[Justin Mciver]

Im going to the junkyard tomarow to pull a v8 out of an old chevy.
besides, compression and oilpressure what else can I check to make sure its a good motor?

I figuered I would take a compresion gauge and a battery, so I can crank the motor to check compresion. is this the best method or should I turn the crank by hand?

I was also thinking of hooking up a spare oil gauge to see pressure while cranking the motor to check compresion.

anyone else have any Ideas of what to check?
thanx

 

[skunkynuggets]

I would recommend turning it by hand. All you are looking for is to find out if there is a bind in the motor. The next thing that I look at is the condition of the plugs. If they all have an even, clean burn look to them the motor is likely to be in good shape.
I also check the car that it came out of. Truck SBC's see more abuse than a SBC out of a Caprice.

Another trick is this: If the motor is really grungy, this is good. That means that it hasn't been messed with and that it probably hasn't been apart. If it looks origonal, check the odometer on the car. Other than that, use common sense & you'll get a really nice motor.