Hey Mos, if your doing a complete overhaul and by some chance you get your liners and a piston out in good condition, let me know, I may be interested in buying them from you. I have an A2 that needs a piston, six liners and rings, plus a head and turbo as well. I’m cheap and not above putting used parts in, unless someone tells me I’m nuts and gives good reason not to.
JB, I won’t say you’re crazy - it’s our budgets that dictate everything in life. Getting this truck running again, and in reliable condition, is the top priority for me. I will say though, I’ve got at least two liners that are trashed beyond repair, but your welcome to see if you can repair them if you want to. Three of my pistons are trashed and I would strongly advise against reusing them, once again however I won’t stop you if you wish to try them. The cracks in my head are most likely something that could be ignored but you will have to get the valve seats replaced no matter what. I’ve heard of some shops being able to weld them up, which is possible, but it’s beyond the ability of my local shop so I chose to go with a rebuildable core. As far as my turbo, I just rebuilt it so it’s still working good, plus it has a brand new (and purty) powdercoat job done on it. However, before I let it go I need to find my replacement for it. Which, if you’ve paid attention to other posts of mine you’ll remember that I’ve mentioned getting a new one anyways. Not because of issues with mine, I just live at 6000’ elevation so getting started on a hill is nightmare-ish. I want to drop my turbo lag from 1500-ish rpm to about 800-1000 rpm. I was working on the turbo decision with a diesel shop but this rebuild quickly took priority. If you’re serious about the head at least, I’ll be willing to work something out with you and deliver it as I’m going to SC to pick up the “new” head. The other parts will depend on how quickly I can get the old ones out. Right now I’m visiting my brother in NV again, so as soon as I get home I’ll drop the oil pan and open it up. Hopefully I don’t get any more bad news, but I should at least be able to drop the pistons. The liners will be much more difficult I think, but we shall see. See in the above posts for my phone # and text me if you’re interested. I leave here about the 7th - 9th of June and it will be balls to the wall trying to get this truck ready for my towns parade on the 13th of July.
Just be mindful of the piston cooling nozzles, They are some sort of plastic and can break easily if they are hit with a hard object. The crank comes out if one breaks. The cracks that happen are just between liners at the deck only. It has been a bit, I don't remember if the early C had tabs cast in the block to prevent the bottom of the liner from falling on/into the crank if the liner broke. My advice is to use a mirror to look up from the bottom of the liner to make sure you are grabbing the liner and not the block.
Nuttin wrong wit reusing parts. As long as there is cross hatch in the liner and the ring lands aren't all beat out, re use what you need. Not the rings though, you will build a big oil pump. The only issue is that I think the engine Mos has dropped a valve seat, so pistons aren't reusable and I would not reuse the liners from the cylinders with heavy piston damage.
Thanks Will! It sounded like you were saying their manufacturer defects that caused potential cracking between the liners below the deck.
