Block Considerations

[520Talon]

I took my bad block apart a little further tonight and noticed a couple of things. First I noticed that I have inserts between my block/caps and my crank. The crank looks fine but the inserts(barings?) are grooved. Is this how blocks come stock or has this one been gone through before?

Would it be possible to just replace these barings and rebuild the motor? The crank still spins, but the oil pump is siezed and there is visual damage to the middle baring of the balance shaft. I will pull the front plate off tommorow and see if the oil pump spins free of the balance shaft.

I pulled one of the caps off the rod and it is the same as the crank. Could I just get new barings for that as well? From the piston I pulled the walls still have a visual cross hatch on them.

I guess my question is can I just replace the inserts and remove the balance shafts and save this block? I would get all of the basic freshening done as well to the block as well.

I mean theres a sale on internals and I need a winter project, would this be worth pursuing?

[niterydr]

From what I gather, you have a 7 bolt motor (those 'inserts are bearings) and are actually part of the 3 piece thrust bearing. To the best of my knowledge most 7 bolt motors don't go successfully. Unless you are actually looking at the bearings themselves (grooved w/ holes in some for oiling, shaped like 1/2 moon, very thing), those ALWAYS get replaced. If the oil pump seized, check the crank carefully for scoring, scratching, checking, cracking, out of balance, as well as the rod bearings and maybe even the cam caps in the head. Also make sure if its not a 7 bolt motor that EVERYTHING gets done on the motor properly for machine work.
IMO i'd only rebuild it if its a 6 bolt, otherwise its junk and should be thrown out.
The cylinder walls in every 4g63 i've touched have showed various degrees of piston slap, but all of them have shown cross hatch, it would take extreme mileage, piston slap, inproper sized rings/pistons to get rid of that.
Best of luck.

[520Talon]

Its a six bolt. I ran it low on oil (oil cooler big o- ring blew), but I shut it down when it ran out of power (turbo siezed). It didn't sieze the oil pump or balance shaft untill I had it home in the garage and I was idling it to see if it could be saved. I took the head in and it is fine. It is brand new (valves/springs/seats) with about 1500 miles on it. I figured it was junk too so I put a new one in the car and have this one sitting in the corner now.

I also added the big red warning light mod for when oil pressure hits 4psi.

[MustGoFaster]

Then it is worth saving. You should take a look at all the main bearings (inserts) and see if non of the locating tabs have been smashed in. (at the edge there should be a notch pressed out and there is a corresponding notch in the block) If they have been you should have it align-honed, if not it shouldn't be necessary unless you use ARP's. If you ran with out oil long enough the seize the b-shafts chances are there is damage to the crank and it will need to be turned. You might want to consider reading a book or two on engine building.

This one is pritty good Engine Blueprinting

[john]

Originally posted by 520Talon@Dec 3 2003, 01:04 PM

I also added the big red warning light mod for when oil pressure hits 4psi.

What is this? How do you do it?

[Goat Blower]

Get the crank polished and unless a main bearing is completely worn away, don't touch the main journals or ever put in ARP main studs. Just polish the crank, bore the cylinders .020 over, chuck the balance shafts and replace the rods and pistons with the Eagle/Wiseco setup Elite's got on sale. If you're cheap, use your rods and put some 2G pistons and rings on there. Nice easy winter project.

[niterydr]

sorry from your description, it sounded like you were describing the 3 piece thrust bearing. The car would be worth saving, and steve brings up a good point. It is important to check all bearing surfaces before makeing a decision.