Build your own engine thread

[JoshT]

Myself, have built (all fords) 351C 302, 4.L 2.8

That's what my list looks like too.

My first rebuild was a 2.8L that I probably should have left alone. It got rebuilt because I had it in my head that it was old, worn, and needed it. It probably didn't. The finished product ran well for the brief time that it ran. I totaled the truck with less than 5k miles on the engine rebuild.

The second was a 4.0L. Not rebuilt because it needed a rebuild, but because it had other issues that required stripping the block. This engine suffered from reperated head gasket failures. After replacing the heads once (had them checked more than once), and head gaskets several times, we determined that the issue must lie in the block. Stripped it down to castings and had a machine shop check everything. They must have missed something or done a half assed job because after reassembly it failed again. That's when I decided I needed to get rid of the truck. Since then I stumbled into a parts truck, swapped the engine, and have had no more issues yet.

As for what I've rebuilt myself it's pretty much Lima 2.3L (times 2 or 3)

That or a 5.0L will probably be my next.

First motor I "built" started as a 23 or 24cc 2 stroke and ended up at 32.5cc iirc, big bore top end and a +2mm stroker crank, whoppin tuned pipe, no silencer. it was on a hard tire goped and was scary AF lol.

To think, I've got an RC car with the same size engine. Have it, but no longer use it. Bought it to run at a local RC track with some co-workers. Track closed and quickly figured out there aren't many places around here to run an RC car that size.

 

[Blmpkn]

That's what my list looks like too.

My first rebuild was a 2.8L that I probably should have left alone. It got rebuilt because I had it in my head that it was old, worn, and needed it. It probably didn't. The finished product ran well for the brief time that it ran. I totaled the truck with less than 5k miles on the engine rebuild.

The second was a 4.0L. Not rebuilt because it needed a rebuild, but because it had other issues that required stripping the block. This engine suffered from reperated head gasket failures. After replacing the heads once (had them checked more than once), and head gaskets several times, we determined that the issue must lie in the block. Stripped it down to castings and had a machine shop check everything. They must have missed something or done a half assed job because after reassembly it failed again. That's when I decided I needed to get rid of the truck. Since then I stumbled into a parts truck, swapped the engine, and have had no more issues yet.



That or a 5.0L will probably be my next.



To think, I've got an RC car with the same size engine. Have it, but no longer use it. Bought it to run at a local RC track with some co-workers. Track closed and quickly figured out there aren't many places around here to run an RC car that size.

That motor, once back together, had enough snot where a good crack of the throttle at cruising speed would lift the front tire into the air lol. I wasn't even done breaking the stupid motor in yet when I had that happen.. sent me right off the back doing probably 15-20mph.. skun the hell out of my knee/leg.. bunch of cars were driving by..

It was REALLY TOUGH trying play that off In front of all that traffic like I wasn't in the worlds biggest shitstorm of both pain and shame

What RC do you have? Some hpi 5th scale?

 

[JoshT]

What RC do you have? Some hpi 5th scale?

King Motor Baja which is a clone of the HPI Baja 5B.

It's just too big and fast for the space I've got to run it. I've thought about rebuilding it for tarmac and finding empty parking lots to run it in, but I've got bigger and more important projects to deal with right now. Maybe once I get my other two acres cleared off I'll have enough space to play with it in my yard some. I've also been considering converting it to electric think it might be a little more convenient and practical. As it it just stays tucked away in the loft of my storage shed.

 

[19Walt93]

I also tore down 2 flathead V8's but didn't end up building either one. The first one was absolutely full of sludge and had one mismatched connecting rod right beside a hole into the water jacket. The second one was allegedly rebuilt but needed to be bored, new pistons, new crank, and new cam so it got a better reman swapped in. I was disappointed.

 

[Josh B]

I did some swappin on a few and was helper on a few but haven't really dug into one beyond the heads.

My father would tear them down still sitting in the vehicle and I did a lot of holding pistons down and such, and holding flashlights He'd take the heads inside at night and a drill and work on seating the valves and such.

I helped my brother do a 396 sitting in a mid 60s stepside long bed pickup with a thick layer of diamond plating covering the bed, he did that out in the yard too, including checking all the tolerances with that squish string stuff. When he got it done it would idle about 40 and we'd get caught going through town and he'd be cussing the guy in front for going the speed limit while he had to hold his feet on the brake pedal while idling. I'm not sure what transmission he had but it was a floor shift and he often had to replace second gears. Around college time he decided to sell it but I didn't know before the guy was out there to see it. I was just getting to high school and was following them around the truck asking him if he got the stripped gears fixed and on and heard him tell the guy "he don't want me to sell it". The only thing to do around there was a drive in movie and they'd show a lot of cheap motorcycle club movies and such, one of them was at a race track, and we saw his truck on the start line, green lite it took off down the track, last time we ever saw it. That was the only vehicle that ever scared me.

I'm even wondering about doing mine, I'd really like to work my way back to the original motor and transmission, even tho hoping the Explorer motor, and the rebuilt transmission my cousin fixed up will be good for the long haul too, but while reading to here on this thread it seems parts that once seemed so simple, like rings and bearings and lifters and such, are getting near impossible to come by, so I guess we'll all be playing along by ear till they get things straightened out somehow

 

[bobbywalter]

Damn



It hurts to think about it.

 

[bobbywalter]

That's what my list looks like too.

