Nice surprise under the valve cover

[TimmyG]

This z24 motor was sitting in the bed of the truck when I purchased it, and I'm told it was running when pulled out. Truck has been sitting for an unknown number of years...the sticker in the windshield says last oil change in 2003 with next service 150k mi... current odometer 151k mi. 

 

Here's what I found under the valve cover.

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Pristine!

 

[trjerm]

sweet , hopefully lower end is as nice

[TimmyG]

4 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Pristine!

 

Wasn't expecting it to be this good! Especially with it only being driven maybe 4,000 miles in the last 16 years assuming the odometer is still working (cable is still hooked up). I think someone rebuilt the engine in the last 3 years. There was an affidavit in the dash dated 2016. After that, the guy I bought it from said it sat on his property about 1 year. He had bought the truck for parts and then realized most parts on the 84 model didn't fit his 82. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by TimmyG
Typos

[TimmyG]

22 minutes ago, trjerm said:

sweet , hopefully lower end is as nice

Yeah I could actually see what was possibly crosshatch marks in one of the cylinders with the exhaust valve open... I will put her on the engine stand later and take the oil pan off to get a better a look inside the bottom. 

[TimmyG]

Here's a few more pics. Exhaust valve #3 was stuck open when I rotated the motor by hand a few times. Poured some fresh oil onto it and freed it up. Didn't seem to be much oil left in the head from sitting so long. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by TimmyG

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

FYI - seeing crosshatch in the bore doesn't really mean anything. Motors with 100K miles on them can still have visible crosshatch.

 

I do see rust in the bore in one pic. That could be scary. Probably nothing though.

[TimmyG]

4 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

FYI - seeing crosshatch in the bore doesn't really mean anything. Motors with 100K miles on them can still have visible crosshatch.

 

I do see rust in the bore in one pic. That could be scary. Probably nothing though.

Seeing crosshatch was certainly better than what I saw inside my other z24 that's currently torn down! Right?

 

The rust in the bore is on the top quarter inch or so of the cylinder walls. The area that the rings contact is clean as you can see. That's gotta be a good thing. Cylinders 2,3,4 all look like this. Cylinder 1 doesn't have the defined line at the top of the cylinder wall between rust and clean.

 

Overall, I think this engine is worth putting in and cranking up to see what happens. Not expecting it to smoke like crazy. Am I wrong on that, tho?

 

 

[datzenmike]

Was the carb covered??? Cause rain will fuck that engine up faster than anything. The sticking valve is a warning sign.

[TimmyG]

10 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Was the carb covered??? Cause rain will fuck that engine up faster than anything. The sticking valve is a warning sign.

Carb doesn't look so hot. It was covered with a tarp, but looked half assed to me. That's why I was surprised it looked good under the valve cover. What would you suggest checking? I can always tear this one down, too.... just rather not if it's not needed. 

Edited August 22, 2019 by TimmyG
Tarp, not trap. Dumb phone

[TimmyG]

Snapped a pic real quick of the oil on the dipstick (does not indicate accurate level, just condition). 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

This one looks good enough to run. Try it before you tear into it.

 

With all the mud bee refuse (the mud in the exhaust stud hole), you may want to flush out the cooling passages. Have a look around to see if they got in anywhere else.

[wayno]

I had a couple A series blocks sit for years under a bench in a dry spot, recently I decided I was never going to use them for what I had planned so I decided to sell them, I wanted to make sure both were good so I built an engine run stand, I seen both these engines run before removing them.

On the stand both engines ran fine but neither had good oil pressure as my stand has an oil pressure gauge, now keep in mind that when I checked the oil level it looked just like your oil in the photo you posted, well I had to figure out what was going on so first removed the oil pressure line and started the engine, oil barely came out, so I removed the oil pan and figured it out, there was over an inch of muck on the bottom of the oil pan covering where the oil pick up tube/screen were, my oil looked great just like yours does, but the engine had sat so long in one spot that all the muck/waste/dirt in the oil had settled to the bottom.

This engine of yours in the photos has sat, maybe mine looked a little dirtier except for the carburetor, if it only sat a year it's likely fine, any longer and I would suspect the oil color as like I already said, mine looked just like yours in your photo, but it wasn't good at the bottom of the pan where the dip stick don't reach.

[TimmyG]

53 minutes ago, wayno said:

I had a couple A series blocks sit for years under a bench in a dry spot, recently I decided I was never going to use them for what I had planned so I decided to sell them, I wanted to make sure both were good so I built an engine run stand, I seen both these engines run before removing them.

On the stand both engines ran fine but neither had good oil pressure as my stand has an oil pressure gauge, now keep in mind that when I checked the oil level it looked just like your oil in the photo you posted, well I had to figure out what was going on so first removed the oil pressure line and started the engine, oil barely came out, so I removed the oil pan and figured it out, there was over an inch of muck on the bottom of the oil pan covering where the oil pick up tube/screen were, my oil looked great just like yours does, but the engine had sat so long in one spot that all the muck/waste/dirt in the oil had settled to the bottom.

