engine rebuild items

[Kim K Kaiser]

im embarking on a rebuild of a duplicate 63 engine.  in the teardown process.. 

in re:   camshaft bearings, once removed,, are the holes that they fit into re bored or are they always left as is.

2: are there any home made suggestions to knock those out,   a cam bearing remover is about 100 plus for basically one time use, and i dont see any rental options from the parts stores.

3, valve lifters: same question as camshaft bearings.  once out, do they need to be rebored, or is taht a whole that typcially stays the same and not rebored..

[Jason Edge]

Kim has an excellent low mileage 390 short block (block & internals) he picked up from me and will suggest here as I suggested to him - have a reputable machine shop do the main work of removing freeze plugs, cam bearings, vatting (cleaning), and spec'ing out to see if what size rod & main bearing, any over bore needed, determine of crank needs to be turned or just honed and polished, etc. They should install the freeze plug and cam bearings as they are familiar with how to press them in. You will want them to magnaflux your heads to make sure no cracks, and replace if any found. There are other areas where a machine shop will be needed, such as having the exhaust manifolds planed smooth to make sure they mate correctly to the block, and of course cleaning all the parts. While rebuilding an engine is not rocket science it is something you cannot haphazardly guess at, dismantle, throw parts in a box, and throw back together. I spent 3 months of concentrated effort when I rebuilt my 429 block and spent many trips back and forth to the machine shop, and listening to the old timers tell me the ins and outs of rebuilding. I have been a wrencher for 40 years of my life and feel I am moderately cable of taking on such a task and think if I had any less experience I would farm the rebuild out, or at a minimum work with a pro side by side through the process. Blocks like the one I sent Kim are getting hard to find and would hate to know a hammer &  punch destroyed a camshaft bearing journal or worse. If nothing else I would read and re-read the engine section of the shop manual several times to completely familiarize myself with these engines. There is also a lot of engine rebuild references on the internet that can help walk you through the process. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Someone besides me will do the putting back.  I hve simplybremoved the pistons and crankshaft.   Off to machine shop this week.  Thats a good detailed list for me to c a rry with me to re affirm to machine shop wprk to be done.   Thanks

[Jason Edge]

I think the discussion with the machine shop tech will answer most of your questions.  Let them help guide you as they are going to be the one physically inspecting the block to see the rebuild parts you need.

[Jason Edge]

My machine shop, Loop Rd in Garner NC, has shed all of their staff except one person since the COVID mess. They have even sold out and have a different name. The auto parts side of the place has completely shut down. The one person at the machine shop can turn drums and do basics but he is not the go to person I started with and would not recommend them at this point. I would have to work with him more to recommend him or this shop. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Thanks Tony,   im working on getting better at understanding things.    Given the cost of new or even 5 or ten yesr used vehicles now.  5 or 6 k to get one runnibf regularly and w confidence, and not to mention high style and no berping, bells and tv screens, i am gonna pursue this ave.   Heat works and ac works,  i hv sirius radio, same thing mt 05 diesel has, just no bed.

As much as my curiosity to learn pushes me, im turning the rebuilding over.   I have watched a good video from caddy daddy where they rebuild a 390 for a 59 from pretty much ground up on the engine.  The talk and show how to line up piston rings. Calbrating the rings to proper sizes, getting the springs in, which side of spring is up and down,  how to use the spring compressor, lots of little things as far as procedures in rebuilding,  its facinating to me at the least. But im still a litle scared of it.    Its a good video,  clear and direct.  but its a 59 rebuild on a eldo,   look it up on utube if its of interst to anyone.   Here are a couple of the links,  they go all the way through tp transmisssion

https://youtu.be/M7Tzc-ZG3vo

https://youtu.be/5tmTjlgXG5s

https://youtu.be/5tmTjlgXG5s

As Jason has told me, its going to shop for inspection, and they will tell me what i need,  untill then, i will keep feeding the current beast oil,  still gets 14.3 mpg, every tank so it can be in to bad a shspe.   But when i saw those crankshaft bearings compared to mine in the car.  Difference was glaring.  I believe Mark Anderson said they were pretty much shot.   Mine are copper looking,  these are white,  so it may be why my seal keeps leaking.  Seeing the 73k parts vs my engine parts has been helpful as to wear.  

[Kim K Kaiser]

On the line of parts,  primarily pistons,  disregard size, is the any significant difference in those kit patrs as to durablitity, longevity,   i saw one site had some kind of carbon things,   bout twice price, but in general,   can they be generally reliable.

Secondly on the camshaft, just a standard from those rebuilds kits be properly sized or is the a measured standard  or specifications for the 63, or will that info be give to me from machine shop.  I just want the standard, stock stuff