Hello

I just picked up an engine stand yesterday and I am going to place the engine on the stand to start the rebuild. Im not sure if it would be wise to send my block out to a machine shop to have the cylinders honed, and deck resurfaced first. Is it a good idea to do?? Ive heard many times that the l28 crank case is legendary in its ruggedness so I dont know if taking the crank case to the machine shop is even necessary.

What should I do?? my cylinder walls look pretty clean. the deck surface is not rusty or scratched.

Whats the ballpark price I would be paying to have my crank case reconditioned?? what is your experiece in rebuilding an l28?? I assume that most of the time the crank case needs no work??

I would suggest yes.......Have them clean the block, install new freeze plugs and hone the cylinders. Clean the PCV mesh while your at it.Would then paint the block before reassembly. Block work is pretty cheap.....shouldn't be more than $150.00 for the works. You definitely want to have them hone the cylinders if nothing else. This will make sure your new rings seat properly.

I agree. The engines that I "rebuilt" without sending the block to a machine shop never worked out very well. The engines that I had properly prepaired by a reputable machine shop went back together with no problems.

Rebuilding an engine without sending it to a machine shop first is a waste of money.

Agreed - As Diseazd said; "Have them clean the bock"... Means - make sure your Machine Shop can "hot tank" the block.{some smaller machine shops that do not do a lot of engine work do not have the facilities to do this properly} Hot Tanking cleans the water and oil passages out. Very important on older blocks as they build up corrosion and crud on the internal passages - which you can not get too.

They will also check the bores for roundness and taper.. Depending on the mileage and the care the engine has had - you'll find that about 3 out of 10 L28's for street use at this point - should be rebored.

FWIW,

Carl B.

You've already received a lot of feedback, but I'd chime in to say you should definitely have a shop check the block.

I just finished my engine rebuild and you can see that I have a couple of recent threads about problems after finishing. My issues were self-inflicted mostly, but the point is that a rebuild deserves the best you can do/afford and requires slow, methodical work.

This engine is at the least 30 years old; the L series are pretty bullet-proof but if you're already taking it apart there's no reason not to have it done.

If you take the block, it's generally a good idea to take the crank itself and the main caps. The shop can then also check those for roundness and machine those surfaces too. I know my shop has flat rates for these jobs, so in the grand scheme of things it's really not that much.

Also, +1 for the painting mentioned above. This adds further value to the car as part of a restoration and makes it easier to spot any fluid leaked after reassembly (heaven forbid). I used Tower Paint for mine and it turned out great. If you do paint, be sure to also get a quality metal prep/etcher since you'll be painting bare metal after the hot tank.

Edited May 21, 201212 yr by trogdor1138