I found a 1974 Buick with the original 455 V8 that according to the present owner has spun a rod bearing and knocks. What would it cost and what would be required to get the car to be a dependable weekend cruiser? Would the engine need a complete rebuild? I don't want a race engine just a smooth and reliable driver. Thanks
The best you could hope for is that the crank isn't hurt, and the rod can be resized. 7 other cylinders still have good compression and acceptable leakdown values; and the engine didn't burn oil prior to the bearing damage. Remove engine, remove oil pan. Remove intake manifold and one cylinder head. Remove piston/rod. Clean all gasket surfaces. Resize one rod, buy one new rod bearing. Solvent-clean the ring grooves. One head gasket, one oil pan set, and one intake set. Four-ounce bottle of assembly lube. Some anti-freeze. Oil change with filter after assembly and re-installation in the chassis. If this turns out to be a main bearing instead of a rod, the crank comes out, and things get more expensive and involved. Realistically, you'd be nuts to not pull the entire engine apart for cleaning and inspection. If one rod bearing took a dump, can the others be far behind? How much debris did that send through the oiling system? Timing chain, oil pump/timing cover mods, rings, bearings, cut the deck to improve quench/squish, better pistons, select a more-optimum camshaft and lifter kit (perhaps with valve springs, retainers, keepers) for your intended usage. All new seals and gaskets, probably a valve job...the list goes on and on and on until you're AT LEAST 50% over-budget. It won't matter what budget you set, you'll be 50% over by the time you're done.
At mim. I would think 200-250 for crank turn, 150-200 for rods resized. 150-200 aline hone, 150-200 new cam beating installed. 150-200 block cleaning. Hope they touch home while in there doing the rest.....for 100 bucks or so. 250-300 rings and bearing. Another 100 for gaskets. 1250-1550 at the machine shop.......without balance If you need pistons and bore figure 500-750 more At this point you still haven't touch the oiling system.....so pump rebuild 150-200. Heads?????to have a clean up and valve job done to stk heads 300-500. But guide work and spring needed you could go another 250-500 real fast New lifters at min 150ish, better cam choice 250ish. But these prices would be pretty standard for v8 for basic rebuild.......you might find some cheaper pistons and cam and lifter for other makes.
If it does have a spun rod bearing the crank is probably junk, depending how long it was driven like that and what rpm it happened at.
If your down here in Dixie land,..I have what I was told is very good running 72 complete engine,..and low mileage 76 shortblock,..located in SC
At a minimum you're looking at turning the crank and resizing the spun rod and it's partner. It would be about 300 bucks in machine work plus gaskets. That would be reusing everything else and doing all the work. You'll want to clean the oil passages in the block for sure. If the engine doesn't have much wear this would be acceptable. Inspect the parts when tearing down and use your judgement.
I want to thank all off the people that took the time to answer my engine question! I appreciate you sharing your information with me.
