Winter is nearly here and I am trying to decide whether or not it is time to do a complete rebuild of my 1954 chevy 235 motor. This car is nearly a daily driver and has been all year. It suposedly has 49,000 miles on it. It wasn't dependable when i got it nearly two years ago, but I now have it running smooth and dependable. The issue is this, this motor is leaking really bad. I'm sure the rear seal is gone as well as most of the gaskets throughout. So I need to at least replace the gasket kit. I am on a pretty tight budget and it looks like a true complete rebuild is going to run $1400-$1700 as i am no machinist or master mechanic. I'm having a hard time shellin' out the cash on a motor that runs sweet as is. I am also in the process of doing a t5 conversion with an open drive. So here are the questions... When is it time to rebuild? Is it ok to do a gasket kit and rebuild when I have signs of an issue, or am I asking for more trouble later by not rebuilding prior to signs of mechanical failure? What is the best way to make this decision? Aside from my introduction, this is the first thread that I have started. I usually try to search the HAMB and I have always found more than what I need to keep my project going. I have tried to search for the answer and have come up short so I am hoping to get some advice from those who have had to make this decision before.
While the pan is off pop a maain cap the one farthest away from the pump and perhaps a rod cap or two. Get a look at the crank and the inserts. If your lower end looks good it is likely that the rest of the engine is OK. Ask youself these questions: Is it burning oil or just leaking oil? (look for smoke or wet plugs) Is it blowing by? (Lift the fill cap when its hot and running is it smoking out of the cap) Does it still have good oil pressure? (Have you noticed a substantial drop?) If you answer No, No, and yes then you are probably in pretty good shape. I hope this helps.
If it helps we put a 235 in the Raven's 54 AD about 6 or 7 years ago. It was well used when we slapped it in there and he put at least 100K on it before we pulled it to stab a V-8 in there. of course it was wore slap out when that happened but it was still hangin in there. To quote an old song they don't go too fast but they go pretty far.
I could use a quick lesson here. There is no smoke when the motor is hot. No wet plugs either. Oil pressure is consistant and strong. I even did a compression test and got good results. (according to what I could lern here on the HAMB). However... I don't know what you mean by blow by. When I remove the oil fill cap with the motor running and hot, there is a slight smoke. What could that indicate? Thanks again for the help.
With a non-PCV motor, some of that is acceptable. Real blow by is when it comes out of the oil breather (with it in place) and coats the valve cover and maybe the whole engine compartment. Other than that, go with porknbeaner's advice. Bob
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