#3 Bearing cap (has a 3 on the outside of the cap), has a different bearing style than the others. It popped off when I was inspecting it. I cleaned it up, and there is no numbers on the backside of that bearing. I haven't removed the actual bearings on the other caps, but the surface seems fairly shiny. The surface on the crank is pretty darn shiny too. I have taken a crap load of pictures, but I have to wait till I get home to post, for there is no reception here at the school.

 

shiny is good, you might luck out. . #3 is the thrust bearing it will be different.

there should be a brand for the bearing at the very least.

 

#3 bearing is the thrust bearing for the crank.

 

I wouldn't have started tearing into it at all before changing the oil and seeing if it runs. It could have been perfectly fine. I didn't read anything in your post that would make one assume the engine was bad. As you say rebuilding is out of your budget, so why tear it down?

 

It wasn't in the pickup. putting an engine you know nothing about in on the hopes it will be fine is a good way to practice engine R&R. your luck better be better than mine to pull that off very often.

 

Okay, about to bombard you with pictures. Sorry in advance LOL

 

 

 

 

So, there pictures of all but 1 main cap, the front one. I also took at least 2 pictures of each cylinder the best I could. Most of the internal engine was pretty clean, maybe because of all the gas in the oil? The #3 main cap bearing didn't seem to have any numbers on the back, or a brand...that I could see anyways. Hope this helps you see what I am dealing with.

Also, when removing the heads, I sorted each push rod, rocker, and lifters together in seperate bags. When I was rolling the engine over on the stand, I forgot to remove the lifters, and about 4 fell out on the ground, so I have no idea with set they go with.
Thank you again

 

The motor was rebuilt at least once already and .030 oversize pistons installed. The degree of dirt and grit you've allowed to enter the interior of the motor makes a hot tank mandatory in my eyes. If you haven't kept the push rods, rockers, and lifters matched to the hole they came out of then you'll need to start at square one. I would finish stripping her and take what ever parts you want hot tanked with the block and then have it all measured to see where you're at with the core crank and block and go from there. If you're concerned about the costs then try to find a known good used motor and I bet there are some out there with good motors that would consider a trade for some labor hours of your welding and fabrication skills.

 

How can you determine it was bored .030"" by the pictures? Oh, nevermind, it's on top of the pistons Lol

 

There are some running .060 over in a stock 2 bolt main block, successfully. from what I'm seeing in the pics it will likely clean up at another .020 max, so .040 over pistons, which will make a good motor if you go that route.

 

At this point, you’re probably better off with a rebuild or looking for another good running motor. Dropping the lifters and getting them mixed up pretty much requires all new lifters and breaking it back in. You’re not going to replace just one or two bad bearings and put the other ones back now that you’re this deep in the disassembly.
enjoy the suck… I’m about to get my truck fired up hopefully for the first time in nearly 2yrs soon.

 

For what you want it actually looks pretty good. the bores look okay, the bearings aren't real bad . you should find the size on the back of them. it's very clean inside and if there is a ridge it looks very minimal. hard to tell in pictures but I doubt this engine has had much use since the rebuild.

I would pull it all apart, hot tank it because the jackets look pretty loaded. put in new cam bearings and a full set of rods and mains. rings are probably okay but you'll know once you pull the pistons. if you kept the pushrods and rockers in order great, if you didn't don't worry about it just put them back in anyway they'll last as long as the rest of the engine no problem. done it many times. lifters should be replaced anyway, if the cam looks good run with it. look the crank over good and maybe polish it.

Your heads are important, pictures would give something to guess on, but I'd have a competent machinist take a look.

Don't get caught up in the " you must " garbage, you're not building a high dollar street rod you just want an engine that runs good and will last a while if I understand you correctly. unless your heads need major work, or you find something unseen in the rest of your teardown it looks to me like for under $500 you are going to have a decent engine. Overall if I were you, I'd be feeling pretty good about it.