Engine knock

[57 Ford Kustom]

Gasman, does the shop cook it? Tim

[gasman826]

If they can't, take it somewhere else.  The block will look like new.  No dirt, paint, sludge, or rust.  Clean enough to paint.  You will still want to run a tap down each threaded hole and little cleaning brushes through all the other holes.  It's a good idea to grind the sharp edges, extra casting flash, and unnecessary metal before sending to machine shop. 

The usual order of things is to disassemble, inspect for obvious damage, grind flash and take to machine shop.  The machine shop will clean, inspect, mag, and measure.  If boring is required, sonic test might be advised.

It will spoil a thousand dollars to clean, inspect, mag, sonic test, bore, hone, deck, provide and install cam bearings, freeze plugs, and threaded oil and coolant plugs.  This does not include turning/polishing the crank, balance, reworking rods, hanging pistons, or fitting rings.  You can cut a couple of services and save some money but you are gambling.  DO YOU FEEL LUCKY!?

Another thing to consider is to have the shop assemble the short block.  I have the tools, knowledge and experience to assemble my short blocks.  My machine shop fits the cam, main, and rod bearings.  They hone the cylinders as per the ring manufacturers spec.  They grind the rings for the correct ring gap.  They have to assemble the engine to do these services.  For little or nothing, they assemble the short block and then GUARENTEE the work. 

I have assembled a lot of engines.  Some of these services were skipped.  I made an educated, experienced gamble which services I 'saved' money on.  I have measured cranks, bearing clearances, cylinder walls, ring gaps hundreds of times with good success.  But just starting out, you can not afford to be wrong.  Just the cost of the speciality tools will pay for the assembly charge.  The days of throwing in some rings and bearings is gone.  The costs of rings, bearings, coolant, oil, gaskets, paint, etc are too high to gamble.

That being said, if you assemble then slow, clean, recheck and ask questions.  Get an engine stand.  Plastigage is cheap...use it even if you trust the machine work.  Clean the block!  Clean the crank!  Oil the crap out of the cylinder walls.  Check the ring gap and clock the gaps on the piston.  Dip the piston in a bucket of oil.  Make sure the rod number matches the cylinder number.  Use rod bolt booties.  Plastigage each rod bearing.  Make sure the cam rotates.

[57 Ford Kustom]

Gasman, I have a vintage Haynes tech book for a Ford engine overhaul Manuel. It was in my Dad's stuff. I will read through it to see if I want to tackle the project. Like I said earlier, I want to do this once! I already plan to send my FMX to a shop to have the gaskets changed and the overall trans checked. Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it! Tim

[6cyl57]

X2 on everything gasman said. The one thing I would like to add to is, and gasman did
say the block has to be clean.
Even after the shop has baked / hot tanked the block. And it looks clean it probably isn't.
The honing grit will still be in the oil passages , the cylinder walls... everywhere.
It will take (preferably) hot soap (Dawn dish soap) and water with different size brushes.
Have a can of WD-40 ready for the machined surfaces.

I hope to not have stepped on any toes. It looks like Gasman knows what he is doing.
I used to do this for a living.

[BWhitmore]

Everything recommended is excellent advice.  For someone that is rebuilding an engine as a new experience a couple of terms used may need further explanation.  "Mag" means to check the block/heads/ crankshaft for cracks using an electrical magnet and special powder.  This is an important step as it will tell you if any of these parts are cracked.  Any cracked parts should be repaired or replaced.  "Plastigage" is a measuring tool that looks like a plastic piece of sewing thread.  It is used to measure the space or clearance between parts and in this case is used to measure the clearance in the connecting rod and main bearings.  Your engine shop will know the correct clearance by measuring with plastigage and can make adjustments if necessary before the engine has a final assembly.  Most of a proper engine rebuild involves cleaning, measuring, remeasuring, proper engine pre-start lubrication (includes properly lubricating the rod and main bearings, cam bearings, piston rings, camshaft, valve train (including valve lifters) and pressurizing the oil pump system before starting a rebuilt engine.  It is also wise that once the rebuilt engine is started for the first time to keep the RPM above 1200 RPM for the first 3-4 minutes. Double check to make sure that your cooling system is in good shape also and keep a good eye on your temperature gauge and your oil pressure light or gauge. 

[Mark]

Tim, I used to rebuild a few motors when I was in high school, but just couldn't see doing the motor for my 57. I had mine built because I wanted it right. When I did put it back in the car we lost a lifter, but the shop stood by their work and it only cost me a little time. I now have about 2500 miles on the car after the rebuild and no worries with it.

[hiball3985]

You have been provided with a ton of good information from all the above. As Bill mentioned, break in is a vital part. If you replace the cam and lifters or use the old cam and new lifters be sure you use the proper lube on the cam lobes/lifters vs the cam bearing surfaces. You also have to use a proper oil and additives for a flat tappet cam during break in. A whole book can be written on this subject but you still have a lot of time before that happens to research it.

[57 Ford Kustom]

Hiball, I replaced the cam and lifters this winter, I installed a Edelbrock performer plus, Edelbrock timing chain and lifters. I just spent $300 to have a machine shop rebuild my heads, so I think that I will bite the bullet and have the shop rebuild the bottom end. Tim

[hiball3985]

OK, good. If you are reusing the cam and lifters be careful not to mix the lifters up. They have to go back on the same lobes. You may know that but I'm being cautious.