Inline Six Rebuild

[Mark B]

This thread is to document the removal, rebuild, and reinstallation of the straight six in my 1970 C10.

My truck is a nicely restored stock truck with a 3 on the tree. That may be changed to a TH350 that is already rebuilt and ready to go.

Hope some of you straight six fans find this of interest.

I started today by removing the removing the hood, taking out the battery draining the coolant, removed the rad, coil, ignition wires, distributor cap, and alternator.

The engine is going to Larry Taylor & Son Rebuilders in Brampton Ontario for a top to bottom rebuild.

I'm a Big in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization and my "Little" is helping me out. He is learning to use tools and understand how engines work. He was a great help today.

Here's a pic of my truck.

Mark

[Mark B]

The patient awaits:



Starting point



Taking lots of pics to be sure I put things back where they belong



Rad and heater hoses off. Fan and alternator removed. Plugs and caps off.

[soxplayer]

Why are you rebuilding the six? Is it really worn out?

My wife has one and I did have to turn the valves but the piston and rings were great despite pulling a 5:13 rear gear.

Is it a 230? or a 250?

If you decide to go automatic I would try to raise the compression into the 9:1 range for more torque. All through the 50's Chevy used higher compression in automatics since the driver couldn't lug the motor.

Cudos for keeping the six.

Good luck!

[Mark B]

Soxplayer,

Its a 250.

I'll let the rebuilder decide whats best to be done. Right now it blows a lot of smoke and crap. I'll pull the head before it goes to the rebuilder so I can see for myself how it looks.

Good tip on the compression. What is the best way to increase it?

I have everything on the top side removed now. Tonight I raised the front on jack-stands for better access underneath. Got underneath and thought to myself "this isn't going to be easy". Do you know if I can pull the engine with just unbolting the bell housing? Or do I need to drop the 3 speed first?

Mark
aka The Fixer

[soxplayer]

On the compression:

You can
1) mill the head
2) mill the deck.
3) Use 307 V8 pistons
4) Buy T Lowes pistons but they come only come in .40 over.

[shawno72]

Subscribed for sure!!

[shawno72]

Looks like you may have a leaky heater core as well??

[RAS C-10]

BLESS you kind sir, just what Ive been waiting to see on here!... Do us Inliners proud!!!

[Mark B]

Here's what led me to the decision to rebuilt my six...
Bought this truck a year ago for $200...

And found it had this six in it...ugly but with a TH350 and power steering on it..


With new plug, points, an oil change, and gas, to my surprise it started and ran (after sitting for ten years). It ran clean and the compression was good across all cylinders. I decided to cosmetically clean it up and swap it into my good truck.



I took it all apart and started to have parts cleaned.



After cleaning and painting a lot of parts, I had to admit there was more wrong with this engine than I expected. Worn bearings, bad cam, pistons stuck under cylinder wear ridge etc. It was like putting lipstick on a pig.
I decided then to bite the bullet, spend the money, and have it rebuilt. Then I decided that it would be better, for the sake of originality, to rebuild the original engine that was still in the truck, not the salvaged one. So I have reassembled the salvaged engine, some of it painted, some not. Some still in primer. And no gaskets! It's not going to run anyway, and the rebuilder can use the gasket set I bought for my other engine. And it gets all the parts back in one place rather being scattered around my garage. After I am sure that nothing is needed for the original engine to be rebuilt, I'll sell the whole thing.

Here it is today...



I hope to have the other engine yanked next week. And yes, the heater core was leaking, so I'll be replacing that.

cheers
The Fixer

[shawno72]

Looking forward to the build. My 292 is in dire need of an overhaul, this will be an inspiration. Thank you.
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[Mark B]

Progress made but not much that shows well in pictures. I disconnected and plugged the fuel line. Removed the hard fuel line from pump to carb. Removed the manifolds, the starter, clutch pivot, and the valve cover. I loosened the engine mounts, unbolted the bell housing, and took off the 2 flywheel/clutch access covers.

Now to borrow an engine lift, and get the sucker out.

I called the rebuilder to ask a few questions, and he said he couldn't take my engine as he was about to start moving his shop to another premise. And it will take a month before he is ready in the new spot! I don't have a good feeling about this and might have to find another shop I like.

