“Jackie Blue” will get a fresh engine rebuild!

BAD69FURY

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ok, here we go. Time to rebuild the 383 for my 70 newport! Wasn’t planning on this but lately the motor has very low oil pressure and ticking lifters . So time to rebuild. Wish me luck!

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Car is a beauty. Great color! You could just fix the oiling problem with the 383.

Start with a mechanical gauge to see what the pressure really is.

likely valve seals and or timing gear nylon teeth obstructing the oil pickup screen.

Or The oil pump relief valve not working right.
 
I agree with the above sentiment about checking the simple stuff first. If you do proceed with a full rebuild please keep us posted with a detailed account. Those make for very good threads.
 
You going to rebuilt it yourself? Have you ever done that before?

Just curious....I never have but it's one of those things I've contemplated doing (along w/ a half-dozen other things I should probably leave to an expert :rolleyes:)
 
Great looking car!

Might just need a "crank kit" to get those wear issues addressed. BUT since you've got to pull it out anyway (to detail the engine compartment, at least), then make sure you get OEM-quality items to re-do it with. Plan on a .030" overbore to get to fresh metal in the cylinders, typically. Do her justice . . . .

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
Plan on letting a qualified machinist tell you what it needs. Don’t plan on a .030 overbore today.
 
Plan on letting a qualified machinist tell you what it needs. Don’t plan on a .030 overbore today.
The last engine I had rebuilt was a 1976 "400" . It had a seized piston from moisture and the cylinders cleaned up with only a .020 overbore.
 
I went through the “overbore” discussion many times. I thought it really needed only a .010 over cleanup. In the end it all had to do with I cost. There are “standard” .030 over pistons and rings that are readily available and inexpensive. Any variation to the size and you’d better have deep pockets. Find a decent machinist and then carefully consider their advise.
 
As Chrysler B/RB engines oil the hydraulic lifters first, then the crank, the crank bearing wear can be the "dam" that's worn, so to speak. By comparison, the small block Chevy oils the mains, then the lifters. Reason? A typical Chrysler customer would hear the lifters ticking first, rather than a main bearing THUMP. In a time when the engine's oil got checked at alomst every fuel stop by a kind service station attendant. FWIW

But to do the main/rod bearings, the best way is to remove the engine from the car. Put it on an engine stand and flip it over to do "a crank kit" (turned crank with matching bearings, usually .010"/.010" undersize, which is usually what it would take to clean things up nicely.

IF there's "oil consumption", a logical place is the valve stem seals. Which have probably deteriorated due to heat and age. You can do those without removing the valves, but if you find valve stem/guide wear, a new seal will not last as long as it should, due to valve wobble and such. So that would normally mean disassembling the head to refresh the guides with bronze helicoil guide inserts being installed (rather than the time-honored knurling lof prior times, which also makes the bronze the wear-interface that can be redone later, when needed. Which will also allow for a re-touching of the valve seats/valve replacements as needed.

Which means that when the heads are off, you can look for "clean areas" near the outer edges of the pistons. Where oil coming up front the bottom will wash away any accumulated carbon build-up due to oil ring wear. Which then can get into the whole "piston/ring" deal. Some used to call an "overhaul" a "ring and bearing" operation. If there were no piston knocks upon cold start-up, then just new rings and touching the cylinder walls with a hone for good measure, lightly, if at all.

Just curious, have you tried running any internal engine cleaner additives in the oil lately? To see if they might help? It's possible, too, that those "ticks" are really in the upper valve train rather than in the lifters specifically. How much oil consumption is there?

I know that it can be harder to get to the spark plugs on a Fuselage car than a "slab", but you can also do a borescope inspection of the individual cylinders. One of those "critter cams" can be purchased pretty inexpensively. Or a borescope cable (and program) for your laptop or cell phone, too. Which could give you an idea of the piston tops and such.

There was a thread in hear a year or so ago on how to address some engine-related things. What could start out as "simple things first" could easily escalate into a full-blown engine rebuild to fix a small issue. One thing leads to another! Many $$$$ later to "do it right".

Also need to resist the desire to "make it better than stock", which leads to even more $$$, usually. A few things like full-groove main bearings might be good to do, when necessary, but otherwise, "stock" is plenty good with OEM-spec replacement parts, by observation. Used to be "good" for 80K+ miles, with the oils we had back then, so they should be good for much longer with todays better motor oils (with sufficient zddp content).

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67
 
Yeah I think all advice here is valid, unfortunetly I just dont have the time to explore each potential culprit. Supposedly this was a rebuilt motor but we shall see its true condition when it gets torn down and rebuilt. I won't be doing the rebuild myself, as much as I'd like too, but leaving that to the experts. The Engine rebuilder/machine shop has agrreed to let me pop in and help out here and there. I do enjoy getting my hands dirty and learning how things work and go together. I've been lucky so far to have a really good oldschool mechanic thats helped me out over the years with my mopars. He use to do full restorations/body/engine rebuilds etc.. but has learned over the years that you can't be a jack of all trades or you'll be a master of none, so he leaned out his business to just doing mechanical work. Anyhow he reffered me to one of his trusted old school engine rebuilders/machine shop. He has had some engines built for himself there and some other of his clients too with good results. So I'm optimstic it will go well. Going to have them do a mostly stock rebuild, just want a reliable cruiser, turn the key and drive here anywhere. The only thing I'm adding is MSD electronic ignition with 1406 4 barrel Eddie carb and 2186 Eddie intake manifold.
 
This shop carries all the good parts like:

Gaskets:

Rock, Fel-Pro, ITM

Pistons: Forged, Cast Aluminum, Hypereutectic, and Teflon Coated

NPR, Silvolite. Federal Mogul, Mahle-Clevite, Topline, Rock, Safety

Piston Rings: Moly, Chrome and Cast

Hastings, Perfect Circle, Federal Mogul, NPR

Camshafts: Stock, RV, High-Performance, Roller

Melling, Elgin, Speed Pro (Federal Mogul), Crower, Comp Cams

Cam Bearings:

Durabond, ACL, Clevite, Federal Mogul

Rod and Main Bearings:

ACL, Clevite, Rock, Federal Mogul, Safety

Lifters: Hydraulic, Solid and Roller

Melling, Federal Mogul, Topline

Freeze / Water Plugs:

Pioneer, Elgin, Rock, US Tool

Pushrods:

Pioneer, Federal Mogul, Melling, Elgin

Timing Components:

Melling, Rock

Oil Pumps:

Melling, Rock, ITM, Safety, Topline

Clutch Kits:

Pioneer

Water Pumps:

GMB, Airtex, Hytec

Accessories:

Engine Paint, Assembly Lube
 
I dig the Ozark mountain daredevils too, the name for my Newport came from a buddy of mine. We were having beers overlooking the car one time and he came up with "Jackie blue". It was perfect so it stuck ever since:thumbsup:
 
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