Taking A Breather

Big W wrote:The lady that owned the Buick is a great friend of our family, and I wouldn't have suggested it if you were planning on going cross country. But if all you need to do was get to work and back, which is how she drove her buick, it should work. Now I have not seen up close how bad yours is in. and the Buick was caught early enough to save it. The key way on hers might not have been as bad as yours, and we told her the same thing. YOU NEED A NEW CRANK..lol. But she just kept on driving it until she sold it. So...in saying this you no what you really need, but it's worth a shot if it's not to badly damaged and you don't over rev the hell out of it and stay in town. But don't stop looking for that other engine, you still need that crankshaft.

Thanks Big Dub, I appreciate all the perspectives. Since I have no where near the experience (I mean really no where near) that you guys have I think it may be best to throw a few hundred at getting a solid motor, and cut my teeth on easier repairs than partial or full motor rebuilds.

Well, I will know pretty soon if my new motor is all copacetic. If so, by all means use whatever you can from my old one. I want to contribute to the cause!

donivan65 wrote:I have not seen the SandyVan,,,,but Ted has sent me pictures of it,,,,they were all fun and games at 1st, then the tone changed and the fun meter started going down rapidly,,,,,(you should of never of opened the doghouse and looked what was inside there),,,,,,But the van seems normal to me,,,,,every van I worked on has problems,,,,no big deal,,,,now I got Scottys engine here,,,,I pulled apart #5 connecting rod,,,,,the bearing is shot,,,,the crank scored,,,,it is a .010 oversize bearing, which means that it has been overhauled once before,,,,there still is some life left in that engine,,,,HOWEVER,,,,,I need to wait and see if Scottys NEW engine is any good,,,,,we could end up putting this one back in,,,,( don't tell him!),,,but it is possible to put this one in yours for a while,,,,,it's just another option for you,,,,,and your options change daily,,,,,,

Well, nice to know we pulled that thing out for a good reason...

I totaly agree with you Donavan on that key way. Maybe we got lucky on that Buick, maybe she got lucky on how limited she drove, Maybe we should have gone to Vegas after that fix...lol...but it saved her big bucks for that moment, and I'm guessing her crank wasn't as bad. Her key looked like it broke in half, but still turned the balancer causing damage. The new key fit pretty good and we only needed a couple thow thick to wedge that balancer back on. But there is no saveing money on quick fixes, they uasally end up costing you more in the long run. And again we told her to save her pennies for a new crankshaft. We certainly didn't expect her to drive it like that for 4 years...lol. Sandyvan...start saving pennies...lol.

ScottyJones wrote:Well, I will know pretty soon if my new motor is all copacetic. If so, by all means use whatever you can from my old one. I want to contribute to the cause!

You mean like the whole darn thing? lol

I don't think Don could handle three green and white Sportvans in the same 50 mile radius so I will have to pick another color. But I sure ain't got to worry about that for a long time!

I sure hope you guys are keeping Donavans beer tank full with all that running around down there trying to get you guys rolling..lol. My hat's off to you Donavan.

LMAO...yes..yes we do. Wouldn't want it any other way.

Business in the front, party in the back!
I MISS DW Chili Cheese Dogs! I end up getting them every time I'm in CA.

By the way, we are not alone in this addition!
http://wienerschnitzelchili.tripod.com/weneedwienerschnitzel/index.html

Doing a search for the chili gets thousands of results, all of them saying THIS recipie the closest to the original they can get.

nice original black with yellow Cali. plate Donivan!

"slapping head in disbelief" Next time I'll lay down and have a better look.

So this one has the SAME issue as the other one??

ScottyJones wrote:So this one has the SAME issue as the other one??

Appears so. At the yard I would have seen it if I'd gotten on my stomach in the dirt and oil and anti-freeze. When we got it to my place we spun the flywheel and I said *Oh Sh*t!!* or something to that effect. No wonder the guy practically rear ended Don's van with the forklift, he didn't want us to get a close look after I'd paid.





Shoulda bought the goat instead....

maybe I can talk him down to a $1400 install and have some cheeseburger money left...

donivan65 wrote:,,,at least the Double Doubles at In n Out Burger were good,,,,,AS ALWAYS!!

I was in such a happy place eating that burger with my new motor out there in the van - then we got it home!

But wait....

It gets WEIRDER!!!

The balancer is NOT welded on to the end of the crankshaft. It was welded onto something, at some point. And someone beat the hell out of it, but it is not welded on to this crankshaft.

Before going off to bed, I decided to go look at the smelly hunk of iron in the garage one more time. And there it was, bigger than Dallas, a huge gap between the weld and the crank. How could we have not seen it? Don, is this a test???

I picked out some dirt and gunk with a little nail, then bent an old hacksaw blade to see if indeed there was no contact, and there is none. And looking close with the shop light, you can see the crank is unmarked. So maybe my luck is changing. I'll rent a puller tomorrow and find out. One thing looks fairly certain - I don't think that balancer belongs with that engine, but it is the same diameter as the spare Don gave me.


At first glance, looks welded on...



But Nooooooooo....

Piss poor welding job, just got the balancer and not the crank?

Look for evidence of heat on the crank. If crank looks good put your other 'good' balancer on and call it a day.

Tip o the day:

Do not overtighten the belts on a Chevy six. This is the root cause of balancer problems.

HaHa - some one that didnt know welding & rods =did that one !! thats a cast iron balancer & a forged crank id bet>> Sad to see bad cranks lookin @ you there - maybe you should consider changing your handle to crankshaft man?? Sad to see .