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So if I had a stuck flathead what would it cost to rebuild?


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Hi Pilothouse fans...

 

I got a PM from a local guy (on Facebook) who is trying to get rid of his 1951 Dodge 1/2 ton truck and he says the motor is stuck on it...I know the last one I had rebuilt was a 1947 Willys Jeep 4 cylinder and it was in 2013 and I think I spent like $3200.00 on it...it had a cracked block but he pinned that...bored I think .040 over...he did manage to save the crank, the head and the block...in 2019 costs are we looking at over $3500.00 to get one rebuilt??

 

thanks in advance

 

Mike C

38655852_2000548349957820_6370991428453007360_n.jpg

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If you want the truck but don't want/need a fresh engine then shop around for a runner. It would seem that there are always some available.

Remember that Fastenal ships engines quite inexpensively if it is properly boxed.

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I just had a 218 rebuilt. I paid $1900 and dropped off a completely disassembled engine that only needed finished honed and picked up a completely assembled and painted engine. I also provided a few new parts. The actual final cost was probably close to $3k if you include machine work I had done elsewhere and the parts I provided.

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I have $7,000 + - in my 265, 30 over 10/10 crank.  Run in at my rebuilders from Independence, Mo. Charlie Stephenson

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218 bored, crank turned, head decked, new pistons, bearings, and a gasket kit $1900.00 I also had to purchase a timing chain and gear set. I did the final assembly

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If its not stuck too bad, you may be able to soak it and get it broke loose, clean up the bad cylinder(s) and run it.

It would all depend on how bad it is, and what your final plan for the truck would be. 

Do you know when the last time it ran?

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Spark plugs left out, exposed cylinders to rust.

I would not expect to use that motor except for parts or a heavy boat anchor. Hate to see that someone left it in that condition over the years!

 

DJ

On 3/29/2019 at 4:14 AM, Mikec4193 said:

Hi Pilothouse fans...

 

I got a PM from a local guy (on Facebook) who is trying to get rid of his 1951 Dodge 1/2 ton truck and he says the motor is stuck on it...I know the last one I had rebuilt was a 1947 Willys Jeep 4 cylinder and it was in 2013 and I think I spent like $3200.00 on it...it had a cracked block but he pinned that...bored I think .040 over...he did manage to save the crank, the head and the block...in 2019 costs are we looking at over $3500.00 to get one rebuilt??

 

thanks in advance

 

Mike C

38655852_2000548349957820_6370991428453007360_n.jpg

 

 

 

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Why spend money you might not need to spend? For all you know,the engine will be fine once you get it unstuck and it fires a few times under compression and blows all the rust away/

 

There are many,many fluids and methods you can use to unstick a stuck engine,but MY favorite involves brake fluid and ATF. Mostly because it works,and like me,it is cheap.

 

Pull the head and the side covers and use a plastic hammer to close all the valves that will close. Leave the side covers off for the time being. Fill each cylinder with a 50/50 mix of brake fluid and ATF,and then screw in one of those fancy auto parts store "valve hold closed devices"  people screw into the heads of modern cars to  hold the valves shut. Or be like me and break the porcelain off an old spark plug,tap the hole,and screw a  air fitting in the plug so you can plug your air compressor to it. Let your compressor pump up whatever it will pump up,and just sit there and wait until you start hearing "blub,blub,blub" sounds coming from the engine base. Once you hear those sounds,you know your rings  in that cylinder will be getting the brake fluid/atf lube they need,and  then move on to the next one that has closed valves.

 

You may have to repeat the air pressure trick in some cylinders,but no big deal. Just be patient and let the lube and the air pressure do your work for you.

 

Once you have them all done,hook a battery to your engine and "bump" the starter a few times to break them all lose. Once they are all loose and the engine starts to spin over,refill  all the cylinders with ATF and pressurize them again to make sure no rings are stuck and they are all oiled.

 

This is the point where I like to drain all the oil out of the oil pan,and refill the engine with really cheap 20 or 30 wt engine oil. Even the modern 0-20 oil will work and won't harm a thing because all you are going to do with this new oil is spin the engine over with the starter until it builds oil pressure,and then you are going to drain it all out and refill it with the proper 30 wt non-detergent oil anyway.

 

Good idea to clean the oil filter housing,too.

 

Once you get it spinning over and building oil pressure,readjust the valves and try to start it.

 

I have started stuck engines using this method that had been sitting for decades,and been able to drive them with no problems. Just don't get in a hurry and try to use brute force on the crankshaft bolt. Let the starter do the work with gentle "bumps" that shock the rust loose.

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So the engine is stuck... won't turn over...you have tried all the magic lubes...

Then it starts to turn over... yea!!!!!

Now the rings are scraping the rust off the cylinder walls and the ring are stuck deep in the ring land grooves and are not loose and free to follow the cylinder taper...

So the rings are not scraping oil or holding compression?

Ya gotta take the engine apart and make it right.

JMO.

Edited by Dodgeb4ya
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Wow...thank you thank you thank you for all the insight...

