Author Topic: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?  (Read 3277 times)

Offline TheBatman

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Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« on: April 26, 2012, 02:38:26 AM »
Ok,

as some of you know, it looks like the head gasket blew (and thus engine seems like it's probably seized from the influx of heat ) in my 1975 Buick Riviera (455 engine), and as it's a car I'm in love with (because that's the way I am, same car I drove as a teenager and no intention of getting rid of it, very solid all the way around) and only has 45k miles on it, I'm looking for someone who can rebuild or replace the engine.  I was also eventually planning on having it repainted someday as well, so really looking for somebody that does this kind of thing on a regular basis, like one of the guys at the Old Town car cruises or something, not some fly by night Macco job. I don't need comments about it costing more than the car's worth to the rest of the world, for ME it's something I knew I was gonna need to do eventually since obviously with only 45k and being 37 years old it sat in a store front most of it's life.  So, now it's time to start looking since the engine forced my hand unfortunately.

I'm in Orlando area so anybody/ shops in this area would obviously be easiest, but I'm open to options.  Thanks for any input.

Offline dug

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2012, 09:28:05 AM »
Good luck with the rebuild Dan.  We had a 75 LeSabre when I was a kid and would love to find one of those some day.  There are Lots of fond memories of my brother and I fighting in the back seat on long trips. 

My dad was a gigantic Buick fan and we always had one as our primary family car with a second smaller car for getting around town.  He owned a Buick of some type my entire life.  When he died in 2005 he had a nice Buick rendezvous and I thought about buying it, and now wish I would have.  Still, some day when I have the space I'm going to get a nice old Buick.   
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Offline k7

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2012, 11:37:12 AM »
i love the buick regals of the mid 80s.

is it an option to swap a more gas friendly engine into it?

is the engine seized up for sure?
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Offline TheBatman

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2012, 03:25:13 AM »
i love the buick regals of the mid 80s.

is it an option to swap a more gas friendly engine into it?

is the engine seized up for sure?

Nah, don't want to bastardize it and put a non stock engine in it really, but might be open to suping it up a little for more horsepower on the rebuild.  The engine isn't cranking after pulling all the belts and plugs to take all the tension off... can hear the starter clunk but not turning over.  So, really don't know if it's truly seized or what until it gets torn apart.  My mechanic Dad says at least some good news is that there is no antifreeze in the plugs/ cylinders or oil, and 455's are pretty beefy...so hopefully can just rebuild this one.  He says it sounds like: a gasket blew, super hot air went into the engine cavities and overheated the coolant, the engine heated up and thus a cylinder got hot, a bearing likely came off and screwed up the crankshaft and is wedged in a cylinder...that's the theory so far.

Offline number six

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2012, 10:12:38 PM »
Let it go..

Let it go..

Offline Mamushka

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2012, 10:27:33 PM »
Nah, don't want to bastardize it and put a non stock engine in it really, but might be open to suping it up a little for more horsepower on the rebuild.  The engine isn't cranking after pulling all the belts and plugs to take all the tension off... can hear the starter clunk but not turning over.  So, really don't know if it's truly seized or what until it gets torn apart.  My mechanic Dad says at least some good news is that there is no antifreeze in the plugs/ cylinders or oil, and 455's are pretty beefy...so hopefully can just rebuild this one.  He says it sounds like: a gasket blew, super hot air went into the engine cavities and overheated the coolant, the engine heated up and thus a cylinder got hot, a bearing likely came off and screwed up the crankshaft and is wedged in a cylinder...that's the theory so far.

Did it run out of water or was there still coolant in it? Generally when you are pumping exhaust gas into the cooling system it will run hot/spit coolant out but it will not seize. You should have noticed something was wrong if it was getting that hot (low power, misfiring, etc). Did you mechanic put a socket on the crank with a breaker-bar to see if it would spin over?
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Offline TheBatman

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2012, 01:29:12 AM »
It had plenty of coolant, it was spitting out of the overflow after the car stalled.  The "hot engine" light did NOT come on until after the car stalled.  I had only been driving for about 10-15 minutes from the time I started the car, and then once I started hearing a knocking (wasn't sure if it was a thrown rod, or a belt flapping)  I slowed down to about 40mph and limped for about a minute or two from THAT point.  So, I was a bit surprised to learn if the head gasket had indeed blown that an engine could get THAT hot in just a few minutes, but apparently the ultra hot combustion/ exhaust going directly into the engine cooling compartments CAN do that.  I haven't tried to put a breaker bar on it yet and turn manually, so I guess that's my last step at this point to see where I might stand.

