1968 289 H2O

Hey All,
Gregski Said:

"And something tells me if I removed only one head and modified the intake in some crazy fashion I could get a V8 to run on just 4 cylinders"

I am currently playing with our "new to us" tow behind, industrial air compressor made by a company called "Grimmer-Schmidt" that is powered by a 351 Cleveland, sort of. The engine has a modified intake, "in some crazy fashion" and a different head on the right side and "DOES" use the left bank of 4 cylinders as the engine and the right bank of 4 cylinders as the compressor. It's a pretty cool setup and provides air volume for days! This thing is a BEAST!

In reference to mustangmutt's oil pan experience, when I was 17, I bought a 63 Mercury Comet, 2 dr, 144 or 170 CI 6-banger, 3 on the tree for $25. I was told the engine was shot, but the car had all new brakes, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc, 5 new matching tires and 2 snow tires. I had a buddy with me to help flat tow it the 3 1/2 miles to my shop area. Well, just for giggles, I put a battery in the car and it fired right up, a little clattery but not bad, so I decided to just drive it. Just as I was ready to pull into my shop driveway, my buddy started blowing his horn and a look in my mirror showed a totally freaked out look on his face and drastic amounts of smoke was pouring out from under the car accompanied by a loud bang as the engine seized SOLID. I jumped out of the car and looked under the front end to see NO OIL PAN and a brightly glowing crankshaft and connecting rod assembly, now welded together! I proceeded to swap the engine with the 35,000 mile 170 that I had yanked from my 63 Falcon Convertible (to put in a V8, of course) and happily drove that Comet as my "Winter Rat" for years until the body crumbled into a rusty pile, and then sold the engine/trans for $150.
Just Sharing,
Gene

Greg, Think about what you have done so far, torn down heads.... heck.... you tore apart 3/4 of your entire car to prime it (good gob by the way, great thread), please do not be afraid of an oil pump or pushing pistons out of a cylinder and dropping a crank..... especially on such a prime specimen of a engine that you have! I employ you to pull the engine with your newly painted BLUE engine hoist and tear that thing apart! Heck.... this will make your life easier when it comes to time to prep the engine compartment (you are going to do that... right?... heck... if you keep up with these threads, your going to have a nice car in a years time or so, simply by doing all the extra work that people on the forum suggest that you would have skipped!). I'm just sayen that these old cars require a little common sense, and you can usually get close to figuring stuff out with some thought and you sir, .... have common sense. Happy wrenching.

Wait, that engine is getting rebuilt? I thought this teardown was just an educational exercise since there is a better spare engine involved.

I seriously doubt that a hone would come anywhere near cleaning up those cylinders anyway. There may not even be enough room to bore out the pitting.

I must have misread "engine" as "car."

On a side note, those pistons look like forgings.

They'll take more hard use if that's on the menu. They'll also tend to be a little noisier when cold and contribute slightly more to oil consumption than cast slugs.

For what you're doing, it doesn't really matter one way or the other.

I still don't get it(see avatar), but carry on anyway.

Those pistons also appear to be popups with full floating pins, if the resolution on my computer is that good. #6 looks promising, the rest remain to reveal their hidden secrets. Like I said earlier, that engine looks like it was gone through shortly before they took the car fishing.

Horseballz, thats a funny story. I have heard stories of flatheads running for hours with no oil. I watched a 4.6L modular V8 seize in about 45 seconds.