well i tore down my 289 today, everything looked pretty good EXCEPT the piston skirt on the # 1 cylinder has a "U" shaped chunk missing out of it, its about an inch wide

is the block ruined? i know theres no way to fix it, but is it one of those things that wont really hurt anything?

ill try to get pics up later

 

Even if it did deeply score the cylinder, it can be sleeved and the block saved.

Some pics would be good.

 

Are you talking about the cylinder wall? If so, you can getyour cylinders sleeved. If it's the piston you are talking about just replace the piston. Take your engine to a machine shop and get it hot tanked then have a technician discuss your options with you.

 

its getting hot tanked sometime this week, its not the piston, or the sleeve, its the cast iron skirt

i was hoping to build a pretty mean 289 with this block, hope this doesnt ruin my dreams

 

Then that shouldn't be a problem. Just discuss it with the pro at the machine shop.

 

when they are talking about getting it sleeved I don't think you understand. what happens is the block is bored wider almost to the bottom of the bore and a new steel sleeve is pressed into the bore...it's like having a new perfect bore ...I had a block that had 2 rear cylinders cracked... if it's a special block you have may be worth saving. the bottom portion not bored locks the sleeve in place and the heads keep it from coming up out of the bore. works great in fact they sleeve cylinders alot in nascar after each race they often replace the cylinder sleeves

 

thats what im dealing with

 

That's not an issue at all, it's below the bottom of the piston skirt and well below the ring pack so it'll have no effect on performance. You may want to clean it up with a grinder a bit so it's all rounded and there's no jagged edges to create stress points and start cracks

 

Did you find the chunk of metal in there? If not then it might have been like that since the last rebuild.

 

i didnt find any chunks of metal, and im pretty sure that the engine has been rebuilt

did these engines come from the factory with sleeves?

other than that spot the engine seemed to be in great shape