And NO Jakk, NOT time to let it go!  I actually GOT it knowing in a few years it was going to need work and restoring if I were to go that route. It was the same model car I had as a teen and loved, but this one is MUCH younger and cleaner, mint interior, etc... only had like 37k miles on it when I got it probably 6 years ago.  It now has 45k on it, so although a bummer an engine with so little miles needs to be rebuilt or replaced, I guess it's expected when a vehicle really hasn't been driven more much for 37 years (a little over 1k per year?).  If it were any OTHER car in my fleet it would be scrapped, but this one is like my Moby Dick....or dare I say Mustang? :)  I guess it was a bonus that I got to drive it for a 1/2 dozen years before putting ANY money into it.  Still a bummer, but we love what we love.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2012, 01:30:44 AM by TheBatman »

Offline k7

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2012, 06:54:31 PM »
do you have a temp gauge, or just the light? by all means, get a temp gauge. just thinking out loud...it's a car design flaw to just have a light monitor fluids and temp.

my crx was overheating on the road a bit last month (up and down)...a sticky thermostat was the issue. a light would probably come on after it blew up. a gauge lets you monitor important stuff.
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Offline TheBatman

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2012, 01:33:31 AM »
No temp gauge on those yet, it's just a "hot engine" light that came on after it was already stopped and overheated.  Yeah, I was like "WTF, lot of good THAT does me NOW?".  I took out the thermostat a few years ago also, so that wasn't even an issue.

Offline SpineyNorman

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2012, 10:33:35 PM »
So we have been thru

Denial (it's not overheating)

Anger (WTF? overheating POS)

Bargaining (I'll pay anything to get this fixed)

Depression and Acceptance will soon follow.

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Offline Yosho

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2012, 05:01:52 PM »
Sad thing is, even most new cars don't have a real temp gauge... they may have an idiot light that look like a guage, but they're only able to show 3 basic temps (cold, normal, and hot).  Pretty useless really.

Reading about the problem... I wonder if the headgasket really went or if it was the waterpump.  I'd be a bit surprised if the headgasket went with such low miles... I seem to remember the waterpumps being problems on those cars.  Might want to check into it before you replace anything.  You don't want to "fix" it only to have the same problem happen again.

Offline number six

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2012, 05:17:19 PM »
but this one is like my Moby Dick....or dare I say Mustang? :) 

hahahaha good one.

Offline k7

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2012, 09:38:39 PM »
headgasket could go from lack of driving it. someone will look at the water pump and do the obvious before diving into it knee deep. if you tow it to boynton, i'll have a crack at it. :)

1st thing i do with new cars (new to me): find the JDM gauge cluster or the top of the line cluster, and install that (temp gauge and tachometer at the minimum).

i put $18,000 into my nissan, and that shop completely f'd up the 1st motor i shipped in. so short story, try to have a "good" mechanic look at it. it could be something that is cake. i have no idea on buick motors (fixed the A/C in an old regal, and put a radio in a park avenue, and that's it for my experience), so i can't even guess. good luck with it.
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Offline toddk

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #13 on: May 30, 2012, 09:33:04 PM »
let me know if you need help, I have good conections to get it fixed for you and it wont cost an arm and a leg. Todd K
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Offline WelakaFL

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Re: Anybody rebuild engines/ car restoring?
« Reply #14 on: June 08, 2012, 08:04:52 PM »
I could rebuild it, Have done many race car engines and just did the top end on my s10 2.2, if you pull it and bring it to me, You could also do it your self, no big deal, there fun! I could help you with any questions, engine crane 175.00 stand 75.00 any tools you dont have you can rent for free from the auto parts store, See if you can get it to turn over, you may need a new crank and a rod, you can get complete lower end kits with everything you will need, this place has good prices on parts,
http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductDetail.cfm?ProductId=1010