Well, long story short, The guy at the machine shop gave me the rings, and I confusingly said", do I need any special machines or work done to the rings to install them?" And the guy said something like to make sure the fit the bore and stuff. I guess I need to get the rings(He already gave me the box) out and put them into the bores to see if they fit, then take them back and have them put on the pistons. They have my crank, rods and pistons right now. He said when I "do that", he'll put the rings on for nothin.

I still really need that manual though. Julie said I could find it in LMC or something, I'm gonna look for that thread again. There is no book on rebuilding 223 from the same author. On ebay there are "service manuals", I don't need the service manual, I need a rebuild manual, right? (I don't even know what I'm looking for....)

He said the cam is bad, it's got a bunch of pinholes on the lobes(I saw 'em, too), and I'll need a new one, and I'll also need to get the lifters machined(9 bucks a pop![there's 12]). I haven't got back any word on the crank, so we'll see.

Man, this is more stressful than I thought, but I don't feel on edge, just......tired.

Thanks a lot everyone for any help/advice.

 

Get the rebuild/shop manual, it will save you money and STRESS!

This is good. Welcome to our world, your learning is just beginning…………………………in 150 years from now you can look back on it all and call it fun!

 

There are many issues when rebuilding an engine so the first step would be to learn about the basics, to determine what specials tools ares needed, and to decide what you want to do yourself versus letting an automotive machine shop do it. You can learn the basics by borrowing an auto/engine repair manual from the library; it doesn't have to be for your specific engine to understand what is involved.

Then you will be able to ask the right questions, e.g., Do you need a "head" job (valves, seals, seating, head trued), do you need new cam bearings, crank re-ground, cylinders bored, new parts ( oil pump, timing chain, etc).

You want to do the job right the first time.

 

What he is talking about is checking the ring gap. If they are the correct rings they should have a certain gap where the split in the circle of the ring is. This 'gap' dimension will be in your overhaul manual along with all the other useful information, like how to 'squarely' put the ring in the bore to check it. Good Luck on your project.

 

Well, I guess it's time to give in and for now just go to the library.

What should I look for, simply "engine rebuild", or should I specify "ford"? Should I look for old engines? !-6 or V8's, dose it matter?

I woudl like to start reading up, But I'm not a big fan of reading and I don't want to read the wrong thing/stuff.

I am just now coming to the realization that I don't know as much about engines as I thought I did. ....and it sucks! hahaha, gotta learn sometime.

Is there any specific authors or titles I should look for? I feel like I'm almost shooting in the dark here, but I geuss I have somewhat of a picture of what to look for.

Thanks a lot everyone. I still will hunt for a book I could buy.(Julie, if you read this, any advice on where to buy, and who's book/what book to buy?)

 

Be encouraged. Lots of good advice here. There's two levels of help you need to obtain. One is the general guidelines of engine building and two, is the information specific to your exact engine. A lot of the "How to rebuild" books are pretty good. If you can find a reliable mentor with proven skills that's a big help. "Proven" is the key word here. At a top level, a few of my own....... In no particular order.

Chase threads
No Burrs or raised edges anywhere. Files and Countertsinks are cheap.
Soap and Water the block - rifle brushes - compressed air
Don't assume anything - measure everything..... twice
If something doesn't measure right - stop and sort it out
Plasti-gage Mains and rods at a minimum
Don't force anything - unless it's a press-fit
Use a ring-spreader
No Beer or Spectators while you assemble the short-block (I'm dead serious about this)
If something doesn't feel or look right - it probably isn't
Buy the good stuff.

I could go on forever but enuff said for now.....

 

See if the lib. has "Motor Manual" for your year or a year close to it.
They cover all American made cars with specs and how tos.

 

Even if you do some book-learning and think you understand it all, A to Z, get an experienced friend to help you and guide you. Make a list of the consumables you'll need before you start. Clean up your work area so you have plenty of room and aren't doing the work in a pigsty. Dirt on the floor WILL end up in the engine.

 

Put the new rings in the cylinder squarly. use an old piston to push them down so they are square. Then with a set of feeler gauges measure the ring gap. It should be .0015" to .002" per inch of bore. Eg. if your bore is 4" then your ring gap should be .006 to .008"
If your bore is not straight then measure at the minimum diameter.

By the way who is doing your machine work?

 

^For now, it is Rynolds machine on alta vista.

Wow, I got a lot of stuff to learn. I really don't know if I can afford to have someone do all of it for me, but at the same time, I don't know if i'll be able to do this on my own. I don't really have anyone I know that knows engines as well as I do(I'm not bragging, but that's the truth....)

