crank kit vs. complete rebuild

[GeoPol]

My waggie's bearings are worn, resulting in dangerously low oil pressure. How difficult is installing a crank kit? Should I consider a full rebuild instead?

[NomadJack]

By crank kit do you mean a new crank and bearings? More than likey, your crank is salvagable and all you need to do is replace the bearings (rod and main). You would want to have the crank worked on by a machine shop to make sure its in good condition. Either way, you are going to be removing the engine from the vehicle in order to get the crank out. Of course, once you've got the engine out it makes sense to get a full rebuild done and make sure everything is in good working order. This can be a bit like pandora's box where there is probably more to be fixed than you think, but I'd rather know now and get it fixed than do a half-Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogleyed job and find I need head and ring work done in a few thousand miles. Just my opinion though.

[J4GRAND]

Even though you live in iu scumland (j/k- I'm a Purdue grad), I'll answer your question. A lot of the time, the low oil pressure is caused by a combination of things- weak oil pump, bad rod/main bearings, AND bad cam bearings. When I tore into the 360 in my 73 J4000, I found that the lower bearings weren't worn too badly. I also found chunks of my cam bearings- actually what they call the "babbit lining"- inside of my oil pan. Once you get the pan off, you should be able to tell if you have a similar problem. Good luck.

[Max Power]

I had the ZERO psi oil pressure blues as well, I considered tearing into the engine... but I figgered I'd try rebuilding the oil pump first...

2 days later {please don't ask, it should take less than 45 mins} voila, I had oil pressure again. all for <$30. This should keep my engine going till they make the new 'hover-cars' available to the general public. smile.gif

good luck,
Robert

[The Wagprocrastinator]

Originally posted by NomadJack:
By crank kit do you mean a new crank and bearings? More than likey, your crank is salvagable and all you need to do is replace the bearings (rod and main). You would want to have the crank worked on by a machine shop to make sure its in good condition. Either way, you are going to be removing the engine from the vehicle in order to get the crank out. Of course, once you've got the engine out it makes sense to get a full rebuild done and make sure everything is in good working order. This can be a bit like pandora's box where there is probably more to be fixed than you think, but I'd rather know now and get it fixed than do a half-Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogleyed job and find I need head and ring work done in a few thousand miles. Just my opinion though.That is the same thing I'm doing to my 360 presently. My heads are at the shop now and the block is going in this week when I pick up the heads. Might as well drop the cash now instead of trying to be cheap and paying for it later. If you do the bottom (block) by all means do the top(heads). If you don't then you'll more that likely pay for it down the road. Just my .02

[GeoPol]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to leave it as an around-twon only vehicle until I can drop a rebuilt into it this winter. (I was planning to make a 1600 mile round trip until I discovered the crank bearings were worn out.)