Finally some progress with my Allegro
The icebergs finally melted enough for me to get the jacks under it and the cherry picker in the door. I did the remainder of the underneath work (removing starter, TC bolts, etc.) in ice cold run-off...
Forum Discussion
Short answer is that I'm working on a shoestring budget. I got the thing for tailgating and short, weekend trips to the Poconos. I paid $200 for it with the blown engine. I don't want to invest too much in it. Everything works great...except for the engine. It's been sitting a while but everything woke up and functions great.
I picked up a used engine locally out of an '85 RV (mine's an '84). It only has 47k miles on it so I'm hoping I can drop it in and go.
As far as replace vs. rebuild: the block in this one is shot. I'm going to put it on a stand to do a post-mortem, but it appears as if the wristpin let go in the #3 piston. The rod got under the piston, jammed it into the head and broke the piston. It was so violent that it cracked the head and water entered the crankcase.
A quick diagnosis by the towing company that retrieved it was a bad head gasket. The towing company bought it from the original owner hoping for an easy fix. It wasn't. When they took the left head off they found the damage: bent valves, bent push rods, broken piston and deep, deep gouges in the cylinder. Maybe could be sleeved, but why? There are plenty of 454 blocks around.
It sat in the tow yard for about 6 years. They got tired of looking at it, put it on Craigslist and I snagged it. They were asking $600 but it wasn't worth even that to anyone. I offered him $200 because he had it and I didn't and he took it. They towed it to my place and here it sits.
There are other repairs that need to be made to it from the 6 years of neglect, but it was apparent that the original owner took really good care of it. It was clean, minimal signs of wear and had all the original documentation inside a big zip loc bag. In the storage compartment was compound, wax, wash buckets and sponges. In the cabinets were spares of everything - bulbs, fuses, belts, trim pieces, nuts, bolts, etc. Tires were new (at the time). It was properly winterized, too.
I didn't ask too many questions, but it was kind of odd. There were clothes in the drawers, toothbrushes and toothpaste in the bathroom. I would have thought the owner would have taken that stuff out of it. The guy might have signed it over for the cost of the tow - dunno. I have a clean title so that's all that matters.
I'm rambling now, but I'm excited about it. Should be a lot of fun to drive around.
I picked up a used engine locally out of an '85 RV (mine's an '84). It only has 47k miles on it so I'm hoping I can drop it in and go.
As far as replace vs. rebuild: the block in this one is shot. I'm going to put it on a stand to do a post-mortem, but it appears as if the wristpin let go in the #3 piston. The rod got under the piston, jammed it into the head and broke the piston. It was so violent that it cracked the head and water entered the crankcase.
A quick diagnosis by the towing company that retrieved it was a bad head gasket. The towing company bought it from the original owner hoping for an easy fix. It wasn't. When they took the left head off they found the damage: bent valves, bent push rods, broken piston and deep, deep gouges in the cylinder. Maybe could be sleeved, but why? There are plenty of 454 blocks around.
It sat in the tow yard for about 6 years. They got tired of looking at it, put it on Craigslist and I snagged it. They were asking $600 but it wasn't worth even that to anyone. I offered him $200 because he had it and I didn't and he took it. They towed it to my place and here it sits.
There are other repairs that need to be made to it from the 6 years of neglect, but it was apparent that the original owner took really good care of it. It was clean, minimal signs of wear and had all the original documentation inside a big zip loc bag. In the storage compartment was compound, wax, wash buckets and sponges. In the cabinets were spares of everything - bulbs, fuses, belts, trim pieces, nuts, bolts, etc. Tires were new (at the time). It was properly winterized, too.
I didn't ask too many questions, but it was kind of odd. There were clothes in the drawers, toothbrushes and toothpaste in the bathroom. I would have thought the owner would have taken that stuff out of it. The guy might have signed it over for the cost of the tow - dunno. I have a clean title so that's all that matters.
I'm rambling now, but I'm excited about it. Should be a lot of fun to drive around.
