Broken main cap bolt

[cameyer]

So I dropped the oil pan today on my truck with a 327 to find the driver side main cap bolts on the 3rd and 4th caps to be at the bottom of the pan. I got on of the bolts out but can not get the other one out for the life of me. What should I do in a situation like this? Are the bearings even good after running with only one bolt? Is it time to look for a new engine? Someone please help!

[brokenspoke]

In my opinion......Yes

[tincan1966]

Don't know that you need to scrap the engine. But yes, you are going to need to rebuild. Any machine shop should be able to remove that bolt while reconditioning the block.

[chevyrestoguy]

I would probably say that the crank is junk because it's almost guaranteed that the bearings have spun, but if it's a small journal steel crank and it hasn't been turned before, it might be savable. Don't get your hopes up.

The machine shop can get the bolt out. The biggest factor is whether the align bore is wasted from the crank being unsupported and moving around.

Being that it's a 327, there's probably a good chance that the block has been rebuilt a few times, and it might be too far worn out to save. .060 is the max on the cylinder over-bore, and I wouldn't mess with it if the align bore is out of whack.

I've pulled apart hundreds of small blocks, but I can't say I've ever seen one with two bolts from different main caps laying in the pan. It sounds like somebody forgot to torque the caps at one time in it's life. Probably didn't have an oil pressure gauge on it either, because that engine would have zero oil pressure.

[jtrichard]

can you put up pics of the bearings / cap and crank?

[cameyer]

I'll try and get a picture up on here of everything tomorrow. So it sounds like the block can be saved?

[KJSR]

Are you that attached to the block? You may want to reread what Chevyrestoguy wrote. It was spot on.

[donthekawguy]

I would take it in and have it checked out before ruling it out.

[brokestudent]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

Don't know that you need to scrap the engine. But yes, you are going to need to rebuild. Any machine shop should be able to remove that bolt while reconditioning the block.

If the machine shop says they cannot or are unsure in anyway that they can remove the bolt......LEAVE

The bolt really is the least of your worries, but if it has not been rebuilt before there is a chance that it is saveable. You might be throwing money at a problem that is not saveable though and might be better off finding a good 350 they are a dime a dozen really, unless if you want to keep it original then I understand that too.

[familyfast64]

What's the story with the engine? Im guessing there was issues and that's why you decided to pull the oil pan? Or did you just buy it?