Tim,
My strong suggestion to you is one that the guys here gave me: do a leak
down test. I also have a '46 just like Jim's - a 3/4 ton pick up.
It's easy and it tells a lot. The apparatus if about $100 and what it does
is pump compressed air into a cylinder. Maybe someone can lend you the
apparatus like my engine people lent me theirs. You will need an adapter
for the 216 as the plug size is smaller than most. By closing the valves
(adjusting them loose in the closed position) and adding the air through the
plug hole, you can listen to where the air is escaping. In my case I did it
and could here it through the dip stick hole. I then opened the exhaust
valve (by tightening it a little until it opened) and could hear the air
through the exhaust. I closed the exhaust valve and opened the intake and
sure enough, I could hear it through the carburetor. So my valves were
A.O.K. but the rings were shot.
I am thinking of doing a "in chassis" engine overhaul. If not, do you want
a nice 216 engine with a great valve job (hardened seats, new exhaust
valves, bronze liners in the exhaust and intake guides, etc.) cheap?
In any case, good luck.
Michael Lubitz
1946 Chevy 3/4 ton, stock
1948 Chevrolet 3100, hot rod
Austin, Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim House" <jhouse@ccsolution.com>
To: "'Old Trucks List'" <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 7:07 AM
Subject: RE: [oletrucks] Valve jobs, machine shops, etc
> Tim,
> I have a 46 with the 216 and had problems with overheating. I took it to
> the machine shop that EVERYONE in this area recommended. They pulled the
> head and magnaflux it. Along with the large crack they saw there were
many
> smaller cracks. They had a OEM head in the barn across the road and
rebuilt
> it with my parts and a new valve. Totally cleaned the engine and
repainted
> it. The total cost was $787.28. The new head was $100.00. I know this
was
> on the high side but they did some other work - hardened seats, new
springs
> etc...
>
> Good Luck,
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-oletrucks@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-oletrucks@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of J Forbes
> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2001 11:05 PM
> To: Old Trucks List
> Subject: [oletrucks] Valve jobs, machine shops, etc
>
>
> Tim--
>
> The suggestion to do a compression check is a good
> one...if two adjacent cylinders are not working
> properly, the head gasket could be blown between
> them.
>
> Or, there could be other problems...the list of
> possibilities is almost endless!
>
> If you are going to take the head to a machine shop,
> be prepared to spend some $$$ to get it done right,
> and have all the work done that probably should be
> done. I recently started working at a machine shop
> part time, our labor rate is $55 an hour. Figure
> about a hundred bucks absolute minimum just to take
> it apart, clean it, perform a basic valve job, and
> reassemble. However, hardly any heads need only
> that...usually the valve guides are worn out (we
> usually install bronze inserts), and you would
> probably be wise to have hardened exhuast seats
> installed if it does not have seat inserts already.
> You may need to buy some new valves, or possibly
> have the stems ground. It will almost certainly
> need to be milled flat again. There may be cracks,
> as these heads are notorious for cracking...so
> you'll want to have it magnaflux inspected, and if
> it has cracks, they can often be welded, but it
> depends where they are. The valve springs may be
> worn out, and need replacing, or at least be shimmed
> to bring the seat pressure back to specification.
>
> In other words, you could easily spend $400 (or
> more!) getting the head worked on. I don't mean to
> scare you, I just want to prepare you for what could
> be a shocker.
>
> If you hardly use your old truck, you could probably
> get away with just doing the minimum repairs
> necessary to get it running right again. You'll
> have to make that decision yourself, though! If you
> don't fix it now, you'll probably have a chance
> again in a year or to to do it right, when it fails
> again. Then again, in the old days, folks didn't
> spend much on machine work, and their trucks usually
> worked OK, though not perfectly.
>
> To find a good shop, you need to ask around! If you
> ask enough people, you'll hear horror stories about
> *every* shop in town. The thing to do is find the
> shop(s) that you know folks have been happy with the
> work done, the time it took to complete the work,
> and that the price was fair (not necessarily cheap,
> but not a rip-off). We in computerland can't help
> you much with info about your local shops, you'll
> have to talk to local people for that.
>
> Jim F
> 59s in AZ
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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