Noob engine rebuild question
 

OK, I'm just starting to research doing a rebuild of my 3.0L SC engine that I detonated a piston in last weekend.

I see a lot of guys are packing up their parts and "sending them out". Where are they sending these parts...and what are they having done?

Depends on how much you want to do yourself...

You can send out all the rotating parts + barrels to get measured or you can buy the tools and do it yourself.

For the most part, heads get done by professionals: Comp. Engineering, Ottos, Anchor Atlantic, Extreme Heads, etc..

As long as your crank does not need work you can clean it up yourself or send it out to be polished and magnafluxed for cracks. If it need to be machined... send it out.

Rods and pistons can be sent out to be balanced and re-bushed. (send all the rotating parts along)

If you need the case machined there are several places: Comp Eng., Ottos, etc..

Then its cleaning time! Ottos does an amazing job with a ceramic tumbler. Case et. al. looks brand new! I had mine locally soda blasted along with the cam carriers. looks good. Everything else I did by hand. Or, to save some bucks, use your elbows :)

Buy a media blast cab and use it to clean up the rest of the crap... or send out your sheet metal and various other metal bits to be powder coated or painted. Parts cleaner is a good investment as well.

Send out your injectors to be cleaned: WichHunter, & others


I'm sure others have more to say on this...

Best regards,

Michael

Best place for machine work is Ollie's Automotive Machining in Santa Ana, Calif. It's worth sending to them if you are out of state. They will send you a price list of services.
Unless your garage is decked out with the heavy duty machinery I have Ollie's do the things to the engine parts that I could never do at home. Here's what I always have done for an engine build....roughly anyway ...depending on the situation and engine type. (prices may vary)
1. Have the case halves hot tanked. 30.
2. Any crank shop can check your crank for true and surface polish for 25. If you have to regrind have Ollie's do it. Beware 10 over main bearings cost me 398. 3 years ago.
3. Rebuild heads, including new springs/guides, and valves reground. 00.
4. Have cam towers hot tanked and have oil squirters cleaned out. 00.?
5. Have them bead blast your barrels if they need it and buss the insides.
Also for rebuild gasket kit, bearings, and new wires.... EBS Racing is good supplier.

In August when I get back from vacationing in Egypt and Greece. I will be starting a 3.0 and a 2.7s motor. I took a 2.4 engine case and had Ollie's bore it out to 2.7 specs and I bought a complete set of Mahle 2.7 S pistons and barrels. The 3.0 is an '83 SC motor I'm running in a '76 Targa. I had what I thought was chain tensioner failure, but I opened the chain housings and they haven't failed so I think maybe #4 cylinder may have a problem.

For the record, I used EBS in Reno, NV. I sent the heads, cylinders, pistons, cams, cam shafts, rods, and rockers.

It cost me about $138 for shipping from Charleston, SC to Reno, NV ... was about 135 pounds that was sent in three different boxes.

The total cost was around $3300 (includes return shipping). $1000 of that was new JE pistons ... which I was hoping I didn't need.

(case and crank were taken to local machine shop for cleaning and polish)