I am determined to do as much of this stuff myself, but I'm also determined to no mess up the engine either. I need it to be a reliable and long lasting truck, not just a quick learner project.

Nuts, this is getting pretty serious now. One thing I need the books for is....simply, I don't know all the tools I need. I've seen all these types of gauges and "measurers", but I hove no clue what I need or how to use it; that's what I really want some literature for.

I have this feeling every time i walk inot the machine shop to ask questions, but I always end up realizing the question I'm about to ask is only the iceberg, and that I look like a fool to these professionals.....I feel like they want to say, "are you sure you don't want us to do everything for you, little boy", hahahahaha.

Thanks a ton for all the responses and support. Really good help and advice.

 

No shame in just paying for assembly. Shops can do it so efficiently, the cost is very low. Last time I had a short block assembled after machine work, I think it was a hundred bucks. They can also get the parts at a better price than we can.

 

You might try Advanced Engine on Charity Ave. They are off fruitvale south of rosedale by the refinery.

 

I expect your block will need a clean up boring or at least the cylinders honed, after that is the time to check the rings in the finished cylinder bore. If the cylinders need boring you will need oversized pistons that match the amount of the overbore and rings for that overbore as well. I think your machine shop is playing with you by giving you the rings to check.
It IS a real good idea to let them do all the machining and reassembly for you. There is a lot of precision measurements that need to be checked and adjusted, and the measuring tools required would cost as much as several rebuilds, then there is the years of experience needed in their correct use and the major machine tools to do the work with. The machine shop has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested. The actual reassembly is the easy (to them) part, so the extra cost will be minimal (unless they are charging for their "education" as well) and you have recourse should something go wrong. If you put something together a little wrong or something wasn't measured right or not fixed you could easily destroy the new engine and all the work in a matter of minutes.
Explain that you really want to learn about your engine and how everything works, ask (REAL nicely!) if it would be possible for you to watch the work being done on your engine. Tell them you would be more than willing to donate your time to sweep the floor, clean parts (not just yours...), put away tools, get coffee, bring in donuts, whatever, in exchange for them answering your questions, tripping over you. Be polite, sincere, not over eager, and LISTEN more than talk!!! They really don't have the time or interest in listening to you talk about you or your truck, they are there to make a living. Ask direct questions about what they are doing, but be sensitive enough to know when it's time to back off when he is concentrating or something doesn't go quite right.

 

Thats the best advice yet. I took my 351W to a local race shop and he happen to have a bridgeport mill that was broken, since I have worked on hundreds of them I told him I would fix it for free if he would let me watch the rebuild. He was more than happy to do so and I got a good education on the 351!

 

Yeah, I think I'm satarting to realize that maybe they should at least do the bottom end. I may be able to bolt the head to the block or something, but that's it.

I don't want to give up, but I dove head first into this engine thinking it shouldn't be that hard, and that was not really a big mistake, just a bad idea, hahaha.

I should wait until the next semester of school, I am already signed up for an automotive engine class. i just don't have the workspace or the tools yet. It's also a little unnerving sense I don't know what to expect.
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I think we may need some clarification here. This is what I've gotten done so-far.

The block has been finished, all work need for reassembly is DONE. there is nothing further. I ridge-reamed the bores to get the pistons out, and found out I had really screwed up one of the cylinders, I should have asked my machine shop before doing it, but I didn't know better.

It had to be bored .0080, and even after that, the cylinder was bad, so they had to sleeve it(just that one). They already ordered and have my new pistons. To be frank, I will never ridge ream again, not even if I'm told to; it was a real gut-wrencher to find it was easily preventable(felt like a dunce).

I got the block back on thursday, and gave them the cam, crank, rods and pistons, too. He immediately found the cam to be no good, and showed my the pitting, so apparently I need a new one....He also said because of that I'll have to have the lifters machined, too.

I now have the block in my possesion and the rings. they sadi they're gonna put the pistons on the rods and check out the crank to see what needs to be done. If things go the way they're going now, I think they'll be getting the block back on monday for reassembly......

I haven't even gotten the head out of my shed yet, who knows what's wrong with that....(it doesn't look to be in great shape, but I don't know)

I still ahve 3-4 things that are completely missing or broken, and a ton of other things that need to be seriously worked on before this truck is anywhere near on the road. I have even written a list of stuff that needs to be done, including stuff I want done too......the list goes on forever, lets put it that way.

Thanks all for the help, I'll be back with updates and questions later. I bet you'll be getting an eye-full tomorrow after I call the machine shop and discuss what's next.