Dragged another one home!

[gordr]

This time, a '56 Champion 2-door sedan. It's real rough. Doors and trunk lid are the only body parts remotely worth saving, and they are no ways perfect. There is a 185 engine that has sat outside for X number of years with a spark plug out of it, a T-96 transmission, and a model 23 rear axle with 4.55 gears in it. Condition undetermined. It might all wind up being scrap metal. Grille, front bumper, and headlights all gone to make a wall hangy-thingy.

Maybe I will get a 185 crank out of it. If I'm really lucky, a rebuildable 185 block. Teardown commences today.

[gordr]

Just an update on progress. Doors are removed; I think they can be salvaged. At any rate, I won't immediately scrap them. I am in the process of rendering the body and frame into small enough pieces to haul to the dump by Suburbanback.

Got the 185 engine out, and the head off it. #2 and #4 are stuck for sure; the other cylinders, solvent seeps down past the rings, at least. No detectable ridge on the cylinder walls, and pistons are marked +.030. So it looks like low miles on an overhauled engine. Oil pan has a hole worn in it where it contacted the steering center pivot, so maybe it rain dry of oil and seized as a result. Haven't had the pan off it yet, but that will come soon. But I might get a decent core engine out of it.

[gordr]

Update on the 185 engine. Got all the pistons out, but broke one in the course of doing it. But at least two cylinders are so badly rust-pitted that they will need to be rebored. Rod and main bearings all seem to be good; didn't Plastigage them, but no signs of damage from running without oil. I think I can save maybe 4 of the exhaust valves. Intake valves were all rusty, and one outright broke because the stem was eaten down to about 1/8". Two intake valve came out, taking the guides with them. Cam and lifters look good, and the lifters do not seem to be the least bit sloppy in their bores. Crank has some light rust, but a polish job would likely make it OK.

I think I can piece together what happened to the car. Motor was overhauled, but when it was installed, one of the bolts for the right side motor mount bottomed out on the stub of a broken bolt left in the hole (the lower hole of the two). So it wasn't holding much. That put excess shear load on the upper bolt, which snapped. Then the loose lower bolt also snapped, and the engine dropped, bringing the oil pan into contact with the center pivot. Bouncing around on gravel roads cause the oil pan to be dented at the point of contact, and the Palnut on #1 con rod wore through the pan, making a loud knock, and causing a massive oil leak. Owner assumed it had thrown a rod, when the damage was really quite trivial. Car got abandoned, and pieced out. I drilled out the broken bolts for the right side motor mount, and indeed, there were stubs of two bolts in the lower hole. But the holes cleaned up perfect.

So who has the best deal on a set of .040 over pistons and rings?