Projects What Was Your First Engine Build

What was the first engine you ever built/rebuilt? was it for your first car back in high school auto class? For me it was a 68-69 large journal 327 with a Weiand tunnel ram for my '49 Chevy pickup.Engine

 

The Briggs on my go cart I was nine, then a Honda triple, then a Mazda rotary, then cool stuff, lol


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Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine. Built it during the winter in my parents basement with the new S+K 3/8 drive socket set that I got from Santa Claus......winter of 1956......age 11. Threw the head gasket away......made a new thin one out of tin foil to increase compression. Also used gas mixed with model airplane engine fuel to "tip the can" a little. Put the engine on a homemade wooden "go kart". Promptly threw the rod out the front of the block !! We went to the local lawn mower guru and he brazed the three pieces of the block back into place perfectly. We ran on straight gas after that......it lived for most of the summer.

 

The first one that ran? that means we skip over the Kohler, I never got it to fire.

283 from the 61 Impala convertible, when I was 14. Before I took freshman auto shop class...just barely.

 

Not counting lawn mower engines and watching other people while thinking I was helping, my first was a 350 Olds. Built a couple automatic transmissions before that, but only because I didn't have a choice.

 

When I first got interested in cars in high school, I bought a '36 flatty from the neighbor kid. It was a basket case but all parts were there. I figured I could get all the parts where they fit so I assembled it. When we put it in my pal's '40 Merc it wouldn't run for squat and no matter what we did it just wasn't right. He asked me if I was sure I got the timing gear marks lined up. Marks??? what marks? You mean it has to go in there and line up with something? Why didn't someone tell me that? Amazing that it ran at all. First auto shop lesson (at home).

 

Briggs and scrap iron, I ran in my go kart. 12hp on our chassis dyno. Then it was a Allis Chalmers WD 45 engine and first one solo was a 6.0L Chevy engine for a asphalt late model.

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First engine was an old 3hp. Clinton. Home made, shop class, re-ground "race" cam. Ate the lifters in a few hours running time.
First automotive engine was a 322 Buick in 1964. Installed in a 47 Merc Ran great.

 

The very first one I ever took apart and reassembled correctly was an old Maytag motor my grandfather bought me when I was 10 years old. I still have it 53 years later, and it still runs very well. After that an unknown quantity of B&S, Clinton and Lauson one lungers. Lausons were cool, twin cams, carb on one side of the chamber and exhaust on the other. The first car engine was a 326 Pontiac from my friends Tempest. His dad was real skeptical about a couple 16 year olds tearing it apart, but we succeeded. Honed the bores, re-ringed the slugs, new bearings in the bottom, and had the heads done by the wrench turners at the local implement dealer. It ran perfectly afterwards, surprised us as much as anyone.

 

Modal A "banger" for my high school driver.

 

Small block chevy for my buddy's '57. Thrown together with all left over parts. When we finished it wouldn't turn over. Nothing. We draged it around the block just sliding the rear wheels. Who knew the rod bolts needed to be torqued down. He just cranked them down good and tight. Loosed them up and it fired right up. Smoked a bit as I recall.

 

In 1967 I assembled a friend's 327, bored to 331, for his '51 Ford coupe. Machine work and balance was done by a local shop, 375 horse Chevy solid cam, 12 1/2-1 TRW's, '461 heads, Chevy aluminum manifold with a 780 and a dual point Mallory. T-10 4 spd and a '57 Pontiac rear w/4.56 gears.
His old man hated the car, he sold it and bought a new '68 Cutlass. The dick that bought it still owes him $150.

 

Well my Briggs was new as was my go kart's MC49 so not much worries there....but that little 60cc top end I did one weekend....I was re-doing the next weekend....little lesson....don't reuse cheap to buy parts like wrist pin cir clips....one still going I did about 20 or more yrs ago is the 390 in my old blue F-250.....

 

318 in a 69 Dodge D100 short bed Fleetside.

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Me & a buddy (teens) did a down & dirty ring & bearing rebuild on the 170(?) 6 banger from his 64 moredoor Falcon. Learned a lot, got good advice from an elder Ford motothead. My intro to plasti-guage.

 

After mower engines, helped my dad do a down and dirty rebuild on a tired 283. Instead of knurling the piston skirts, he had me use a punch and hammer all around the bottoms. used the old broken ring to clean the ring grooves and we put new rings on and bearings in plasti gauged it and put it together. That was in a 55 cameo pickup. didn't smoke any more and with the new cam and lifters the thing ran like a scalded hound.

 

Cushman scooter

 

2 cylinder flathead Continental that was in a lawn mower . It cost as much as a Chevy v8 to rebuild .

 

The L6 engine in a 64 Chevy Suburban. My dad and I did an inframe overhaul. Valve job and resurface of the head. Removed all the pistons and removed the rings, cleaned the carbon off and installed new rings. Ran a hone through the cylinders and reinstalled the pistons with new rod bearings. Rolled main bearings in to that we could get at.

 

Rebuilt a mothballed over the counter in 1972, Chevrolet Performance, 12.5:1 compression, 2.05" angle plug, 2nd generation off road Z28, solid lifter cammed 366" SBC, with an aluminum Weber flywheel. Even with 25 years of sitting .... that engine broke the rear tires completely loose ... at 55mph, in third gear with a mere throttle smash. One of the funnest engines I've ever had.

Off topic >> DO NOT READ >> ( )

(It was re-freshed with billet 13:1 coated pistons, coated bearings, H-beam forged rods, back cut valves, and assorted. From 500 hp to 719. Fun, fun, fun. Off topic innards, coupled to an off topic Doug Nash 5 speed. The previous engine spun the M22's gear cluster shaft in its case. Leaking into the bellhousing, a damned shame. )

 

283 w carter AFB inna 62 Impala. Then a 327 with Quadrajet inna 66 Chevy

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My first "full" build? A .030 over 350 SBC. The 305 blew up in my 67 C/10, and I had this core laying on the ground. Roger's Speed Shop punched in .030 over, crank .020 under, a couple rods were resized and they installed new cam bearings. I took it from there. Assembled it with a Blue Racer cam, Weiand intake, a 650 Edelbrock carb.... was a real strong engine.

 

In 1962-63 built a 57 292 Y-Block, bored, Jahns pistons, Wolverine cam, put it in a chopped/channeled Model A coupe, drove it 7 miles and rolled it over.

 

Big block chevy for an OT vehicle.

 

High school shop class. I had drug home a ot 68 Barracuda with a rod hanging out of it. Scored a 273 out of an earlier Formula S. Had a little money saved up so it got a lot of good stuff, high compression forged pistons, hot solid lifter cam. Little thing didn't have much bottom end but would sure reave, once I put a 4.56 behind the 4 speed and it surprised a lot of people. I would shift at 7 grand, maybe looking back that's why it didn't last long! Sure learned a lot with that car.

 

283 Chevrolet.

 

Suzuki 80 cc 2 stroke. Put that thing on a go-kart, went so damned fast my dad took it away from me.

 

239 cu in flatty for my 53 Ford sedan delivery...

 

53 Merc flattie for my 46 Ford tudor sedan.

 

283 Chev when I was young and silly. Now I am just silly.