motor rebuild

[ben]

ok so i folked out 5K for an awsome van a few days ago!

only problem is the 50,000km old good motor doesnt seem so good now i get it home.. bummer. oil pouring out the right bank out exhaust, lots of big end bearing noise.((

its got lots of good bits on the motor but the van went through an accident shortly before i bought it, somehow ive ended up with a dud motor.

anyway dont think the bloke i bought it off is gunna help us out with some cash to get this fixed, i have a 307 out of green beast to get me going for the time being..

anyway a mate of mine says he has rebuild volkswagon engines before and its easy!

he recons the 400 small block cant be too much different..

anyone think i could have a go at rebuilding this motor? strip it down find out whats wrong with it, put it all back together and have rebuilt my first motor a 400 chev!!

i have a tourque wrench large enouh for the head bolts. and lots of air tools!

any reason why i cant do it??

thanks!!!

ben

[hunterbynature]

you can do any think you put your mind to benny, i bought myself a book, how to build a small block chevy, was a great help

[eddy]

5K ?? blimey bro I thought you got it for much less    oh well. now you got it theres no going back, yep take the 307 and put the 400 aside, trouble is though isn't engineered for the 400? they usually put the engine number in the cert, I'd check with your injuneer before deciding which route to take .... 

[able]

go for it ben! a mystery is just a place you haven't been yet.

six months ago i was limited to changing spark plugs, air filters and oil filters.... i was to scared to undo a bolt and now im ripping mine apart and sticking my arms into it like a vet into a pregnant cow.

its all simple once you get into it.... money is my only barrier being on a pension.

[kimbosound]

Hey Ben..........just be carefull with 400 chev as they are the only small block chev that is externally balanced.....the harmonic
balancer is different to other chevy's .....may pay to check that out....i might not be a problem at all.....i remember something
is different from when i put one in my LWB.

[Warren]

Go for it Ben -  by a book on rebuilding engines - read it once

read it twice

read it three times, then think about turning a spanner.

The main thing when rebuilding an engine is CLEANLYNESS, and Patience, oh and a good engine stand

Warren

[ben]

hey ed, i belive i got a bargin even with the dud motor.

the van has rear airbags!

discs all round, 15K spent on it by original owner in 1990.. equivelant to 20k now..

2nd bloke owed him 14K

it owes me 5k now..


thanks for your replys guys..

yes gunna by some books off ebay warren and read, and ive got a tractor engine stand, very sturdy!!

thanks kimbo, pulled the harmonic balancer off the other day and yes it is on the outside!

cheers
ben

[Marishka]

thats a bummer ben,
but like u said its a cool van.
just put a chev pattern 308 in it till nu get a chev sorted.
id get a good 350 chev 2 put in it.
rebuilding 1 will be around $1000 min in parts n machining depending on how far u wanna go.
good luck with it anyway. ull be wrapped when its on the road, looked a good van.
 marty

[ben]

gotta go on the road this week marty!

got the 307 out of the green van to go in it.. ill use all the good bits off this 400, fix the 400 and put it in later..

not sure what i have to do about engineers cert now??


cheers
ben

[eddy]

I gotta betta idea benny bro, clean swap for the tow van which owes me $2700 that way we keep getting the costs cut in half owner by owner  wow air bags in the back, I had airbags in the back of one of my earlier vans ... mind you I was carting the missus and her sista around  com'n bro show us some happy snaps of the set up ......