Rebuild Questions

[Teletom]

Hey everyone! So my 78' 1800 recently spun 2 bearings so I am in the process of an engine rebuild and was wondering if you guys had anything I should keep an eye out for.

The head is completely done, valve job and all, and at the moment the block, crank and rods are being worked on. I need to replace 1 rod (which if anyone has one for a 78' I will buy!) and I have purchased new pistons, rings, and bearings.

Now my first question is, can I put this together myself? The shop wants to charge me $200 just to put it all back (I'm a poor college student) and they made it seem as though I will need precision tools to do so.

Second question is what else I should do while its out. I am replacing all sensors and water pump/timing pulley. All new belts and hoses as well as pitting new gaskets on the transmission because it had a leak. The clutch was replaced right before I purchased it which was about a year ago and the tranny felt strong when she was working. One thing I did notice was a small crack on the top of the transmission housing, no leak coming from it and it may even be a mold line. Should I be concerned if it is a crack.

Sorry that I am all over the place with this, I just want to make sure I do it right. Thank you all in advance for any help.

[So Cal Mark]

"just" to put it together. If they are going to gap all of the rings, check piston clearance, crank end play, main and rod clearances, oil pump clearance then $200 is not excessive at all

[Teletom]

They would just be gapping the rings, and putting together the pistons and crank in the block.

[nelsonj]

Second question is what else I should do while its out...

Make sure the main gears on your cams (turned by the timing belt) are in good shape. The teeth on the gears should be nice flat rectangles with 90 degree side walls. If the gear teeth look rounded on the edges, or if the top of the gears are caved in like a "c" instead of being flat, you should change the gears. Try to get gears with metal (not plastic) teeth. If they're warn, the timing belt can slip and cause major engine damage (at a minimum you will bend all your valves and have to do a new valve job).

Peace.
Out.

[klweimer]

If the shop is competent, I'd say $200 is a fair deal. I would check the aux shaft for any evidence it has been hit by the crank (due to mis-timing during timing belt install) and the clearance on the aux shaft front bearing. If you feel any play, you could have oil pressure problems.
Kirk

[joelittel]

$200 is a small price to pay for guaranteed work.

I did mine last year and made a mistake with my crank bearings. Luckily it was a simple two month fix.

[baltobernie]

I'm going to suggest you spend more money at the machine shop, not less Get the entire rotating assembly balanced before assembly. This is particularly important in your case, since you're replacing a con rod and pulley from another engine. Also important because these engines spend lots of time at RPMs considerably higher than the typical modern car.