[T3] News on The Baroness

[Bobsnotch at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/20/2014 5:19:09 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
fiestacranberry at gmail.com writes:
 
Just heard from the guy looking at The B.  Just like you guys  said, he
thinks it's the camshaft and/or lifters.  Here's what he  said:


I have some news… unfortunately it isn’t very  good.   I checked the valve
heights and performed a leak down  test.  They looked pretty good.  Fairly
consistent and were  sealing very well.  There is a bit of height difference
between the  valve stems but that is pretty normal.  Some valve seats need
to be  cut more than others which makes the valves sit a bit deeper or
shallower  in the head.  What is apparent is that the lifters for the #1 and
#3  exhaust valves sit closer to the center line of the case than the  other
lifters.  This means there is definitely an issue with the cam  or lifters
which requires a full tear down of the engine.  I am not  exactly sure why
this is, but I have seen new and reground cams with poor  grind quality that
results in damage to either the lobe or the lifter or  both.

You do have a couple options regarding a possible rebuild  though.  It will
be less expensive to buy a long block from a  reasonable builder and install
it rather than have me tear down your block  and re-build.  Of course an
inexpensive engine uses cheap parts that  may lack in quality, but they do
build a lot of them and they seem to run  just fine.  I am friends with the
machinist at Tassi Inc. and he would  be sure to pay close attention to
anything he built for me.  When I  build an engine, even if re-using your
pistons, cylinders and heads, I  check everything..  Many hours of just
measuring bore diameters, taper  and round, checking deck heights, lapping
cylinders, back cutting valves,  crank and rod journal condition and size
both in the case and on the  forgings.  Regardless of which re-build option
you choose, there will  be some additional costs either way.  The rocker
assemblies and push  rods will need to be replaced with stock units, there
may be some hoses,  bolts, caps or seals that also need to be replaced.

Purchased Long  Block  around $1000.00
Additional material, gaskets, oil, tune up  budget $200.00
R&R labor allow 12-16 hours if things go smoothly  $800.00

If I tear down your engine and rebuild you are looking at  around 32-40
hours of time $2000.00 plus materials
Materials TBD, assume  new bearings, crank, cam, rods.  New cam and lifters,
reuse rods,  crank and case (if they measure out), gasket kit.  Hone and
re-ring  cylinders, re-cut valves and seats..

​I think his prices are very  reasonable.  I just need to think about all
this.  Even if I go  with a new longblock, it's still around $2000.  Being
disabled, that's  a lot of money for me.  OTOH, I've had The B. for 20
years; the only  car I've ever owned.  And probably the only one I ever will
own, given  my finances.  My only other option is to sell her, as is.   I
still have the complete fuel injection system, along with a lot of  other
extra parts, even a spare door!  What do you think I could get  for her in a
non-working condition?

What do you guys think?  I  could really use some advice, taking in to
consideration my economic  condition.
 
 
You won't get near enough money with the car basically un-driveable.  

If the guy is willing to rebuild your old engine, I'd probably go that  
route, as it sounds like he knows what he's doing. Plus, he'll be checking  
everything over (all of your old parts). 
 
A purchased longblock while sounding cheap, is an alternative, but like  he 
mentioned it's built with cheap parts. I don't think it would take 12 to 16 
 hours to convert it over, but that's certainly a possibility, mainly due 
to  most engine builders installing the distributor drive in the wrong 
location  (they're used to building type 1s, not type 3s). That would need to be  
corrected, and could take some time.
 
This is just my take on it, and I'm sure others will chime in as well.  

Bob 65  Notch S w/Sunroof and IRS aka Krusty
64 T-34 Ghia aka  Wolfie



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