a friend, it was a complete drop in and go short block, he raced it for 3 years and had over 400 passes at the track before it finally lost oil pressure due to a whiped main, so yea you can do what I call a scuff and DIP job and it will be a servicable motor, since it's for yourself it'll be fine

I would just put the extra shortblock back together and run that that way you don't have to worry about the #6. Then use your original motor and build you something nice for use down the road.

that was my original thought before i wrote this thread, but I realized that I didn't mark & save any locations, as far as internal balancing goes, because I had no intention of using these internals. I know that the factory balance job isn't the greatest but I don't wanna end up having the wrong balances on all the cylinders, plus i just hucked the all bearings across my garage floor.

With my original motor, I could just pop #6 out, weigh it, find a spare of the closest weight, and stick it back in. Only need to buy 2 rods bearings.

If I could simply throw the extra block back together without worrying about the effects of wrong weights, I would, but I'm pretty sure you can't.

I don't think there is much worry about the different weights off each cylinders assembly. The balance is more toward the crank, flywheel and balancer. You will be fine, just throw a new set of bearings and rings in it and run the hell out of it.

if you are that worried, have a builder balance the piston and the rod.