Nola Mike's 3.7/470 --> 4.3L swap thread

[Scott Danforth]

Are the mounts the same for the boat as the trucks? Cursory search of car ones, they're cheap.

no, in a boat, they are meant to adjust for alignment. in a car/truck, they are meant to fit the chassis without adjustment.

pineapples and turnips

 

[Scott Danforth]

normally its Barr 8-0001 or similar http://www.barrmarine.net/rubber-engine-mounts.html

 

[nola mike]

normally its Barr 8-0001 or similar http://www.barrmarine.net/rubber-engine-mounts.html

Too bad, 4x price of auto. As usual.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you are working on a BOAT......

 

[achris]

you are working on a BOAT......

Bust Out Another Thousand.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Brutal round here.

A hole in the water that throughout its life you have to try and fill up with dollars.

 

[nola mike]

you are working on a BOAT......

Not a boat

 

[nola mike]

Alright, got a new block. It's an '01 with (I'm guessing) around 200k miles. VIN check showed last odo reading of 150k in '14. Everything around had about the same mileage. It won because it was a stick shift and someone had already pulled the tranny, so easier to remove and I get a flywheel. It looks pretty dirty (all did). No idea what kind of shape it's in. OTD price of $180. Going to clean it and check compression in a few days. Had to remove the intake at the yard, worried that schmutz got into places where it shouldn't have. Going to pull the heads, but again wanted to check compression first. What do I need to do before that so that I don't self-destruct it? No oil in it currently. Thinking about filling it with cheap oil, priming the pump with a drill (though not sure how to do this...), squirting some in the cylinders and giving it a go. I'm nervous about just putting this in given the high mileage without a little R&R at a shop, even if the compressions good. I'd at least want to replace any seals, gaskets, etc that are tough to get to with the engine installed. I'll get some more pics and info when I have more time to look at it...

 

[Scott Danforth]

3 cans of gunk heavy duty engine degreaser
1 can of WD40
1 2x4 foot section of 1/2" plywood
1 stiff brush
1 scraper
1 leaf blower
good hose and water pressure
1 6-pack of beer.

have engine sitting on piece of plywood
remove oil pan and set aside (clean later)
scrape all really heavy areas of grease and goo with scraper
hose down liberally with can of heavy duty degreaser
let sit for about 20 minutes and drink a beer
start scrubbing
flip motor as needed on the plywood
keep scrubbing
drink a beer
scrub some more
hose down liberally with second can of heavy duty degreaser
drink another beer
scrub some more
rinse with garden hose
fire up leaf blower and dry motor
if engine is clean, coat with WD 40
drink a beer
if engine still has dirt...... use 3rd can and scrub some more, then rinse, dry and WD 40

do not put the engine in the bathtub if you are married.
do not put the cylinder heads in the dishwasher if you are married

you should have 2 beers left, now drink one.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Scott skipped a couple beers somewhere.

 

[Scott Danforth]

BTW, the industrial aluminum cleaner that a buddies chemical engineer brother mixed up for me that I used to turn corroded corvette chassis parts to shiny bits of bling ate the bathroom drain plug assembly in an apartment I had. there were a few beers drank while I tore out a tub to replace a brass tub drain assembly

after that, i make a wood crate and line it with 5 or 6 sheets of plastic now for my acid baths for cleaning.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I've been making adjustable boat pole holders for selling on fleabay. I mix up my acid wash and soak em for a bit in a 5 gal pail. Even brand new welded up aluminum responds well to cleanup that way.

Your story reminds me of the time I broke one of the plastic 1/4" barbed fittings in my hot tub. I replaced it with the only thing I could find, a brass one. That lasted beautifully for 10 days, then totally fell apart. The acids in the tub just made it disappear.

 

[nola mike]

3 cans of gunk heavy duty engine degreaser
1 can of WD40
1 2x4 foot section of 1/2" plywood
1 stiff brush
1 scraper
1 leaf blower
good hose and water pressure
1 6-pack of beer.

have engine sitting on piece of plywood
remove oil pan and set aside (clean later)
scrape all really heavy areas of grease and goo with scraper
hose down liberally with can of heavy duty degreaser
let sit for about 20 minutes and drink a beer
start scrubbing
flip motor as needed on the plywood
keep scrubbing
drink a beer
scrub some more
hose down liberally with second can of heavy duty degreaser
drink another beer
scrub some more
rinse with garden hose
fire up leaf blower and dry motor
if engine is clean, coat with WD 40
drink a beer
if engine still has dirt...... use 3rd can and scrub some more, then rinse, dry and WD 40

do not put the engine in the bathtub if you are married.
do not put the cylinder heads in the dishwasher if you are married

you should have 2 beers left, now drink one.

I have a keg of home brew, and only pint glasses, will that work?

So once I get it shiny 'n clean on the outside, how do I make sure that I don't detonate the rest of it while compression testing?

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have a keg of home brew, and only pint glasses, will that work?

So once I get it shiny 'n clean on the outside, how do I make sure that I don't detonate the rest of it while compression testing?

Yes

crank it over on the engine stand.

 

[nola mike]

Yes

crank it over on the engine stand.

1. Good
2. Without oil? without trying to clean out the intake/cam? Without priming oil pump?

 

[achris]

Add oil, pull the spark plugs and crank it over on a full battery... If you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge, connect that and monitor (this assumes you have the distributor in place.)

BTW, cold compressions are sometimes quite a bit different to hot.

Chris..........

 

[Scott Danforth]

Your story reminds me of the time I broke one of the plastic 1/4" barbed fittings in my hot tub. I replaced it with the only thing I could find, a brass one. That lasted beautifully for 10 days, then totally fell apart. The acids in the tub just made it disappear.

The bleach disolves the zinc in brass.

 

[Scott Danforth]

1. Good
2. Without oil? without trying to clean out the intake/cam? Without priming oil pump?

Oil is prefered, however for a compression test, the oil film on the bearings would suffice. You wont move much oil with cranking speeds unless you pre-prime.

Since you dont have the intake on the motor, and you just scrubbed all the gunk while drinking beer, you have cleaned out the lifter valley. That is where the WD40 came in.

 

[nola mike]

Oil is prefered, however for a compression test, the oil film on the bearings would suffice. You wont move much oil with cranking speeds unless you pre-prime.

Since you dont have the intake on the motor, and you just scrubbed all the gunk while drinking beer, you have cleaned out the lifter valley. That is where the WD40 came in.

This is different than other engines that I've worked on in that without the intake on there, the cam and all those shiny bearing surfaces are exposed to the gunk. And yeah, I know cold compression won't be accurate, but best I can do. Even cold I'd think I should be well into the 130's and even. And if they're good, they're good. Also interesting seeing that balance shaft in there looking at it next to the cracked block.

 

[Scott Danforth]

This is different than other engines that I've worked on in that without the intake on there, the cam and all those shiny bearing surfaces are exposed to the gunk. And yeah, I know cold compression won't be accurate, but best I can do. Even cold I'd think I should be well into the 130's and even. And if they're good, they're good. Also interesting seeing that balance shaft in there looking at it next to the cracked block.

stop focusing on the gunk...... you should have cleaned that by now to be able to assess what you are working on. if you cleaned the gunk, there isnt any left.

you are trying to get a baseline compression test to make sure the motor itself isnt blown. you also want to use a small pry bar and check the rod bearings for radial movement.

200k miles on a well maintained motor will have less wear than a motor that has only 50k and never had the oil changed.

if there is a lot of coking in the engine, you may need a rebuild.