Posted by John Moschinger on March 27, 1999 at 04:32:39:
In Reply to: Re: Piston Size-100mph! posted by R.Davis on March 26, 1999 at 05:52:55:
Jack & Others,
Just thought I'd follow up and let you guys know that your advice was very much appreciated and helped drive me to what I think is a good decision. Jack, based on your comments about breaking glaze only when there is no perceptable ridge, I went back to the yard that has the block that my crank came out of. I removed the pistons (without having to remove any ridge)and inspected the bores. I hade these pistons inspected by some friends at work (one of which builds Che?? race engines) and found that the rings had not fully seated yet. The bottom line is that the block in the yard probably has less than 10,000 miles since its last re-build. So I'm on my way to pick that block up and re-assemble from there.
The crank, flywheel/clutch, pistons, bearings, and rings are at the machine shop to be balanced. This has been strongly suggested to me by several sources. This newer block/crank is different than any other 230 I have seen in that the crank came with a vibration damper on it. Steve over @ VPW said these engines never came with a damper, yet I have one that certainly was not home made. I plan to have it balanced along with the crank system. Also, the rear main seal is slightly different on the newer block. My old block is a '52 and the newer block is a '53 (originally from a Plymouth car I think). The '52 has a bolt on rear main seal while the '53 has a more conventional rear main seal.
Thanks to all for thier advice. I think that I am on the right track and I'll have a quality L-Head once I'm done. I will go by the library after my trip to the yard toady and find the Dodge History book. There was another book someone told me about. It was called "This Old Truck" and wasn't a technical manual but the trial and tribulations of a guy just like me who got into an old Dodge pickup just because he liked the body style. It outlines all of the problems he had and the learning that he had to go through just to finish his project. This sounds earily familiar.
John Moschinger
Mesa, AZ