Should I rebuild?
 

Guys,

The car has right around 200K miles. It runs just fine and delivers normal power - actually quite surprising how well it runs.

On a separate note, I have been doing things on it and currently doing a make over on the oil cooling system. I bought a 28 row cooler, took off engine cooler - had it all flushed and cleaned out, took off the oil tank and here is where this question arose…. i took the tank to get cleaned and the guys did an OK job. It was only OK because when I got home I noticed that when I shook the tank it sounded like it had sand on it.

Well - I took off the plug and it was full of what appeared to be metal shavings - as they were sticking to the plug

I spent a few HOURS cleaning out the inside of the tank even more. Flushed it with gasoline several times and then soap and pressure washed it. I did this till the shavings stopped.

So the question is - should I rebuild now? Its a stock 79 3.0 SC (Targa). I do also have a BAE turbo kit laying around that is making the rebuild even more tempting :D

On a separate note - I would like to do the work myself (first rebuild but does"t look to hard); however, not sure which components to rebuild/upgrade --- but I guess if I do rebuild I will be spending lots of time on here!

So in any sense - what do you guys think these shavings/sand like dirt could be if it attracted to the magnetic drain plug of the oil tank?

Thanks!
Paul

If I found debris like you describe in my oil system, I would stop driving and rebuild the motor as soon as possible.

Post up pics of the shavings. Sounds like the tank cleaning wasn't up to snuff.

My initial thought is that the tank was contaminated by the shop that did your tank cleaning. I would ask them to describe the process they used and and also ask if they think there is any possibility that they accidentally added shavings. (If you explain the concern they may be truthful.)

I'd pull the sump plate on your motor and also inspect there. If your engine is shedding metal is should show up in the sump.