CAST IRON POWERGLIDE

The damm thing weighs a ton. It takes a crane to get it in the van or on the bench. And to think, Doug and I pulled this thing out with the engine attached. We got it cleaned up and off to the rebuild shop. Below are the photos of the initial disassembly. All the hardware looks good. I got the overhaul kit in todays mail, so next week some time, we should get it back.

Engine tear down

As much as we were trying to avoid rebuilding the bottom end of the engine, once it was out and up in my shop, there was no turning back. I pulled off the flywheel and housing and mounted it on my stand. I stripped off the harmonic balancer, timing gears, and removed the cam. I reamed the ridge off the top of the cylinders and pulled all the pistons. Then out came the crank. The cam looks OK, but we will probably replace it anyway. There are signs of wear and some pits, besides we already have the new lifters. I found broken top compression rings in the #2, 3, & 7 holes but no damage. Cylinders and pistons look pretty good. All the bearings looked real nice, as do the journals. I got everything cleaned up and brought it up to the machine shop for measurement and assessment. I am hopeful that we can hone the cylinders, throw in a new set of rings and bearings and get away cheap. I don't want to bore it out unless I have to, as that would mean all new pistons. We'll make the decision by the numbers. Should know more in a few days.

Engine comes out

After much consternation, Doug and I decided that it would be best to yank out the engine and tranny. Cleaning the engine compartment will be much easier and I can do a much better rebuild on the engine when I have it out and on a stand. So Fathers Day, Out it came.

I picked up a good crane off Craig's list, set it up and we had the whole thing out in pretty short order. That assembly is HUGE!

We split the tranny off the engine and loaded it all up for a trip up to the Spa.