The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 54 235 tear down

Just got my 1st stovebolt and it is In many pieces. 54 3 window and I am not sure if purchased engine is original but it is a 54 235 Can anyone help me to determine wear signs on a 54 235? I have started the tear down and with the head removed things are not looking terrible. Push rods all straight one lifter has no side hole and one rod is worn more than others. Engine was not in truck or running.

Welcome aboard Drew54. Probably would have been good to have run a compression test before teardown as it would have told you overall condition of the cylinders, but thats OK.

With the valves still in the head, turn the head upside down and as level as you can make it. Poor some water into each combustion chamber, enough to cover the valves then let it sit. If all valves are seating properly it shouldn't leak, if it leaks you'll need to pull and check the valves & seats.
Burnt valves on these old engines are quite common.

Clean the tops of the pistons as clean as you can get them then inspect. You're looking for holes, cracks, indentations etc.
Check the cylinders for scratches and holes or any other abrasions, if you can feel them w/your finger nail the cylinders will need to be mic'ed and probably bored out oversize.

Does the engine spin fairly easy? It should. If not you'll need to drop the oil pan.
Actually I recommend you drop the oil pan and give the internals a good inspection. Plastigauge the main and rod bearings as that will tell you if you need a rebuild or not.

If you plan on just checking it out then getting it running as is, make sure you put the lifters & pushrods back in the same locations they were in as they've broken in there.

Depending upon your skill level, the head isn't hard to disassemble and cleanup but if not you're looking at around $250-$300 for a complete head rebuild that would include new valves, new hardened exhaust seats, guides, the head magnafluxed for cracks, hot dipped and cleaned. I've had a couple done by a local machine shop and am very happy with them.
Cracked heads are fairly common from what I've read here. Look for cracks around the valve seats in the combustion chamber. Sometimes the only way to tell is by having the head magnafluxed by an automotive machine shop.

A good engine gasket set will run you around $100, I recommend using the "Best Gasket" gasket set. It's made in the USA and theres no better.

Do a lot of cleaning and inspection but be prepared to get the head checked as they generally need the most work.

Good luck
Dave

First thing I would do is see how much ridge you have in the top of each cylinder. Take some fine emery cloth and gently clean the carbon and soot of the top of the bore, then you can tell how if you have a ridge worn. If its noticeable with your finger nail chances are you are going to find its time to bore it oversize, you will have more wear down in the center of the bore than at the top. You should find a ridge reamer to cut the ridge out before you take the pistons out. Then drop the pan and make sure that the rod caps are numbered, if not mark the cap and rod on the parting line. I usually do them all on the cam side. You can take the cap off each one and use some plastigauage to see what kind of clearance you have. If the bearings are scuffed up or you can see a tint of copper don't waste the time to check clearance because you need new ones at a minimum. When you take the lifters out make sure you keep them in order incase you are going to re use them. Then you can take the cam out, the cam gear has a hole so you can go through with a socket and take out the 2 bolts that hold the cam retainer to the block. When you get the cam out of the block take a good look at the lobes for damage or lobes that are worn off. I should mention take your time when taking the cam out so you don't drag it over the cam bearings and chew them up. I would take the valves out of the head for a look. Back when these were driven daily having a valve job done was considered normal maintenance. No matter what I would have the valves ground and the seats touched up with a stone. The guy grinding the seats will or should know about having a nice narrow contact and can also adjust the contact to the center of the valve by back cutting the seat. Lots of stuff, but take things one step at a time and everyone here will help you along the way. Take lots of pictures for reference.

thanks for your help i'll try the leak test. the engine had been sitting (not sure for how long) and did not spin, I removed plugs and put in some marvel Mystery oil and slowly worked and got her spinning freely over a few days. Once spinning I had good compression in each spark plug location. I knew the head was going to have to come off for a better inspection and cleaning of 60+ years of gunk.
do you have any suggestions for cleaning the piston tops?
there is a slight ridge on the tops of all cylinders and some condensation rust marks on the areas that were exposed
due to the location of the pistons.

A quick go/no go I use to check valve sealing is flip the head on the intake port side then fill exhaust ports with solvent.
Then blow compressed air around the edge of each exhaust valve where it meets the seat,then just look in the ports to see if you see any bubbles in the solvent.
Flip head over and repeat on intake side.