I have a person who wants to sell me a 1971 402 big block motor that they rebuilt over 8 years ago..says the motor only had about 1000-1500 miles on it before he pulled it out of his 1967 chevelle and replaced it with a 67 motor he found..is it a shot in the dark or something to stay away from?..

It should be fine, as long as it was stored indoors in a relatively dry enviornment. I got garages full of engines, they sit for years at a time until needed. Prime up the oil pressure and fire em up, havent had a problem with one yet.

------------------
Dave (NY)
70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
72 chevelle
55 chevy prostreet
69/71 camaros
TC member #493

It all depends on how it was stored. Most junk yarsd store good running engines upside down if they must be outside.

In quick and dirty terms, if it was indoors and soemwhat dry then it should be okay. If it was outside and covered right, it might need a little love to free sticky valvetrain components. If it was just pulled, plunked down and the carb ripped off then its probably going to need some real looking at.

If you can check it out where it lays and make your decession from there.

And, Daves not BS'ing you when hesay they be good. They(it) runs just fine. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
Francis Taracido Gold# 201
sniper0666@aol.com
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.
Oh No! You Know She's Got To Go!
Go Go Quadzilla! <oo=+=oo>
http://members.aol.com/sniper0666/page/intro.html

[This message has been edited by Quadzilla (edited 12-12-2000).]

If its been outside or around a lot of moisture, be careful. The rings are made out of cast iron and will rust. I've seen where rain has run down into the cylinders and the rings had rusted so much they were practically welded to the cylinder wall. That is the extreme case. I've also seen a minor case where the rings had rusted and very slight/small "pits" were in the cylinder wall. So if possible, remove the heads, turn the rotating assembly and check the areas where the rings have been on the cylinder wall.

------------------
-Mark TC# 717
ACES #1641
1967 Chevelle SS396/375 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/1BadRat2)
1964 Chevelle 283/195
1975 Corvette 396/375 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/1BadRat1.jpg) Looks are very deceiving!

I agree with all of the above. If, in fact is has been "properly" stored, my preference is to: 1. Remove the dist and prime the HECK out of the pump, 2. Pull the plugs, shoot a fair quantity of oil into each cylinder, 3. MANUALLY turn the the crank over several times to lube the cyl walls AND push out the oil you shot into the cylinders, 4. Light it off.
On an engine such as you describe, I would of course drain and install fresh oil and a new filter------------------AND, I would go to Chev parts dept and buy a bottle of EOS to add to the oil just this one time.

------------------
Tom Parsons

You may want to check the valve springs on that engine. If you are going to use it at high RPMs a weak valve spring can drop a valve and put a big hole in a piston. You can change the valve springs and seals without removeing the heads. Big blocks were known for weak springs so changing them is cheap insurance against major damage.

An Oil pan gasket is a cheap price to pay to check out a motor. If you can get it on a stand, pull the pan and then you can see into the cylinders from the bottom, check the bearings and crank surfaces, and also get an idea of oversize. By turning the crank you can see if the rings have pitted the walls or not. Good luck!!!!

------------------
I know I'm havin fun when I break something....And I usually have a LOT of fun!!!

I rebuilt my motor and for various reasons it sat (indoors) for close to 10 years. I never started it after the rebuild though. Ten years later it started up fairly easy and has been just fine since.

------------------
NCOA member #220
ACES member #1670
Team Chevelle #998
Rich's 1965 Malibu SS Restoration Project Progress Page (http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/flats/8627/)
1:18 scale diecast car Detailing by Scooter (http://www.amhost.com/scooter/)