Mag case, 2.4T: What to do?

[tharbert]

I have 72 2.4 Mag case, P/N ends in 3R.

If I get into the case, is this a realistic list of what MUST be done?

anti-shuffle pinned mains
Boat Tailing
Case savers
Spigots leveled
Line bore to STD
Squirters tested
Oil bypass
Crank measure and Eval
optimistically flushed polished
pessimistically ground and hardened (add$500)

Looking at a well respected business's price list, that's $2600-$3100 plus parts and shipping. All told, I'm looking at roughly $5800-$6000 for the rebuild, labor by me.

Or, should I just box up the 2.4 and shop for a 3.2? Looks like the dismantlers have whole units for roughly $5-6k. Thats a whole lot more bang per buck.

[docrodg]

What do you intend to do with the engine? Race, Driver, etc. It makes a big difference as some of your upgrades are things only done on an all out race engine (boat-tailing, shuffle-pinning).

For the standard upgrades you can get by with far less $$$$. Your crank may even be good and not need polishing. Case savers, flushing squirters, oil bypass, Spigots leveled, line boring can be done for well under 2000 with parts. The crank can be evaluated with a micrometer and determined if work is needed.

A dismantler unit will likely need work, so not really a cost savings.

Unless you are racing and dead-set on a larger motor I would proceed with a teardown and evaluate what you need. Send the case to a good machinist (Competition Engineering, Ollies, Henry Schmidt, etc) and let them go at it. Ollies treated me very well with prompt phone calls regarding arrival, recommended work and evaluation results, and shipment back.

[Walt Fricke]

+1 on starting with the machine ship saying what needs to be done. It is not written in heaven that a 2.4 case will need to be line bored, or the spigots leveled. If it is from a T (which is what you list under your nome de plume), it saw a great deal less heat and general stress than did a thermal reactor 2.7 case. And pinning/boat tailing are a waste of money for a street motor. Boat tailing may not be all that worthwhile for a race motor, but you can do that yourself with a die grinder, Bruce Anderson pictured it in his book, so all us racers do it.

Are you planning on new rods, Ps and Cs, heads, maybe cams also? Lots of places to spend money there. Or things to check when rebuilding.

[Jack Stands]

The 2.4 is actually a very nice engine and you would enjoy the rebuilt engine. People keep forgetting that these 3.2 engines are now at least 23 years old and have their issues as well. Rebuilds for any of these engines are expensive.

I have a 2.0 six, a 2.7 modified six, and a 3.2. Though I love the instant start and immediate drivability of the 3.2, it seems like a different beast. I really enjoy the 2.7 engine for it's ability to rev and the kick as the S cams kick in. The 2.0 six is also a nice reminder of what these cars started out,,and is also a gas to drive.

[tharbert]

It's going to be a simple driver, no racing, but maybe a little bit of a hot rod? That's about it. I'm crossing the race related mods off the list. Didn't know...

The engine needs top end work. I had this general idea of bumping the engine up to "E" specs: have the heads done, slap in some 2.2E pistons and an E cam. But nothing is ever that simple.

So, a general idea started morphing into a solid plan: heads done at AA, John regrinding my cams to E spec and reconditioning the rockers, and Mark Jung (356RS) changing the space cam in my MFI to E spec. I'm looking at a set of 86mm P/C's with JE pistons which should drop in without modifying the case or heads, raise my CR from 8.5:1 to 9.5:1 and modestly increase displacement to about 2450cc without breaking the bank.

So, now I’m down to deciding what to do with the case. Basically, what I’m hearing is that I should contact one of the shops mentioned above, let them know my goal and let them evaluate what needs to be done based on what they find. Align bore, spigots, crank, and rods may or may not need any work…it just depends on what they find? So, I really won’t know what I’m in for until I decide who, ship it, and they evaluate. I'd really like to find a shop close but it appears the best options are on the left coast. Looked at Ollies web site. Good work, huh?

[The Dude]

+1 on Ollie's.

I'm in the same boat. Where'd you get the info on the MFI space cam work? I need that done.

Landon

[moneymanager]

The three guys mentioned above all do fine work. Pick any one of them. You're now on the right track.