The week after I got my 396 engine back to my house, I started the disassembly to find out what kind of shape it was in. I remembered leaving the oil in the block and backing off all the rocker arms to close all the valves up. After the intake manifold and valve covers were off, I saw no signs of rust. The cylinders also turned out to be rust free and I didn't see any signs of major problems. The condition of the lifters showed this motor has plenty of miles on it.
Further into the disassembly I found that it still had the forged crank in it. I wasn't able to remove the pistons at this time cause there was a slight ridge at the top of the cylinders stopping the movement of the rings.
I had to make a tool run and decided to stop by some shops to price a full hot tank and inspection/measurement quote. I found a shop that had a great reputation for work, and they told me they were more expensive than most places I could go to. But you get what you pay for!
The engine is once again loaded up and ready to be taken for a bath and inspection. Since the shop I was going to had a full time machinist on duty I decided to just have all the work done there so when I got it back, it would be ready for reassembly.
Engine Page 3 / Back To Main Page