Help, Needed Badly

[pwrwagonfire]

Ok guys, I need assistance from the experienced M37 owners on here. I love these trucks, but I have NO heavy engine repair experience. Brakes, wiring, body, I can work out, but i have never had an engine apart.

My buddy who is a mechanic advised me to get new valve seals and rings in order to fix:

-Oil in the spark plugs
-Truck burning oil

I naively contacted my parts supplier (Charles Talbert), somebody whom I trust and he told me that the 230 engine in M37s dosent have valve seals, and he would recommend doing MUCH more to an engine than just rings.

My question, and plee to you guys is this:

If you had my truck, what would you do to the engine to re-build it? What would you replace?

I know, a pretty dumb sounding question, but I'm in desperate need of help here!


Thank you in advance,

Tom

 

[rosco]

that engine goes back to the '40s,. it was tried and true, but often MV's are run with little or no maintenance. To do the engine right, check the taper in the bore. If it has more then about .0010, it needs to be bored and re-fitted with oversized pistons/rings. Everything needs to be checked for straight. The valves need to be ground and replaced as needed. Absolutely change the valve guides. Don't knerl them - Change them out. They are cheap. Should have all new bearings, especially cam bearings. It is a fairly simple engine. There are lots of books on it. Some of the old "Motors" manuals were good to describe how to build them. You can do it with your experience. You need to pull the engine to do the job right. Be careful of the head. Check it for flat - the block too. The head is often warped. My head was out something like .0013 & the block was out .007. You don't need anything fancy to work on it. An "A" frame will do it. Put a new clutch in it, throw out and pilot bearing. Take extra care with the rear main seal. Might as well get your feet wet. I drive mine , here on the ranch, daily. Ask around for a machine shop that has a good reputation. Then you do the assembly. All that stuff is still available, even in Kit form. My machine shop guy only builds hot rods or antiques. He won't work on them unless you want to do it right. He ask what I wanted done? I told him that I didn't want to work on it again. Its fun building engines.

Lee in Alaska

 

[cranetruck]

My son found a civy '49 dodge with a flathead in it and paid $50 total for the engine. We used the HIAB crane for all the lifting, so that helped tremendously, of course, but after replacement, his '53 M37 has been running great. It's not an authentic restoration, but there are options.

 

[zak]

Get the Manuals and read them. In my humble opinion they are the best in the mv world. Very good pictures and illustrations. If your missing a part or forgot where something goes they will show you. These engines where very simple in design and easy to work on. Parts are fairly easy to come buy and cheaper than most. Don't skimp on replacing something as you may have to do it again that much sooner. Learn and have fun.

 

[maxim]

Try
P15-D24 Work In Process

The engine is HEAVY. Many experiance that a engine stand that will hold a Chev 350 is tippsy with a 230 on it.

 

[Greensteel37]

Charles is telling you what we would: a bandaid will not last and you'll be back inside the engine again before you know it and you'll be even more miserable.

There's no oil seals since the valves are upside down in the block.

Save your money if you have to but go ahead and fix it right.

 

[clinto]

Tom, don't be scared of rebuilding an engine. If your IQ is over 80, you are sober and literate, you can do it.

I built my first engine (a small block Chevy for my Dad's Chevelle) when I was 15 with nothing more than a factory shop manual and this was pre-internet so I couldn't cheat and hit a message board like SS. It's still running almost 20 years later.

If you are going to go deep inside an engine to replace things like rings, it makes both economic and time sense to go ahead and do a complete rebuild, with new bearings, a polished or turned crank, new freeze plugs, cam, gaskets, oil pump, etc. Once you do this, you'll never have to do it again (assuming you don't use your M37 daily like a commercial vehicle).

You'll need a good source for high quality rebuild parts and a good machine shop that knows how to do something other than small block Chevies and it's always helpful to have an experienced friend help out. You won't need many specialized tools, mostly a piston ring compressor and a good torque wrench.

 

[ralbelt]

I use an excellent machine shop local, He does a lot of antique engines and will work on the odd ball problems, He has helped me with my 6.2 and will guide me in the right direction.

 

[pwrwagonfire]

Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and advice you have provided so far! Really appreciate it.