My first rebuild was a 2.8L that I probably should have left alone. It got rebuilt because I had it in my head that it was old, worn, and needed it. It probably didn't. The finished product ran well for the brief time that it ran. I totaled the truck with less than 5k miles on the engine rebuild.

The second was a 4.0L. Not rebuilt because it needed a rebuild, but because it had other issues that required stripping the block. This engine suffered from reperated head gasket failures. After replacing the heads once (had them checked more than once), and head gaskets several times, we determined that the issue must lie in the block. Stripped it down to castings and had a machine shop check everything. They must have missed something or done a half assed job because after reassembly it failed again.

I love the ohv 4.0....and like the sohc 4.0..woth a manual transmission they are really good on a ranger....but when it comes to building one....no way. In the rust belt the blocks just get ate up on the rail...when you deck them it starts a shit storm.

A engine that spent it's life in Cali or the desert with proper coolant maintenance is about the only way I would be comfortable building one.


There is so much rolling update over the production run....it's difficult to get a perfect setup that is time and cost effective

 

[JoshT]

My father would tear them down still sitting in the vehicle and I did a lot of holding pistons down and such, and holding flashlights He'd take the heads inside at night and a drill and work on seating the valves and such.

I'm even wondering about doing mine, I'd really like to work my way back to the original motor and transmission, even tho hoping the Explorer motor, and the rebuilt transmission my cousin fixed up will be good for the long haul too, but while reading to here on this thread it seems parts that once seemed so simple, like rings and bearings and lifters and such, are getting near impossible to come by, so I guess we'll all be playing along by ear till they get things straightened out somehow

That reminds me about another motor I rebuilt and forgot about. I can't say "rebuilt" seriously though, because it was a half-assed job at best. I had a second gen Probe for about a year. 4 cylinder 5 speed car. Bought it it for $500 from the parking lot of a pick-n-pull yard, it probably should have been in the yard. After replacing axle shafts and clutch I discovered that the head gasket was blown gone. Wish I'd known before the clutch since it would have been easy to drop the whole thing and do it all at once.

Upon I pulling the head to I found one of the pistons was a little sower than it should be. Turned out to have a bent rod. Dropped the main caps and the crank journals looked good. I ended up pulling the pistons, honing, installing new rings and rod bearings, and rolling in new main bearings with the engine still int he car and transmission attached. A short time later (week or two) I was having odd oil pressure issues. Turns out that while the journals looked good the thrust surface on the crank shaft was actuall gone and allowing the crank to move in the block when the clutch was pressed. This time the engine came out and a crank kit went in. Was running great when the transmission lost a gear. I decided I Wasn;t going to pull the engine/transmission for the 4th time in a year. Bought my 2010 Forte the next day.

Still reget donating that car to the tech school. If I'd done it properly it would have been a great ride. I should have kept and fixed it, but I had too much going on at the time. I almost bought it back a couple of year ago when it popped up on Facebook for $600. I contacted the seller, but didn't decide fast enough. Although it was the most fun driving I've had in a CAR, I think it's for the best that I didn't get it back. If I can ever finish my three current projects I think I'll have much more fun with them. That would be the 68 F-100, the 85 Ranger, and the 99 Ranger. Of course finishing requires actually starting and/or continuing work on them.

 

[JoshT]

I love the ohv 4.0....and like the sohc 4.0..woth a manual transmission they are really good on a ranger....but when it comes to building one....no way. In the rust belt the blocks just get ate up on the rail...when you deck them it starts a shit storm.

A engine that spent it's life in Cali or the desert with proper coolant maintenance is about the only way I would be comfortable building one.


There is so much rolling update over the production run....it's difficult to get a perfect setup that is time and cost effective

Yeah, I won't do it again. I wasn't even after performance. Just a basic rebuild, but I did install headers and a small cam while I was in there. I mean the engine was rebuilt so it should have been good for 100k+ miles right.

I was fortunate that the wife of a co-worker's neighbor wrecked his Ranger and it had a good running and allegedly fairly "fresh" engine. I was able to pick up the whole thing for $500. It wouldn't have taken too much work to fix the crash damage but needed a lot of cosmetic work beyond that. Anyhow, the co-worker knows his shit and could vouch for the engine being healthy. It was also running and drivable so I was able to verify it for myself. I'm still picking parts off that carcass. I'm in the middle of stripping the interior, I want to dye the pieces black for an interior color change on my truck. Hopefully be done with that and hauling the rest for scrap soon.

After getting that engine and swapping it in the plan was to sell the truck before it could give me any more problems. I then inherited the F-250 and the Ranger sat, quite literally untouched, for about 18 months. When diesel got so expensive last year I went out charged up the battery, and it went like I'd just drove it the week before. I would say day before, but you can imagine how the tire felt and interior smelt after sitting for over a year. Anyhow, I finally allowed myself to admit that I didn't hate the truck and decided to commit to ideas that have been hanging out in the back of my head for years.

It's getting face lifted, lowered slightly, and turned into a psuedo street truck. I'll be prepping 5.0L (windsor) swap components for when it needs drivetrain work again, no more major work will be put into the 4.0L drivetrain. That 5.0L, the 2.3L Lima in the 85 Ranger, and the FE in the 68 F-100 are the next engine builds on the list. The 5.0L is at the top unless one of the other two are necessary first.