IML: 58: engine rebuild vs re-installation

["Hugh, 58 Imperial" <imperial58@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey, folks, I'm not being snippy, I am just trying to refine a question to 
get an answer I need.  I appreciate al the replies so far but none have 
actually answered the core question involved.

In my case, the 392 Hemi is out of the car.  The work on the block and the 
heads has been done professionally, but the engine is only partially 
rebuilt.  The rebuild and the reinstallation has stalled badly.  I am 
looking for a cost effective way to proceed.

In your actual experience which took longer and / or was more difficult. 
Rebuilding the engine or re-installing it in the car.

An official garage owner's guide from back then says to quote ten hours to 
remove and reinstall the engine.  (I forgot to ask how long for the actual 
rebuild.) A professional mechanic who has been in the truck repair business 
for thirty years but who does not work for the trucking company that did the 
initial work said to anticipate it being in a shop bay for at least two full 
days for the work to be completed.  This is assuming lack of experience with 
the application, extremely tight space to work in and the normal 
difficulties associated with attaching things like exhaust headers, etc.  It 
also assumes having all the parts readily available, such as new engine 
mounts, gaskets, etc.

I am trying to work out a compromise with the trucking company owner with 
whom I am still on excellent terms.  If I do the rebuild myself, attach the 
transmission, etc, maybe they could re-install it.  In my opinion, this 
would only be practical if one could assume the work could be done in one 
eight hour shift.  I suspect it cannot.

This is an attempt to save money.  I have another quote to rebuild the 
engine and reinstall it but suspect the reinstallation is so complex, 
difficult and time consuming that it takes up the lion's share of the work 
needed to be done to complete the project.  While I can do the engine work I 
do not have the time, the energy, the inclination, the experience or the 
correct equipment to reinstall the engine myself.  Plus moving it around 
once completed is not going to be a picnic, either.

If anyone out there has done this work him or herself, I'd sure appreciate 
hearing from you about the relative difficulty and time consumed to complete 
the work.  The space available under the hood of a 58 is incredibly small 
once you introduce a 392 Hemi into it.

Hugh



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