Okay, this will leave a lot of room for discussions, but here goes...

454 engine - CPD is as close as we can get to what code it is - probably doesn't matter anyway. The motor came with the car and has reportedly been "rebuilt". Problem is, the engine has sat for a few years since the "work" and has no intake manifold on it. We can see debris in and around the lifters and down around the cam, so obviously it will need to be taken apart again and hot tanked at the very least. In looking up thru the crank, I can see assembly grease inside and I can see the same grease around the cam, so I feel confident that it has been taken apart at the very least. Not much wear on the rockers, and the surfaces we can see look fairly new. So far, we've found that what the seller told us of this car has been accurate, but I'm always sceptical of an undocumented rebuild. Still...

Here's the car as we originally found it:
http://www.geocities.com/dittoz22/Project_car_1.html

What would you expect to do at the very least in a case such as this, and what kind of shop costs would you expect? Remember, the engine sat for a few years (in California) and looks to have been open to the environment. Dirt and debris... moisture... it's probably all gotten in there. Not having the room to do much extended engine work, I'd like to drop the whole thing at a shop and have them at least do the tear-down and tanking. We can do the reassembly, but I'm expecting to find that there's some inside corrosion at least. So... hot tanking, honing, new bearings probably, can the crank and cam be resurfaced if they show some corrosion? Obviously whatever shop we end up using will have advise as well, but armed with some knowledge would be nice too...

You say that you don't have room for extended engine work, but you will reassemble yourself? If so, tear it down yourself as well. It's not that hard, it is a good learning experience, and you really find out what you have under the coat of dirt and debris. That's just my opinion, but the teardown is way less critical than the rebuild. Just make sure that you carefully catalog in some way everything that you think will be reused. Nothing worse that starting to rebuild your car and constantly coming across some part and saying, "Now I wonder where this goes".

I guess I meant more that I don't have the room for doing any the machine work on the motor.

Thus far, we've stripped the interior and rebuilt the front-end in a "2-car" garage, but having fenders, hood, motor and trans out and off the car really takes up some space...

We -could- do the disassembly in the garage, but I'm really interested to hear what some of the pitfalls one runs up against with a motor that has sat open to the elements for a few years.

Are we on the right track in our thoughts as to pitting from condensation and the hot tank/honing? Rigth now, the block ahs the heads still torqued on and the balancer is on it, but otherwise, it's a bare motor with an oil pan on and no intake manifold.

I know this is a pretty braod discussion, but any more thoughts? Also, is there any way to determine if a non-stock cam is in there? They aren't typically marked very well, so...


-curt

Curt,

Can you turn the engine over by hand? This would go a long way to telling you how much of a pain it is going to be to tear apart. If the crank will still rotate, then you may not have as much of a problem as you think. Also, by doing it yourself, when you do take everything to the machine shop, you will know exactly what you really need to spend your money on.

Unfortunately, it appears that the engine will not turn over by hand. That was my first clue that something may be amiss... :(

well, dont feel bad man. At least you wont have to sit and wait for your engine to get done after having driven it for a month. I had a 454 equipped '70 SS396. Sounded like she ran like a champ; untill I blew the valves on cylinders 2&4. graemlins/sad.gif I didnt get her back and running (after ALOT of machine work and basically all new parts except for the block, head castings and crankshaft and connecting rods. Everything else was replaced) untill 4 months later. LONG wait, but it paid off. I thought I was happy before; good God I dont think I stopped grinning untill 2 weeks later!

Lol, I guess my point is that do what you need to do is to get your engine fixed first. Doesnt matter whats wrong with it, the investment purely for the driving excitement and pleasure is TOTALLY worth the money, and to an extent elbow grease. Even if you have to wait a few months after getting the work paid for before tackling other ares, its worth it. I thought I could leave the engine for the last part of the project...WRONG. It doesnt matter if you get an all leather custom interior, professional body and chassis work, and an all Hotchkis suspension, if you dont have a good power plant thats strong and healthy, it will look good, but thats about it. Just eating all that gas for no reason isnt fun unless your 454 can smoke the tires and torque up the power band like no other.

Good luck, and nice job on the interior sheet metal!