Opinions, please. I have a 66 that has been in the family since new. With 180K original miles on the 289, it's time for a rebuild (smokes a little).
I am pretty handy mechanically, done most of my own work for the last 20 years- head gaskets, timing chains, etc, but never tackled a full rebuild. Thinking it through, it seems like something I can handle- am I dreaming, or is it as straightforward as it seems? (except for the machine work)

Comments?

 

I've always been of the opinion that it is best to let the machine shop do the bottom end. What I do is pull the motor out and yank the heads off so I can see what kind of shape the engine is in. Then I will take off a couple of main caps and rod caps to see what the bearings look like. I put the caps back on and take it to that machine shop. I'll have them rebuild the motor but leave the heads off. I like to see what everything looks like before the heads go back on. They do this work all the time and run a lot better chance of not messing something up like breaking rings or installing something backwards. The last one I did this way cost me $450. There was no head work because I went aluminum. A lot depends on how much machine work is required.

 

its not that difficult to do. just find a good book on ford small blocks. all you really need for extra tools are a torque wrench, feeler gauge, a file for the rings, a ring installer and compressor. as long as you use plastigauge on all of the clearances it should be fine.

 

Thanks for the input. How do you know how much the cylinders need to be honed in order to buy the right size rings? I assume that if the shop builds the bottome end as above, they take care of all that.

 

More than likely it will need to be bored and new pistons. Take it to a machine shop after dis for inspection.

 

im in the process of rebuildg in my engine. I tried to check the wear and tear on my cylinders but when i dropped the ring in to the cylinder, there was like an entire 1/8" gap, not worth honing. going to be bored to .040". My pistons may be salvageable but if they're the original 40 year old pistons, it doesnt hurt to replace them. You can do a lot yourself. The only thing i'm not doing, because I can't, is the boring of the engine.

 

I strongly second this step. On my last rebuild, I was using new main and rod bearings and figured, "Hey they're new, I'm sure they're OK". THey weren't. I had terrible oil pressure from the start and ended up rebuilding the engine a second time, my penitence for my stupidity. Never made that mistake again, and never had to rebuild twice since. Check once, check twice, and don't ever skip steps and assume, that's where you run into trouble. Just my two cents worth!!

Tom

 

Take your block to a machine shop and have them bore it and press your new pistons onto the rods. They should also install your cam bearings. Have them measure the crank and turn it if it needs it. They will tell you what undersize bearings to use. Have a valve job done and new valve guides installed and check the heads for flatness. Bring it all home and assemble it yourself you will feel good after its done. Get a manual and some plastigauge and a good torque wrench.

 

Billybob you can not bore the cylinders .040 over size and use the same pistons. It doesn't matter if the pistons are perfect. The pistons have to match the bore!