Re: IML: 58: engine rebuild vs re-installation

["Steve B." <Imperial59@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 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.

Hugh I think your wording may be what is throwing everyone off.   When you 
say "rebuilt" my mechanics mind is thinking that stuff still needs to go to 
the machine shop, cylinders bored and honed / hot tank the block, etc... 
but from previous conversations with you I think that all of the stuff most 
of us think of when we think rebuild is done, the engine just needs to be 
put back together again.   Is this correct?


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

Putting the engine back in the car can try your patience but overall is very 
easy if you have an engine hoist.  Snce you have your friend that knows how 
to do this I would say you could have the engine back in the car and all 
hooked up in a day.

Putting the engine back together again isn't going to be quite so fun.   If 
you have access to an engine stand it is a heck of a lot easier.  How apart 
is the engine at this point?  Did they put the pistons and crank shaft back 
in yet?  If it still all apart I would suggest talking to a couple of local 
machine shops to see if they would put the big stuff like the pistons, 
crank, cam and timing chain together for you.  I know that you have the 
ability to do it but it would take a while and you do need a couple of 
special tools that most folks don't just have laying around.  It would 
probably take an engine builder around two hours to put it all back together 
again.  As persuasive as you are I bet they would do it as a donation to the 
museum.  If you are putting it back together again yourself and since you 
aren't the one that took it apart I would wildly guess that it will take you 
two days  and a couple hundred in tools that you might not have.  You HAVE 
to have someone with you that knows how to put an engine back together 
again.


> 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.

With the knowledge of the car you already have I would be suprised to see it 
take you more than a day assuming you have all the parts you need on hand.


> 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.

I would try to work it the other way around.  Have them put everything back 
together for you then you put the engine back in the car.


> 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.

IMHO..  Putting the engine together is the hard part.  Putting the engine 
back in the car is easy.

> 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.

I put the engine back in my '59 in about an hour.  Hooking up the hoses and 
putting all the accesories back on took less than a day and I knew nothing 
of the car back then.  I've only had to pull the heads off a '58 but you 
have done that as well.  Just think of it as redoing the heads again with a 
little extra work.


                       Steve B. 


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