What To Do With 3.0

[arbita1]

My engine is out. Had some large leaks to address. It's a mess. No real running issues before removal. Maybe a bit down on power. Compression was good across all cylinders. No broken head studs. 205,000 miles. So what should I do with this engine? Clean and put back in? Valve job? Take whole thing apart and go through it?

[JmuRiz]

Option #4, give up and give it to me

It really is a tough question, could be a quick clean and put together all the way up to a twin-plug EFI monster. What's your budget wishes, that'll tell a lot as far as options and opinions on best value for money.

[arbita1]

Originally Posted by JmuRiz

Option #4, give up and give it to me

It really is a tough question, could be a quick clean and put together all the way up to a twin-plug EFI monster. What's your budget wishes, that'll tell a lot as far as options and opinions on best value for money.

Assume I do not want to spend more than I have to. So definitely no twin plug Efi.

[johndaroza]

Parts are so old you should do a full tare down and use what you can a fix and replace the rest.

[juanbenae]

how much do you have for us to spend on your new(ish) motor project? if you've got $20k do the lower & top ends and find some carbs to match your cams & new exhaust. if you only got $5 buy some simple green and clean it up n reinstall. if you got 500 buy a gasket set, a thousand buy & install new vacuum & fuel lines. if you,,, well? see where im going?

how much money do we have to spend?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by johndaroza

Parts are so old you should do a full tare down and use what you can a fix and replace the rest.

If I were to "tare" it down, I would check the cam lobes for proper lift, perhaps a cam timing tweak for lower end grunt, find the air leaks and put it back in.

[KyMitch]

I'm getting ready to pull my 3.0 as well, and I've got my fare share of oil and vac leaks to deal with.. My original plan was a complete rebuild with a nice short stroke top end, head work, cams and all that fun stuff. Now its getting late in the winter and summer is right around the corner. So my new plan is to seal up all the leaks and clean it up. I'll tend to my CIS and get it well sorted and more performance friendly via adjustable WUR, big port parts, send the fuel head off for rebuild to euro spec, etc etc. Get some nice SSI's and 2 in 2 out muffler. New clutch. Recurved distributor maybe? Basically sort out everything that bolts to the outside of the motor, and should gain some nice performance too. Then I wont have to worry about that stuff next winter or the winter after when I'm more serious about that hot rod engine build. Make sense??

[jpnovak]

At 200K+ miles you will likely have significant wear on the layshaft bearings as well as rod bearings. Main bearing condition will depend on how hard the car was driven but will likely look pretty good.

The problem is the worn rod bearings. You run the risk of a spun #2 or 5 rod bearing if your oil pressure is dropping a measurable amount. These receive the least amount of oil and will have the largest wear and clearance now.

Additionally the valve guides have probably out lived their life. Your exhaust ports look relatively clean and do not show signs of oil blow by.

Has the engine been rebuilt before? If original I would be inclined to take it apart for a refresh. Doing so now would reduce the amount of parts that need full replacement. Yes, its money out of pocket but cheaper than letting it go until something fails.

[Sicklyscott]

^^^ Has some good points particularly about replacing high wear items before they cause a nightmare.

If I were in your shoes I'd look at all the hard to reach items that might be getting old / brittle. Anything rubber, maybe fuel lines in the tunnel, CIS refresh?

[Avanti]

Compression tests are good but when contemplating your situation a leakdown test is better and may help you to decide how deep you need to go.

I'm with you. Summer is coming. Fix a few leaks and drive it some more. Pull it out again in the Fall.

[mreid]

Figure $2k (if you do the work yourself) to tear it down to the sealed case. Remove the rods, inspect bearing surfaces, replace bearings (rod bolts if required), rebuild heads, rering and reseal entire engine and replace fuel and vacuum lines. Assuming rod bearing surfaces are good, you'll have a practically new engine. If they are not good, a total rebuild is required.

[blucille]

I've got a recent rebuilt 78 3.0 complete. Bolt in, no leaks. No smoke. Very strong motor for sale. 8k. It's clean. Could be on your doorstep in a week. Check the classifieds.