Jerry's Roadrunner

[av8or1]

A quick spot check along the way showed that all of the journals looked as good
as #8:


As I mentioned, she put up a good fight. However I was able to
turn the crank just a bit, work it back and forth, raise it about an inch,
remove the remaining caps and then pull the crank out of the block. I really
don't like doing that, but in these situations where it is stuck solid you do what
you need to do sometimes:


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I'm guessing that this is the stock timing set from 1970?


And these gears just felt like they had too much play:


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By sacrificing the pistons and some of the walls (I'm sure) I was able to remove the worker bees:


Rings rusted solidly into their lands is a recurring theme with this type of teardown:


And these bores ... well, let's just say I am a little concerned. Hopefully they'll clean up at 30 over:


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Removed the cam without incident. No real pitting, just a little wear and some rust:


And there she is: save the cam bearings, she's stripped down to the core and ready for a trip to the machine shop:

 

[CudaChick1968]

Next time, try soaking the cylinders in plain ol' CocaCola for a few days. Could've perhaps saved some machine work and quite a bit of elbow grease.

 

[tallhair]

Next time, try soaking the cylinders in plain ol' CocaCola for a few days. Could've perhaps saved some machine work and quite a bit of elbow grease.

How do you go about that? engine right side up or upside down? or big *** pan filled with coke?

 

[CudaChick1968]

Just pour a bit into each cylinder and let it soak a bit (a drip pan comes in handy too). Give it a few hours and try turning the crank. Keep adding more Coke occasionally and keep trying to turn the crank. It WILL break loose eventually! The acid in the drink eats the rust.

I'm not gonna go into what it will do to your stomach. I'm a chocolate milk drinker. LOL

 

[roadrunnerman]

Mine were in about the same condition as yours are. The engine shop was able to do them at 30 over with no problems.

 

[Propwash]

Diet Coke or Classic?


A mix of Tranny fluid and Kerosene works well too (homemade penetrating oil).

 

[av8or1]

Mine were in about the same condition as yours are. The engine shop was able to do them at 30 over with no problems.

roadrunnerman- Thank you for the feedback. I suspect that mine will clean up at 30 too, but it's good to know that yours did just that. What pistons did you use? Did you go with new rods and pins too? Do anything to your crank? Details, details.

Thanks also to all for the home brew soaking recipies. 'Preciate it. I don't know that anything would have freed these critters, but it's good to hear what others have used/tried. That said, after a week of messing around with it, I'd had enough. The damage I could see in the cylinders told me that they'd need to be bored out anyway, so the sacrifice of the pistons to the cause was not of significant concern at that point. I'd have preferred to keep it stock but with the abuse in the form of neglect that this engine has seen over the years that wasn't gonna be possible. That too is kind of a recurring theme with this project. ;-)

Thanks again for the replies. Now if I can just figure out what to do about FBBO hosing up my post attempts with the "Recover Webpage" error business. I seem to recall a thread about that some time back. Need to investigate and fix it 'cause this is getting old fast.

Y'all keep it 'tween the ditches.

 

[HawkRod]

Nice Project!

I too have a 1970, although mine is a RM21. Looks like you car is very similar to mine, with a 383 and 4 speed. Nice combination - I really like the 4 speed.

By the way, Sublime is he Dodge color, for Plymouth, it is called Limelight. Here are the 1970 paint codes if you are interested. I think the Lime Green Irid. is a nice color too, although it looks bad on this page...

 

[CudaChick1968]

Awesome share there Hawk! I'm always looking for stock color samples ... they come in very handy around here.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Jerry, here are the details that the shop did my engine.
Speed pro flat top pistons
Melling performance cam (480 lift-284 duration)
Melling lifters
Melling 73 HV oil pump
Double roller timing chain
Resurfaced block
.030 over bore
durabond cam bearings
Clevite main and rod bearings
3-angle valve job
9.8 to 1 compression
The guy that built it works on all motors but is a mopar guy at heart.