| |
Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | | Forums66 Topics128,056 Posts1,055,792 Members48,426 | | Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
| | THANKS!
For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 | Hi all,
I have a 216 that was rebuilt in 1999 but never used.It was stored in a heated shop with oil in it since the rebuild. I've pulled the valve cover and oil pan off and nothing is visually amiss and the engine is free but stiff, it does take some effort with a bar on the crank to get it to turn.
I'm wondering how freely it should be turning? Should I be feeling resistance or should it be looser...I guess 'finger loose' is the best way I could describe it.
A friend is helping me with the project. He is a heavy duty mechanic and has experience building several Mopar engines for his own projects. He feels my 216 is turning too stiffly but neither of us know what a properly set up 216 should feel like when turned by hand.
So what do you say...should I be preparing to dig deeper into the engine if it is free but stiff when turned by hand? | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,773 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,773 | Squirt a couple of ounces of lightweight oil in all the cylinders, like 10W-30 or something similar, and turn it a few times to see if it frees up. Unless all the ports were blocked off with duct tape or something similar, it's likely a couple of cylinders that were sitting with the valves open a little will have some rust in them. Maybe not enough to require a re-ring job, but sufficient to make it turn a little stiff.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 5,337 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 5,337 | 216s have a rope rear seal that will give a lot of drag until run in.
See the USA in your vintage Chevrolet! My Blog | | | | | Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 695 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 695 | I would think the oiled surfaces after sitting 13 years might be a little gummy.
Once it's spun a bit I'd be willing to bet it will loosen up more.
Good luck!
Jerry | | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 | I would also take a drill and spin the oil pump. I find that after installing new rings, they create drag on the cross hatch of the cylinder walls. | | | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 62 | Thanks all, I'll give these ideas a shot this weekend. | | |
|
|
| |
