Price list:

[pflaming]

Prices from Vintage Power Wagons: 888 695 0578

Valve Cover Gasket set $ 15.00

Gasket for Water neck $ 1.50

Head Gasket $ 25.00

Oil pan Gasket $ 15.00

Front Engine Mount $ 25.00

Upper Rear Engine / Pair $ 20.00

Lower Rear Engine mount / pair $ 10.00

Engine Manual $ 28.00

Manifold / gaskets $375.00

Manifold intake and exhaust gaskets $ 12.00

Carb (Carter) $350.00

Piston rings (set of six) $ 75.00

Choke and throttle cable and housing ($20.00 each) $ 40.00

Spark Plug wires $ 45.00

Gages – fuel, heat, oil ($55.00 each) $165.00

Speedometer $150.00

12 Volt Coil $ 45.00

Starter Solenoid Switch $ 39.00

Clutch and pressure plate $180.00

Water pump $ 85.00

Thermostat $ 15.00

This total is $1,715.50. I do not need all but did list some that may be in doubt such as clutch, water pump, manifold, speedometer, gages, choke cables, starter solenoid.

Are these in the ball park? I am NOT berating VPT's just getting a feel for the future.

I have a complete engine spoken for, for $750 subject to: (1) compression test results and (2) I hear it running. It was 'supposedly' REBUILT when it went into storage. It sounds better all the time.

[grey beard]

Paul,

Check out Terrell Machine on the links listing of this website. They have no web address, just a phone number. These guys are very knowledgeable and will be able to answer just about every question you have. You will need your engine and serial numbers so they can get the correct parts for you. These engines vary quite a bit over different production years.

Definitely buy your gaskets all in one "overhaul gassket" kit - not piecemeal.

The first question you must concern yourself with is the condition of your engine block. If there is significant cylinder taper present, the bllock must be bored. This is expensive. Before any shop will bore it, they will want to cook it out to clean it. This is expensive. When they cook it out, they will ruin your good camshaft bearings. These will need to be replaced. This is expensive.

From the above paragraph, you can understand how I was able to save a bundle just because my own block did not need to be bored. If your block is worn out and does need to be bored, before you go this route, I would suggest you look around - again on this forum - for a good motor in your own area - they're heavy to ship - that does not need all this machine shop work. Some poor soul is hot rodding a Pilothouse near you, and wants rid of that boat-anchor flathead six motor. Find that poor soul and put him out of his misery.

To check the wear or taper on your cylinder walls, here is a poor man's method that will work for you if you do not have an expensive bore gauge.

Place an unbroken but clean piston ring in one cylinder, just underneath the wear ridge at the top. Now measure the space of the end gap on the ring with a thickness feeeler gauge. Secondly, move the same ring down to the bottom of the same cylinder and again measure the end gap with your feeler gauge. The differenfe between these two readings will give you an idea of how much wear the cylinder has.

Also, just a quick dry-sanding of the top of your cylinder walls - first half inch below the head gasket - will show you how pronounced is the ring ridge or wear mark at the top of the cylinder. If you can catch your fingernail noticably on the edge of this ridge or feel it prominently with your finger tip, the block likely needs to be bored. New engines or freshly rebored engines have NO wear ring at the top of the cylinder walls. Get all the dirt and carbon sanded off this area and check your own block out carefully in this area. It is this simple thing that will determine the course of your engine rebuild - and the cost to you for getting it all done.

When engines wear, both the cyllinder walls and the piston skirts wear. Repairing worn cylinder walls is quite expensive, and can only be done by a machine shop. Replacing pistons in full sets is not very expensive by comparison - I think my new set cost about $20 per piston - way less than reboring an engine block. Over the years I have wrenched and taught mechanics, I have learned that old engines, even those with ten or twelve thousandths cylinder taper, will run long and well when overhauled using new pistons and rings. None of us are likely to put thousands of interstate miles on our Pilothouse trucks after they are finished. If your goal is like my own, to haul the grandkids for ice cream and make coffee runs plus a few local shows and a trip or two each year, no one forces us to spend the money necessary to bring sixty yea-old engines back to new manufacture specs. JMHO

[pflaming]

Just copied your response into my 'engine notes' page. Thank you ever so much. Also noted that you, like me, do not always sleep through the night!