cleaning heads/ rebuild questions

[mbfiretech]

I recently ripped the 283 out of my 63. I believe the engine is stock and tired. Is there any home solution to soak and clean heads in, or should it be done by a machine shop. Also, what are the must do's when rebuilding an engine? waterpump, fuel pump, piston rings etc. I just want it to be dependable. Thanks for the help,
Mark

[blackedoutharley]

If you want dependable just buy a new crate engine. You will probably be bucks ahead in comparison to the cost of machine shop labor and new parts in rebuilding a 283.

As far as "must do's"....
Rings, bearings, oil pump & drive, freeze plugs, gaskets, complete valve job including guides knurled or replaced (mainly because it seems nobody knows how to knurl them anymore), cam & lifters, timing set, surface flywheel (manual trans only) and new clutch, new motor mounts, hoses and obviously all fluids.

I tend to replace all the bolts as well such as heads, manifold, mains, oil pump stud etc... which adds more to the cost.

Did I mention that a brand new GM crate engine is under $1500 ?

[mud.man.rj]

It is very expensive to build an engine as stated unless you do it mostly yourself, buy a crate engine and put 283 stickers on it, rebuilt.

[jocko]

Doh. While the above is true from a cost vs reliability standpoint - if it's the original 283, I think it's worth rebuilding personally. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT a restoration nut. All I know is when I look under the hood and see an original, or at least original looking, 283, or 327, etc - it gives me a warm fuzzy (and by original, I mean it's got a manifold fill tube, and is actually an old engine - I am not saying it can't be hopped up, in fact I'd prefer it if it was). When I look under the hood and see the 4 center bolts holding down the stamped valve covers of a new crate - well, I go check out the interior instead.

All I'm saying is this - if you don't have the original motor, then all bets are off, go for it. If you do though, hopped up, rebuilt, stock, whatever, I think it adds to the appeal of the truck. If you care about value - it definitely adds to the value.

Even if it doesn't always start.... But that's something I'm willing to sacrifice. If it's rebuilt correctly, it will be reliable as well as old. The best of both worlds. If it's not your daily transpo, why not give it a try.

Having said all the above - that's just my 2 cents on it. A rebuildable 283 is a nice little engine, kind of a shame to toss it in my book. Yes, one can slap old valve covers on a new crate motor (with an adapter in some cases) and call it a day, but it just aint the same (to me). There are some good threads in here about making a new crate engine "look" old - and if I have a truck that requires a new motor - I'll be googling them... add an oil fill, add some old covers, old carb, pvc system, etc etc.

I've often wondered about a direct injection setup under the manifolde kinda like old cheater nitrous systems... Naaa.

If you don't know how to build an engine, there's no teacher like experience, and you will have it once you give it a shot.

Back to your original question, to clean the heads, I recommend taking them to a machine shop and having them hot-tanked. It's cheap and completely cleans em. Also, that is likely/possibly included for free if you are having the same head shop rebuild them for you.

Now, there's my 2 cents, and that'll get you just about nothing these days.

[blackedoutharley]

Originally Posted by blackedoutharley

Did I mention that a brand new GM crate engine is under $1500 ?

And have the conventional style valve cover mounting so you can reuse our old ones so that it looks correct?

Other than the harmonic balancer I doubt that most would be able to tell the difference once it is painted orange.

[mud.man.rj]

All the 283 parts fit any older style 283/327/305/307/350/400 and all will look totally original to a 283 unless you look at the block # at the back. Easy.