57 Engine Rebuild

[ImperialAtom]

Quick update...
The engine is rebuilt and waiting to go back in.
Carb has been fully rebuilt and ready to go.
Trans rebuilt and ready to go in as well.

I've asked they fix the float in the gas tank, so once that is done I assume it will all go back together. Hope this whole virus thing passes soon, I'm ready to get her out.

I am still amazed how much it cost, and time needed, to rebuild an engine in this car. This has been going on for months. I am not too upset as I want to make sure it's done right, but wow.

Hope to have her back soon to post some pictures.

[mikey62]

It goes without saying to replace any of the engine accessories such as the water or fuel pumps at this time, rebuild the carb if needed, that sort of thing. Engines dont usually go up in a ball of fire, Id suspect that you may have had a fuel pump leaking and dumping fuel into the crankcase and it got ignited - the clue being that it blew the breather off. Even a rich running engine wont usually send that much fuel fumes into the crankcase via the pcv system, which your car probably doesnt even have. Find the root cause, putting that kinda $$$ out is something you dont want to do twice. Good luck

[ImperialAtom]

Well the coronavirus slowed everything down. There was an issue with the pistons, they were not sized right according to the guy who's rebuilding the block. He said he will only accept perfection, which I'm glad that's the case. I was worried at first but heard from several random people over the months that they know him and he is good at what he does, so just had to wait.

About two ago, after many delays and several returned parts, he's finally done and the engine was handed back to the main shop. Just received an email from the shop that he couldn't stop working on it yesterday and said he plans to drop it back in this weekend - GREAT NEWS!

Here's the pics of the finished block and a few more as the other parts get put on.

[gary h]

Glad to see your on your way !

[DonFromTexas]

I winced when I saw that tranny removal method as well Chryslerdon, lets hope they were gentle and it did not hurt anything.

[ImperialAtom]

Well, several months later and the old 57 still is not running. This story took a turn for the worse unfortunately. The guy working on it kept putting off finishing it. Said he would get to it next week... a month later and it was still "next week". He was focused on new paint work as that is where he's taking his business since it appears to be more profitable, so he's focused on painting and not on finishing this car that he was paid for.

I stopped by his place (about an hour away) and found the Imperial sitting out in his front yard. He claims he only rolls it out there when he's painting and before "most" storms he rolls it back in. It's covered in bird droppings, the new engine has fresh rust on it now, and there's nothing covering the carb other than the hood.

He said the engine was running, but the starter wouldn't start when you pushed the button, and the fuel pump didn't appear to be pumping fuel. If you put fuel directly into the carb it would start and run rough, but said he had spent over a month trying to track down the starter issue and fuel pump issue. He was still claiming he would possibly get back around to it in two weeks.

To make a long story short, I told the guy off and had the car towed home. Had a friend help me push it into the garage.

I'm having terrible luck with these mechanics/shops.

[ImperialAtom]

Here's a few pics of the fresh rust. This tells me he left it sit outside in the weather for quite some time. Also, in the trunk it smells like mildew and the shop manual I had in there has mold all over it.

[ImperialAtom]

After getting the car back home I was so furious about the whole thing I didn't even want to look at it. Had to ignore it for two weeks to calm down enough to start working on it today.

Got a new starter relay and installed it today, that fixed the starter issues the mechanic said he couldn't figure out. Either I'm a seasoned/experienced mechanic with a knack for these things, or the guy was simply lying and had no plans to get back to finish this car.

I have a known reliable shop lined up to take on the car near the end of the month. Insurance will not pay their rate, so I'll be stuck with a bill, but it's well worth the assurance it will be done right this time.

I plan to replace the gas tank now as there could be some rust blocking the fuel, replace the sender unit, and rebuild the fuel pump. We'll see if I can get through that myself before the shop takes it in to finish the engine work.