Chevy 348 Engine...Advice Needed.

Had a motor that looked about as bad , pistons were the simple part , lifters were the bitch !!
dave

 

I would clean up the sides under the center two cylinders on both sides really good before I did anything else and look for cracks in the cooling passages. If its cracked, odds are thats where the crack will be. No sense tearing the rest down if the block is toast.

 

Yea, I was thinking the lifters will present another test of patience. I'll probably end up leaving the oil pan on for now and fill the block to the top with acetone/ATF to try and free-up the lifters, then soak the cylinders with Kroil and see what happens. Also check the block for cracks as others have suggested. As stated earlier, this is the most severely rusted tear down I've personally done so thanks to everyone for the tips/tricks.

 

So after soaking the pistons in Kroil and the crankshaft/rod ends in 50/50 acetone and ATF, my lack of patience got the best of me. After a week of rocking the crank back and forth I couldn't hold off any longer, it just had to come apart. I began by cutting each connecting rod approx. midway with a sawzall. I know it's probably not the most conventional method, but I took my time and thought it was probably better than stuffing a torch head down the cylinders and creating a bunch of unwanted heat and slag. Once the connect rods were cut I was able to "roll" each crankshaft end of the connecting rods and remove them from the crankshaft. Once that was completed, I was able to remove the crankshaft. Next came the fun part, removing the pistons. After about 2 hrs of beating on the underside of the pistons, I managed to remove all of them. Cylinder walls actually don't look too bad and they appear to be stock bore.

So all of this leads up to a question. The camshaft is stuck, really stuck. Anyone have any suggestions on removal? Aside from removing the "plug" on the rear of the block and "persuading" it out, I'm out of ideas. Thanks for any input and suggestions.

 

Do as planned, remove the rear cam plug and start bumping the cam back and forth, use a block of hardwood, don't hit the cam directly with a hammer. If anything it will pull the cam bearings with it.

If your torch head will fit, give the cam bearing area of the block some heat. The hot/cool cycles will help break things loose.

 

Keep the faith. Mine, before and after ($3K later).
don

 

That's a good looking 348. If you don't mind me asking, who'd you use for all the machine work/rebuild?

 

Did the lifters come out?
Can you build an extension from scrap steel and bolt it to the cam to get leverage to help turn it back and forth?

 

I've attempted to pull a few of the lifters, but they're in about the same condition as everything else, stuck. I have tried rotating the camshaft from the end with a 2' pry bar, no movement. I'm going to keep working at it and see if I can get things to free up. The lifters will probably need to be driven out once the camshaft is out.

 

I had several 348's raced them in lead sleds. Won bunches of street races. Don't remember being mashed by any tri five. However, my 409 (same car) was a street terror. Ran 13.70's in street trim @ 105 or so. I ran a 421 poncho at a drag race in Victoria. This was back in the "flagman" days, I lost a two out of three to a local guy. Note: they had a gent @ the finish line that signaled the winner. Truth is I won the 1st by a big fender (called a tie) won the second by a skinny fender...another tie. Finally probably lost the third by skinny fender called a decisive defeat. Note: I won a 1/4 mile foot race between the 2nd and 3rd Poncho run...barefoot. One of my stupidest ideas ever. We needed the money foot race paid 25.00 lost all the skin on both feet. Drove with shop rags tied to my feet.

 

Chances are that the lifters are holding the cam making it more difficult to move. last one I did I ended up driving a steel wedge between the cam lobe and the lifter forcing the lifter to move up a bit. In my case I knew I would not use the cam or lifters again so I wasn't worried about damage. I had used lots of PB Blaster on the lifters and after the wedge deal got them to move enough to get them out after the cam came out. Most of them I drove out and into the pan.

 

That's the same route I'll be going, upgrading the entire valve train with new components. I appreciate the tip on using a steel wedge to get the lifters moving.

 

I had an early desoto hemi that was the same way with the cam and lifters. I took the block to the machine shop and had them put it in their hot tank for a while. Went back and picked it up a few days later and had the cam and lifters out in 15 min. Well worth 45 bucks for the soak in the hot tank.

 

that is certainly a great idea Jason. In my case it is an hour ride to get to a shop that can hot tank blocks so I did it myself. Would have been great to have a clean block to work with for a change also.

 

Yea, that's a great idea. I'll have to start looking around to see if they're any local machine shops equipped with a hot tank. Sure would be nice to disassemble a clean(er) block.

 

It makes it so much easier. And really cuts down on damaging tge block lifter bores and such. If you find a shop that will do that take all tge plugs out and bring all your tins with too it really makes clean up easier.

 

The early 58 348s with the so called cooling issues had short reach plugs. I swapped one into a C60 truck it worked well.

 

Hang in there and take your time. I'm doing the same thing with a pair of "W" blocks at the moment (one is a 348 truck block the other a 409 passenger block). I'm practicing on the 348 by drilling the piston tops and using a BFH to pound them out. It's kinda tedious.

I think I read somewhere that you can hone those lifter bores a bit and use a different lifter (Ford?) in their place.

Good luck!
Tom

 

did you ever build this motor?