Now its personal: Part 1

[41/53dodges]

okay, now its personal. first, my father wagered $20 that the 230 combine motor i bought will never run again. now he tells me that it is pointless and completely destroyed and to give up completely. this is all just fuel to make me do it and make it go again, even though i dont have money, so if anybody has some spare parts they can send my way, that would be awesome, because this is now just a challenge to me. to start, i need at least 2 pistons and ring sets. any help at all is appreciated, even if it means showing up and helping or just plain advise. for now, the cam is "destroyed" because it has surface rust.

[bach4660]

sounds like fun, wish I was closer to get in on this.

[Merle Coggins]

Well I'm close enough to help out, but I probably can't help you with parts. All I have it the one complete engine and I'm not looking to part it out. I can, however, show your dad an engine that was completely rusted tight that runs perfectly now. It was stuck to tight I had to pull the crank out first, then drive the pistons down with a block of wood and a sledge hammer so that I could wire wheel the cylinder walls to remove some of the rust. Then use a different block of wood from the bottom to drive them out. All of the valves were so stuck that I couldn't even turn the cam. I gripped the cam gear with a large channel lock pliers and worked it back and forth until the valves started to move. Eventualy I got 'em all pushed up enough to get the cam and followers out, then I used a long punch and hammer to drive the valves out the rest of the way. After I cleaned everything up I took it to a shop up near Allenton. He bored it .030" over, replaced all of the valve guides and seats, milled the block deck and head, fit the wrist pin bushings in my rods, and sourced new pistons and rings for me. His whole bill was around $735. A gasket set, bearings, water pump and fuel pump later and it was up and running. I know that's a bit over your buget, but I'm just saying it is possible.

Call me if you need a hand.

Merle

[JoelOkie]

Where there is a will, there is a way. I haven't had Merle's situation quite that bad in a vehicle before, but I rebuilt a Farmall engine where the pistons were stuck so bad I had to knock the sleeves out with the pistons in them, and go from there. Good luck!! Joel

[ggdad1951]

Merle you got off cheap! Just the block, head and crank work on mine cost $1400. NO pistons or bearings included! That bill will be around $1600 for all the parts (waiting for the lsit from them still)

[Merle Coggins]

Merle you got off cheap! Just the block, head and crank work on mine cost $1400. NO pistons or bearings included! That bill will be around $1600 for all the parts (waiting for the lsit from them still)

Ouch, even another shop that I checked with wasn't that much. Did they gold plate it for you or did that price include dissasembly and assembly? I built my own engine. He just did the machine work. I estimate that I had around $1500 total into the engine by the time I was done.

Merle

[ggdad1951]

Ouch, even another shop that I checked with wasn't that much. Did they gold plate it for you or did that price include dissasembly and assembly? I built my own engine. He just did the machine work. I estimate that I had around $1500 total into the engine by the time I was done.

Merle

it is a "premier" place here that I took it too. They do lots of race engines and such, so I'm sure their shop fees were a bit higher, but they do good work.

I took the engine apart and brought parts in. For $1400 I got the following done:

cleaned and magnefluxed the block

ported

honeed the cylinder walls to remove taper

hardened valve seats

balanced the crank

new valves

new valve springs

new spark plugs

decked the block and head

repaired 4 small cracks in the block

now I need (esitimated parts bill of $525): price went WAY down with the call I just made since I can now reuse parts!

new rings

new bearings (all around)

new seals

timing

I will with the help of a few friends put it all back together.

Edited September 8, 2010 by ggdad1951

[townwagon]

Too bad, I threw away a few 218-230 motors (some that turned over) back in 2004, as nobody would take them (offered them on several forums for free). Currently I have no spare motors, but I know where there are a BUNCH in localish junkyards. How far are you willing to drive? There are at least two places near me where you could buy a whole motor for parts, and or pieces off the motor for not too much money.

Off the top of my head I can think of at least 15 or so 23" FH6s within 2 hours of me here in Madison.

Eric

[41/53dodges]

alright, my father and i have finally come to a truce, and i must find another home for this engine to make room for another, as i have found it to be beyond my skills or budget. so, if anybody is interested, i am selling the engine with all the parts i got off of it for the $40, just making $5 for hauling it from BRF to kenosha. the head, crankshaft, water pump, and flywheel are off, but i still have all of the hardware in my bucket o' bolts. if anybody is interested, just send a PM

[Merle Coggins]

Hey Eric, what about 25" engines? I believe he's looking for an engine for his '41 1 1/2 ton. I think it currently has/had a 23" engine, but shouldn't it have a 25"er?

Merle

[41/53dodges]

that could be a concept. i am now thinkin of keeping the engine and slowly rebuilding it as a spare, seeing as they both would use it.

[Dave72dt]

Your threads now have me thoroughly confused. Did you originally have an engine and it blew up? Is the cam and 2 pistons salvageable from it? Sounds more like the truce ended up with father winning and you losing or believing he's right.

Now that you've been back and forth between engine swaps, frame swaps, engine rebuilds, what is it you really want. You really need to develop a plan and stick with it. My build is going on for over 25 years now and still looks a couple years away. Whatever you have in mind doesn't have to happen in the next week.

[41/53dodges]

i am merely finding the best alternative, and this engine was just causing too much crap with my father to a point where i couldnt walk in the house without getting a 2 hour arguement. the engine i got with the truck sat full of water for 40 years, and would be much more difficult to fix at this point, so i am finding the easiest current alternative. these trashed engines will eventually be rebuilt and kept around for spares. i am unsure of the pistons and cam, they are all rusty, so until i can pull it i dont know.

BTW:

i have only thought of rebuilds and replacements. there is no good frame swap for a 1.5 ton truck.

[townwagon]

I can think of about 10 off the top of my head. One of which I sort of own as I bought the truck whole. I told the yard guy he could keep the rest, but if I showed back up I am sure he would let me take it for very little money. He got what he wanted out of the truck.

There is one more in that yard, and a few others in other yards within a couple hours of me.

Back in 2002-2003 I could have led you to a bunch more FH6s, but some of the yards crushed, in fact some of them crushed everything, and started fresh. All the old stuff is going away. I look back at the pictures I have from some of these yards and kick myself for not pulling some of the stuff, like a full set of stainless 48-50 bars, and other bits and pieces. Oh well, I saved what I knew to take, and what I could afford to buy. At least everything on those trucks didn't get wasted.

Eric

[41/53dodges]

well, last night i got pissed and lit the whole frickin engine on fire by chuckin it in a bonfire. in the process, i melted #1 cylinder (no damage to block) and this afternoon i tapped on the pistons and they all fell out! only 2 are useable, the others were already broken and/or melted. the con rods are fine, and the motor appears to have suffered no cracks or warping. so, it looks like i may get my $20 out of it anyways!