I trust people's judgment about such things here, does this seem like a good deal? I've never bought an engine by itself, let alone a ½ton diesel.

My plan would be to strip it down and make sure it isn't shot, and then do a mild build (studs, R&D intake and turbo, etc)

Here's the Craigslist link:
https://salem.craigslist.org/pts/6197285500.html

And a pic he sent:



Thanks!!!

 

I would really be careful here, a engine that's slap wore out will take you to the cleaners by the time you put all the machine work into it,

The best thing would be to find one in a running truck that there parting out or whatever. Even if it's 700-1000 it would be nice to just slap some new bushings and a ring kit and run!

My old motor was so shot I just threw the block on a scrap pile, mains, crank, cam, cylinders were so shot it had blowby like a volcano

 

I just kinda figured that for $100 I couldn't go wrong. Like if it turns out the block and stuff is shot and I haven't tried to get it machined yet it'd be a valuable lesson in engine work, but not a spendy one. Know what I mean?

 

Offer him $50 and take it home. No pump or injectors so its basically scrap price. Then as you say, pop the heads off and have a look inside. If its shot haul it to scrap and get your money back.

 

I'd pay the $100 just to have a spare engine worth of parts around. Up here, they usually go for a couple hundred at least.

Make sure you can rotate the engine over all the way by hand. If it only goes part way, $50. Because that means there's something wrong internally.

Also, I'm still not sure on people who claim the engine is shot due to blow by - They *all* have massive blow by. It's the ring gaps.

I'd bet you could take most any engine and slap a new set of rings in it and have it still work.
If it's too bad you might have to have it bored, but that's still possible if more expensive - I had a 7.3 bored .030 over, and it didn't cavitate or anything.

 

I'm a complete noon at engine work, how would I turn it? I know you can use a socket and ratchet, but what size, and it turns clockwise, correct?

 

When I say horrible blow by I mean it pushed as much fog as the exhaust, it would cost the underside of the hood with it all the way up and oil cap off....

I understand how the engines are designed and that they all have blow by, but there's a limit to everything.

When I dismantled it no rings or pistons were broke, but the cylinders were beyond shot..

15/16 socket, 3-6" extension and ratchet

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

Was gonna say the intake hat is worth $100, but not included. I got a complete seized up 7.3 for $50 along with a ZF5 I rebuilt. Water in every cylinder from sitting outside forever. I've made about $500 off that engine so far not including the bits I scrapped, and I still have a bunch of odds and ends left from it. Mine did included pump, injectors, mounts, manifolds, etc... Sold a bunch of stuff here for giveaway prices too. You can make a few bucks on it for parts if you decide not to build it.