This engine of yours in the photos has sat, maybe mine looked a little dirtier except for the carburetor, if it only sat a year it's likely fine, any longer and I would suspect the oil color as like I already said, mine looked just like yours in your photo, but it wasn't good at the bottom of the pan where the dip stick don't reach.

Funny you say this now because I just drained the oil and some chunky sludge came out first before the rest of the oil drained freely. I'm gonna take the oil pan off later and have a look. Bolted the engine to my stand last night. Thanks!

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

So what's the best way to clean out the gunk from an oil pan without removing it? Maybe pour a gallon of acetone or lacquer thinner into the motor and let it sit for a while before draining it.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Another trick I have used (to clean the inside of an engine and help with ring sealing) is to run a quart of ATF in the engine, with oil of course. The high detergent content in the ATF scrubs the grime out of the nooks and crannies and can give life to gummed up piston rings.

[TimmyG]

1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

This one looks good enough to run. Try it before you tear into it.

 

With all the mud bee refuse (the mud in the exhaust stud hole), you may want to flush out the cooling passages. Have a look around to see if they got in anywhere else.

Yeah, not sure how that got in there exactly. There were lots of wasp nests on this truck and under the tarp covering the engine...but didnt see any dirt dobber type wasps or nests. Good heads up. I will likely change the intake manifold gasket while the engine is out. I'll take a look at the coolant passages then. Definitely will flush out the cooling passages.

[TimmyG]

Just now, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Another trick I have used (to clean the inside of an engine and help with ring sealing) is to run a quart of ATF in the engine, with oil of course. The high detergent content in the ATF scrubs the grime out of the nooks and crannies and can give life to gummed up piston rings.

Someone else suggested this to me (one of my neighbors).

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Good advice from a neighbor. I generally don't take advice from neighbors. What's that old saying? "Never let your neighbor touch your carburetor!"

[TimmyG]

Well the surprise under the oil pan wasn't as great 😂😂😂. The rust is mostly around the cyl 4 area of the crank and slightly on cyl 3 area of crank. I don't know what the bearings should look like, but guessing this isn't great.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by TimmyG
Typo

[datzenmike]

When left exposed to the elements rain is not going to get under the valve cover and besides it's coated with oil. It can get into the cylinders though and if this was removed because of a blown HG it's possible to have coolant pool in a cylinder also. If water gets into the cylinder it can work past the rings and settle in the oil pan  bottom and oil level will rise. I've taken apart engines that had a rusty bathtub ring in the crankcase. It's unlikely to bother the bearings, main or rods because again they are covered with oil. Now if this was run with a bad HG and water was emulsified with the oil then that's a different story.

 

 

I don't see anything out of the ordinary in your pictures.

 

 

You can tap the bottom part of the main bearing shells and it will rotate around the journal and you can pick it out. New bearing shells can be oiled and rotated back in the same way. Button it back up and run it.

[TimmyG]

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

When left exposed to the elements rain is not going to get under the valve cover and besides it's coated with oil. It can get into the cylinders though and if this was removed because of a blown HG it's possible to have coolant pool in a cylinder also. If water gets into the cylinder it can work past the rings and settle in the oil pan  bottom and oil level will rise. I've taken apart engines that had a rusty bathtub ring in the crankcase. It's unlikely to bother the bearings, main or rods because again they are covered with oil. Now if this was run with a bad HG and water was emulsified with the oil then that's a different story.

 

 

I don't see anything out of the ordinary in your pictures.

 

 

You can tap the bottom part of the main bearing shells and it will rotate around the journal and you can pick it out. New bearing shells can be oiled and rotated back in the same way. Button it back up and run it.

Motor was running when pulled is what they told me. Trans had taken a shit. No coolant was in the oil when I drained it. There is a milky looking substance on the crank under the bearings here, tho??? Cylinder walls don't look rusted, except for that top quarter inch where the rings don't touch. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Clean the area around the sides of the rear cap before installing it, and use a film of gasgacinch around the seal. Get new side seals too and install them with gasgacinh as well.

 

Bearings look good.

[TimmyG]

2 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Clean the area around the sides of the rear cap before installing it, and use a film of gasgacinch around the seal. Get new side seals too and install them with gasgacinh as well.

 

Bearings look good.

Thanks. What do you look for in the  bearings to determine they look good? Trying to learn as much as I can. 

[datzenmike]

The shells have a base metal aliminum or maybe copper alloy? with coatings, very thin and soft on top. Smooth and even. New are a matte silver, or non reflecting. Wear will show as shiny areas, although this does not necessarily mean worn out. Gouges or grooves are not good. Nor is wear through the layers into the supporting shell underneath. I had a 521 and the L16 bearing shells must have been copper. You could see the bright shiny copper red  from the extreme wear.

 

Yours look good and could be put back in service. But the age old question is will I replace them later or should I do them now.