 

I think I need to go look at the heap and see if I really want to take on such a project.....I have saved up some money from the sales of some of my old projects...but that could all go away in a hurry if I try to do this truck...On another thought tangent I was watching some videos on the Road Kill Customs folks and the Jeff Potter Your tube page and those guys are taking Dodge Dakotas and leaving all the running gear in them and mounting these old truck bodies on top of those newer chassis for a not so shabby price either...hmmm

 

Makes me think for sure...love the looks of the old trucks but the one thing I remember from all of them is they are terrible to drive around in...one step above a hay wagon really...never drove a Pilothouse but the old Chevrolet's and Willy's Jeeps that I have driven were nothing to write home about...

 

MikeC

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 I paid  $1400  a year ago, bored ,crank turned, head flatted,  pistons , rings  ,bearings, magnaflux block, head and crank , balanced ,freeze plugs,  valve guide , fly wheel turned, oven baked block cleaned, ..the  magnaflux and balance was the expensive part...$250  each.ouch... I just added timing chain set , gasket  set ,  oil pump,  lots more cleaning of parts  and reassemble....     sitting on stand. when installed it will run past my lifetime. won't smoke ,won't leak anything.  my motors must pass the white glove test...

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My only input would be, go into it with a budget to handle the worst case scenario. My engine build was a disaster and nothing went as planned. The first block was scrap due to bore damage and then multiple crank shafts etc. I could of just bought a blown 392 off hemi trader for what I spent...

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Sky is the limit here.  With it being stuck, you don't know if the cylinders are any good.  I had a stuck engine, took it apart, and sent it to machine work.  They called after about an hour saying they would have to sleeve one of the cylinders to the tune of about $800 - then start the rebuild.  I still have the engine (not put back together) behind my parents barn. Lets say the cylinders are good but have to be cleaned up (bored .010 then honed - minimum amounts).  Has it been rebuilt before and was bored to maximums..?  Your back to resleeving it which gets expensive quick.  Carefully take apart what you can - measure what you have, and make the best guess decision from there - keeping the machine shop in the loop.

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2 hours ago, Big50Dodge said:

 

Sky is the limit here.  With it being stuck, you don't know if the cylinders are any good.  I had a stuck engine, took it apart, and sent it to machine work.  They called after about an hour saying they would have to sleeve one of the cylinders to the tune of about $800 - then start the rebuild.  I still have the engine (not put back together) behind my parents barn. Lets say the cylinders are good but have to be cleaned up (bored .010 then honed - minimum amounts).  Has it been rebuilt before and was bored to maximums..?  Your back to resleeving it which gets expensive quick.  Carefully take apart what you can - measure what you have, and make the best guess decision from there - keeping the machine shop in the loop.

Wow 800 for a sleeve? My 270 hemi had a hole in one cylinder and that one would have cost me 100

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My machine work was $750.00 bored, plus .030. block decked .010,  valve job, all else was standard. Built back to short block, head milled .040. parts including, pistons, pins rings bearings, timing gears, chain, valve guides, gaskets freezeplugs, water pump and dist tube, misc parts and pieces  was 950.00.  this was 14 years ago, so things have gone up.  I used egge, Terrel machine parts, Napa, and vintage power wagons to source parts.  Still running strong and trouble free 40 k later.

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On 3/31/2019 at 6:31 PM, The Oil Soup said:

I've used ATF and acetone, not sure why you would mix an oil base product and a water base one. Brake fluid has more in common with antifreeze.

I started doing it because I needed to unstick an engine that had been stuck for decades,and that was what I had to use at the time.  Don't really care about the water and oil based thing. What I know for a fact is that brake fluid LOVES to weep,and I figure that if I can get it to weep past the corrosion the ATF can take over after that.

 

What I do know for a fact is that it works.

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On 3/30/2019 at 11:15 PM, Dodgeb4ya said:

So the engine is stuck... won't turn over...you have tried all the magic lubes...

Then it starts to turn over... yea!!!!!

Now the rings are scraping the rust off the cylinder walls and the ring are stuck deep in the ring land grooves and are not loose and free to follow the cylinder taper...

So the rings are not scraping oil or holding compression?

Ya gotta take the engine apart and make it right.

JMO.

I am no expert on this since I  have only done it maybe 5 or 6 times,but each time I have done it that was never a problem. I just changed the oil and started driving them. Drove one off and on for maybe 10 years before selling it to an idiot that pulled the flat V-8 and put a 350 in it "because that's what all the cool kids do." What pissed me off the most was he sold the good engine and trans for scrap.

 

I used to call him names every time I saw him starting with "stupid" and going downhill from there,but haven't seen him in several years now. He must have died or moved away.

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Hi Mopar Guys

 

I am thinking now that probably the smartest thing to do is to pass on this project....if I could steal it I might consider it but he is asking $2000.00 for it...I just lost my mother last week so I have had time to really think about and I am still sitting on the fence...so to me if I am hemming and hawing still after all this time...maybe I should let someone else lose their shirt on it...I might be better off finding something that runs when I buy it...(still not sure how much I really want one)...I can see in my mind my dad and I bumping down the road back in the 1960s.

in an old blue and black Pilothouse truck...great times those were...

 

MikeC

 

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