Finally some progress with my Allegro

Ugh. I got to the guy's house and they were putting the engine back in the shed when I rolled up. Wrong direction. He said it was fine 5 days ago, but today something's hanging up and you can't turn it a full revolution. I appreciate his honesty (I would have checked anyway) but now I don't have an engine.

Back to Craigslist.....

Another trick to keep from dropping valves into the cylinder is stuff the cylinder with cotton clothes line rope through the spark plug hole. However, the compressed air trick with the spark plug adapter works extremely well, I used it myself on a 67 Mustang once.
Steve

Jim, definitely replace the valve seals, as they are probably non-existent. Remove the spark plugs and roll the engine to the cylinder you are working on is at the top of the stroke, this way, even if you drop a valve, it can be retrieved without removing the head.

royl wrote:
I would seriously consider replacing the valve seals while it is out. You can do it with a spark plug adapter to apply air to the cylinder and a pry bar tool to compress the springs. Very cheap repair and at that age with low miles I can tell you the valve seals will be hard and cracked and can cause a big oil loss and smoke. Just a suggestion.

Thanks. Good advice and it would be easy while the engine was out. I remember when I was young(er) we had a '76 Winnebago Brave with the same affliction with its 440. Valve guide seals led to smoking and oil loss.

I would seriously consider replacing the valve seals while it is out. You can do it with a spark plug adapter to apply air to the cylinder and a pry bar tool to compress the springs. Very cheap repair and at that age with low miles I can tell you the valve seals will be hard and cracked and can cause a big oil loss and smoke. Just a suggestion.

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.

X2 on the blue print job, of course easy for me to say, I'm not paying for it LOL.

Good job, looks like you have pretty good access through the door. Why are you replacing rather than rebuilding? No opinion either way, just curious.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

WOW! That is an ambitious job.

Best of luck!

Why not have the newer engine blue printed and balanced? Makes them run MUCHO easier