Why am I rebuilding this jeep

As some of you know I just got another F-134 for the 56 cj5. The first two came with the 2 jeeps I have one had the head left off and the inside was all rusty #2 had a crack in block. Now after driving to NY and spending $300 this one has compression of Cylinder 1=120 2=60 3=30 4=30 and it has a crack in the block. My questions are:

1. Is the block fixable or even a problem?

2. A Ideas about compression fix. (new head gasket?)

3. when do I shoot Myself

 

Don't know what to tell you about the crack being or not being a problem. The block can be welded and fixed to last for many years. As for the compression, a light hone job and new rings so long as there are no gouges in the cylinders and check to see if the valves are seating good with some prussian blue, if they are not lap them or have a valve job done. To me it is always cheaper to have an engine rebuil trather than to trust a used one that you're not sure if it runs or not.
I know not what you wanted to hear but rebuilding it yourself is really easier and cheaper in the long run most of the time.

 

PM you

 

Clay, hope that Duke can help you out. Otherwise, I'd take a look at that rusty block. I haven't had any blocks welded, but I understood that unless it's a rare, valuable engine, it's cheaper and easier to find another good rebuildable core than to take heroic measures like welding. Mike may be better informed about this, but I expect that welding will be really expensive.

If the rusty block has no cracks, and only the bores and deck are rusty, it can likely be bored and decked to provide a usable block. Then you can combine what you have to build a good engine. BTW, if I was sold an engine with a cracked block, I'd ask to get my money back.

 

It goes back to what sparky says sell things that are yours. This motor was not the persons i bought it off it was someone he was trading so he got payed the other person got a cyl head I got a motor that someone else said was good. It,s the 7 hour drive and the new gasket and seal kit and the hours cleaning and painting it even if I get all the money back i'm still out $150 and cleaning time.

 

Noticed a F134 on ebay at $20.00 at the time of this email. Item number 8021870818

 

Clay, if there's something I can help with in person, let me know. I'm about 50 miles from you, almost a straight shot on the Mass Pike.

 

I wouldn't be too worried about that crack. The biggest problem that could cause would be if you lost torque on the head bolts if it heats up. I'll betcha that if you popped the head off of ten running F heads at random you'd find two or three with a crack like that.

I'd just try some high temp sealer on the threads.

Now, if the crack went into a cylinder wall, that would be another story, but this one goes from one hole to another in the water jacket. I have a couple of F head engines in the shop that have this same kind of crack.


Now, if I was rebuilding an engine, the one you have would not be the first one I'd pick, but if all my engines had that crack, I'd just pick one and rebuild it.


You could do a poor man's rebuild. Pop out the pistons and re-ring it with new rings. The piston will have a code on it that tells you whether it is standard or oversize. While you are at it, hop on down to the local machine shop with the rods and rod caps and have them machined to make the rods and rod caps round again. F heads have little or no tolerance for errors in this dimension. It'll spin a bearing sure as shootin' if they aren't round.

Also, while you have it apart swap in some new rod bearings. These will also have standard or undersize markings on them.

Clean up the valves and valve seats.
New head gasket and fire 'er up!

This may not solve all your problems, but you might just be surprised!

good luck.

kamel

 

Kamel...Do you know if a crack like that can be "fixed" with silver solder and a torch? Not plumber's solder, but machinist grade silver solder. Used to use that when I was a machinist, and that's some high-powered stuff.

 

Hard to tell with the lighting in the pic, but I'll bet you had a head gasket leak on the cylinder on the right. I had an similiar crack on an f-head that I got that was supposedly "good". Ran like a champ till it warmed up and then the white smoke would pour out. Still ran, just down on power. I figured head gasket, easy fix. Found the crack while cleaning it up for the new gasket I thought about getting it welded up, but robbed the crank and bearings out of it to fix the bottom end of the one I was running. I may still get it welded someday. Without attention to the crack you could regasket and go, but I'd bet you'll burn it out sooner than you'd like. Check with a good machine shop and get a quote. My .02 of course.

 

What is water glass?