Six Cylinder Paperweight

I'm certainly no trained mechanic, but even I could tell that what I saw when I pulled the head off the engine on Saturday wasn't good. And when the actual mechanic I bought the new transmission from came by to take a look yesterday, the worst was confirmed.

Don leaned over the radiator, took one look at the exposed pistons and immediately said "Yeah, you're gonna have to pull this engine completely."

Two of those pistons are cracked, with the tiny hex nut that got inside spread across the entire top of one of them like a pancake. That piston is also at the top of the cylinder, so we can't see the wall to see if it's scored. A full rebuild might be possible, but the cost would be pushing a couple grand, which is far beyond my budget. And to be honest, I'm not sure that completely rebuilding a 55 year old engine makes sense anyway. Maybe, if you have the original engine and you're restoring the truck to 100% original. This engine is not the original one from this truck, so even if I could afford it I don't think we'd do it.


Yeah, not lookin' good


And at least a couple bent valves in the head

A lot of old cars and trucks have been parked for decades for far smaller problems, but believe me when I tell you that this truck will not sit for long. This project has come too far and means too much to me to let that happen. By late yesterday afternoon I had two possible replacement engines lined up, both of which are within easy driving distance and within my budget. Just waiting for some details on both and we'll make a decision. In the meantime I'll get the engine bay cleaned up and maybe we'll end up leaving the hood open like everyone else on cruise night... ;-)

Thanks for stopping. We WILL see y'all down the road!


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