Funny motor story of lessones learned

[j.rigby15r]

So I thought I would share a quick story of lesson learned. So I am in the process of building a 64 c10 long fleet. When I bought it, it had a 305 with a cracked head in it. I was okay with that since I wanted to build a motor with a little more fire in the belly. I searched the internet mostly craigslist, trying to find the motor for me that would fit my budget. I came across some great deals but they were a little far away and by the time I got around to making the trip they were sold from under me, even after I told them I was on my way. I found a motor on craigslist that was described as a sbc 350 that had been rebuilt and was ready to drop in. The seller told me that the motor was built buy a guy in town who was known to build great motors. So I meet the guy at the local orileys since he didn't have a engine lift and I couldn't fit one in the back of my suv. Motor looked great, you could tell it had been rebuilt recently, the oil looked great, the seals looked clean. So I made a deal with the guy, thinking that I was getting a motor that I could change the fluids on put some new spark plugs in and call it a day. The seller told me it had a new balanced crank in it, new pistons, cam, and bearing. He told me he was selling the motor because he didn't want the motor anymore because he had bought a 383 from his body guy. I get the motor home put it on my stand and started to prep it to drop it in. I got home the next evening and decided to make sure the crank would turn since I wasn't able to try it when I purchased the motor ( and didn't think about it). Grabbing a hold of the flywheel and the harmonic balancer and could not get it to move. So bought a crank bolt kit so I could turn it with a socket. Still no movement. I began to get worried, and contacted the guy to seek info and he told me that he had turned the motor recently. So I poured some Marvel Mysteral oil in the cylinders hoping that one of the rings was just stuck since it had fresh ring and a fresh hone. After letting it sit for a day or two I loosened up the push rods and verified that all the spark plugs were out I gave it another try. Still nothing. I contacted the seller again and he told me that he would contact the builder and schedule a time to take the motor in and have him look at it. And that he would cover any cost. After about a week of waiting, the seller told me that if I wanted to take a look at the motor he would pay me back for any parts I needed. I thought that this was a great Idea since I didn't want to wait any longer for the guy to get my motor. After puling the right side head, I realized that I had been lied to. The number six cylinder was filled with rust. The other 7 were not bad, nothing that a hone couldn't take care of, but I would indeed need to boar the block. After pulling the oil plug to drain the oil so I could check the bottom half, what I saw wasn't hopeful. About two quarts of water drained out before any oil showed up. I began to fear that the bottom would be like the top. Thankfully the crank and everything was rust free. After pulling the rest of the motor down I, this is what I found out about the motor that was supposed to be freshly built. The oil pan was filled with sludge, to the point that the oil pick up was covered, the cam had four flat lobes, most of the crank bearings were destroyed, one of the links on the timing chain was broken, and the crank needed to be polished. So I attempted to contact the seller to either get him to buy my parts or take the motor back, I was leaning towards the second option. Much to my surprise the sellers phone number was disconnected. And could not be found. Surprise not really. So I got ahold of one of my friends that does machine work and dropped my block off after ordering a master rebuild kit from Northern Auto Parts. He went to work trying to doing his thing on my block and heads. At first glance my friend thought that the crank that was in my motor was actually a 400 crank, but the guy who polished my crank told me he didn't think it was. So everything I ordered was for a 350. After getting all my parts ready to go I began to assemble the motor. Getting excited thinking that I was going to finally turn the key on my 64. After getting all eight cylinders installed and was about to put the heads on I noticed that when a piston was at top dead center the piston stuck out of the block. So I called my machine friend questioning if this was normal and he said to bring my block to him asap. So I did and we went to work trying to figure out what was going on. After confirming that I had 5.7 rods we began to measure the stroke and found out that this motor was indeed a 383. My friend was right all along and this crank was a sbc400 crank. Which is why the piston rose above the deck. So I was faced with an option, get a new crank for a 350 or get new pistons for a stroker motor. Sticking with a 383 would require not only new piston but a new cam since one of the throws of the crank would hit the cam from time to time. Weird I know bit it did. My friend said that this crank required a cam that had a narrower shaft. I have never heard of this but every so often the crank would bind up, and after checking to see if the crank was hitting the clock or a crank, we noticed that when the crank would bind up the cam would bind up also, but when we would back the crank off it the cam would move. So I decided in interest of time and money and not wanting to eat a set of pistons and not wanting a stroker motor that was .060 over. So I went to the guys shop who I was told built my motor seeking info and a crank. He told me that he knew the guy I was talking about but did not build that motor. And informed me that the guy I bought the motor from had not contacted me about fixing a motor and let me know that the seller was being watched by the boys in blue for selling other item then motors, if you get my drift. After talking with him for awhile we made a deal that he would trade me my crank for a balanced 350 crank and possibly a cam. I figured this was a good deal because I had no use for a 400 crank and didn't was to spend any more money. So Monday I will hopefully get a crank and be able to finally get this beast on the road. So the question come to mind. Did the seller know he sold me a stroker motor or did he accidently sell me the one he intended to keep. That being said if I had known that the motor was a stroker I would have bought appropriate pistons and had a rocken motor. But the guy who polished my crank made a mistake which happens, and how I have a destroked 383. So this is what I learned. If you buy a motor from craigslist make sure the crank will turn before you buy it, look down inside the motor and see what you can see, I would say check the oil but I did the oil just happened to be sitting on top of the water, if you know who built the motor or was told who built the motor call the builder and verify it was him who built it. If the motor has a new crank in it or any parts like that get receipts on the parts so you know what is in their, there are more lessons I have learned but that is all I can list for now.