Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Mopar Big Block Talk
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johnw
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by johnw »

It would be good to hear views of more experienced American V8 builders than me.

I have used Summit and Jegs. They both sell at good prices. No brainer brands like Felpro gasket sets, Carter fuel pumps, Mopar Performance parts and cam kits, known original quality brands at keen prices. Mancini Racing are well regarded.

A lot of people are going with reasonably priced alloy heads these days, there is a glut of good value used iron heads, plentiful and cheap in Europe, prices start at £20. I would stick with irons heads if possible. Inexpensive heads from 440 Source and similar will hopefully always be out there. If you are fixing a couple of bent valves, maybe buy a used head, or just a couple of new valves if the others are good. Look for cracks in the head round the valve seats. I wouldn't spend good money replacing all (including reusable) valves in dodgy old heads with micro cracks, you might be better with new 440 Source heads at similar costs.

Would a hone and new rings do it if it wasn't for the item stuck in the piston?
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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NigelK
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by NigelK »

Hughes Engines (www.hughesengines.com) are Mopar engine specialists and are very helpful…
Nigel Kieser
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
Interceptor 115/3484
redy
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Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 1:11 pm

Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by redy »

Thanks for the feedback

Any brand or specific recommendations on piston and cam replacement ? stock setup or close to....
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johnw
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by johnw »

In that case I personally would absolutely want to fix the low compression design of the 440 without a doubt if you are buying pistons and not saving the old ones.

So pistons that get the compression up, and work well with whatever cam you chose and the heads you have. I would start by thinking about something like an SP cam, the implications that has on valve springs, and see how that fits in with the other parts like heads.

One thing to bear in mind is that $2000 will get you a complete rotating assembly: new bearings, new forged crank, new rods, new modern pistons, all new and balanced together. New "stealth" alloy heads look externally like iron heads, they cost about $600 each, with optimised ports, stainless steel valves (currently out of stock due to COVID). So $3500 could get you a bit of a torque monster, if you fitted an RV cam.
There are so many decisions, this is all with the original block, nothing more than a rebore, externally identical to stock.
Once you take a step on the slippery slope things get interesting fast. All these could retain the original carb, inlet and exhaust manifolds, developing low down power sacrificing top end.

As your car was running, my idea was just to get you back on the road with the minimum damaged parts replaced. The options, once you depart from that, new pistons, new cam, what heads, then ooh options are so mind bogglingly large.
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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Grant
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by Grant »

Hi RedyMan..How we doing?Image..I'm sure your the chap that picked my brains about the manual gearbox via email were you not?Image..I'm sure I recognize the pics of the car :wink: ..Maybe I am wrong..Anyway, by the state of that piston and you saying the bores are oval you are going to need a rebore..Summit haven't got anything in the way of Pistons in stock..you need to get them correct for your compression etc..if you need some pistons my friend the American V8 Engine builder gets all his stuff here >>> http://cmfrost.com/ you should get some help with that engine build to get it right by the right personImage..then you can make the most of your Mopar :wink:..have a look at my build by My Ole Friend Mr Gilliver >> viewtopic.php?f=20&t=32070 .. you need someone like him My Ole Fruit and you can do 1/2 hour in 15 minutes ..Good luck with it Mr RedyManImage
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SRD
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by SRD »

Just to give you another option, perhaps you might also want to consider these people, they are very helpful and the turnaround on parts is superfast

http://www.realsteel.co.uk/

Do shop around there is some movement on price between the different suppliers.
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johnw
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by johnw »

Are you still based in Norway? There might be a good local machine shop. It sounds like you also have a transmission problem.

Oval bores or not, that screw and possible hole in the piston crown :shock: looks like the root cause of the engine woes, given the even readings around 110 psi in the other cylinders which seems similar to Rocky's engine.

Just wondering if you measured the bores with the heads torqued on, of course not I guess. There are lots of threads about the use of torque plates before reboring to replicate block distortion with heads on. Many reboring processes preserve a degree of ovality after a rebore :shock:. The ovality tolerances are quite large for reasonable operation though. .002" ovality seems an acceptable out of round allowance for some Japanese engines to be put back in service. Damage, pitting, the higher up the bore it is, the more crucial. Some of the first V12 Rolls-Royce's left the factory with different size pistons, which would be noted in the chassis files. Google suggests it is acceptable practice to rebore one cylinder when reconditioning engines! Not suggesting you do that!

Your car is pretty sharp to look at and does have a glint of Pirate Jenny in her. http://www.bobclevenger.com/PJ_Transplant.html
SRD wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:10 am Just to give you another option, perhaps you might also want to consider these people, they are very helpful and the turnaround on parts is superfast

http://www.realsteel.co.uk/

Do shop around there is a some movement on price between the different suppliers.
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
redy
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 1:11 pm

Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by redy »

Hi Johnw

I have the engine at a machine shop - but sourcing parts via them seems more expensive the getting them from a supplier like summit

As pr. the machine shop I need

1. New cam and bearing for the cam
2. New Lifter
3. New pistons 0.30" and rings to match
4. Main bearing - std size
5. Rod bearing . 0.001

- just on the side a update on the project - I has gone overboard :-)

The jensen right now - on the way to bare metal
jensen.jpg
jensen.jpg (108.98 KiB) Viewed 2087 times
Regards René
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johnw
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Re: Advice needed - to rebuild or not

Post by johnw »

Someone has been very busy! Stunning progress! Such a straight car!
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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