The Fixer

[shawno72]

Good luck on finding another shop.

[YBNORML]

Nice truck. I'm a big fan of the 6cyl -3OTT in a short box stepside. It's just classic.

[shawno72]

X2
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[blkcorvair]

Cool thread. I just rebuilt mine. 108xxx miles and was still strong with excellent compression, but when I opened it up to replace them noisy lifters, I found the SLUDGE. YUK! Decided to do a full rebuild from there.... and the rest is history

[shawno72]

Originally Posted by blkcorvair

Cool thread. I just rebuilt mine. 108xxx miles and was still strong with excellent compression, but when I opened it up to replace them noisy lifters, I found the SLUDGE. YUK! Decided to do a full rebuild from there.... and the rest is history

Looks to be to be a pretty easy rebuild on one of these motors. I've done plenty of VW air cooled engines is one of these fairly easy?
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[Mark B]

Time to update you all...

I pulled the engine and brought it to Beatty & Woods, a long established engine builder in Mississauga Ontario.

I went to the engine rebuilder today to get a souvenir piston from the truck engine. The work they do is astounding. My engine block was on a cart looking like it was fresh from the factory. It’s 100% clean in every crevice. No machine work done on it yet.

The oil pan, valve cover, side covers, front cover, and manifolds had all been stripped and painted. They look like new.

All that time I spent cleaning parts of my other salvaged engine, scrapping, degreasing, stripping paint, or having someone sandblast parts. That time and money would have been better going to the cost of a professional shop doing a rebuild. That's another lesson learned (after the floor jack lesson). I think the challenge is knowing when to stop trying to be a DIYer.

The crank has been cleaned and balanced. Interestingly, it didn’t need its rod journals ground. All they needed was a polish. Charles Beatty said this was preferable because the surfaces becomes wear hardened, and in fact better than a reground surface. The connection rods have been cleaned and machined on the big ends.

They are going to put in a cam with a higher lift and shave some off the deck to raise the compression to 9.1:1 from 7.5:1.

307 pistons were considered to raise the compression. But the builder said they are now made with chamfers at the top which lessen the compression. So stock pistons are going in.

Other than the crank and connecting rods, not much else inside will be saved. The head will get new valves, seats, springs, and rockers. They didn't want to use the head that I already had "rebuilt" - questioning the quality and thoroughness of work.

Here are some pics...

[shawno72]

Looking good.
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[Mark B]

Along with the engine rebuild, I have a TH350 to replace the 3 on the tree.

Does anyone know...

Will a transmission cooler suffice? Or do I need a rad for an automatic?

Does a tubular trans crossmember bolt in from the underside of the truck?

How is the clutch rod firewall hole usually filled? Without welding in a patch that is.

What is normally done with the pedals? I don't want a dead clutch pedal.

Steering column - I know I have to change it.

Any advice on any part of this would be appreciated.

thanks
Mark

[shawno72]

Ok trans cooler should suffice.

Tubular crossmember will bolt in from underneath but you will have to remove the manual trans crossmember.

Go to the parts board and there is a member, I forget his name but he is selling little plastic clutch delete plugs for $9-12 shipped. I got one and it fits perfect.

For the clutch pedal go under the dash and remove the clutch pedal rod and remove the pedal, you can use your existing setup from there.
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[low'n slow]

Will a transmission cooler suffice? Or do I need a rad for an automatic?
You can use a cooler, just mount it in the grill, not underneath.

Does a tubular trans crossmember bolt in from the underside of the truck?
Don't know, haven't used one.

How is the clutch rod firewall hole usually filled? Without welding in a patch that is.
There are 2 different plugs I have seen. One plastic and one metal.

What is normally done with the pedals? I don't want a dead clutch pedal.
You can just pull the clutch pedal off.

Steering column - I know I have to change it.
You can just knock out the pin on the lever, remove it and the shifter rods at the bottom and use a floor shift for the automatic.

[low'n slow]

Shawno was faster.

[shawno72]

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[Coboyle04]

very cool

[Mark B]

I got the transmission out tonight with a little help from my daughter.