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This might be more of a general engine type question but.......
I have an old 400 long block I tossed out in the tree row about 15 years ago (it ran.....but quite badly....it had been horrendously abused its entire life). I have heard from a couple different sources that the crankshafts are getting a bit difficult to find, and I'd kinda been thinking about building a "junkyard 400" out of spare parts I had laying around........So out of curiosity I yanked the old long block that had been exposed to the elements for the last 15 years out of the trees and popped a couple of rod caps off to see how badly rusted the journals were....Below is what I would guess is a representative sample without any cleanup.......Sooooooo, Do you think it would be worth the machine shop cost to salvage?
Hard to say looking at just a pic, but looks like some good bit of unrusted or minimally rust stained surface there yet, I think it'll take a total regrind and polish job, but to me it looks worthwhile to try. I take it that you're just wanting a good sound truck motor, not a race motor.
Don't know what you'll pay a stranger to do it, last one I had done was a buddy, cost me a dinner for two with side salads for he and his new bride. He just did it on a "light work day".
Hard to say looking at just a pic, but looks like some good bit of unrusted or minimally rust stained surface there yet, I think it'll take a total regrind and polish job, but to me it looks worthwhile to try. I take it that you're just wanting a good sound truck motor, not a race motor.
Don't know what you'll pay a stranger to do it, last one I had done was a buddy, cost me a dinner for two with side salads for he and his new bride. He just did it on a "light work day".
Yeah, I happen to have a pair of running 351M's that I'm not sure what to do with.... so I figured why not convert one to a 400 as a "spare"?
I pulled the main caps off and all but two rod caps (cuz I can't roll it over to get to the cap nuts)..... there are some journals that look pretty bad. If I can get it out of the block I may play around with some emery cloth at lunch to see just how bad.....
Perhaps I'll have to make friends with a machinist! lol
Nobody will put a rusty crank in the grinder but if you do something to get rid of the rust it can be reground and then it'll be as good as new. It is easy to screw up the journals by over polishing the crank.
Nobody will put a rusty crank in the grinder ........
Shoot, I wouldn't blame them! That could be a mess! (it has been messy! lol)
I liberated the crank from its rusty grave this evening, Played around with a wire brush for a few minutes and found the "5MAB" stamping in it to confirm it is a 400 crank (didn't really take much effort with a handheld wire brush to eradicate the rust on the raw cast portions). Used some emery cloth to kinda clean up some journals. I remember this engine had horrible oil pressure when I tossed it for a fresher model 15 years ago......and found at least part of the reason. Bearings (especially rods) were pretty badly worn and in some cases gouged/grooved. In fact a couple of the journals with no rust at all had grooves in them that would just catch a fingernail........ so..... this may be a fruitless effort after all.... but who knows......
luckily this isn't something I HAVE to do.... its more just to see if it CAN be done..... ;-)
I appreciate y'all's input on the adventure! There are some pretty seasoned and knowledgeable folks on here!
Local automotive shop might "hot tank" it for you with other stuff in the basket for not a lot of $$$, would really help clean it up for inspection or grinding? Pretty caustic stuff they use, I don't recall seeing rust after a dip, my 400 block and crank came out looking new. If you get it clean and still on the fence, spray it with a protective oil, etc to stave off rusting again. After being so cleaned, easy to accurately measure & judge jornals and then too, know the insides are clean too.
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