Does my motor need a rebuild?

[HotRod73]

Hey guys I bought a project the other day a 76 swb with a 350. Truck runs decent. The problem is it smokes. When you first start sometimes it smokes a little and sometimes a lot. When idle it doesn't really smoke but when you floor it and get on it, it smokes pretty bad. I can't tell if it's white or blue but I think it's oil cause it smells like burnt oil. Sometimes it smokes worse than other times. I did compression test all cylinders at 100psi at warm temp with throttle wide open. This is low isn't it? Could my motor be worn out and needing new rings or could it be a head problem? Truck starts up good and easy just having the smoking issue and a little miss here and there I think because timing is off. Please give me some advice if you have any!
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[lindstromjd]

Needs new rings. 100 is a little on the low side, and the fact that it blows worse smoke when you really hammer on it is evidence enough. Probably needs new valve seals too. That would take care of the smoke at start up.

[sumran]

Yes it is low. Valve seals are probably giving you bonus smoke at startup. The easy part is deciding to rebuild it. The hard part is deciding what to do "since I have apart anyway".

[HotRod73]

Is it possible it's a head or headgasket issue or is rings the most likely?
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[lindstromjd]

Originally Posted by sumran

Yes it is low. The easy part is deciding to rebuild it. The hard part is deciding what to do "since I have apart anyway".

Like a stroker kit!! It's ONLY 200-300 in machine work, and ONLY 800 for a balanced kit.

[lindstromjd]

Originally Posted by HotRod73

Is it possible it's a head or headgasket issue or is rings the most likely?
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I say rings. Head gasket wouldn't give consistent low-compression. It would only be bad on a few cylinders.

[justinburnett]

Not trying to butt in and steal the thread here, but I am having to rebuild my engine too due to broken rings. I was thinking about just replacing the rings, gaskets, front and rear seals, and rod/main bearings. Do you think this would be adequate or should I do a full overhaul? Basically right now just trying to get her back on the road with as little $$$ out the window as possible. I'm very broke right now.

Do you guys have any ideas where I could get a good re-ring, or rebuild kit for cheap? I don't want the cheapest chinese made crap I can find from the walmart of engine repair warehouses, but anything of decent quality at a fair price. I've already dumped thousands into this truck over the winter and I'd really like to be driving it. I'll have another motor to rebuild "right" later this summer, and then I can spend the days pondering what exactly I want to throw in there (still wondering if vortec heads will fit on an old '70s sbc). Anway, apologies for jumping in but it seemed pertinent since it's about the same problem.

[HotRod73]

Northern auto parts has a sbc kit for like $189?? Might check into that..
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[HotRod73]

Vortec heads fit also just get a intake manifold for vortec heads that's carb'd And some center bolt valve covers but I'm almost certain they fit without modifying
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[justinburnett]

Do you know what that would put my compression at by chance?
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[lindstromjd]

Originally Posted by HotRod73

Vortec heads fit also just get a intake manifold for vortec heads that's carb'd And some center bolt valve covers but I'm almost certain they fit without modifying
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The heads will fit with no mods. Just have to get all the supporting parts (intake, valve covers, throttle body/carb). My friend and I just did the same thing with an older style 350 block and put his vortech heads and intake on it and everything went together just fine.

Rings and bearings and a new gasket kit will work just fine as long as nothing's damaged on the inside of the engine (like gouges in the cylinder wall or piston from something breaking). www.rockauto.com has really good prices, and they deal with all sorts of different brands and different quality parts. I like using them for off-the-wall parts, too.

[timjt]

[QUOTE=lindstromjd;4529777]The heads will fit with no mods. Just have to get all the supporting parts (intake, valve covers, throttle body/carb). My friend and I just did the same thing with an older style 350 block and put his vortech heads and intake on it and everything went together just fine.

Rings and bearings and a new gasket kit[QUOTE]

So how much are you looking at for all that? 2k, 1.5, 1, .5k?

[lindstromjd]

Gasket kit is 47.00, Main bearings are 15.00-55.00 depending on what matieral and size you want, and piston ring set is avg 9.00 per cylinder. So 72.00 there. There's also a "re-ring kit" that comes with piston rings and entire engine gasket kit for 115.00.

The heads and intake we took off another engine we had sitting around, so there was no cost to us there. But for the simple stuff? You're getting away with LESS than 200 bucks if you do the work yourself. (All prices from rockauto.com)

[pockets]

Originally Posted by sumran

Yes it is low. Valve seals are probably giving you bonus smoke at startup. The easy part is deciding to rebuild it. The hard part is deciding what to do "since I have apart anyway".

no kidding... my blown head gasket issue turned into a full 383 build with AFR heads

the vortec route is a popular one and should provide a good bag for the buck.

[lindstromjd]

Originally Posted by pockets

no kidding... my blown head gasket issue turned into a full 383 build with AFR heads

the vortec route is a popular one and should provide a good bag for the buck.

[justinburnett]

But if you're doing the vortec heads, you might as well do a roller cam and rockers... and since you're doing that.... why not make it a stroker... yeah, its gonna get out of hand real quick when I tear this guy apart.
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