This can't possibly be the finish on this crank. No way. This picture is lying. It almost looks like the entire crank has condensation on it. I don't believe it. How could it get this way and still be rust free? I do NOT know what I am looking at but I know what I see is NOT what it is ... it can't be ... Frozen condensation ... yep ... that is/must be what I am seeing. I do NOT think this engine is anywhere near as bad as the pictures seem to show. I wonder if the OP dropped his camera in a vat of Vaseline before taking these pics. There is NO WAY all the journals on that crank look like what we are seeing in the pictures ... not a chance. If this thing was close enough, I would love to see it in person.
With the crank out of the engine, stand it on the flange end on the shop floor. Take a handy end wrench or ratchet handle and give it a quick rap on one of the counter weights and give it a listen. If it goes "diinnnngggg" like a bell it's forged. If it just goes "clank" or "thump" with no ringing sound, it's cast. Dropping a larger forged wrench on a concrete floor will give you a sample of the "diinnnggg" sound of a forging.
The crank pick looks like a blow up of a close up. The parting line looks like a ¼" patch vs a split. Number looks like 3996.
I would also do a head swap^^^ unless I'm too scared to see what is inside what I purchased. Me and a friend did exactly the above. We swapped a 350 TPI shortblock into a 1966 283 with power-pack heads.[66 283's and 327's used the same heads] Apart from the flexplate, the only difficult part was drilling a grommet the intake for the PCV. And we used an electric fuel pump We used everything including the used short waterpump and pulleys off the 283, early style rockers. and all the brackets, 1966 Alternator and Rams-horns. After a lick of Chevy orange paint it looked like an early engine It was a weekend "gasket and paint job" [we did swap the rear freeze plugs] and if we got unlucky with the waterpump we could swap a new one in later. Understand, I have a very short attention span. I cannot stand the thought of a dead vehicle in my backyard for months [sometimes years] while I'm at mercy of getting work outsourced. Most people I know in reality only rebuild engines for the next owner......they don't own them long enough. After a few years they lose enthusiasm because "the grass is always greener on the other side"
Nothing was cast in Flint. Blocks were cast in Saginaw, Tonawanda and Defiance. This was Machined and Assembled in Flint. High possibility it was cast in Saginaw
Same. The very first thing that I ever do when I get a vehicle is make sure that it is titled, registered, insured, and running. I only have one vehicle in my possession that does not run, but it is titled, registered, and insured. It even already has personalized license plates! It does not run because I cannot seem to get a slot at my engine builder (he is working 6-7 days-a-week!), and the under-construction chassis is still in front and rear halves. That's being delayed by doing paying work.
1948 is correct, built, not cast. Hope bore's are stock or just.010" over, .030" could save it, .040" if need be, .060" over could get thin in spots and run on the hot side, both of my 337's required larger radiators.
Not condensation! I sprayed EVERYTHING down with wd-40 ... Before i took the pics. This is my first time and i wasn't sure what would rust and how fast.. So i sprayed it all down...
Now that makes some sense then. If the block truly has minimal ridge then I'd say it is usable. Before sinking any money into this unit though, you need to find out why the oil wasn't making it to the top ... I would say you need to focus on the position of the rear cam bearing. Once you determine why the lack of oil (assuming it is something obvious and not terminal), find yourself another piston, get some bearings and a gasket set and get this baby back together.
I will check tomorrow on that number and let ya know. ..and i am not sure what you mean by powerglide A/T... The transmission im guessing? If so its a 3 speed manual. Still learning lol
I agree! I managed to get the most of the freeze plugs out before work today. ( what a pain that was!) This weekend i will remove the last plug on the back of the block covering the rear cam bearing. And maybe that will tell me something about the oiling issue? ..i hope. I will post pics. Theres also the oil galley plugs i need to remove yet.
Years back I had a friend with a 67 C30, 327 that was running but rattling, smoking, clearly on it's last legs. He had very little money, but needed it to keep going. The answer in this case was a slightly later Impala. Solid 350, plain Jane two barrel engine. 300 bux for the car, dents, rust, rotted interior and all. Swapped the engine in, used the best of the parts from both. Ran for years with no trouble.
Do a search on 1969 327, numbers and letters stamped on block deck, those are for I.D info, along with numbers cast on block, at bell housing, useful for determining what the engine was used in what vehicle. Same thing with the cast numbers on the heads .Good luck with your rebuild, you will definitely learn a few things by the time you are done.
Don't throw out the connecting rod and crank bearings just yet. There should be markings on them that tell you if they are standard size or if the crank has been machined. This will help you when you go to order new bearings.
Let the Mods do their thing, if it’s not appropriate for the HAMB, they’ll take care of it. Or continue nit picking.
We did the same, cruise the 'hood looking for donor cars. My brother finds a '67 Belair... running on 7 cylinders and he bought it. I said he was nuts. He listens to it, pulls a valve cover and comes up with a busted rocker arm. He finds one in the garage and 20 minutes later we were driving it around. The engine went into his '64 GMC and he logged some serious miles with a $50 engine. Actually free since he loaded the bad engine back into the Belair and junked it.
Reminds me of the 1970's-80's Pink Color "Victor Head Gaskets" lots of elbow grease to get that old hard head gaskets off... 1Nimrod
Funny how things have changed over the last 60 years Back in the '60's when I was young and broke, pretty much any SBC you could buy looked like this one. Worn out. sludged up. Spend a few hours washing the parts in a pan of gas, try to borrow a hone, a ridge reamer if it was really bad, sell enough stuff to afford to get the valves ground, buy a set of bearings, rings, timing chain and gaskets, and for the more affluent, have the cam bearings replaced. Assemble and drive. Seems like these days that's an impossibility. I think we have become a little too obsessed with the "do it right " mentality to a fault.
The key is when we were young and broke, we did what we could to get it running and it worked reasonably well, now after we aren't broke we think we should spend a lot more money so that it will outlast us! Is that due to OCD which a lot of us have to some degree?
Well i haven't gotten around to messing with the block again yet. But i got some pics of the head #'s and numbers off of the crank.
The Jalopy Journal
