Rusty, He is actually in pretty fair shape of he wants to build an engine, he is short a piston and a rod for his lower end, they can be found. Small block chevy blocks are a dime a dozen, the down side is that he will probably have to bore whatever he finds, which puts him back in good shape cause now he doesnt have to come up with one piston to match the rest. granted I am a little off center but I would cabbage myself a rod and a block and go from there.
I wouldn't sleeve a block unless unless it was rare and/or expensive, or there was some special reason for doing it.
I see nothing remotely special about this block, and the other damage described (possible cracked head, the rod/piston, probable crank damage, and who knows what else), tells me it's time for another engine. The TOTAL cost involved far exceeds anything else, unless this was a one of a kind situation. Also, this same post, including the same pics, is over on HotRodders.Com. I'm not sure how many different answers are needed; the only right one, in this situation, is a complete replacement. Butch/56sedandelivery.
If it was you or me, and we had half a dozen dead engines laying around, we could probably put together a decent runner in a day or 2 for the cost of a gasket set. The questioner is more of a beginner, I don't think he has a spare engine pile yet, or the tools or skills. I still think he would be better off to buy another engine. It's not like they are expensive or hard to get. Aren't the Chevy guys always bragging that the big advantage of the Chev engine is that they are cheap and common? Why do things the hard way.
Why do it the hard way? Because knowledge come from experience. I have had blocks sleeved. Don't think I would save this one. But saving as much as possible ans rebuilding it could be a good learning experience. Maybe that's what he wants.
What i really want---provided sleeving is indeed practical and possible in this case AND the cost is not too much more than getting another block, is yes, mainly for the learning experience. But also for frugalness reasons; If i get another block i still have this one to get rid of etc. Space, like time = money. The plan is not to hold on to this block if it is impractical to do so. Costs are a big concern here. i will possibly provide much more detail to the complete story of this engine later.
I know a rich guy that wanted to run a used NASCAR 426 hemi block that had thrown a rod. Well he ended up sleeving it 32 times. Each cylinders needed to be done twice to get to the size he wanted. Then after putting on a set of heads he found out that NASCAR blocks had different lifter bore angle. So all the lifters had to be sleeved. After putting a ton of money in it, he ran it hard with out any problems.
Auto cast at the re-cycler here is 300 a ton...sheetmetal is 200 a ton ...sounds like to me , that block and 45 year old stove went to be recycled, you are 1/2 way to a replacement block off c-list....just my 2C...Shawn
$700+ to save a junk block or $100 to buy a rebuildable engine, or $850 for a reman engine with warranty. What to do, what to do.
I have run sleeves in a 460 ford as well as a Nissan V6 on the salt. Both worked fine. I don't have any difficulty getting rid of old blocks. scrappers drive around here and grab whatever they can get.
When you sleeve a block you do it with the hope everything works out. But, even when done correctly there is the potential for a number of things to go wrong. So, it could also be an opportunity to see first hand what can go wrong.
I really cant see any percentage in sleeving this block. 350 blocks are a dime a dozen. Unlike a lot of guys on here, I dont have any problem with sleeves per-se, I have punched sleeves into blocks that blew up racing with no problems, and I have made REAL good power with blocks with multiple sleeves, but they were blocks that already had a lot invested in machine work. Considering the damage here, and the fact that it is a stocker sbc, you are just throwing money away. But hey, its your money.