Knowing My Limits

Well, as it turns out, there’s not much of the engine that’s salvageable. The cam is worn, the valve seats are shot and the valve springs are there in name only. My “change the head gasket” rebuild is now a “how many new parts do I need?!!” rebuild.

To clear up any confusion – the answer to “how many new parts do I need” is “pretty much all of them.” We’re re-using the block (after much machining), the headers (also after machining) and using a 4 barrel intake manifold that was sitting on the ground next to the car and was thrown in when I purchased it. Everything else is going to be new.

I also learned that I’m lucky we found that pitting in the cylinder. I was originally wanting to leave the bottom of the engine alone. Had we not found the pitting and left it alone, we wouldn’t have found this:

That’s the inside of the timing cover and the big crack you see in the middle is what the machine shop says caused the coolant to leak into the crankcase. That crack is all but invisible on the outside.

The head gaskets, after weeks of accusations and finger pointing have finally been cleared of all charges by the expert testimony of Gary at Speedy Automotive.

As you might have guessed, this rebuild is now approaching the “sleep on the couch for a year” cost category. Since the machine shop shared the news, I’ve had a loud and obnoxious internal argument with myself.

On one hand, I want to rebuild this engine. On the other, I cannot afford to screw something up, blow the engine, pay to get it fixed and still finish the rest of the restoration. I also don’t like sleeping on the couch.

In the end, I’ve decided that I know my limits and rebuilding the engine from this state with this cost exceeds them. I told the machine shop today that I wanted them to do the assembly.

I then asked (fully expecting “no” for an answer) if we could participate in the assembly. Without hesitating the guy said “sure”.

blink blink… really?

Yeah no problem. We’ll let you know and you can come on down

They even offered to deliver the engine to our shop once they’re done with it. I love these guys.

So, I’m truly bummed that I won’t be rebuilding the engine myself. But, this way I know it will be done right and I won’t run the very real risk of making a very expensive mistake. At the same time, I still get to say in the future that I was there at the engine birthing.

I’m entirely fine with this.